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Technical Paper

the potential of Unconventional Powerplants for Vehicle Propulsion

1959-01-01
590039
COMPARISON of work capacity per unit mass and volume of different energy carriers shows that liquid hydrocarbons are superior to other energy sources. Solar and nuclear powerplants as well as their use in conjunction with a steam engine are examined in this paper. Suitability of an electric drive is discussed. Using a production 2-stroke diesel engine and its development forecast, a comparison is made of spark ignition, diesel, and gas turbine engines. The status of the free-piston engine turbine combination is reviewed.
Technical Paper

The Manufacturing Manager and the Computer

1973-02-01
730180
This paper discusses the development and execution of a unique one-day, hands-on seminar designed to introduce top-level manufacturing managers to the computer. Total emphasis is on manufacturing applications, and each manager is afforded an opportunity to use the computer himself. The mystery of data cards, teletype terminals, and CRTs is removed during line balancing, simulation, and process control work sessions. The seminar was developed by General Motor's Manufacturing Development Activity for internal presentation to GM managers.
Technical Paper

The 1997 Chevrolet Corvette Structure Architecture Synthesis

1997-02-24
970089
This paper describes the design, synthesis-analysis and development of the unique vehicle structure architecture for the fifth generation Chevrolet Corvette, ‘C5’, which starts in the 1997 model year. The innovative structural layout of the ‘C5’ enables torsional rigidity in an open roof vehicle which exceeds that of all current production open roof vehicles by a wide margin. The first structural mode of the ‘C5’ in open roof configuration approaches typical values measured in similar size fixed roof vehicles. Extensive use of CAE and a systems methodology of benchmarking and requirements rolldown were employed to develop the ‘C5’ vehicle architecture. Simple computer models coupled with numerical optimization were used early in the design process to evaluate every design concept and alternative iteration for mass and structural efficiency.
Technical Paper

THE BUICK Air Poise SUSPENSION

1958-01-01
580046
THIS paper describes the springs, control system, and ride of the air suspension system on the 1958 Buick. The system is a semiclosed one, providing a variable-rate suspension, automatic leveling and trim control, and manual lift. The latter feature is a knob below the instrument panel which can be operated when necessary to cope with unusual clearance conditions. The car remains at the same height with loads of up to five passengers and 500 lb in the trunk. The authors describe the road-holding ability of a car with this suspension system as excellent.
Technical Paper

Streamlining Chassis Tuning for Chevrolet and GMC Trucks and Vans

2005-04-11
2005-01-0406
This paper describes some methods for greatly reducing or possibly eliminating subjective tuning of suspension parts for ride and handling. Laptop computers can now be used in the vehicle to guide the tuning process. The same tools can be used to select solutions that reduce sensitivity to production and environmental variations. OBJECTIVE Reduce or eliminate time required for tuning of suspension parts for ride characteristics. Improve the robustness of ride performance relative to variations in ambient temperature and production tolerances. PROBLEM REQUIRING SOLUTION AND METHOD OF APPROACH Traditional development programs for new vehicles include time-consuming subjective ride evaluations. One example is shock absorber tuning. Even if sophisticated models define force-velocity curves, numerous hardware iterations are needed to find valvings that will reproduce the curves. Many evaluation rides are needed to modify the valvings to meet performance targets.
Technical Paper

Nylon RIM Development for Automotive Body Panels

1985-02-01
850157
The performance and production requirements for future passenger vehicles has increased the efforts to replace metal body panels with plastic materials. This has been accomplished, to a large extent on some production vehicles that have been introduced recently. Unfortunately, these plastic body applications have necessitated special off-line handling or low temperature paint processing. However, the advantages of RIM nylon, offer the potential for uniquely new plastic body designs, that can be processed through existing assembly plants, much like the steel panels they are intended to replace. The intent of this paper is to discuss the rationale for future plastic body panel material selection and related nylon RIM development efforts.
Technical Paper

Lead-time Reduction in Stamping CAE and Die Face Development using Massively Parallel Processing in Forming Simulations

2007-04-16
2007-01-1678
Since 1997, General Motors Body Manufacturing Engineering - Die Engineering Services (BME-DES) has been working jointly with our software vendor to develop and implement a parallel version of stamping simulation software for mass production analysis applications. The evolution of this technology and the insight gained through the implementation of DMP/MPP technology as well as performance benchmarks are discussed in this publication.
Technical Paper

