Search Results

The requirement of “zero defects” is rapidly finding its way as a “standard” of quality in numerous quarters. This phrase has great psychological appeal, and is often taken literally at all levels in an organization even though quality motivation may be the intention. It is common to believe that when zero defects are found in the sample, this must be the case for “all the rest” as well. In this paper the technical side of “zero defects” is examined. We look at the statistics of zero defects and show what is implied about lot or process quality when zero defects is the actual sample outcome. The focus is on attribute measurements and includes some special cases where a significant measurement error exists and cases where a Bayesian statistical analysis may be appropriate.

Oil pumpability in passenger car gasoline engines was well-characterized by an ASTM program and by individual researchers in the 1970's and early 1980's. Oil pumpability in diesel engines however, was not investigated to any significant extent until the mid-1980's. This study was initiated to define the performance of several commercial viscosity modifiers in different formulations containing 3 detergent-inhibitor (DI) additive packages and 4 basestock types. The test oils were run at -18°C (0°F) in a Cummins NTC-400 diesel engine. The results, when statistically analyzed, indicated that a new, second generation olefin copolymer (OCP) viscosity modifier had better performance than a first generation OCP and, furthermore, had performance equal to a polymethacrylate (PMA) viscosity modifier. The analysis also showed that one DI/base stock combination had a significant effect on performance.

Understanding customer expectations is critical to satisfying customers. Holding customer clinics is one approach to set winning targets for the engineering functional measures to drive customer satisfaction. In these clinics, customers are asked to operate and interact with vehicle systems or subsystems such as doors, lift gates, shifters, and seat adjusters, and then rate their experience. From this customer evaluation data, engineers can create customer loss or preference functions. These functions let engineers set appropriate targets by balancing risks and benefits. Statistical methods such as cumulative customer loss function are regularly applied for such analyses. In this paper, a new approach based on the Taguchi method is proposed and developed. It is referred to as Taguchi Customer Loss Function (TCLF).

In automotive electronics on-board diagnostics does the fault diagnosis and reporting. It provides the level of robustness required for the control electronics against various faults. The amount of diagnostic information available via on board diagnostics are depends on the type of vehicle. Pre-supply fuel pump is the component in the common rail hydraulic system. It pumps the fuel from the fuel tank to the inlet valve of the high pressure fuel pump. Electronic control unit synchronizes its operation with high pressure fuel pump. A dedicated driver module in the ECU controls the operation of pre-supply fuel pump. The driver module consist of an ASIC with internal voltage, current monitoring modules for the fault diagnosis and the pre-drivers to control external HS and LS power stages. The software part of the OBD programmed in the internal memory of the ASIC. The “Rds_on” of the power MOSFETs are used for the fault detection purpose.

Vehicle dynamics is a discipline of mechanical engineering that benefited of significant improvements thanks to the progress of computational engineering. Vehicle dynamics engineers are using CAE for the development of a vehicle with MBS and FEA. The concurrent use of these two technologies is a standard in the automotive industry. However the current simulation process is not fully efficient because local geometrical and material nonlinearities are not accurately modeled in classical MBS software. This paper introduces a methodology for vehicle dynamics simulation integrating MBS capabilities in one single nonlinear FEA environment enabling an accurate modeling of nonlinearity in vehicles.

This paper describes the application of statistical techniques known as Design of Experiments (D.O.E.) to efficiently use the results of numerical analysis data in order to improve the configuration of automotive systems. The general framework of these techniques is presented in a format aiming at the design engineer as their end user. Besides, a case study is presented with the purpose of illustrating their practical use. The first step of the case study is to build predictive models for the behaviour of the automotive system being developed by means of the Response Surface Method (RSM), using the proper D.O.E. options. Once these predictive models are available, automatic numerical optimization algorithms are used to improve the responses of interest for given operating conditions. Finally, the automotive systems are robust designed taking into account that the operating conditions vary randomly.

Problems of bore distortion, combustion blowby and gasket fatigue in lightweight engine blocks are ultimately related to the gasket sealing pressure distribution. For both conventional embossed steel gaskets and composite ones this distribution can be modified by suitable local changes in gasket stiffness. Current methods of gasket optimization concentrate on large scale iterative finite element analysis of the head/gasket/block system, with major computational costs. We present a more economical alternative in which condensed compliance matrices are obtained either from elementary NASTRAN runs or by experimental means. The algorithm enables the gasket engineer to ‘tune’ the gasket to the desired sealing pressure profile with acceptable stiffness variations.

SPECIFICATIONS that are realistic for production and result in a product that functions properly can be set with a three-step method evolved from statistical control techniques. The tolerances thus established reduce production costs, as well as costs arising from faulty products, the author states. The author applies the method to a leakage problem encountered on mechanical-hydraulic units. Through the use of statistical control techniques, the cause of the leakage was discovered.

