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In this paper, responses from a vehicle's suspension, chassis and body, are used to demonstrate a methodology to optimize physical test results. It is well known that there is a variability effect due to an increase of wheel unsprung mass (due to loads measurement fixturing), tire pressure, speed, etc. This paper quantifies loading variability due to Wheel Force Transducer (WFT) unsprung mass by using a rainflow cycle counting domain. Also, presents a proving ground-to-test correlation study and the data reduction techniques that are used in road simulation test development to identify the most nominal road load measurement. Fundamental technical information and analytical methodology useful in overall vehicle durability testing are discussed. Durability testing in a laboratory is designed to correlate fatigue damage rig to road. A Proving Ground (PG) loading history is often acquired by running an instrumented vehicle over one or more PG events with various drivers.

In this paper, loads acting on driveline components during an entire proving ground (PG) durability schedule are used to demonstrate the methodology of optimizing driveline performance reliability using both physical and computational methods. It is well known that there is an effect of driver variability on the driveline component loads. Yet, this effect has not been quantified in the past for lack of experimental data from multiple drivers and reliable data analysis methods. This paper presents the data reduction techniques that are used to identify the extreme driver performance and to extrapolate the short-term measurement to long-term data for driveline performance reliability. The driveline loading variability is made evident in the rotating moment histogram domain. This paper also introduces the concept for a simulation model to predict the driveline component loads based on a complete proving grounds schedule. A model-to-test correlation is also performed in this paper.

The design of occupant restraint systems in the automotive industry has shifted from an empirical approach to a computer aided analysis approach for many years now. Various finite element software programs have been applied in crash safety analysis, and multi-body dynamics codes have been successfully used where quick system response times were required. Most new vehicle programs are analyzed by the use of finite element tools that were used for previous program projects. Software that has specific occupant protection features may be coupled with these finite element tools, or new vehicle programs may be developed from scratch by using one tool that does all, i.e. a tool where the multi-body dynamics are integrated into the finite element method. Both these approaches will be elaborated as valid tools for occupant protection analysis. At first, the coupling between the finite element crash program LS-DYNA and the F.E.

Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) has been routinely used to densify castings for aerospace and medical applications for over 30 years. While HIP is widely known to improve the toughness and fatigue life of castings through the healing of internal porosity, it has been perceived as too expensive for most cast aluminum alloys for automotive applications. Recent developments suggest that the cost effectiveness of certain special HIP processes should be revisited due to reductions in process cost and improvements in throughput. This paper will evaluate the Densal® II process applied to a front aluminum steering knuckle. Two casting processes representing differing levels of relative cost and quality were evaluated. The first was Alcoa's VRC/PRC process, a metal mold process with bottom fill, evacuation before fill and pressurization after fill. This is considered to be a premium quality, but higher cost casting process that is already qualified for this application.

Traditionally, high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel is used for automotive vehicle weight reduction in the North American automotive industry. Dual phase (DP) high strength steel has gained great attention because it provides a combination of high strength and good formability. The main advantage of DP steel is the high ratio of tensile strength to yield strength, which provides more flexibility in stamping and higher energy absorption in a component crush event. This study compares the performances of DP and HSLA steel grades in stamping processes and component crush events, as shown in a typical automotive unibody inner rail. Simulation results show that DP steel offers more uniform strain distribution, improved formability, and better crush performance than conventional HSLA steel.

Silicon Carbide (SiC) based high temperature semiconductor gas sensors were tested for potential applications in the closed-loop control of NOx storage catalytic converters. The exhaust gas composition behind a storage catalyst was simulated by synthetic gas mixtures supplied from a gas blending manifold. In lean oxidizing ambients the sensors produced signals opposite in sign upon the appearance of NOx on the one hand and mixtures of HC and CO on the other hand. Transient gas measurements revealed response times ranging between several milliseconds for HC and several seconds for NOx. These features render SiC based sensors potentially useful for the control of NOx storage catalytic converters.

The staircase fatigue testing method is a recognized method for determining the fatigue limit of powertrain components. The purpose of this paper is to improve upon existing standards by adding common practices that will ensure a higher degree of statistical accuracy in the data. This includes specifying appropriate sample sizes, stress increments and initial load conditions, as well as making suggestions for appropriate methods of analyzing the data. Two methods (Dixon and Mood method and probit analysis method) are selected and compared in terms of relative percent difference on four parameters (mean, standard deviation, B10 fatigue strength and B50 fatigue strength). The staircase data are obtained by simulations from normal and lognormal fatigue limit distributions.

An extensive digital simulation study on lift devices that interact with human operators in DaimlerChrysler automotive assembly plants has been initiated and deployed. This digital mock-up of human-machine workcells is to scientifically evaluate and further certify a number of typical commercial lift devices that are served in car-assembly operations. The entire model is based on human biomechanical Jacobian relationship, as a fundamental kinematic structure, to predict human body instantaneous joint-torque distribution when the human is working with a certain payload. The developed modeling and simulation system will play a pivotal role in proactive ergonomic prediction, verification and digital certification in car advance manufacturing engineering processes.

