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Chrysler Corporation's Jeep and Truck platform implemented a new design and prototype process for the body-in -white of a new pickup truck. A team approach achieved concurrent body design, stamping die design, assembly process development, and assembly tooling development. The first domestic US industry use of a 100% electronic design and release system was instrumental in the process. The new process produced a prototype body-in-white on time at 95 WBVP (weeks before volume production) with the highest level of production-intent components ever achieved within Chrysler at this stage of development.

This paper describes the application of the Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) method at Chrysler. Attention is focused on the development of the clutch and brake pedal and bracketry system of the PL project in the Small Car Platform. The Chrysler DFMA procedure including competitive evaluation and value engineering was utilized during the initial design phase involving product concept development from the original functional and manufacturing requirements. After the first laboratory tests, a number of key design and manufacturing concerns surfaced and led to a second cycle of DFMA analysis. The procedure permits major design functions and manufacturing and assembly process issues and criteria to be incorporated in the initial design stages.

THIS year the Chrysler Corp. has introduced a new V-8 engine designed to meet market conditions requiring larger displacements. Versions of the basic engine are available in several models of the Corporation's cars. This engine provides increased vehicle performance with excellent economy, durability, and quietness. Emphasis on minimum weight and production economy led to many novel design features which should interest the automotive engineer. The paper will include a review of the overall design considerations, as well as a description and discussion of the engine and its component parts.

To evaluate and refine interior architecture of the new Dodge Ram pickup truck three years before production, a road worthy interior package validation buck was built using a fiberglass body shell. Molds for the shell were made using CAD/CAM techniques. Advanced CAD/CAM techniques were used to build the interior buck of a subsequent model from individual panels molded in carbon fiber. This buck also included inner structural panels and interior trim components taken from CAD data. For this and subsequent new vehicle programs, refinement of construction techniques allows the bucks to serve as aids in product design and manufacturing feasibility studies.

Seats play an important role in determining customer satisfaction and safety. They also represent three to five percent of the overall vehicle cost and weight. Therefore, automotive manufacturers are continuously seeking ways to improve the areas of comfort, safety, reliability, cost and weight within the seat system. The purpose of this paper is to review the development of an automotive front seat constructed of injection molded nylon frames and metal mechanisms. This development program was initiated for the purpose of reducing vehicle weight while increasing the reliability and safety of the front seats. This paper will review the material and process selection decision, a design overview, the performance criteria and the results of tests performed on the injection molded front seats.

A comprehensive selection of automotive sheet steels were exposed in an outdoor scab corrosion test to provide a base-line of cosmetic corrosion performance. Eighteen different coated sheet steels along with CRS as a control were processed using two commercially available zinc phosphate chemistries. The phosphating was done using both immersion and spray phosphate processes in a laboratory and an automotive assembly plant. Scribe creepage results are reported for 5 years outdoor scab exposure. Comparisons of the scribe creepage behavior of CRS, zinc, and zinc alloy coatings and the effect of the phosphate treatment are provided. An estimate of 10 years field performance is made.

Fastener failure due to hydrogen embrittlement is of significant concern in the automotive industry. These types of failures occur unexpectedly. They may be very costly to the automotive company and fastener supplier, not only monetarily, but also in terms of customer satisfaction and safety. This paper is an overview of a program which one automotive company initiated to minimize hydrogen embrittlement in fasteners. The objectives of the program were two-fold. One was to obtain a better understanding of the hydrogen embrittlement phenomena as it relates to automotive fastener materials and processes. The second and most important objective, was to eliminate hydrogen embrittlement failures in vehicles. Early program efforts concentrated on a review of fastener applications and corrosion protection systems to optimize coated fasteners for hydrogen embrittlement resistance.

New methods are required for implementing the proliferation and sophistication of electronic controls and features to meet the customer's quality expectations. Vehicle electronic integration provides a potential solution for reconciling the seemingly contradictory objectives of high quality at reasonable cost. No module can be considered independently with this global approach. OEM subsystem and component suppliers' devices will need to play in concert with the overall vehicle's electrical/electronic strategy. Some new, separately packaged electronic features may eventually be assimilated within the framework of other electronic controllers.

