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For model year 1994, General Motors has completed the roll out of the 6.5L Diesel Engine, with the introduction of the light duty certified naturally aspirated and turbocharged engines. At the heart of the expanded use of the 6.5L is a new electronic powertrain control system. The objectives for this system were to produce an engine that has less variation, is easier to assemble, low cost and capable of meeting both heavy and light duty future emissions requirements. Control features include Fuel Quantity and Timing, EGR, Wastegate, Glow Plugs, Transmission, Cruise Control and Diagnostics.

The development of a major structural welded assembly is a lengthy and expensive project. The design and the development must generate a product that meets requirements and customer expectations. Product engineers and test engineers developing structural weldments are the target audience for this paper. The purpose of this paper is to describe a Design Of Experiments approach that was developed which helps provide qualitative information on a structural weldment's sensitivity to MIG weld variation.

The new Allison M6600 and M9600 transmissions incorporate continuous improvement items to achieve greater robustness in terms of reliability and durability. This was partially accomplished by incorporating components from higher - capacity transmissions into current products with minimal redesign and tooling. A key life factor for all transmission components is adequate lubrication and cooling, and improvements in this area were accomplished by decreasing restrictions and better utilization of oil that was previously exhausted to sump. The new transmission models have further enhancements to clutch life through improved control of clutch torque and slip times. These clutch improvements were developed through the use of improved computerized evaluation techniques utilizing lap-top computer programs. Also, a transmission -mounted floating-caliper, disc type park brake with integrated controls is being evaluated as a possible replacement for the current drum-type brake.

Vehicle requirements are measurable and define the performance of a system and its design constraints. Requirements are developed and translated from the voice of the buying customer, the voice of the government, and the voice of General Motors. Duramax powertrain subsystem requirements are developed from the vehicle requirements. This “flow down” approach optimizes the vehicle as a system. The packaging envelope, common interfaces, and manufacturing impacts were the outcome of the Vehicle Portfolio Development Process. Project execution was a global development process executed by Isuzu Engineers in Japan, Allison Automatic Transmission Engineers in Indianapolis, ZF Manual Transmission Engineers in Detroit, and General Motors Engineers in Detroit.