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Developing lightweight, stiff and crash-resistant vehicle body structures requires a balance between part geometry and material properties. High strength materials suitable for crash resistance impose geometry limitations on depth of draw, radii and wall angles that reduce geometric efficiency. The introduction of 3rd generation Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) can potentially change the relationship between strength and geometry and enable simultaneous improvements in both. This paper will demonstrate applicability of 3rd generation AHSS with higher strength and ductility to replace the 780 MPa Dual Phase steel in a sill reinforcement on the current Jeep Cherokee. The focus will be on formability, beginning with virtual simulation and continuing through a demonstration run on the current production stamping tools and press.

Engine air induction shell noise is a structure borne noise that radiates from the surface of the air induction system. The noise is driven by pulsating engine induction air and is perceived as annoying by vehicle passengers. The problem is aggravated by the vehicle design demands for low weight components packaged in an increasingly tight under hood environment. Shell noise problems are often not discovered until production intent parts are available and tested on the vehicle. Part changes are often necessary which threatens program timing. Shell noise should be analyzed in the air induction system design phase and a good shell noise analytical process and targets must be defined. Several air induction clean side ducts are selected for this study. The ducts shell noise is assessed in terms of material strength and structural stiffness. A measurement process is developed to evaluate shell noise of the air induction components. Noise levels are measured inside of the clean side ducts.

In Aluminum Alloy, AA, sheet metal forming, the through thickness cracking at the edge of cut out is one of the major fracture modes. In order to prevent the edge cracking in production forming process, practical edge stretch limit criteria are needed for virtual forming prediction and early stamping trial evaluations. This paper proposes new methods for determining the edge stretching limit of the sheet coupons, with and without pre-stretching, based on the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique. A numbers of sets of notch-shaped smaller coupons with three different pre-stretching conditions (near 5%, 10% and fractured) are cut from the prestretched large specimens. Then the notch-shaped smaller coupons are stretched by uniaxial tension up to through edge cracking observed. A dual-camera 3D-DIC system is utilized to measure both coupon face strain and thickness strain in the notch area at the same time.

As the automotive industry is quickly changing towards electric vehicles, we can highlight the importance of aerodynamics and its critical role in reaching extended battery ranges for electric cars. With all new smooth underbodies, a lot of attention has turned into the effects of rim designs and tires brands and the management of these tire wakes with the vehicle. Tires are one of the most challenging areas for aerodynamic drag prediction due to its unsteady behavior and rubber deformation. With the simulation technologies evolving fast regarding modeling spinning tires for aerodynamics, this paper takes the prior work and data completed by the authors and investigates the impact on the flow fields and aerodynamic forces using the most recent developments of an Immerse Boundary Method (IBM). IBM allows us to mimic realistically a rotating and deformed tire using Lattice Boltzmann methods.

Typical production vehicle development includes road testing of a vehicle towing a trailer to evaluate powertrain thermal performance. In order to correlate tests with simulations, the aerodynamic effects of pulling a trailer behind a vehicle must be estimated. During real world operation a vehicle often encounters cross winds. Therefore, the effects of cross winds on the drag of a vehicle–trailer combination should be taken into account. Improving the accuracy of aerodynamic load prediction for a vehicle-trailer combination should in turn lead to improved simulations and better thermal performance. In order to best simulate conditions for real world trailer towing, a study was performed using reduced scale models of a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and a Pickup Truck (PT) towing a medium size cargo trailer. The scale model vehicle and trailer combinations were tested in a full scale wind tunnel.

Light-weight solutions for stamped steel components that exhibit the same or similar appearance properties for purposes of authentic feel and perception to customers will play a critical role as the progress towards reaching maximum fuel efficiency for large vehicles continues. This paper outlines the potential uses for laminated steel in large stamped steel bumper applications that would normally be stamped with thick sheet metal in order to meet vehicle level functional objectives. The paper presents the investigation of the one-for-one drop-in capabilities of the laminate steel material to existing stamping dies, special processing considerations while manufacturing, vehicle level performance comparisons, and class “A” coating options and process needs. Most of all, it will highlight the significant vehicle weight saving benefits and opportunities as compared to current production stamped steel bumpers.

