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A new tool for analyzing transmissions that use planetary gearsets is presented. With this tool, entire transmissions are usually represented by a single lever, and the calculation of most characteristics is as simple as summing moments of a lever. A miniature cookbook of levers, for various planetary arrangements is included which can be helpful in selecting a planetary to achieve the desired objectives of a user.

A selection of commercially available chromium and chromium-free post phosphate rinses along with a deionized water rinse were evaluated over several zinc and zinc-alloy coated sheet steels. The test specimens were pretreated and electrocoated on-line in an automotive assembly plant. The effect of the rinse treatments on the cosmetic corrosion performance of the substrates, after 5 years of exposure in an outdoor scab corrosion test was determined. After this exposure none of the rinse treatments had performed better than deionized water rinse on zinc and zinc-iron coated sheet. The zinc-nickel coating showed improved scribe creepage when treated with the Cr+6/Cr+3 rinse. Data is provided comparing the concentration of the treatments used vs scribe creepage and chipping corrosion paint loss.

A method is proposed to qualify automotive component designs in the laboratory using multiaxial real time load/strain input data acquired in the field. Fatigue damage analysis methods are used to edit the field data to produce an accelerated test cycle that retains all of the damaging real time load histories present in the original test cycle. Use of this procedure can contribute to a significant reduction in product design/development time.

TFC/IW, total fuel consumption divided by inertia (test) weight is a useful concept in analyzing the total or composite fuel economy generated in thousands of tests using the carbon balance technique in EPA Federal Test Procedure and Highway Driving Cycle. TFC/IW is a measure of drive train efficiency that requires no additional complicating assumptions. It is applicable to one test or a fleet representing many tests.

This paper proposes the adaptation of a modulation technique called Modified Frequency Modulation (MFM) to vehicle multiplexing. MFM was developed during the latter 1960's for use in magnetic disk drives. Disk drives use MFM encoding to achieve a maximum density of recorded data on a disk. The advantage in vehicle multiplexing is that the technique is synchronous with an average of 0.75 transitions per bit. Another advantage is that it can tolerate a large amount of rise and fall time wave shaping, which can significantly reduce radiated EMI. The paper will compare the EMI characteristics generated by NRZ, PWM, VPWM, Manchester, and MFM encoding. Included are typical encoding requirements such as symbol generation, arbitration capabilities, latency, invalid bit testing as well as encoding techniques effect on the host microcomputer.

An automotive cockpit module is a complex assembly, which consists of components and sub-systems. The critical systems in the cockpit module are the instrument panel (IP), the floor console, and door trim assemblies, which consist of many plastic trims. Stiffness is one of the most important parameters for the plastic trims' design, and it should be optimum to meet all the three functional requirements of safety, vibration and durability. This paper presents how the CAE application and various other techniques are used efficiently to predict the stiffness, and the strength of automotive cockpit systems, which will reduce the product development cycle time and cost. The implicit solver is used for the most of the stiffness analysis, and the explicit techniques are used in highly non-linear situations. This paper also shows the correlations of the CAE results and the physical test results, which will give more confidence in product design and reduce the cost of prototype testing.

In recent years, strict weight reduction targets have pushed auto manufacturers to use lighter gauge sheet steels in all areas of the vehicle including exterior body panels. As sheet metal thicknesses are reduced, dentability of body panels becomes of increasing concern. Thus, the goal becomes one of reducing sheet metal thickness while maintaining acceptable dent resistance. Most prior work in this area has focused on quasi-static loading conditions. In this study, both quasi-static and dynamic dent tests are evaluated. Fully assembled doors made from mild, medium strength bake hardenable and non-bake hardenable steels are examined. The quasi-static dent test is run at a test speed of 0.1 m/minute while the dynamic dent test is run at a test speed of 26.8 m/minute. Dynamic dent testing is of interest because it more closely approximates real life denting conditions such as in-plant handling and transit damage, and parking lot damage from car door and shopping cart impact.

Although numerical simulation techniques for sheet metal forming become increasingly maturing in recent years, prediction of springback remains a topic of current investigation. The main point of this paper is to illustrate the effectiveness of a modelling approach where static implicit schemes are used for the prediction of springback regardless whether a static implicit or dynamic explicit scheme is used in the forming simulation. The approach is demonstrated by revisiting the 2-D draw bending of NUMISHEET'93 and numerical results on two real world stampings.

A good manager knows how to administer, direct, and allocate the resources of his organization to the best advantage. The main resources available to him are money; facilities, equipment, and material; people; time; information; and company reputation or image. These resources all interact to create conflicting demands. It is the job of the management scientist to resolve these conflicts satisfactorily through the application of quantitative techniques, some of which are described.

A running loss test procedure has been developed which integrates a point-source collection method to measure fuel evaporative running loss from vehicles during their operation on the chassis dynamometer. The point-source method is part of a complete running loss test procedure which employs the combination of site-specific collection devices on the vehicle, and a sampling pump with sampling lines. Fugitive fuel vapor is drawn into these collectors which have been matched to characteristics of the vehicle and the test cell. The composite vapor sample is routed to a collection bag through an adaptation of the ordinary constant volume dilution system typically used for vehicle exhaust gas sampling. Analysis of the contents of such bags provides an accurate measure of the mass and species of running loss collected during each of three LA-4* driving cycles. Other running loss sampling methods were considered by the Auto-Oil Air Quality Improvement Research Program (AQIRP or Program).

