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Automotive manufacturers are concerned about the safety of its customers. Safety critical components like wheel hub are designed considering the severe loads generated from various customer usage patterns. Accelerated tests, which are derived from Real World Usage Patterns (RWUP), are conducted at vehicle level to ensure the wheel hub meet the durability targets. Load and strain measurement are done to understand the critical lateral loading undergone by the wheel hub. Measured data is synthesized to drive the duty cycle. Finite Element (FE) Analysis of Wheel end is performed at module level considering measured loads to capture the exact load path in physical test. Simulation results are compared with the measured strain for validating the FE analysis procedure. FE analysis was repeated for different wheel hub designs, combinations of different flange radius (R) and flange width (t), to understand the effect of the two critical dimensions on wheel hub durability.

Automotive manufacturers are constantly working towards enhancing the driving experience of the customers. In this context, improving the static and dynamic gear shift quality plays a major role in ensuring a pleasant and comfortable driving experience. Moreover, the gear shift quality of any manual transmission is mainly defined by the design of the synchronizer system. The synchronizer sleeve strut detent groove profile plays a vital role in defining the performance of the synchronizer system by generating the minimum required pre-synchronization force. This force is important to move the outer synchronizer ring (blocker ring) to the required index position and to wipe-out the oil from the conical friction surfaces to build rapid high cone torque. Both these functional requirements are extremely critical to have a smooth and quick synchronization of the rotating parts under dynamic shift conditions.

Material selection is based on Process such as forging, die-casting, machining, welding and injection moulding and application as type of load for Knife Edges and Pivots, to minimize Thermal Distortion, for Safe Pressure Vessels, Stiff, High Damping Materials, etc. In order for gears to achieve their intended performance, durability and reliability, the selection of a suitable gear material is very important. High load capacity requires a tough, hard material that is difficult to machine; whereas high precision favors materials that are easy to machine and therefore have lower strength and hardness ratings. Gears are made of variety of materials depending on the requirement of the machine. They are made of plastic, steel, wood, cast iron, aluminum, brass, powdered metal, magnetic alloys and many others. The gear designer and user face a myriad of choices. The final selection should be based upon an understanding of material properties and application requirements.

Virtual assessment of an occupant postural ergonomics has become an essential part of vehicle development process. To design vehicle for different market is one of the primary reason for manufacturers using digital tools to address the specific needs of the target market including cultural background, road and traffic conditions. RAMSIS is a widely used software for creating digital human models (DHM) of different target population which allows manufacturers to assess design with unique customer requirements in product design. Defining these requirements with RAMSIS human module helped development team to accurately define occupant targets such as occupant space, visibility and reachability etc. Occupant behavior and usage scenario are factors which are unique to target market and they influence the occupant posture and usage pattern inside the vehicle. This paper defines the methodology towards the development of Indian Digital Simulation model for vehicle ergonomic evaluations.

Plenum is the part located between the front windshield and the bonnet of an automobile . It is primarily used as an air inlet to the HVAC during fresh air mode operation. It’s secondary functions include water drainage, aesthetic cover to hide the gap between windshield to bonnet, concealing wiper motors and mechanisms etc. The plenum consists mainly two sub parts viz. upper plenum and lower plenum. Conventional plenum design which is found in majority of global OEMs employ a plastic upper plenum and a metal lower plenum which spans across the entire width of engine compartment. This conventional lower plenum is bulky, consumes more packaging space and has more weight. In this paper, we propose a novel design for the plenum lower to overcome above mentioned limitations of the conventional design. This novel design employs a dry and wet box concept for its working and is made up of complete plastic material.

This work discusses about the emission development of a 4 cylinder inline 3.3 liter CRDe to meet BS III emission norms applicable to 3.5 Ton and above category and upgradable to BS IV emission by suitable after treatment. This engine is developed from a 3.2l mechanical pump engine. During development the focus was on the usage of higher swept volume, selection of engine hardware like piston bowl, turbocharger, injectors and optimization of the injection parameters. A cost-effective solution for meeting the BS III norms in the LCV category without application of EGR and exhaust after treatment even though there is 15% increase of the power rating and 10% increase in Peak torque of the engine. Injection parameters like injection timing, injection quantity and pilot injection were optimized to meet the emission target.