For flows around a tire rotating over a ground plane, the Reynolds number is probably the most important parameter influencing the transition mechanism leading to flow separation from the tire surface, as it determines the viscous response of the boundary layer in the vortex-wall interaction. The present work investigates the effects of Reynolds number on an isolated tire model using a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code. It validates the baseline simulation for this purpose against the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) data from Stanford University got using a Toyota Formula 1 race car tire model. Time-resolved velocity fields and vortex structures from the PIV data are used to correlate local and global flow phenomena to identify unsteady boundary-layer separation and the subsequent flow structures. The study will highlight the pre to post critical flow regimes where the aero coefficients and vortex structure will be studied.

Upper frame deflection of automobile doors is a key design attribute that influences structural integrity and door seal performance as related to NVH. This is a critical customer quality perception attribute and is a key enabler to ensure wind noise performance is acceptable. This paper provides an overview of two simulation methodologies to predict door upper frame deflection. A simplified simulation approach using point loads is presented along with its limitations and is compared to a new method that uses CFD tools to estimate aerodynamic loads on body panels at various vehicle speeds and wind directions. The approach consisted of performing external aerodynamic CFD simulation and using the aerodynamic loads as inputs to a CAE simulation. The details of the methodology are presented along with results and correlation to experimental data from the wind tunnel.

Two limited-production hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) - a 1988 Japanese model Toyota Prius and a 2000 Honda Insight - were tested at Argonne National Laboratory to collect data from vehicle component and systems operation. The test data are used to analyze operation and efficiency and to help validate computer simulation models. Both HEVs have FTP fuel economy greater than 45 miles per gallon and also have attributes very similar to those of conventional gasoline vehicles, even though each HEV has a unique powertrain configuration and operation control strategy. The designs and characteristics of these vehicles are of interest because they represent production technology with all the compromises for production included. This paper will explore both designs, their control strategies, and under what conditions high fuel economy was achieved.

The primary objective of the research discussed here was to compare the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, CONVERGE, and a prevalent open-source code, OpenFOAM, with regard to their ability to predict spray and combustion characteristics. The high-fidelity data were obtained from the Engine Combustion Network (ECN) at Sandia National Laboratory in a constant-volume combustion vessel under well-defined, controlled conditions. The experiments and simulations were performed by using two diesel surrogate fuels (i.e., n-heptane and n-dodecane) under both non-reacting and reacting conditions. Specifically, ECN data on spray penetration, liquid length, vapor penetration, mixture fraction, ignition delay, and flame lift-off length (LOL) were used to validate both codes. Results indicate that both codes can predict the above experimental characteristics very well.

One of the remaining challenges in the simulation of the aerodynamics of ground vehicles is the modeling of the airflows around the spinning tires and wheels of the vehicle. As in most advances in the development of simulation capabilities, it is the lack of appropriately detailed and accurate experimental data with which to correlate that holds back the advance of the technology. The flow around the wheels and tires and their interfaces with the vehicle body and the ground is a critical area for the development of automobiles and trucks, not just for aerodynamic forces and moments, and their result on fuel economy and vehicle handling and performance, but also for the airflows and pressures that affect brake cooling, engine cooling airflows, water spray management etc.

As CAFE requirements increase, automotive OEMs are pursuing innovative methods to lightweight their Body In Whites (BIWs). Within FCA US, this lightweighting research and development activity often occurs through Decoupled Innovation projects. A Decoupled Innovation team comprised of engineers from the BIW Structures Group, in collaboration with Tier 1 supplier Magna Exteriors, sought to re-design a loadbearing component on the BIW that would offer significant weight savings when the current steel component was replaced with a carbon fiber composite. This paper describes the design, development, physical validation and partnership that resulted in a composite Rear Package Shelf Assembly solution for a high-volume production vehicle. As the CAFE requirements loom closer and closer, these innovation-driven engineering activities are imperative to the successful lightweighting of FCA US vehicles.

A detailed Design of Experiments (DOE) study is presented to understand the aerodynamic effects of exterior design features and shape parameters of a pick-up truck using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The goal of the study is to characterize several key design parameters and the interactions between them as related to overall drag of the vehicle. Using this data, the exterior shape is optimized to minimize drag within specified design constraints. An adaptive sampling methodology is also presented that progressively reduces errors in the design response surfaces generated. This combined with a Latin Hypercube based initial design space characterization yields computational efficiency. A trend-predictive meta-model is presented that can be used for early design development. Results from the meta-model are also correlated with experimental data from the wind tunnel.

