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Automotive structural components are exposed to high loads, impact situations and corrosion. In addition, there may be temperature excursions that introduce creep as well as reduced modulus (stiffness). These issues have limited the use of light metals in automotive structural applications primarily to aluminum alloys, and primarily to cast wheels and knuckles (only a few of which are forged), cast brake calipers, and cast control arms. This paper reports on research performed at Chongqing University, Chongqing China, under the auspices of General Motors engineering and directed by the first author, to develop a protocol that uses wrought magnesium in control arms. The goal was to produce a chassis part that could provide the same engineering function as current cast aluminum applications; and since magnesium is 33% less dense than aluminum, would be lighter.

There is an increasing demand in automated manufacturability analysis of metal castings at the initial stages of their design. This paper presents a system developed for virtual manufacturability analysis of casting components. The system can be used by a casting designer to evaluate manufacturability of a part designed for various manufacture processes including casting, heat treatment, and machining. The system uses computational geometrics and geometric reasoning to extract manufacturing features and geometry characteristics from a part CAD model. It uses an expert system and a design database consisting of metal casting, heat treatment and machining process knowledge and rules to present manufacturability analysis results and advice to the designer. Application of the system is demonstrated for the manufacturability assessment of automotive cast aluminum components.

Recent changes to the U.S. CAFÉ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) requirements have caused increased focus on alternative vehicle component designs that offer mass savings while maintaining overall vehicle design and performance targets. The instrument panel components comprise approximately 6% of the total vehicle interior mass and are thus a key component of interest in mass optimization efforts. Typically, instrument panel structures are constructed of low carbon tubular steel cross car members with welded stamped steel component brackets. In some cases, instrument panel structures have incorporated high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels to reduce mass by reducing gage. In this study, aluminum low mass instrument panel structure concept designs are developed. This paper illustrates the differences between a HSLA steel solution and four different aluminum instrument panel structure designs.

In order to assess the possible ways of energy transfer from the various sources of excitation in a vehicle assembly to a given target location, frequency based substructuring technique and transfer path analysis are used. These methods help to locate the most important energy transfer paths for a specific problem, and to evaluate their individual effects on the target, thus providing valuable insight into the mechanisms responsible for the problem. The Source-Path-Receiver concept is used. The sources can be from the road surface, engine, transmission, transfer case, prop-shaft, differential, rotating components, chain drives, pumps, etc., and the receiver can be driver/passenger ears, steering column, seats, etc. This paper is devoted to identify the noise transfer paths and the force transmissibility among the interfaces of different components in the vehicle for the low to mid frequency range.

This paper describes rationale for determining the apportionment of variable or ‘shuttered’ airflow and non-variable or static airflow through openings in the front of a vehicle as needed for vehicle cooling. Variable airflow can be achieved by means of a shutter system, which throttles airflow through the front end and into the Condenser, Radiator, and Fan Module, (CRFM). Shutters originated early in the history of the auto industry and acted as a thermostat [1]. They controlled airflow as opposed to coolant flow through the radiator. Two benefits that are realized today are aerodynamic and thermal gains, achieved by restricting unneeded cooling airflow. Other benefits exist and justify the use of shutters; however, there are also difficulties in both execution and practical use. This paper will focus on optimizing system performance and execution in terms of the two benefits of reduced aerodynamic drag and reduced mechanical drag through thermal control.

Mid 2006 a study group at General Motors developed the concept for the electric vehicle with extended range (EREV),. The electric propulsion system should receive the electrical energy from a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) and/or an auxiliary power unit (APU) which could either be a hydrogen fuel cell or an internal combustion engine (ICE) driven generator. The study result was the Chevrolet VOLT concept car in the North American Auto Show in Detroit in 2007. The paper describes the requirements, concepts, development and the performance of the battery used as RESS for the ICE type VOLTEC propulsion system version of the Chevrolet Volt. The key requirement for the RESS is to provide energy to drive an electric vehicle with “no compromised performance” for 40 miles. Extended Range Mode allows for this experience to continue beyond 40 miles.

This paper presents subjective and objective methods for evaluating transient vehicle dynamics characteristics in four sections: (1) Definition of transient behavior in terms of four traits-agility, stability, precision, and roll support; (2) Description of subjective evaluation methods; (3) Implementation of Design for Six Sigma principles to the development of a steering robot controlled objective test for transient performance; (4) The final section of this paper uses data from simulation and road tests to demonstrate how chassis design parameters can affect transient handling performance.

