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In “The Impact of Additive Manufacturing in Automotive Applications”, a professor from Kettering University explains why additive manufacturing will be a game changer for car makers, and how process control is one of the biggest challenges ahead. An engineer at Local Motors in Arizona shows how the company builds its cars using a large-scale 3D printer, including how a variety of materials is being evaluated for optimal performance in this type of application. The episode highlights: The expected positive impact of AM on smaller car makers and suppliers The key difference between small 3D printers and large-scale ones The need to find the best possible material combination so vehicles that are #D-printed are as safe as traditional ones Also Available in DVD Format To subscribe to a full-season of Spotlight on Design, please contact SAE Corporate Sales: CustomerSales@sae.org or 1-888-875-3976.

Those who are concerned about access to rare earths and other critical minerals for EV powertrains are focused on the exact wrong problem. Mr. Thomas discusses why it's control of process technology, not the raw ores themselves, that dictates cost, availability and performance. Presenter Lawrence B. Thomas, Primet Precision Materials

Abstract Automotive-grade high-strength steels are galvanized for improved corrosion resistance. However, selective oxidation of alloying elements during annealing heat-treatment may influence the subsequent zinc (Zn) coating quality. The formation of internal and external oxides depends on the alloy composition, especially the Si/Mn ratio, and the oxygen potential of the annealing atmosphere. In this work, a dual-phase (DP) steel was intercritically annealed with varied fuel-to-air ratios in a direct-fired furnace and then galvanized in a Zn bath with 0.2 wt% Al. The type of internal and external oxides and the interfacial structures between the steel substrate, the Al-Fe-Zn inhibition layer, and the Zn coating were examined by using site-specific focused ion beam (FIB) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

The CDIF Family of Standards is primarily designed to be used as a description of a mechanism for transferring information between CASE tools. It facilitates a successful transfer when the authors of the importing and exporting tools have nothing in common except an agreement to conform to CDIF. The language that is defined for the Transfer Format also has applicability as a general language for Import/Export from repositories. The CDIF Integrated Meta-model defined for CASE also has applicability as the basis of standard definitions for use in repositories. The standards that form the complete family of CDIF Standards are documented in EIA/IS-106 CDIF - CASE Data Interchange Format - Overview. These standards cover the overall framework, the transfer format and the CDIF Integrated Meta-model. The diagram in Figure 1 depicts the various standards that comprise the CDIF Family of Standards. The shaded box depicts this Standard and its position in the CDIF Family of Standards.

This Aerospace Standard is to be used as a supplement to SAE AS7114. In addition to the requirements contained in AS7114, the requirements contained herein shall apply to suppliers seeking NADCAP accreditation for Magnetic Particle Inspection. When customer requirements differ from those specified herein, the customer requirements shall take precedence.

This International Standard establishes a common framework for software life cycle processes, with well-defined terminology, that can be referenced by the software industry. It contains processes, activities, and tasks that are to be applied during the acquisition of a system that contains software, a stand-alone software product, and software service and during the supply, development, operation, and maintenance of software products. Software includes the software portion of firmware. This International Standard also provides a process that can be employed for defining, controlling, and improving software life cycle processes.

This guide provides implementation consideration guidance for the normative clauses of IEEE/EIA 12207.0. The guidance is based on software industry experience with the life cycle processes presented in IEEE/EIA 12207.0.

This standard sets forth the performance and durability requirements for 12-volt, D.C. brush-type electric motors used for automobile Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) blowers and outlines Production Validation and Continuing Conformance testing.

The post-flame oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons released from the ring-pack crevice was investigated for a small, air-cooled, spark-ignition utility engine. Spark timing sweeps were performed at 50, 75 and 100% load and speeds of 1800, 2400 and 3060 RPM while operating at a 12:1 air-fuel ratio, which is typical for these engines. A global HC consumption rate (GCR) was introduced based on the temporal profile of the mass released from the ring pack; the mass release after CA90 and up to the point where the remainder of the ring pack HC mass is equal to the exhaust HC level was taken as the mass oxidized, and a rate was defined based on this mass and the corresponding crank angle period over which this took place. For all conditions tested, the GCR varied with the spark timing; advanced spark timing gave higher GCR.

Fuel wall impingement commonly occurs in small-bore diesel engines. Particularly during engine starting, when wall temperatures are low, the evaporation rate of fuel film remaining from previous cycles plays a significant role in the autoignition process that is not fully understood. Pre-injection chemiluminescence (PIC), resulting from low-temperature oxidation of evaporating fuel film and residual gases, was measured over 3200 μsec intervals at the end of the compression strokes, but prior to fuel injection during a series of starting sequences in an optical diesel engine. These experiments were conducted to determine the effect of this parameter on combustion phasing and were conducted at initial engine temperatures of 30, 40, 50 and 60°C, at swirl ratios of 2.0 and 4.5 at 1000 RPM. PIC was determined to increase and be highly correlated with combustion phasing during initial cycles of the starting sequence.

