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An innovative seat back design for fold down split-rear seat backs has been developed for application in SUV’s, MPV’s and hatchbacks. The all-thermoplastic seat back design meets US and European government regulations such as, the FMVSS 210, 207 in the US, and ECE 17 (luggage retention) in Europe. It is also expected to meet the newly introduced FMVSS 225 (child seat belt tether load) requirement. Currently application of the blow molded seat back is limited to sedans where the seat belt anchor loads are transmitted to a steel package shelf. For applications where the seat-belt anchor loads are transmitted to the seat back, hefty steel frame and reinforcements are required which add weight and cost to the seat back. The same is true for seats that need to comply with the European luggage retention requirement.

The design of the newly developed Toyota AZ series 4 cylinder engine has been optimized through both simulations and experiments to improve heat transfer, cooling water flow, vibration noise and other characteristics. The AZ engine was developed to achieve good power performance and significantly reduced vibration noise. The new engine meets the LEV regulations due to the improved combustion and optimized exhaust gas flow. A major reduction in friction has resulted in a significant improvement in fuel economy compared with conventional models. It also pioneered a newly developed resin gear drive balance shaft.

An exploratory study was performed to determine the feasibility of using oriented polypropylene rods as a replacement for metal in side impact beam applications. The study was divided into four phases: (i) laboratory testing of the impact and tensile properties of oriented polypropylene coupons, (ii) design of an oriented polypropylene side impact beam of comparable rigidity to that of a metal beam but with significant weight savings, (iii) development of a means of attaching the polymeric bar to the vehicle and (iv) flexural testing of a scaled down prototype. The oriented polymeric and metal beams exhibited comparable stress-strain behavior during scaled down testing. Although more research is required to validate the design of an oriented polymer side impact beam, the encouraging results suggest that oriented polymers should be considered for use in automotive components that can make use of their high specific strength and stiffness.

The Auto/Steel Partnership established the Light Truck Frame Project Group in 1996 with two objectives: (a) to develop materials, design and fabrication knowledge that would enable the frames on North American OEM (original equipment manufacturer) light trucks to be reduced in weight, and (b) to improve corrosion resistance of frames on these vehicles, thereby allowing a reduction in the thickness of the components and a reduction in frame weight. To address the issues relating to corrosion, a subgroup of the Light Truck Frame Project Group was formed. The group comprised representatives from the North American automotive companies, test laboratories, frame manufacturers, and steel producers. As part of a comprehensive test program, the Corrosion Subgroup has completed tests on frame coatings. Using coated panels of a low carbon hot rolled and pickled steel sheet and two types of accelerated cyclic corrosion tests, seven frame coatings were tested for corrosion performance.

Usinor has developed organic and inorganic films, for many automotive applications. The surface post-treatments made by the coil-coater provide additional functions to the metallic coated steel, such as lubrication or corrosion protection, and offer an excellent compromise between car manufacturing, steel utilisation and costs saving. Even though the organic coating thickness can reach 8 μm, steel products can be welded and electro-painted, thanks to metallic pigments within the coating, which make the polymer conductive. In some particular cases, where high flexibility and formability are required, the best solution is organic non-pigmented systems with lower thickness from 1 to 2 μm. Other pre-painted steel systems with thicker organic coatings have the potential to replace ED-paint or to remove Primer-Surfacer on paint lines by the car manufacturer.

Fulfillment of SULEV standards without catalyst - this is a target engineers at IAV have been working on since the middle of the 1990s. The core of this development is an advanced steam engine with a high performance burner. This burner features extremely low raw pollutant emission. This paper describes new solutions that were found to solve the challenging tasks in the development of such an engine concept.