With rising oil prices, the issue of energy economy in transportation is getting much attention. At the same time, new emissions standards for tractor-trailer vehicles introduce additional challenges for the manufacturers to achieve improvements in vehicle fuel economy. As part of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies' Heavy Vehicle Aerodynamic Drag Consortium, Argonne National Laboratory is currently developing guidelines for the use of commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to facilitate energy efficiency improvements through improved aerodynamic design of tractor-trailer vehicles. The development of these guidelines requires the consideration of the sensitivity of the accuracy of the analysis to the various modeling choices available to the end user.

In an earlier paper, the authors described how Model-Based System Engineering could be utilized to provide a virtual Hardware-in-the-Loop simulation capability, which creates a framework for the development of virtual ECU software by providing a platform upon which embedded control algorithms may be developed, tested, updated, and validated. The development of virtual ECU software is increasingly valuable in automotive control system engineering because vehicle systems are becoming more complex and tightly integrated, which requires that interactions between subsystems be evaluated during the design process. Variational analysis and robustness studies are also important and become more difficult to perform with real hardware as system complexity increases. The methodology described in this paper permits algorithm development to be performed prior to the availability of vehicle and control system hardware by providing what is essentially a virtual integration vehicle.

Dimensional accuracy of punched hole is an essential consideration for high-quality sheet metal forming. An out-of-shape hole can give rise to manufacturing issues in the subsequent production processes thus inducing quality defects on a vehicle body. To understand the effects of punch shapes and cutting configurations on punched hole diameter deviations, a systematical experimental study was conducted for multiple types of AHSS (DP1180, DP980, DP590) and one mild steel. Flat, conical and rooftop punches were tested respectively with three cutting clearances on each material. The measurement results indicated different diameter enlargement modes based on the punch profiles, and dimensional discrepancies were found to be more significant with the stronger materials and higher cutting clearance. To uncover the mechanism of punched hole enlargement, a series of finite element simulations were established for numerical investigation.

This paper implements a coupled approach to integrate the internal nozzle flow and the ensuing fuel spray using a Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method in the CONVERGE CFD software. A VOF method was used to model the internal nozzle two-phase flow with a cavitation description closed by the homogeneous relaxation model of Bilicki and Kestin [1]. An Eulerian single velocity field approach by Vallet et al. [2] was implemented for near-nozzle spray modeling. This Eulerian approach considers the liquid and gas phases as a complex mixture with a highly variable density to describe near nozzle dense sprays. The mean density is obtained from the Favreaveraged liquid mass fraction. The liquid mass fraction is transported with a model for the turbulent liquid diffusion flux into the gas.

The die wear up to 80,800 hits on a prog-die setup for bare DP1180 steel was investigated in real production condition. In total, 31 die inserts with the combination of 11 die materials and 9 coatings were evaluated. The analytical results of die service life for each insert were provided by examining the evolution of surface wear on inserts and formed parts. The moments of appearance of die defects, propagation of die defects, and catastrophic failure were determined. Moreover, the surface roughness of the formed parts for each die insert was characterized using Wyko NT110 machine. The objectives of the current study are to evaluate the die durability of various tooling materials and coatings for flange operations on bare DP 1180 steel and update OEM tooling standards based on the experimental results. The current study provides the guidance for the die material and coating selections in large volume production for next generation AHSSs.

Pickup trucks are designed with a taller ride height and a larger tire envelope compared to other vehicle types given the duty cycle and environment they operate in. These differences play an important role in the flow field around spinning wheels and tires and their interactions with the vehicle body. From an aerodynamics perspective, understanding and managing this flow field are critical for drag reduction, wheel design, and brake cooling. Furthermore, the validation of numerical simulation methodology is essential for a systematic approach to aerodynamically efficient wheel design as a standard practice of vehicle design. This paper presents a correlation the near-wheel flow field for both front and rear spinning wheels with two different wheel designs for a Ram Quad Cab pick-up truck with moving ground. Twelve-hole probe experimental data obtained in a wind tunnel with a full width belt system are compared to the predictions of numerical simulations.

Given the importance of the fuel-injection process on the combustion and emissions performance of gasoline direct injected engines, there has been significant recent interest in understanding the fluid dynamics within the injector, particularly around the needle and through the nozzles. The pressure losses and transients that occur in the flow passages above the needle are also of interest. Simulations of these injectors typically use the nominal design geometry, which does not always match the production geometry. Computed tomography (CT) using x-ray and neutron sources can be used to obtain the real geometry from production injectors, but there are trade-offs in using these techniques. X-ray CT provides high resolution, but cannot penetrate through the thicker parts of the injector. Neutron CT has excellent penetrating power but lower resolution.