Influence of Laser Welding Parameters on Formability and Robustness of Blank Manufacturing: An Application to a Body Side Frame

1995-02-01
950922
A design of experiments is used to study the effect of laser weld parameters on formability of welded blanks for two different material combinations of cold rolled (bare) steel to cold rolled steel and cold rolled steel to hot dipped galvanized steel. Critical weld parameters influencing the formability of welded blanks are identified and the optimum weld set-up condition is obtained based on formability performance and consistency of formability for laser welded blanks. The results are applied to an automotive body side frame. The robustness of welded blank production is also assessed and the final welded set-up condition for the body side frame is obtained based on both the formability of welded blanks and the robustness of welded blank production. The body side frame is successfully made from the welded blanks with this final weld set-up condition.
Technical Paper

Front Suspension Multi-Axis Testing

1987-11-01
872255
A front suspension laboratory test procedure was developed to reproduce time-correlated fatigue damaging events from a light truck road durability test. Subsequently, the performance of front suspension systems for the GMT 400 light truck program were evaluated in terms of customer reliability. Both prototype and pilot testing, as well as computer modeling, were used in the evaluation.
Technical Paper

From Painted “Scrap” to Painted Production Parts

2000-03-06
2000-01-0024
Saturn currently injection molds and paints PPE+PA66 exterior body panels in its Spring Hill, TN facility. These manufacturing operations result in a continuous stream of waste material that needs to be responsibly and economically managed. This paper will summarize the process that General Motors and Saturn used to evaluate and validate the use of post-industrial painted PPE+PA66 reprocessed material in Saturn and General Motors' wheel trim applications (wheel covers). Not only did this project increase the amount of recycled content in General Motors' vehicles, but it also provided Saturn Corporation with a favored outlet for an internal waste stream.
Technical Paper

Experimental Evaluation of a Non-Intrusive Automotive Suspension Testing Apparatus

2000-03-06
2000-01-1329
Proper performance of a vehicle's suspension system is required to ensure safe, comfortable operation of a vehicle. A suspension-testing device that can determine the condition of the suspension system, specifically the dampers, has been designed. The tests described by this paper seek to evaluate the performance of the device by testing vehicles and comparing to other methods of measuring suspension system performance that are currently in use. The suspension-testing device has the ability to discover degraded performance of the suspension system through a 2-minute test with the vehicle in operating condition.
Technical Paper

Eco-labels and Eco-Indices. Do They Make Sense?

2000-04-26
2000-01-1473
Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) of complex systems, such as vehicles and vehicle components, are based on the quantification of the energy, wastes, and emissions associated with the material production, manufacturing, use and end of life of the product. However, the volume of information needed to provide a comprehensive assessment of the environmental burdens is large and complicates the decision process in choosing among alternatives. For this reason people have attempted to simplify the information by collapsing it into a single index, which essentially assigns a score to a product of being “good” or “bad”. Even though such an approach looks attractive to the decision-makers that want simple answers based on meaningful data, the results may be misleading.
Technical Paper

A Predictive Process for Spring Failure Rates in Automotive Parts Applications

1991-02-01
910356
This paper discusses an analytical technique for computing the failure rate of steel springs used in automotive part applications. Preliminary computations may be performed and used to predict spring failure rates quickly at a very early stage of a product development cycle and to establish program reliability impact before commitment. The analytical method is essentially a combination of various existing procedures that are logically sequenced to compute a spring probability of failure under various operational conditions. Fatigue life of a mechanical component can be computed from its S-N curve. For steels, the S-N curve can be approximated by formulae which describe the fatigue life as a function of its endurance limit and its alternating stress. Most springs in service are preloaded and the actual stress fluctuates about a mean level. In order to compute an equivalent alternating stress with zero mean, an analytical method based on the Goodman Diagram is used.
Technical Paper

1958 Chevrolet LEVEL AIR SUSPENSION

1958-01-01
580049
CHEVROLET has made its new air-suspension system easily interchangeable in production line assembly with standard full-coil suspension by adopting a 4-link-type rear suspension with short and long arms. A feature of the system is the mounting of the leveling valves within the air-spring assemblies. These valves correct riding height continually at a moderate rate, regardless of whether the springs are leveling or operating in ride motion. The system provides constant frequency ride—ride comfort remains the same whether the car is occupied by the driver alone or is fully loaded.
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