BSR (Buzz, Squeak and Rattle) is one of the oldest concerns in automobiles which directly reflect the build, assembly and manufacturing quality of a vehicle. In a cabin all the areas where there is relative motion between two components, such as trims, instrument panel and seats, are prone to squeak. This paper explains the study of seat squeak measurement and diagnosis which is a major concern for one of the products which is already in the market. Since squeak is a friction induced non stationary phenomenon, lot of effort was required to generate squeak in both component as well as vehicle level. At component level, electrodynamic shaker was extensively used for generation of squeak signals. In Vehicle level, driving through different road patterns, pave track and forced excitation on four posters are performed for generation of squeak signals. In this paper usage of wavelet and Zwikker loudness are explained for the diagnosis of seat squeak to identify the problematic frequencies.

Customer comfort has been at the core of any vehicle design. A segment of vehicle wherein the provision given for roof to be removed to enhance the customer experience. A similar vehicle is the subject matter for the evaluation here. The vehicle being off-roader, customer buying such vehicles are passionate about these lifestyle vehicle’s performance aspects. The roof components are plastic and are bolted with the BIW structure with sealing in place at the interface. The windshield angle being close to vertical, there is a tendency for flow separation at the front tip of roof, while vehicle driven at speed. This creates significant pressure difference across the roof surface, leading to vertical deformation of roof between the bolted mounts. In case the magnitude of deformations not controlled, the reduced sealing effectiveness lets air gushing in the cabin and make noise which can be audible to customer.

In current scenario importance of fuel efficient vehicles, lesser emissions & energy efficiency are the major considerations for any vehicle manufacturer. To meet these expectations vehicle manufacturer are exploring alternate powertrains to reduce emissions and produce better fuel efficient vehicles. For any vehicle manufacturer component cost, weight and package volume are the major driving factors for success. This is even true for latest upcoming hybrid and electric vehicles as well. To gain advantage and introduce products faster, OEMs are inclined to electrify their existing platforms to compete with other manufacturers. To convert existing vehicles into hybrid vehicles, all the major components like e machine, High voltage battery, power electronics etc. needs to be carefully packaged along with existing components in the same package space.

The life of a two-wheeler and its parts depend much on its usage during its years of running. The quality of its parts determine the life and efficiency; however the handling of the two-wheeler also plays a major role in estimating it's life and other performance parameters. Hence, it is beneficial to have an efficient system which enhances the life of a two-wheeler and also gives better mileage. This paper constitutes an efficient drive pattern system which addresses the above. This system consists of two main parts: the data collection system and an Android-based mobile application which runs on a mobile phone. The data collection system collects data from various sensors on the vehicle and then the data is processed and sent to the mobile phone of the rider during the run time of the two-wheeler. The application uses this data to depict useful information like drive pattern and various indicators.

In this current fast-paced world, releasing a defect free product on time is of utmost importance in the automotive domain. The automobile powertrain is designed with a fine balance of weight and power. Clutch, an intermediate part between engine & transmission in manual transmission vehicle plays crucial role for vehicle smooth drive & functionality. Hydraulic clutch slave cylinder (CSC) which is a part of clutch release system was observed with one failure mode in one of the vehicles during internal road validation. It facilitates to actuate the clutch diaphragm in order to disengage the clutch when clutch pedal is pressed and to re-engage the clutch back when the clutch pedal is released. CSC failure directly disconnects the response of leg to clutch and thus driver may lose vehicle control and can possibly cause a severe vehicle crash.

Transmission quill gears are hot forged steel parts often used in constant mesh manual transmissions. The quill gear, which helps to transmit the power from input drive shaft to output shaft through driving gears. It’s having external teeth which is positively engaged with driving gear and sleeve. During gear selection sleeve take load from input shaft and transmit to driven gear. Quill gear directly engaged with driving gears on outer surface and bearing in inner surface which needs to have high strength and durability. These properties can be improved by carburization heat treatment in existing design such processes can lead to increased costs. We have developed quill gear through powder metallurgical process and then cooled rapidly in the furnace to get high strength and wear properties. Material composition are optimized to suit for sinter hardening process conditions.

In today’s cost-competitive automotive market, use of finite element simulations and optimization tools has become crucial to deliver durable and reliable products. Simulation driven design is the key to reduce number of physical prototypes, design iterations, cost and time to market. However, simulation driven design optimization tools have struggled to find global acceptance and are typically underutilized in many applications; especially in situations where the algorithms have to compete with existing know-how decision making processes. In this study, systematic multi-phase approach for optimization driven design is presented. Approach includes three optimization phases. In first phase, topology optimization is performed on concept BIW design volume to identify critical load paths. Architectural inputs from topology are used to design base CAD.