Delivering the appropriate material data for CAE analysis of plastic components is not as straight forward as it would seem to be. While a few of the properties typically used by resin manufacturers and material engineers to describe a plastic are useful to the analysis community (density, CLTE), most are not (flexural modulus, notched izod). In addition some properties such as yield stress are defined differently by the analysis community than by the materials community. Lastly, secondary operations such as painting or chrome plating significantly change the behavior of components with plastic substrates. The materials engineering community and the CAE analysis community must work together closely to develop the material data necessary to increase the capability of the analysis. This paper will examine case studies where these issues have required modifications to the material property data to increase the fidelity of the CAE analysis.

In this paper, a low-cost means to improve fuel economy in conventional vehicles by employing ultracapacitor based Active Energy Recovery Buffer (AERB) scheme will be presented. The kinetic energy of the vehicle during the coast down events is utilized to charge the ultracapacitor either directly or through a dc-dc converter, allowing the voltage to increase up to the maximum permissible level. When the vehicle starts after a Stop event, the energy stored in the capacitor is discharged to power the accessory loads until the capacitor voltage falls below a minimum threshold. The use of stored capacitor energy to power the accessory loads relieves the generator torque load on the engine resulting in reduced fuel consumption. Two different topologies are considered for implementing the AERB system. The first topology, which is a simple add-on to the conventional vehicle electrical system, comprises of the ultracapacitor bank and the dc-dc converter connected across the dc bus.

The torque converter and torque converter clutch are critical devices governing overall power transfer efficiency in automatic transmission powertrains. With calibrations becoming more aggressive to meet increasing fuel economy standards, the torque converter clutch is being applied over a wider range of driving conditions. At low engine speed and high engine torque, noise and vibration concerns originating from the driveline, powertrain or vehicle structure can supersede aggressive torque converter clutch scheduling. Understanding the torsional characteristics of the torque converter clutch and its interaction with the drivetrain can lead to a more robust design, operation in regions otherwise restricted by noise and vibration, and potential fuel economy improvement.

Lean-burn SIDI engine technology offers improved fuel economy; however, the reduction of NOx during lean-operation continues to be a major technical hurdle in the implementation of energy efficient technology. There are several aftertreatment technologies, including the lean NOx trap and active urea SCR, which have been widely considered, but they all suffer from high material cost and require customer intervention to fill the urea solution. Recently reported passive NH₃-SCR system - a simple, low-cost, and urea-free system - has the potential to enable the implementation of lean-burn gasoline engines. Key components in the passive NH₃-SCR aftertreatment system include a close-coupled TWC and underfloor SCR technology. NH₃ is formed on the TWC with short pulses of rich engine operation and the NH₃ is then stored on the underfloor SCR catalysts.

In recent years, there has been a sustained effort by the automotive OEMs and suppliers to improve the vehicle driveline efficiency. This has been in response to customer demands for greater vehicle fuel economy and increasingly stringent government regulations. The automotive rear axle is one of the major sources of power loss in the driveline, and hence represents an area where power loss improvements can have a significant impact on overall vehicle fuel economy. Both the friction induced mechanical losses and the spin losses vary significantly with the operating temperature of the lubricant. Also, the preloads in the bearings can vary due to temperature fluctuations. The temperatures of the lubricant, the gear tooth contacting surfaces, and the bearing contact surfaces are critical to the overall axle performance in terms of power losses, fatigue life, and wear.

Vehicle manufacturers have developed new vehicle and diesel engine technologies compatible with B6-B20 biodiesel blends meeting ASTM D7467, “Standard Specification for Diesel Fuel Oil, Biodiesel Blend (B6 to B20).” However, recent U.S. market place fuel surveys have shown that many retail biodiesel samples are out of specification. A vehicle designed to use biodiesel blends is likely to encounter occasional use of poor quality biodiesel fuel; and therefore understanding the effects of bad marketplace biodiesel fuels on engine and fuel system performance is critical to develop durable automotive technologies. The results presented herein are from vehicle evaluation studies with both on-specification and off-specification bio-based fuels. These studies focused on the performance of fuel injection equipment, engine, engine oil, emissions and emissions system durability.

