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The need for eco-friendly vehicle powertrains has increased drastically in recent years. The most critical component of an electric vehicle is the battery pack/cell. The choice of the appropriate cell directly determines the size, performance, range, life, and cost of the vehicle. Lithium-ion batteries with high energy density and higher cycle life play a crucial role in the progress of the electric vehicle. However, the packaging of lithium-ion cells is expected to meet lots of assembly demands to increase their life and improve their functional safety. Due to their low mechanical stability, the lithium-ion cell modules must have external pressure on the cell surface for improved performance. The cells must be stacked in a compressed condition to exert the desired pressure on the cell surface using compression foam/pads. The compression pads can be either packaged between each cell or once in every set of cells based on the cell assembly requirements.

Phosphating is the most preferred surface treatment process used for auto body sheet panel before painting due to its low-cost, easy production process, good corrosion resistance, and excellent adhesion with subsequent paint layer. There are different phosphating processes used for ferrous metal like zinc phosphating, iron phosphating, di-cationic & tri-cationic phosphating, etc. Among these phosphate coatings, the best corrosion resistance and surface adhesion are achieved by tri-cationic phosphate coatings (zinc-nickel-manganese phosphate). Many new technologies of phosphating are evolving. Key drivers for this evolution are increasing demand for higher corrosion resistance, multi-metal car body processing in same phosphating bath and sustainability initiatives to reduce the carbon footprints. We have evaluated two of these recent technologies.

The emission norms around the world are continuously changing and getting stringent with every revision. India is on its way to make its emission norms at par with that prevailing in the developed nations. The cold-start condition is an important factor affecting vehicle emissions from gasoline direct injection (GDI) and port fuel injection (PFI) vehicles. In this paper, the effects of change in torque converter losses on emissions are experimentally investigated in a TGDI AT vehicle. The instant engagement of the torque converter puts a sudden load on the engine and thus affects its stability. Thus, to overcome the stability issue, Engine Torque has to be simultaneously increased for smooth engagement. As a result, the likelihood of the slightly leaner air-fuel mixture in the cylinder, which results in higher NOx formation, is much greater in an AT vehicle than that of a similar MT vehicle.

Body in White (BIW) is one of the critical aggregates of an automobile. Establishing the quality parameters during body manufacturing is essential to achieve robust BIW structure. Spot weld integrity and dimensional accuracy are the two major quality parameters of a BIW. Weld integrity plays an important role in achieving dimensional accuracy and structural stability. Various combinations of sheet metals are joined together to form a BIW structure. Spot weld parameter selection is one of the critical activity and needs to be programmed for the various combinations of sheet metals. Weld parameter for the various combinations are calculated with the resistance of the joining sheet metals thicknesses. The calculated parameters are validated with the coupon test (or) peel test and it requires several iterations to establish weld integrity of the different combinations and the selected parameters get registered in the weld controller.

Crush box in an automotive passenger car has become an integral part of structural design performing various functions like optimizing energy absorption in high speed impacts, replaceable part during low speed impacts etc. Design of crush box for high speed impacts is very important as it is the first major energy absorbing component in the load path and its deformation significantly affects the overall vehicle crash behavior. The present paper explains development of a hydro-formed crush box in the front end of a sports utility vehicle. Hydro-formed components have residual plastic strains and non - uniform thickness variation throughout their length which is difficult to measure from a physical test coupon. It is critical to add hydro-forming effects onto crash FE models as it significantly affects the deformation under high speed impact. But detailed forming simulations need mature design and material data which is not available during early phases of product development.

Differential in Gear Box play vital role in Tractors for assisting it in turning and also to take straight path. Light weight machine always have advantage in terms of fuel economy and performance. Weight optimized rotating part have additional benefits of saving power loss, against stationary dead weight. Differential Housing is such a part, which rotates during the vehicle motion and torque transmission. [1] This paper describes a method by which weight of the Differential Housing is optimized. In this particular body of work, additional constraints of avoiding any change in existing cold forged parts like Bevel Gear & Pinion. This also have additional benefit of enhanced flow of Oil inside Differential Housing for better lubrication of Bevel Gears and Pinion. This resulted in weight saving of Differential Housing and finally fuel economy of Tractor.

This paper deals with the study of the phenomenon of crevice corrosion of aluminium by using an example of a corrosion failure of a joint in the automobile coolant circuit. A number of joint failures were studied to understand the corrosion pattern and for various metallurgical aspects like chemistry, hardness and microstructure. The corrosion products were analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS). This analysis indicated that the corrosion products mostly contained Aluminium Oxides with other contaminants like chlorides. The studies revealed that the clamped joint of the aluminium part and rubber hose led to the formation of a crevice with the engine coolant acting as the corrosive medium. The corrosion behavior at the location was affected by environmental factors like temperature, pH and chloride contamination.