Tractor is primarily used for Haulage and agricultural applications due to this high tractive effort. A tractor usage has been increased in recent times for its wide range of implement applications. Considering environmental factors and sustainability, restrictions are set on the Tractor emissions. This brings new challenge in the Tractor industry to reduce the carbon footprint. Conventional casting process involves preparation of die & mold, material removal and machining in the final stage to get the desired final product. Alternatively Additive Manufacturing Process (AMP) helps in creation of lighter and stronger parts by adding material layer by layer. By saving the material, weight of the overall Tractor is reduced which helps in reducing carbon footprint. But the disadvantage of this process is the limited availability and high cost of AMP material and lack of infrastructure/skill set for operation handling.

Regenerative braking is an effective approach for electric vehicles (EVs) to extend their driving range. To enhance the braking performances and regenerative energy, regenerative braking control strategy based on multi objective optimization is explained in this paper. This technical paper would be focusing on extracting optimum Range with effective brake performances without affecting drivability and performances in different drives modes. An extensive research study on public road driving patterns is done to understand the percentage utilization of brakes at various (low-mid-high) speeds as per the customer driving behavior. Multi-Objective optimization function with three vital factors is defined where output generated power, torque smoothness and current smoothness are selected as optimization objective to improve the driving range, braking comfort, and battery lifetime respectively.

Light weight and Robust manufacturing technologies are always needed for transformation drive in the Automotive industry for the next-generation vehicles with greater Power to weight ratio. Innovations and process developments in materials and manufacturing processes are key to this light weighting transformation. Aluminium material has been widely used for these light weighting opportunities. However, aluminum joining techniques, characterized by their poor quality and consistency are limiting this transformation. This technical paper represents one of such case, where the part is made up of Aluminium through conventional casting route which has affected the laser weld quality due to poor casting soundness. This experiment explains in detail about the importance of Casting soundness for laser weld quality, weld penetration, strength etc., and the Product consistency.

Fierce competition in India’s automotive industry has led to constant production innovation among manufactures. This has resulted in the reduction of the life cycle of the design philosophies and design tools. One of the performance factors that have continues to challenge automotive designer is to design and fine tune the braking performance with low cost and short life cycle. Braking performance of automotive vehicle is facilitated by the adhesion between the tyre and the ground. Braking force generated at the wheels of a vehicle have to appropriately match to the adhesion. Antilock braking system (ABS) is used for this purpose. ABS is a modern braking system which could significantly improve directional stability and reduce stopping distance of a vehicle. However this system still too complicated and expensive to use in low end compact car and pickup truck.

Automotive industry has led to constant production innovation among manufactures. This has resulted in the reduction of the life cycle of the design philosophies and design tools. One of the performance factors that have continues to challenge automotive designer is to design and fine tune the braking performance with low cost and short life cycle. Improvement in braking performance and vehicle stability can be achieved through the use of braking systems whosebrake force distribution is variable. Braking force distribution has an important and serious role in thevehicle stopping distance and stability. In this paper a new approach will be presented to achieve the braking forcedistribution strategy for articulated vehicles. For this purpose, the virtual optimization process has beenimplemented.

A vehicle drifts due to several reasons from its intended straight path even in the case of no steering input. Vehicle pull is a condition where the driver must apply a constant correction torque to the steering wheel to maintain a straight-line course of the vehicle. This paper presents an investigation study into the characteristics of a vehicle experiencing steering drift. The aim of the work is to study vehicle stability and the causes of vehicle drift/pull during straight line to minimize vehicle pull level and hence optimize safety measures. A wobble in the steering wheel feels like the steering wheel is shaking to the left and right. This may get worse, if speed increases. This paper focuses on modelling and evaluating effects of suspension parameters, differential friction, brake drag variation, Unbalanced mass in the wheel assembly and C.G. location of the vehicle under multibody dynamic simulation environment.

The inherent capacity of electric motors to generate substantial instant torque can lead to significant load reversals in electric vehicle driveshafts under specific road conditions and driving maneuvers, highlighting the need for targeted improvements in driveshaft design, particularly in optimizing joint sizing. This paper presents a systematic approach to investigate the root causes of a catastrophic driveshaft failure that occurred during specific vehicle tests on a road with multiple speed bumps, resulting in numerous high torque reversals. The objective was to enhance system robustness through changes in driveshaft design and the manufacturing process, coupled with a software calibration technique to reduce torque demands under such operating conditions. The process encompassed torque measurements at the vehicle level, failure replication on a test rig, and correlation with simulations.