The Chevrolet Volt is an electric vehicle (EV) that operates exclusively on battery power as long as useful energy is available in the battery pack under normal conditions. After the battery is depleted of available energy, extended-range (ER) driving uses fuel energy in an internal combustion engine (ICE), an on-board generator, and a large electric driving motor. This extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) utilizes electric energy in an automobile more effectively than a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), which characteristically blends electric and engine power together during driving. A specialized EREV powertrain, called the "Voltec," drives the Volt through its entire range of speed and acceleration with battery power alone, within the limit of battery energy, thereby displacing more fuel with electricity, emitting less CO₂, and producing less cold-start emissions than a PHEV operating in real-world conditions.

Diesel engines have the potential to significantly increase vehicle fuel economy and decrease CO₂ emissions; however, efficient removal of NOx and particulate matter from the engine exhaust is required to meet stringent emission standards. A conventional diesel aftertreatment system consists of a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC), a urea-based Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) catalyst and a diesel particulate filter (DPF), and is widely used to meet the most recent NOx (nitrogen oxides comprising NO and NO₂) and particulate matter (PM) emission standards for medium- and heavy-duty sport utility and truck vehicles. The increasingly stringent emission targets have recently pushed this system layout towards an increase in size of the components and consequently higher system cost. An emerging technology developed recently involves placing the SCR catalyst onto the conventional wall-flow filter.

Temperature effects on the deformation and fracture of a commercially produced transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steel subject to a two-step quenching and partitioning (Q&P) heat treatment are investigated. Strain field evolution at room temperature is quantified in this 980 MPa grade Q&P steel with a stereo digital image correlation (DIC) technique from quasi-static tensile tests of specimens with 0°, 45°, and 90° orientations. Baseline tensile properties along with the variation of the instantaneous hardening index with strain were computed. Variations of the bake-hardening index were explored under simulated paint bake conditions. Tensile properties were measured at selected temperatures between -100°C and 200°C and the TRIP effect was found to be temperature-dependent due to stress-induced martensitic transformation at lower temperatures versus strain-induced transformation at higher temperatures.

As mass reduction becomes an increasingly important enabler for fuel economy improvement, having a robust structural development process that can comprehend Vehicle Dynamics-specific requirements is correspondingly important. There is a correlation between the stiffness of the body structure and the performance of the vehicle when evaluated for ride and handling. However, an unconstrained approach to body stiffening will result in an overly-massive body structure. In this paper, the authors employ loads generated from simulation of quasi-static and dynamic vehicle events in ADAMS, and exercise structural finite element models to recover displacements and deflected shapes. In doing so, a quantitative basis for considering structural vehicle dynamics requirements can be established early in the design/development process.

Experimental decklids for the Cadillac STS sedan were made with Al AA5083 sheet outer panels and Mg AZ31B sheet inner panels using regular-production forming processes and hardware. Joining and coating processes were developed to accommodate the unique properties of Mg. Assembled decklids were evaluated for dimensional accuracy, slam durability, and impact response. The assemblies performed very well in these tests. Explicit and implicit finite element simulations of decklids were conducted, and showed that the Al/Mg decklids have good stiffness and strength characteristics. These results suggest the feasibility of using Mg sheet closure panels from a structural perspective.

Magnesium and aluminum alloys offer lightweighting opportunities in automotive applications. Joining of dissimilar materials, however, generally requires methods that do not involve fusion. This paper explores the use of self-pierce riveting (SPR) to join magnesium to aluminum alloys for structural and closure applications. The preliminary results indicate that SPR is a viable option for joining aluminum extrusions to magnesium die castings, as well as stamped sheet aluminum to quick-plastic-formed (QPF) sheet magnesium.

Roof racks are designed for carrying luggage during customers' travels. These rails need to be strong enough to be able to carry the luggage weight as well as be able to withstand aerodynamic loads that are generated when the vehicle is travelling at high speeds on highways. Traditionally, roof rail gage thickness is increased to account for these load cases (since these are manufactured by extrusion), but doing so leads to increased mass which adversely affects fuel efficiency. The current study focuses on providing the guidelines for strategically placing lightening holes and optimizing gage thickness so that the final design is robust to noise parameters and saves the most mass without adversely impacting wind noise performance while minimizing stress. The project applied Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) techniques to optimize roof rail parameters in order to improve the load carrying capacity while minimizing mass.