Tensile Testing is one of the most used and highly reliable method of mechanical testing to evaluate the tensile properties of the material. However, there is a large scope for discussing the behavior of the metals based on the direction of rolling and the tensile specimen size used for testing. This paper discusses the variation observed in the tensile values along the direction of rolling and traverse to the direction of rolling for S460MC. It also evaluates the variation observed in the values based on the various gauge lengths (GL) commonly used in testing as per international standards (80mm, 50mm and 25mm GL). It is observed that perpendicular to the direction of rolling, the Yield and Tensile strength of the material increase marginally while the Elongation percentage (%E) decreases by a small margin irrespective of the gauge length taken into consideration.

In sheet metal painting for various applications like tractor and automobiles, most attractive coating is metallic paints. It is widely applied using 3 coat 2 bake or 3 coat 1 bake technology. Both options, results in high energy consumption, higher production through put time and lower productivity in manufacturing process. During various brainstorming and sustainability initiatives, paint application process was identified to reduce burden on environment and save energy. Various other industry benchmarking and field performance requirement studies helped to identify critical quality parameters. There was collaboration with supplier to develop monocoat system without compromising any performance and aesthetic properties. This resulted in achieving better productivity, elimination of two paint layers, substantial reduction in volatile organic content, elimination of one baking cycle and energy saving.

Diesel engines are known for their excellent low-end torque, better drivability, performance, and better fuel economy. The increase in customer demands pushes to deliver higher power and torque along with fuel economy. This requirement puts a great challenge on the overall weight of the engine. This paper explains the holistic approach followed along with optimizing the rocker arm cover to achieve the weight target without compromising on durability and cost in the commercial segment 2.5-liter Diesel Engine. This paper presents a complete overview of the design and development of Rocker Arm (RA) cover to meet Strength, Durability, NVH and Aesthetic in Commercial Engine where base design is in aluminum which is mounted on cylinder head with a separate breather system. From aluminum the base design of Rocker arm cover is optimized to sheet metal where in there is reduction of 43% in weight and cost saving of 13%.

Body in White (BIW) is an assembly of multiple sheet metal components. BIW is a major contributor to the dimensional and structural integrity of an automobile. The accuracy and precision of the BIW is influenced by multiple factors involved in the manufacturing lifecycle of the BIW, of which component development and assembly strategy are the most significant contributors. Weld fixtures are the tools used for accurately locating and holding, sheet metal components for joining. The primary motive of the locating and holding strategy is to arrest all degrees of freedom of a component. Geometric repeatability of the components is also of high importance. Component location is typically achieved by standardized locator pins that maintain the Principal Location Points (PLP). Mylars provided at Master Control Patches (MCP) ensure the resting and clamping of the component. Low volume BIW builds employ non-automated clamping methodologies, either with manual clamps or toggle clamps.

Lean approaches are being implemented in various manufacturing facilities across the globe. The application of lean approaches are extended to Body proto build shop to maximize the efficiency of the shop with lesser floor space and optimized equipment. Weld fixture, Weld equipment and assembly tools are the major tools required essentially for proto BIW assembly. This paper explains how the Weld equipment planning was carried out with lean approaches and implemented effectively in proto body assembly shop. The implemented lean concepts are compared with Italy and Japanese proto body build makers to validate the frugal planning of the facility for the said intent. The implemented facility is capable of producing more than a model at a time. Weld parameter selection for weld gun, gun movement to the fixture with minimized change over time and movable weld gun gantry are the lean approaches implemented.

Light weight and Robust manufacturing technologies are always needed for transformation drive in the Automotive industry for the next-generation vehicles with greater Power to weight ratio. Innovations and process developments in materials and manufacturing processes are key to this light weighting transformation. Aluminium material has been widely used for these light weighting opportunities. However, aluminum joining techniques, characterized by their poor quality and consistency are limiting this transformation. This technical paper represents one of such case, where the part is made up of Aluminium through conventional casting route which has affected the laser weld quality due to poor casting soundness. This experiment explains in detail about the importance of Casting soundness for laser weld quality, weld penetration, strength etc., and the Product consistency.

Globally, automotive sector is moving towards improving off-road performance, durability and safety. Need of off-road performance leads to unpredictable overload to powertrain system due to unpaved roads and abuse driving conditions. Generally, shafts and gears in the transmission system are designed to meet infinite life. But, under abuse condition, it undergo overloads in both torsional and bending modes and finally, weak part in the entire system tend to fail first. This paper represents the failure analysis of one such an incident happened in output shaft under abuse test condition. Failure mode was confirmed as torsional overload using Stereo microscope and SEM. Application stress and shear strength of the shaft was calculated and found overstressing was the cause of failure. To avoid recurrence of breakage, improvement options were identified and subjected to static torsional test to quantify the improvement level.