Sheet metal stamping involves a system of complex tribological (friction, lubrication, and wear), heat transfer, and material strain interactions. Accurate coefficient of friction, strain, and lubrication regime data is required to allow proper modeling of the various sheet stamping processes. In addition, non-intrusive means of monitoring the coefficient of friction in production stamping operations would be of assistance for efficiently maintaining proper stamping quality and to indicate when adjustments to the various stamping parameters, including maintenance, would be advantageous. One of the key sub-systems of the sheet metal stamping process is the draw bead. This paper presents an investigation of the tribology of the draw bead using a Draw Bead Simulator (DBS) Machine and automotive zinc-coated sheet steels. The investigation and findings include: 1) A new, non-intrusive method of measuring the surface temperature of the sheet steel as it passes through the draw bead.

The recent trends of increasing driveline torque and use of traction control devices call for increasingly higher durability capacity from driveline components. Bench and vehicle durability tests are often used to validate designs, but they are not cost-effective and take months to complete. Traditional finite element analysis (FEA) procedures have been used effectively in the re-design of driveline components to reduce stress, and occasionally, to predict fatigue life. But in the case of certain rotating components, such as the Axle Differential Case, where the component sees large stress/strain fluctuations within the course of one complete rotation, even under constant input torque, historical fatigue analysis (when conducted) yields very conservative results. The axle differential case tends to be one of the weakest links in the rear axle assembly. Therefore, there is a crucial need for analytical methods to more accurately predict fatigue life to reduce testing time and cost.

The effect of forming strains on the fatigue behavior of an automotive mild steel, interstitial free steel, was studied after being prestrained by balanced biaxial stretch and plane strain. In the long life region, higher than 5×105 reversals, prestrain improves fatigue resistance. In the short life region, prestrain reduces fatigue resistance. At even shorter fatigue lives, the detrimental effect of prestrain diminishes. For plane strains, the fatigue behavior is anisotropic. In the direction perpendicular to the major strain, the steel exhibits much better fatigue resistance than in the direction parallel to the major strain.

The response of the spine acceleration to rib and pelvis acceleration input of the side impact dummy (SID) is modeled using system identification methods. The basis for the modeling is a simplified representation of the SID by a 3-mass, 2-spring system. Based on this spring-mass representation, two types of response models are established. The first is a "gray-box" type with rib/pelvis-spine relationship modeled by Auto Regression with eXogeneous (or eXtra) input (ARX) type system models. The structure of these models is partially based on the spring-mass simplified representation, hence the notion "gray- box." The parameters of these models are identified through linear regression from test data. The second type of models is noted "physical model" here, since it is strictly a state- space form of the equation of motion of the simple spring-mass representation.

Throughout its history, the automobile has served the utilitarian purpose of transportation quite well. However, until recently, vehicle occupants have had little else to do while proceeding from point "A'' to point "B.'' The phenomenal improvements in computing and communication technologies promise to evolve the driving experience. Like never before, new opportunities to make driving more efficient and engaging are becoming available. The challenge will be to develop the right combination of technology, safety, design and user interface that creates a product popular with customers.

Transfer Path Analysis (TPA) is a widely used methodology in Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) analysis of motor vehicles. Either it is used to design a vehicle from scratch or it is applied to root cause an existing NVH problem, TPA can be a useful tool. TPA analysis is closely related to the concept of partial contribution. The very basic assumption in TPA is that the summation of all partial contributions from different paths constitutes the total response (which could be either tactile or acoustic). Another popular concept in NVH analysis of vehicles is the component sensitivity. Component sensitivity is a measure of how much the response changes due to a change in one of the components of the system, i.e., the thickness of a panel or elastic rate of an engine mount. Sensitivity rates are more popular among CAE/Simulation community, simply because they are reasonably easy to calculate using mathematical models.

Thixomolding (1) is a relatively new process in which the metallic slurry is injected into a die cavity tool at semi-solid or liquid temperatures to form near net-shape products from the solid feedstock. As part of on-going research into Thixomolding technology, this study continues the work of a previous study, that concentrated on magnesium alloys AZ91D and AM60B. The test samples were made with high, low and zero percent fraction solid. The test results of the thixomolded samples of the various percent fraction solid are compared to conventional high pressure die casting samples and there is a discussion of the why the Thixomolding process produces superior properties. In addition, a comprehensive corrosion resistance study was completed utilizing uncoated corrosion plates in an salt spray environment (ASTM B117).

Detail parts are approved during several different phases of the prototype build cycle. There is much pressure at all stages to meet strategic body quality targets. Parts stamped for assembly must meet a process capability requirement of Cpk>1.33. For final PSO (process sign off), as called out in the PPAP (Production Part Approval Process) manual, the requirement can be increased to meeting a Cpk>1.67. During the 2000 Neon part approval process, the PPAP requirements provided the guideline necessary for consistent buy-offs. However, on some critical parts the Cpk requirement made part approvals difficult to accomplish. Occasionally this caused resources to be focused in the wrong place. This paper will discuss how a requirement of Cpk>1.33 can make part approvals more difficult to achieve and change the entire application of a tolerance.