Connecting rods manufactured by the Precision Powder Forged (P/F) process offer several distinct advantages over those produced by all other methods including the state-of-the-art forged steel process. Precision P/F connecting rods have mechanical properties equivalent to those made from forged steel, with the added benefits of greater design flexibility, superior dimensional and weight precision, simplified finish machining and assembly, better machinability, and increased consistency because of highly stable metallurgy and a robust and reliable manufacturing process. The inherent flexibility of the P/F process also facilitates tailoring materials to achieve the optimal balance of strength and machinability for a given application. In combination, these advantages result in a product that requires less capital investment for finish machining, is more environmentally conscious by generating substantially less waste, exhibits better total performance, and has lower total cost.

In the automotive industry, lost foam casting is a relatively new technology, which is gaining popularity among manufacturers. Lost foam casting is a process in which an expanded polystyrene pattern is formed into the shape of the part to be cast. More complex parts are fabricated by simply gluing several simple patterns together. The pattern is then coated with a refractory material consisting of a mineral mixture and binders. Finally, hot metal is poured into the pattern, evaporating the expanded polystyrene and taking shape of the coating shell. However, the automotive industry has observed that a significant number of these fabricated, coated patterns are damaged, or do not meet specifications prior to casting. These are not reusable and inevitably are landfilled. It is the goal of this project to develop a simple, reliable, and inexpensive technology to recover expanded polystyrene from the glue and coating constituents.

Automotive engineers are challenged with increasing fuel economy in transportation vehicles by reducing weight. Aluminum castings are replacing cast iron components as one way to reduce weight in cars. Many of the aluminum castings produced for automobiles today are made with a sand core to form the internal cavity of the automotive component. Currently, the most popular choice of sand binder system in core making is the phenolic urethane cold-box binder system. This system, however, was not designed for use at aluminum pouring temperatures. The collapsibility of a phenolic urethane cold-box core is not sufficient for expedient shakeout in an aluminum casting. Because of this, many aluminum castings must undergo secondary core removal processes. This reduced shakeout effectiveness limits the designer in the casting geometries available and adds cost to the part.

The as-sintered and the sintered and tempered transverse rupture and tensile properties of seven recently developed high performance PM compositions are reviewed. Two are improved versions of the well known diffusion alloyed grades according to MPIF Standard 35. Two others are likewise improved versions of more highly alloyed analogs of the latter that have only recently been introduced. The remaining three are all new compositions that take advantage of the powerful alloying effects of silicon. The silicon is added by a proprietary method that greatly reduces its susceptibility to oxidation during sintering, an effect that has heretofore limited its use.

The use of cutting fluid in machining operations not only poses a health risk to workers but also creates environmental challenges associated with fluid treatment and disposal. In an effort to minimize these concerns and eliminate the costs associated with cutting fluids, e.g., purchase, maintenance, and treatment, dry machining is increasingly being considered as an alternative. This paper is focused on comparing dry and wet machining approaches from several perspectives, including air quality, product quality, and economics. Both experimental and analytical work is presented. Experiments have been performed to determine the effect cutting fluid has on product quality and aerosol generation in the wet and dry turning of gray cast iron. To compare costs in wet and dry turning, a cost model, which includes cutting fluid-related components, has also been established.

Malleable and ductile cast irons are used extensively in automotive applications such as clutches, gears, carriers, shafts, bearings, cam, racers, hubs, etc. Recently developed P/M materials can be processed cost efficiently to replace malleable and ductile iron castings. An UTS in excess of 1240 MPa and a YS in excess of 825 MPa can be achieved with one of these new materials. These tensile properties can be coupled with elongations over 2% and impact energies over 25 Joules. This presentation will cover processing routes for these new materials and will identify parts that may benefit from this new technological advancement.

A new category of hypereutectic aluminum liners, made by PM route is now available on the market (SILITEC) and it is successfully applied to high-pressure die casting process to produce open deck cylinder blocks. The claimed achievable engine performances over cast-iron liners (weight saving, reduction of oil consumption, optimal heat transfer, wear and friction losses reduction) justify the interest of automotive industry in developing such a technology. The paper will present the experience and the achieved results in permanent mold gravity casting with Silitec liners, where metal flow definition and temperature distribution control make the casting technique more challenging for the manufacturing of closed deck cylinder blocks.