Truck and bus manufacturers have been constantly facing an issue to disassemble the rear axle shaft from the hub when transporting the truck from the factory to the dealership. In addition to that, the dealerships have the very same problem every time they have to replace the brake pads in some truck models, which leads to excessive service time, extra costs and aftermarket complaints. The current problematic fastening system is composed by a lock nut, a flat washer and a coned slotted bushing. The concept of this 30 year old design involves the coned slotted bushing being pressed against a tapered hole on the shaft’s flange. After tightening the lock nut, the bushing clamps towards the stud and it gets stuck in between the shaft and the stud generating the problem described above. This paper shows the R&D process that Tekfor used to come up with the 1-piece fastener named iLokTM nut that replaces the problematic 3-piece fastening system.

1 An FEA (Finite Element Analysis) model was developed based on the physical dimension of the MOSFET device to produce a Zth curve closely matching the experimental Zth curve. This Finite Element Analysis model would then be extrapolated down to the region beyond the capability of the hardware of the Zth measurement system

This specification covers a zinc alloy in the form of die castings.

Increasingly stringent emission levels require better quality facility gas supplies to enable more precise measurements at low levels and reduce variation in test results. The transient and steady state quality of the “zero gas” used in analyzer calibration will directly affect the level of the readings, while variation in the “zero gas” over time will increase the number of tests needed to meet statistical requirements. Facility zero gas supplies for air and nitrogen, at a minimum, require careful evaluation to confirm that the required gas quality is delivered to the test equipment for the desired instrument accuracy. To move from LEV or ULEV to SULEV analysis, a change in methodology of zero gas generation, delivery and handling may be needed to achieve the desired measurement accuracy and repeatability. Traditional tubing, fittings and handling methods can not only limit the possible gas quality, but also contribute to variation.

(From Standards Proposal No. 2358, formulated under the cognizance of the EIA Quality and Reliability Engineering (QRE) Committee.)

Conventional attribute sampling plans based upon nonzero acceptance numbers are no longer desirable. In addition, emphasis is now placed on the quality level that is received by the customer. This relates directly to the Lot Tolerance Percent Defective (LTPD) value or the Limiting Quality Protection of MIL-STD-105. Measuring quality levels in percent nonconforming, although not incorrect, has been replaced with quality levels measured in parts per million (PPM). As a result, this standard addresses the need for sampling plans that can augment MIL-STD-105, are based upon a zero acceptance number, and address quality (nonconformance) levels in the parts per million range. This document does not address minor nonconformances, which are defined as nonconformances that are not likely to reduce materially the usability of the unit of product for its intended purpose.

This specification covers a zinc alloy in the form of die castings.

One of the key premises of the ISO 26262 functional safety standard is the development of an appropriate Technical Safety Concept for the item under development. This is specified in detail in Part 4 of the standard - Product development at the system level. The Technical safety requirements and the technical safety concept form the basis for deriving the hardware and software safety requirements that are then used by engineering teams for developing a safe product. Just like any other form of product development, making multiple revisions of the requirements are highly undesirable. This is primarily due to cost increases, chances of having inconsistencies within work products and its impact on the overall project schedule. Good technical safety requirements are in fact the foundation for an effective functional safety implementation.

The Two-Stroke engine revival is seen as a way to reduce the size and weight of engines. IFP has been one of the first engine research centres involved since the early eighties in this promising way of a new generation of highly efficient engines. Since this date, a large number of car manufacturers and research laboratories around the world have engaged research and development efforts in this new field. In these conditions, it was essential for IFP to examine the different research works, technological choices, and new ideas. The systematic study of the patents published since 1981 and their statistical analysis represent an interesting tool to follow the main trends of the research in this domain. More than 4200 patents were selected as relevant for this study.

This paper presents the results of a strength analysis of a newly developed steel structure featuring a special cross section achieved with the hydroforming process that minimizes the influence of springback. This structure has been developed in pursuit of further weight reductions for the steel body in white. A steel tube with tensile strength of 590 MPa was fabricated in a low-pressure hydroforming operation, resulting in thicker side walls. The results of a three-point bending test showed that the bending strength of the new steel structure with thicker side walls was substantially increased. A finite element crush analysis based on the results of a forming analysis was shown to be effective in predicting the strength of the structure, including the effect of work hardening.

Impacts with trees and wooden utility poles represent a significant subset of vehicular collisions. For example, while fixed object collisions account for less than 8% of all crashes, they represent nearly 30% of all fatal crashes. Also, nearly half (over 43%) of all fixed-object impacts are into a tree, pole, or post. This paper is viewed as a first attempt to understand the energy absorbing processes operating when vehicles strike trees and wooden poles in order to make reasonable estimates of the magnitude of the tree/pole energy dissipated in the crash. This initial study is comprised of a literature review, a series of scale model pole/pendulum impacts, and an analytical study which is comprised of both a static analysis and a dynamic finite element model (FEM) analysis of a vehicle/pole impact. As a result of this work, a methodology has been evolved for making estimates of tree/pole energy.