During the vehicle launch (i.e. moving the vehicle from “0” speed), the clutch would be slowly engaged by the Driver or Transmission Control Unit (in Automatic Transmission/Automatic Manual Transmission vehicle) for smooth torque transfer between engine and transmission. The clutch is designed to transfer max engine torque with min heat generation. During the clutch engagement, the difference in flywheel and gearbox input shaft speed is called the clutch slipping phase which then leads to a huge amount of energy being dissipated in terms heat due to friction. As a result, clutch surface temperature increases consistently, when the surface temperature crosses the threshold limit, the clutch wears out quickly or burns spontaneously. Hence it is crucial to predict the energy dissipation and temperature variation in various components of clutch assembly through virtual simulation.

Innovative setting bracket design to improve the tractor Fit and Finish between the Bonnet and Custer panel (Scuttle) The paper presents an integrated approach for arriving a process to assemble scuttle regarding bonnet to achieve Gap and flushness aesthetic requirement. Variation is inevitable due to fitting of bonnet on Tractor front semi-chassis, scuttle fitting on tractor middle clutch housing and assembling many parts with different tolerances, hence the deviation (stack-up) obtained after their assembly varies from approximately -10.175 to 9.775 mm. This is quite large and gives a huge impact in aesthetic point of view. To overcome this issue, we introduced one Innovative intermediate bracket as the setting gauge which is assembled with reference to bonnet and scuttle is mounted on this setting bracket hence zero flushness and uniform achieved between bonnet and scuttle.

Body in White (BIW) of an automobile serves as the shell, on which all the components that make up a vehicle, are mounted. The BIW is an assembly of press formed sheet metal components. The sheet metal composition of each component varies based on the form and functionality requirement of that component. The resulting assembly has multiple weld joineries with dissimilar compositions. The weld integrity of the joineries is crucial in maintaining the geometrical and structural integrity of the BIW. The primary welding method used in BIW assembly is Resistance Spot Welding (RSW). The quality of the weld is an outcome of a combination of multiple weld parameters. These parameters are majorly estimated based on the joinery thicknesses and material combinations. Multiple welding and testing iterations are done to fine tune the parameters for an optimum weld joinery. This is a very tedious process which increases the process time of a BIW assembly.

The air velocity achieved at driver and passenger aim point is one of the key parameters to evaluate the automotive air-conditioning system performance. The design of duct, vent and vanes has a major contribution in the cabin air flow directivity. However, visual appearance of vent and vane receives higher priority in design because of market demand than their performance. More iterations are carried out to finalize the HVAC duct assembly until the target velocity is achieved. The objective of this study is to develop an automated process for vane articulation study along with predicting the optimized velocity at driver and passengers. The automated simulation of vane articulation study is carried out using STAR-CCM+ and SHERPA optimization algorithm which is available in HEEDS tool. The minimum and maximum vane angle are defined as parameters and face level velocity is defined as response.

The tractor usage is growing in the world due to derivative of rural economy and farming process. It needed wide range of implements based on the applications of the customer. The tractor plays a major role in Agricultural and Construction applications. In a tractor, hydraulic system is act as a heart of the vehicle which controls the draft and position of the implement. Hydraulic system consists of Powertrain assembly, 3-point linkage and DC sensing assembly. The design of hydraulic powertrain assembly is challenging because the loads acting on the system varies based on the type of implement, type of crop, stage of farming and soil conditions etc., Hydraulic powertrain assembly is designed based on standards like IS 12207-2019 which regulates the test methods for the system based on the lift capacity of the tractor. In this paper, virtual simulation has been established to optimize the design and perform the test correlation.

This study introduces a method to examine the flow path of the lubricant inside a transmission housing of a tractor. A typical gearbox has several loads bearing elements which are in relative sliding motion to each other which causes heat to be released. The major sources of friction as well as heat are the meshing teeth between gears (sun/planet, planet/ring & power/range drive gear), thrust washers, thrust bearings and needle roller bearings. The churning of oil performs the vital function of both lubricating these sliding interfaces and cooling these sources of heat, thereby preventing failure of the gearbox. In this paper, we have applied VOF multiphase flow model and sliding meshing to simulate the fluid flow during splashed lubrication within a mating gear box. Lubrication oil dynamics and oil surface interaction with the air is modeled using VOF multiphase approach.