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A twist beam rear suspension system is modeled, analyzed and optimized in this paper. An ADAMS model is established based on the REC (Rigid-Elastic Coupling) Theory, which is verified by FEM (Finite Element Method) approach, the effects of the geometric parameters on the twist beam suspension performance are investigated. In order to increase the calculation efficiency and improve the simulation accuracy, a neural network model and NSGA II (Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II) are adopted to conduct a multi-objective optimization on a twist beam rear suspension system.

An automotive vehicle should be designed to satisfy the wants of customers. The key is how to convert voices of customers into engineering languages. In other words, transfer the wants of customers into the right technical characteristics of a vehicle. A questionnaire of customer wants for a CUV (Crossover Utility Vehicle) is created and processed. Using QFD (Quality Function Deployment) and modified KANO model, the relative important degree is obtained from the original relative important degree of customer wants surveyed. Since some information gained is uncertain and the questionnaire sample is limited, a gray correlation analysis method is introduced, which calculates the competitive important degree of customer wants, then the final important degree of customer wants is gained by integrating the relative important degree and the competitive important degree.

This research proposes an automatic computer-aided design, analysis, and optimization process of a twist beam rear suspension system. The process combines CAD (Computer-Aided Design), CAE (Computer-Aided Engineering), and optimization technologies into an automation procedure, which includes: structural design, dynamic analysis, vibration analysis, durability analysis, and multidisciplinary optimization. The automation results shown the twist beam rear suspension weight reduced, the durability fatigue life increased, and the K&C (kinematics & compliance) characteristics are improved significantly.

In the development of an FAW SUV, one of the goals is to achieve a state of the art drag level. In order to achieve such an aggressive target, feedback from aerodynamics has to be included in the early stage of the design decision process. The aerodynamic performance evaluation and improvement is mostly based on CFD simulation in combination with some wind tunnel testing for verification of the simulation results. As a first step in this process, a fully detailed simulation model is built. The styling surface is combined with engine room and underbody detailed geometry from a similar size existing vehicle. From a detailed analysis of the flow field potential areas for improvement are identified and five design parameters for modifying overall shape features of the upper body are derived. In a second step, a response surface method involving design of experiments and adaptive sampling techniques are applied for characterizing the effects of the design changes.

A challenge for the aerodynamic optimization of trucks is the limited availability of wind tunnels for testing full scale trucks. FAW wants to introduce a development process which is mainly based on CFD simulation in combination with some limited amount of wind tunnel testing. While maturity of CFD simulation for truck aerodynamics has been demonstrated in recent years, a complete validation is still required before committing to a particular process. A 70% scale model is built for testing in the Shanghai Automotive Wind Tunnel Center (SAWTC). Drag and surface pressures are measured for providing a good basis for comparison to the simulation results. The simulations are performed for the truck in the open road driving condition as well as in an initial digital model of the aerodynamic wind tunnel of SAWTC. A full size truck is also simulated in the open road driving condition to understand the scaling effect.

Continuously variable transmission (CVT) offers many advantages to vehicle performance over traditional transmission technologies. A novel cam based CVT was proposed in US patent # 4,603,240, by J. Klovstad and J. Fortune [1], which has a cam input to drive an angle dependent, clutch actuated output shaft. Based on the patented CVT, a kinematic simulation, utilizing three dimensional CAD software was performed, creating a visualization and analysis model to ascertain system performance and feasibility. This article describes the mechanism created, limitation of the modeling software and the approach utilized to overcome these limitations. The resultant motion is then analyzed to ascertain the performance of the mechanism and determine the viability of the design concept. Key improvements to the system are proposed to the design, based on system performance through this analysis.