A laboratory test fixture was designed and built to simulate seat belt assembly installations. The anchor positions of the retractor and pillar loop, and the engaged or free-hanging position of the latchplate can be varied to either simulate a vehicle's seat belt system geometry, or to optimize a proposed geometry. The required retraction forces for a simulated geometry are determined by replacing the retractor action with a motorized load transducer that measures the force required to stow the latchplate. The pillar loop, webbing, latchplate, and their relative positions can be varied until the minimum retraction force that successfully stores the latchplate is determined. The geometry of such a condition can then be applied to future designs of seat belt assembly components and their anchor positions.

Most United States vehicle assembly plants produce significantly more automatic transmission equipped vehicles than manual transmission vehicles. Assembling these two vehicles on a common production line can create complexity problems. This paper describes the design and development of a pre-assembled manual transmission clutch and flywheel modular assembly which reduces most of these problems. This assembly is used on the 1993 model year mini-van with a 2.5L four cylinder engine. This modular clutch system utilizes the same starter ring gear carrier (driveplate) used on automatic transmission equipped vehicles. It pilots into the crankshaft similar to the automatic transmission torque converter. It is balanced as an assembly which results in a lower system imbalance. A significant system piece cost saving, in comparison with today's competitive market, was achieved.

A SIMPLE method of predicting truck performance in terms of grade ability at a given road speed, taking into consideration rolling resistance, air resistance, and chassis friction is presented here. A brief review of fundamental considerations is given first, then the method recommended for predicting vehicle ability at a selected speed, and finally a few words on the prediction of maximum possible road speed and selection of gear ratios. The basis of the solution is the determination and expression of vehicle resistances in terms of horsepower - that is, in terms of forces acting at a velocity. A convenient method of solving the grade problem at a given speed is by means of a tabular computation sheet, which is given, together with tables and charts. These assist in making the computation an easy one as well as giving the necessary data on vehicle resistances.

An automotive cockpit module is a complex assembly, which consists of components and sub-systems. The critical systems in the cockpit module are the instrument panel (IP), the floor console, and door trim assemblies, which consist of many plastic trims. Stiffness is one of the most important parameters for the plastic trims' design, and it should be optimum to meet all the three functional requirements of safety, vibration and durability. This paper presents how the CAE application and various other techniques are used efficiently to predict the stiffness, and the strength of automotive cockpit systems, which will reduce the product development cycle time and cost. The implicit solver is used for the most of the stiffness analysis, and the explicit techniques are used in highly non-linear situations. This paper also shows the correlations of the CAE results and the physical test results, which will give more confidence in product design and reduce the cost of prototype testing.

The object of this paper is to present an overview of the procedure leading to the selection of suspension system pivot points, show how to resolve terrain and maneuver loads at the tire contact patch to the vehicles' structure, illustrate the modeling technique used for stress analysis of suspension system components, and illustrate a few examples of suspension system models used to aid in the solution of ride and handling problems.

A selection of commercially available chromium and chromium-free post phosphate rinses along with a deionized water rinse were evaluated over several zinc and zinc-alloy coated sheet steels. The test specimens were pretreated and electrocoated on-line in an automotive assembly plant. The effect of the rinse treatments on the cosmetic corrosion performance of the substrates, after 5 years of exposure in an outdoor scab corrosion test was determined. After this exposure none of the rinse treatments had performed better than deionized water rinse on zinc and zinc-iron coated sheet. The zinc-nickel coating showed improved scribe creepage when treated with the Cr+6/Cr+3 rinse. Data is provided comparing the concentration of the treatments used vs scribe creepage and chipping corrosion paint loss.

Environmental costs are a delayed financial burden that result from product decisions made early in the product life cycle--early material choices may create regulatory and waste management costs that were not factored into the acquisition cost. This paper outlines a step-wise approach to determine decision points; environmental, health, safety and recycling (EHS&R) cost drivers that affect decisions; and sources of information required to conduct a Life Cycle Management (LCM) review. Additionally, how LCM fits into the larger concurrent engineering framework is illustrated with an electrocoat primer example. Upstream and downstream supply chain processes are reviewed, as well as organizational challenges that affect the decision process.