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Welding has been used extensively in automotive components design due to its flexibility to be applied in manufacturing, high structural strength and low cost. To improve fuel economy and reduce material cost, weight reduction by optimized structural design has been a high priority in auto industry. In the majority of heavy duty vehicle's chassis components design, the ability to predict the mechanical performance of welded joints is the key to success of structural optimization. FEA (finite element analysis) has been used in the industry to analyze welded parts. However, mesh sensitivity and material properties have been major issues due to geometry irregularity, metallurgical degradation of the base material, and inherent residual stress associated with welded joints. An approach, equilibrium-equivalent structural stress method, led by Battelle and through several joint industrial projects (JIP), has been developed.

Shift quality of a manual transmission is a critical characteristic that is requires utmost care by the designers while structuring the transmission. Shift quality is affected by many factors viz. synchronizer design, shift fork design, shifter design, gear design, transmission oil selection etc. Designers have realized that shift fork is critical element for improving shift feel of a transmission. This paper focuses upon the reduction in weight of the overall transmission shift system by using steel inserts in aluminum shifter forks. No compromise on the stiffness and strength of the shift fork of a manual transmission is done. Stiffness and strength of shifter fork is optimized using contact pattern analysis and stiffness analysis on MSC Nastran. All the subsystem (i.e. synchronizer and the shift system component) are constrained to optimize the shift fork stiffness. A 5-speed manual transmission is used as an example to illustrate the same.

Wear characteristics of four bearing materials have been investigated under different sliding conditions. The bearing materials used were CDA 954, CDA 863, CDA 932, and CDA 938. Using a Taber Wear Tester, a cylinder on a flat geometry was used as a tribo contact pair. All bearing materials in the form of a thick cylindrical disk were subjected to combined sliding-rolling motion against a rotating flat disk. The flat disk was either an abrasive disk, or a very soft steel disk, or a hardened steel disk with and without lubrication. Wear was measured as weight loss after several thousand cycles of rotation. Maximum wear of the bearing materials occurred when the counter body was a very soft steel disk. These results together with the wear rate of each bearing material sliding against four different counter bodies are presented. These results are found to be of practical importance in the design and application of journal bearings made of materials used in this investigation.

The existing instrumentation of a soil bin was retrofitted with virtual instrumentation techniques to achieve improved repeatability and more precise measurements. Current-loop sensors were added to the prime mover for improved speed control. Soil preparation operations were instrumented to determine penetrometer forces as a function of soil penetration depth, soil surface smoothness, compaction force, and soil surface elevation. Test hitch-points for agricultural implements were instrumented with wheatstone bridge force transducers. Implement depth was found with ratiometric linear transducers. Distance and speed determinations utilized an optical encoder with a resolution of 3.0 × 10-4 m. Temperature measurements were also recorded with solid state current transducers.

The dynamics of hypoid or spiral bevel gears like most high-speed precision gears employed in the powertrains of automobiles, commercial trucks, and off highway vehicles are significantly influenced by the design of the shafts. The finite element modeling approach is one of the useful methodologies applied to perform gear dynamic analysis. One of the major advantages of the finite element modeling approach is that it can account for the gear-shaft-bearing assembly design more accurately than other modeling approaches, for example, the lumped parameter modeling approach. In this paper, the finite element formulation, which can generally represent more complete characteristics of the gear-shaft-bearing assembly design, is employed to investigate how the temperature change, shaft material type and shaft size influence the dynamics of spiral bevel gear system.

This paper will focus whining noise on rear axles applied in mid-size trucks. Vehicle integration changes during development affect directly the gear noise perception, in which it may be intensified. Also, gear material and heat treatment choices for the rear axle need to be done carefully, taking into consideration the integration changes and also the driver usage. A lessons learned collection over the diverse aspects of a rear axle whining noise will be the basis of this paper.

Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) developed its own vacuum die casting process to produce true T6 heat treatable aluminum die castings. This process was initiated by OMC Research and developed jointly with OMC Waukegan. The project began 1990 and was put into production in 1992 on the outboard motor lower mount bracket shown in figure 1. OMC is producing vacuum die cast aluminum parts made with 356.0 alloy and T6 heat treated which meet or exceed the strength of similarly alloyed and processed permanent mold or lost foam cast parts. The application of this process is being expanded within the realm of structural outboard motor parts to include other mounting brackets, as well as fuel system components. An automotive die caster is using the technology and equipment provided by OMC to produce leak tight air conditioner compressor housings.

This paper presents a web-based tool to calculate gear and bearing forces for a front or rear axle. Force equilibrium is ensured in both gear and bearing load calculations for front and rear axles in both drive and coast modes.

The Lambda ratio (λ) has been widely used as an indicator of the lubricant regime in an operating contact within either bearings or gear sets. λ is determined when the lubricant film thickness (h) within the contact is divided by the composite roughness (σ) of the two surfaces forming the contact. Recommendations of an appropriate film thickness equation and surface roughness values are provided to calculate modified lambda ratio (λm) that better represents the lubricant regime within bearings or gears. Bearing performance, especially as related to fatigue life, has increased significantly in recent years. This is primarily due to cleaner steels but includes the influence of better surface finishes and bearing internal geometries. With λm, and an understanding of how contact fatigue damage mode relates to a wide range of λm values, it may be possible to transfer the advances in bearing performance to other system components such as gears.