Vacuum insulation and phase-change thermal storage have been used to enhance the heat retention of a prototype catalytic converter. Storing heat in the converter between trips allows exhaust gases to be converted more quickly, significantly reducing cold-start emissions. Using a small metal hydride, the thermal conductance of the vacuum insulation can be varied continuously between 0.49 and 27 W/m2K (R-12 to R-0.2 insulation) to prevent overheating of the catalyst. A prototype was installed in a Dodge Neon with a 2.0-liter engine. Following a standard preconditioning and a 23-hour cold soak, an FTP (Federal Test Procedure) emissions test was performed. Although exhaust temperatures during the preconditioning were not hot enough to melt the phase-change material, the vacuum insulation performed well, resulting in a converter temperature of 146°C after the 23-hour cold soak at 27°C.

Resin transfer molding (RTM) is the process of choice for the Body Panels of the Viper Sports car. The objective of this paper is to outline the reasons for the choice of RTM, and discuss development of technology for Class A surfaces and the paint system. Accomplishments to date and finally the work yet to be completed will also be defined. Conclusions from the work to date indicate that the RTM process enables a reduction in vehicle development time through faster prototypes and tool build times and that high quality, Class A surfaces can be successfully achieved even with epoxy tools. Additional work is ongoing to reduce cycle times and finishing costs, and to improve the in-process dimensional stability.

With the increasing demand to improve recyclability of automobiles worldwide the Vehicle Recycling Partnership (VRP) a cooperative effort among Chrysler, Ford and General Motors has been formed. The VRP has been developing preferred practices for improvement of recyclability for future vehicle subsystems. These preferred practices are intended to assist engineers and designers in improving recyclability without impairing the performance of the subsystem. This paper discusses the practices of specific design for recycling of plastic bumper fascia systems and what the designer should consider in developing a design to improve and maximize recyclability.

Hand dismantling of certain automotive parts has been an accepted process to remove high value materials, but in large scale recycling this may not be economical. In plastics, a pure non contaminated material stream is critical for maintaining high material values and this means designing plastic parts that can be machine separated. One candidate for separating the plastics in vehicle subsystems such as instrument panels and door trim panels is density separation. In order to better understand what processes are required to develop design requirements for automated plastic separation methods Chrysler and the Vehicle Recycling Partnership have undertaken a major materials separation study with MBA Polymers. In this paper, we describe the material separation methods and the application of these methods to three automotive interior assemblies.

An extensive program has been established to screen and evaluate heat- and corrosion-resistant alloys that may have some potential application in emission-control systems anywhere from the exhaust manifold to the tailpipe. The various phases of this program, which include tests conducted in air and controlled exhaust atmospheres at temperatures between 1300-2200°F are described. Some selected test data and the results of metallographic studies are presented to illustrate how representative alloys react to the various test conditions. The characteristics and functions of the basic emission-control devices are reviewed in light of their effect upon materials requirements.

To understand how the passenger compartment cavity interacts with the surrounding panels (roof, windshield, dash panel, etc) a numerical panel contribution analysis was performed using FEA and BEA techniques. An experimental panel contribution analysis was conducted by Reiter Automotive Systems. Test results showed good correlation with the simulation results. After gaining some insight into panel contributions for power train noise, an attempt was made to introduce beads in panels to reduce vibration levels. A fully trimmed body structural-acoustic FEA model was used in this analysis. A network of massless beam elements was created in the model. This full structural-acoustic FEA model was then used to determine the optimal location for the beads, using the added beams as optimization variables.

A method has been employed in the stamping facility to reduce scrap by correlating observations from the press shop with laboratory test results. This paper illustrates the successful use of this method for reducing formability failures. Correlation of observed coating behavior with laboratory adherence tests is also discussed.

A laboratory test fixture was designed and built to simulate seat belt assembly installations. The anchor positions of the retractor and pillar loop, and the engaged or free-hanging position of the latchplate can be varied to either simulate a vehicle's seat belt system geometry, or to optimize a proposed geometry. The required retraction forces for a simulated geometry are determined by replacing the retractor action with a motorized load transducer that measures the force required to stow the latchplate. The pillar loop, webbing, latchplate, and their relative positions can be varied until the minimum retraction force that successfully stores the latchplate is determined. The geometry of such a condition can then be applied to future designs of seat belt assembly components and their anchor positions.

A computer-controlled body panel testing machine has been used to quantify stiffness and dent resistance of body panels at Chrysler. The influence of yield strength and local reinforcement on the mechanical behavior of automotive door panels has been investigated. Medium strength steels in the range of 210 -240 MPa yield strength have produced significant improvements in dent resistance over a 160 MPa yield strength steel. Considerable improvements in dent resistance can also be attributed to the use of local, adhesively attached, glass fiber reinforcement patches. The effects of boundary conditions and panel shape on stiffness and dent resistance are illustrated in this application.