In present GDI engines, multiple injection strategies are often employed for engine cold start mixture formation. In the future, these strategies may also be used to control the combustion process, and to prevent misfiring or high emission levels. While the processes occurring during individual injections of GDI injectors have been investigated by a number of researchers, this paper concentrates on the interactions of multiple injection events. Even though multiple injection strategies are already applied in most GDI engines, the impact of the first injection event on the second injection event has not been analyzed in detail yet. Different optical measurement techniques are used in order to investigate the interaction of the two closely timed injection events, as well as the effect of dwell time and the in-cylinder conditions. The injector investigated is a GDI piezo injector with an outwardly opening needle.

In HCCI engines, the Air/Fuel Ratio (AFR) and Residual Gas Fraction (RGF) are difficult to control during the SI-HCCI-SI transition, and this may result in incomplete combustion and/or high pressure raise rates. As a result, there may be undesirably high engine load fluctuations. The objectives of this work are to further understand this process and develop control methods to minimize these load fluctuations. This paper presents data on instantaneous AFR and RGF measurements, both taken by novel experimental techniques. The data provides an insight into the cyclic AFR and RGF fluctuations during the switch. These results suggest that the relatively slow change in the intake Manifold Air Pressure (MAP) and actuation time of the Variable Valve Timing (VVT) are the main causes of undesired AFR and RGF fluctuations, and hence an unacceptable Net IMEP (NIMEP) fluctuation. We also found large cylinder-to-cylinder AFR variations during the transition.

The behavior of the engine-out UHC and CO emissions from a light-duty diesel optical engine operating at two PPCI conditions was investigated for fifteen different fuels, including diesel fuels, biofuel blends, n-heptane-iso-octane mixtures, and n-cetane-HMN mixtures. The two highly dilute (9-10% O₂) early direct injection PPCI conditions included a low speed (1500 RPM) and load (3.0 bar IMEP) case~where the UHC and CO have been found to stem from overly-lean fuel-air mixtures~and a condition with a relatively higher speed (2000 RPM) and load (6.0 bar IMEP)~where globally richer mixtures may lead to different sources of UHC and CO. The main objectives of this work were to explore the general behavior of the UHC and CO emissions from early-injection PPCI combustion and to gain an understanding of how fuel properties and engine load affect the engine-out emissions.

This study mainly focuses on developing an accurate tracking controller for the self-energizing clutch actuator (SECA) system consisting of a DC motor with an encoder applied on the automated manual transmission (AMT). In the position-based actuation of the SECA, abruptly increasing torque near the clutch kissing point during the clutch engagement process induces control input saturation and jerky response when a conventional feedback controller is applied. The proposed work resolves such issue and significantly increases the control accuracy of the actuator through the development of an effective H-infinity controller. The control performance is shown to be more effective than a simple PID controller via simulation and experiments using an AMT test bench equipped with SECA aided by d-SPACE and Matlab/Simulink.

In hybrid and electric vehicles, the control of the electric motor is a critical component of vehicle functions such as motoring, generating, engine-starting and braking. The efficient and accurate control of motor torque is performed by the motor controller. It is a complex system incorporating sensor sampling, data processing, controls, diagnostics, and 3-phase Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) generation which are executed in sub-100 uSec periods. Due to the fast execution rates, care must be taken in the software coding phase to ensure the algorithms will not exceed the target processor's throughput capability. Production motor control development often still follows the path of customer requirements, component requirements, simulation, hand-code, and verification test due to the concern for processor throughput. In the case of vehicle system controls, typically executed no faster than 5-10 mSec periods, auto-coding tools are used for algorithm development as well as testing.

Several new technologies are now emerging to improve adhesive supply and formulation along with surface treatments that have the potential to offer significant improvements to both surface energy and cleanliness [3]. Additionally, the miniaturisation of laboratory techniques into portable equipment offers potential for online surface energy and chemical analysis measurement for use as quality control measures in a production environment. An overview of newly available technology is given here with several devices studied in further detail. Technologies assessed further in this paper are; portable surface contact angle measurement, ambient pressure plasma cleaning, portable FTIR measurement and adhesive mixing equipment. A number of potential applications are outlined for each device based on the operational technique. The practical aspects of implementation and the perceived technology readiness levels for operation, implementation and results are also given.

Statistical process control (SPC) has been extensively used in many different industries including automotive, electronics, and aerospace, among others. SPC tools such as control charts, process capability analysis, sampling inspection, etc., have definitive and powerful impact on quality control and improvement for mass production and similar production systems. In aerospace manufacturing, however, applications of SPC tools are more challenging, especially when these tools are implemented in processes producing products of large sizes with slower production rates. For instance, following a widely accepted rule-of-thumb, about 100 units of products are required in the first phase of implementing a Shewhart type control chart. Once established, it then can be used for process control in the second phase for actual production process monitoring and control.

It is well known that manufacturing operations produce material conditions that can either enhance or debit the fatigue life of production components. One of the most critical aspects of material condition that can have a significant impact on fatigue life is residual stress (RS) [1, 2]. When springs are manufactured, the spring stock may undergo several operations during production. Additional operations may also be introduced for the purpose of imparting the spring with beneficial surface RS to extend its fatigue life and increase its ability to execute the task it was designed to perform. The resultant RS present in production springs as a result of the various fabrication and processing operations applied can be predicted and modeled, however, RS measurements must be performed in order to quantify the RS state with precision.