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There are benefits of using ultra thin wall (UTW) substrates (i.e., 900/2, 400/4, etc) in lowering cost and emission level. However, the more fragile mechanical characteristics of the UTW present a challenge to design and manufacture of robust catalytic converters. This paper describes a method of canning trial, where a combined Design of Experiment / Monte-Carlo analysis method was used, to develop and validate a canning method for ultra thin wall substrates. Canning trials were conducted in two stages-- Prototype Canning Trial and Production Canning Trial. In Prototype Canning Trial, the root cause of substrate failure was identified and a model for predicting substrate failure was established. Key factors affecting scrap rate and gap capability were identified and predictions were performed on scrap rate and gap capability with the allowed variations in the key factors. The results provided guidelines in designing production line and process control.

Realizing the value of knowledge, corporations are turning to Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) as a design process. A fuel rail KBE tool was created at Visteon with the purpose of increasing knowledge retention and delivering knowledge based designs to the customer much quicker than with conventional methods. Currently, both engineers and CAD designers are using the Fuel Rail KBE Modeler at Visteon. It has been used on many vehicle programs and has saved the company countless person-hours of development time. The Fuel Rail KBE Modeler is a powerful tool that saves resources through automation of both the design and analysis processes. This paper documents the incorporation of automated FEA capability into the KBE environment.

Occupant knee impact simulations are performed in the automotive industry as an integrated design process during the course of instrument panel (IP) development. All major automakers have different categories of dynamic testing methods as part of their design process in validating their designs against the FMVSS 208 requirement. This has given rise to a corresponding number of knee impact simulations performed at various stages of product development. This paper investigates the advantages and disadvantages of various types of these knee impact simulations. Only the knee load requirement portion of the FMVSS208 is considered in this paper.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is an integral part of product development at Visteon Climate Systems with a validated set of CFD tools for airflow and thermal management processes. As we increasingly build CAE capabilities to design not only thermal comfort, but quiet systems, developing noise prediction capabilities becomes a high priority. Two Broadband Noise Source (BNS) models will be presented, namely Proudman's model for quadrupole source and Curle's boundary layer model for dipole source. Both models are derived from Lighthill's acoustic analogy which is based on the Navier-Stokes equations. BNS models provide aeroacoustic tools that are effective in screening air handling systems with higher noise levels and identifying components or surfaces that generate most of the noise, hence providing opportunities for early design changes. In this paper, BNS models were used as aeroacoustic design tools to redesign an automotive HVAC center duct with high levels of NVH.

Occupant head impact simulations on automotive instrument panels (IP) are routinely performed as part of an integrated design process during the course of IP development. Based on the requirements (F/CMVSS, ECE), head impact zones on the IP are first established, which are then used to determine the various “hit” locations to be tested/analyzed. Once critical impact locations are identified, CAE simulations performed which is a repetitive process that involves computing impact angles, positioning the rigid head form with an assigned initial velocity and defining suitable contacts within the finite element model. A commercially available CAE process automation tool was used to automate these steps and generate a head impact simulation model. Once the input model is checked for errors by the automated process, it can be submitted to a solver without any user intervention for analysis and report generation.

An effort to integrate a structural optimization process into the carbon canister bracket design is presented to demonstrate the benefits of an upfront Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) driven design. Structural optimization methods - including topology, shape, and size optimization - are used to develop the injection molded plastic carbon canister bracket. Furthermore, the incorporation of the Knowledge Base Engineering (KBE) features in the design process not only accelerates the design process but also ease manufacturing feasibility. Even though topology optimization has been widely used to explore the initial topological designs of different products, it is still a great challenge to explore shell like structure designs with 3D solid design package spaces using topology optimization method.

Tuned mass dampers are frequently used in vehicles to resolve vibration issues arising from problematic torsional modes. The design of a tuned damper is straightforward, but evaluating its effect on other system modes is time consuming. An upfront design tool will accelerate the process of designing and evaluating the damper's affect on system level dynamic characteristics. Computer aided engineering tools have been developed to design a tuned torsional damper using two different approaches. In the first approach, a two-degree of freedom torsional system model is utilized. In the second approach, a detailed finite element model of a driveline system is considered. In the second approach, the effect of the damper to the vehicle driveline system response at the hypoid pinion nose and other desired locations is studied to assess the effectiveness of the damper design. In both approaches, the damper rotational inertia is considered as a design variable.