Advanced powder metal technology is capable of producing carburized, low alloy steel bearings and gears that deliver mechanical performance comparable to conventional steel. This quantum leap in PM technology has been accomplished by applying cold work densification to surfaces that require enhanced durability in the application. Using various test methods, core and surface properties are compared for the PM and conventional steel materials; namely tensile, impact toughness, bending fatigue, and contact fatigue. A back to back durability test for automotive manual transmission gears has been used to compare PM gears with conventional steel gears. Test data shows that PM gear teeth can endure equivalent contact stress and, by employing design benefits which are exclusive to PM tooling related gear tooth manufacture, similar tooth loading as conventional gears. PM manufacturing can achieve AGMA 10 gear quality.

Powder metallurgy (P/M) industry has been known for the capability of producing near-net-shape parts. Its specific characteristics have resulted in lower production costs and eliminating many secondary machining. However, more and more P/M parts do require additional operations to fulfil their complex geometry features and surface roughness. Many of the machining factors that influence the machinability of cast and wrought steel parts, such as cutting speed, feedrate, coolant, tool geometry and shape, are also considered in the machining of P/M parts. However, composition, structure, and porosity of P/M are additional factors to be considered. Porosity in the P/M structure can decrease the machinability and shorten the tool life. Different variables have been considered in the material composition. Material densities and the free-machining additive manganese sulphide (MnS) are the two main factors of material composition, which dominate the machining performance.

The original brush and brushless DC motor structures presented in this paper make use of a special winding technique which presents several advantages: the copper volume of the motor is minimized, the mechanical structure is well adapted to the pressing process because the armature is designed with a small number of relatively wide slots and the winding process is easier. The isotropic properties of soft magnetic composites are also used to design a magnetic circuit where the magnetic flux is circulating in three dimensions. It is then possible to maximize the torque-to-weight ratio and to minimize the total axial length of the motor. This paper describes an efficient use of a new technology of magnetic material that needs a new structural design approach taking into account the advantages and constraints of the material, and that the direct replacement approach is usually not optimal.

The importance of powder technology to the automotive industry is well known, mainly due to its growing potential. This work presents aspects related to high-speed steels for valve seat inserts application. Four series of materials were evaluated: high speed steel M3/2 infiltrated with copper during sintering; high speed steel M3/2 with Cu3P addition; high speed steel M3/2 with Cu3P addition and further copper infiltrated during sintering; high speed steel M3/2 mixed with iron powder. The main material selection topics such as cost, performance, reliability, and environmental aspects were considered. The physical and mechanical properties of the evaluated high-speed steels are presented in terms of densification, hardness, and radial mechanical strength.

The demands on valve seat inserts are that they should have enhanced wear resistance and machinability using non-environmentally hazardous materials at a reasonably low cost. Research into the possibility of producing a new valve seat insert material which fulfills such demands was therefore made. As a result Hitachi Powdered Metals (HPM) has developed a new material which uses dispersed die steel hard particles in the production of intake valve seat inserts.

Low pressure die casting technology (LPDC) has been proven to satisfy the quality standard requirements of safety aluminum suspension parts. The process gives freedom to innovative and lighter design, like tubular hollow sections, through the use of cores. With the goal of having higher quality coupled with competitive production costs, an innovative process has been investigated. The GMBOND™ core making process with a water based bio-polymer binder has been used in the LPDC of heat treatable T5 alloys specifically developed to get the required final component performances. One of the goals of this activity has been to make a comparison between the cold box technology and the GMBOND™.

Squeeze casting and semi-solid metal forming produce aluminum castings with exceptional properties. This paper compares the mechanical properties and microstructures of a production component processed by a variety of casting processes and heat treatments. Note, in all cases, the current insert tool used for squeeze casting was adapted to be utilized in the various semi-solid metal forming processes. The results showed that semi-solid metal forming produced consistently better mechanical properties compared to squeeze casting. Defects, primarily oxide films, were determined to be responsible for the lower and less consistent properties of the squeeze cast material.