Several methods have been developed which use rapid prototyping techniques to assist in the creation of prototype metal castings. Methods exist for a number of casting processes such as sand casting, die casting, investment casting, and evaporative pattern casting. In many cases, these methods can reduce both the time and cost required to create prototype castings.

The conceptualization, design, analysis, prototyping, and testing of a steel casting are described. The methods used include 2D CAD, 3D solid modeling, finite element analysis, Solid Ground Curing rapid prototyping, and laboratory prototype testing. The part was successfully delivered to field testing on time. The use of the MCAE techniques provided a more optimal part more quickly than the use of standard CAD techniques would have provided. A minor cost penalty was paid for the prototype pattern versus conventional prototyping.

A new 12.5 L four-valve heavy duty diesel engine has demonstrated that Powdered Metal (PM) is an effective material alternative to wrought steel for the valve bridge. The valve bridge, an element that spans the pair of intake or exhaust valves, allows a single rocker arm to actuate the pair of valves. The component is subjected to a high number of cycles at a moderately high load and geometry precision is essential for desirable wear characteristics. The PM material selected, MPIF FL4605-120HT, has replaced 8620 steel after making component geometry changes. The PM part has a higher load capacity than the original design with equivalent wear characteristics and offers a 80% cost saving over the original design. This paper presents the geometry changes defined by FEA analysis and component testing performed to verify the change from wrought steel to PM. A required characteristic of this component is moderately high fatigue strength.

The parameters of a well designed vehicle steering system include a consistent torque effort at the steering wheel, a crisp and symmetric return to the straight ahead position, and a pleasing on-center feel. Historically, these features were more easily attained with a straight-line placement of the steering column relative to the gear connection. The trend toward vehicle downsizing, along with new vehicle requirements for crush zones and tighter package restraints, have necessitated the incorporation of multiple universal joint steering systems, thus making the features above more difficult to obtain. Moreover, operating angles continue to increase with the reduction of packaging space and imposed government motor vehicle safety standards.

Integral hydraulic power steering gears, similar in concept to those used on current passenger cars, are now being used on heavy and extra-heavy trucks. This integral gear concept combines the steering gear, the control valve, and the hydraulic power cylinder into one durable and reliable assembly. This paper describes how such a gear was especially designed for this application, how the design was proven by qualification tests, and how product integrity is maintained. It is shown how this integral hydraulic power steering gear satisfies the needs of the heavy truck industry.

Sliding wear tests were conducted with silicon nitride (Si3N4) against five retainer materials using different lubricants. The sliding wear tests were conducted with the Torrington Tribology tester at three normal loads and one sliding speed at an ambient lubricant oil temperature and one hour duration. The retainer materials were polyetheretherketone (PEEK) with glass fill, PEEK with carbon graphite/PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) fill, machined aluminum with a WS2 coating, machined steel with a silver plating, and machined bronze. The Si3N4 ceramic specimens (both NBD-100 and NBD-200) did not experience any measurable or observable wear. Friction coefficients varied between 0.03 and 0.16 depending upon the retainer material and the lubricant; the lowest values were obtained with the PEEK materials. Large wear scars were generated on the machined bronze, along with high friction coefficients and slip-stick behavior.

Spiral bevel gears are commonly used in heavy-duty trucks and buses. An integrated dynamic model of the spiral bevel gears with mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication is proposed in this study. First, loaded tooth contact analysis was performed to evaluate the kinematic parameters and calculate the mesh force variation for one mesh cycle. These kinematic quantities are used in the mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) calculation to determine the EHL parameters such as pressure, film thickness, and shear distribution considering the surface roughness profile of the spiral bevel gears. Then, the EHL pressure and film thickness are used in the calculation of the coefficient of friction, damping, and oil film elastohydrodynamic lubrication stiffness. Last, these tribological parameters are used in the dynamic calculation of the spiral bevel gears.

This communication examines three strategies of predictive lubricant monitoring and replacement, used for farm tractors or similar vehicles. These strategies optimise the draining periodicity. They are the off-line follow-up, the sensors follow-up and the analytical model follow-up. The implementation of the suggested analytical model will be discussed, on the basis of field collected data (on a series of tractors, either customer's or on loan). Regular oil samples, and significant ones carried out at the end of the study, were taken and analysed in order to predict the evolution of the lubricant characteristics. Extensions to the experimental study were carried out at the end of this work. They are discussed in the paper (FZG gear scuffing, 4 ball wear and EP…).

An investigation of transmission errors and bearing contact of spur, helical and spiral bevel gears was performed. Modified tooth surfaces for these gears have been proposed in order to absorb linear transmission errors caused by gear misalignment and localize the bearing contact. Numerical examples for spur, helical, and spiral bevel gears are presented to illustrate the behavior of the modified gear surfaces to misalignment and errors of assembly. The numerical results indicate that the modified surfaces will perform with a low level of transmission error in non-ideal operating environment.