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During the conceptualization of vehicle, it is big challenge for automotive manufacturer to design a vehicle which has an excellent aesthetic looks as well as meet the stringent vehicle regulations. In the vehicle styling, bumper plays an important role in deciding of the contemporary looks of the vehicle. To improve customer satisfaction, it is important to design a bumper which provides feeling and sense of durability. In addition, bumper should sustain low-speed impact and protects the peripheral components such as parking lights, headlamps, hood, back door and safety related installed equipments like Rear parking camera, parking sensors, etc. Bumper should be dent resistant and be able to regain its original shape on removal of the applied load. An elegant design of bumper should be light weight with high strength. This paper explains about a new CAE methodology developed to simulate the real life loading condition of bumper and to calculate the deformation in the bumper.

In the modern automobile scenario in developing countries, customers are getting more meticulous and market more competitive. Now even the budget vehicle customer expects desirable vehicle performance in specific use cases of the vehicle that were previously not focused by designers. Hence, the focus on perceived quality challenges automobile engineers to go the extra mile when it comes to the cost-effective design of parts that are tangible to the customer. A vehicle's cowl cover is one such exterior component. The primary functions of this part are to provide air intake opening for the HVAC system and cover the components like wiper motor. The aesthetic function is to cover the gaps between windshield, hood, and fender as seamlessly as possible. A specific role of cowl cover, which calls for a designer's attention, is its load-bearing capability.

Automotive OEMs quest for vehicle body light weighting, increase in Fuel efficiency along with significant cut in the emissions pose significant challenges. Apart from the effect on vehicle handling, the reduction of vehicle weight also results in additional general requirements for acoustic measures as it is an important aspect that contributes to the comfort and the sound quality image of the vehicle, thus posing a unique challenge to body designers and NVH experts. Due to these conflicting objectives, accurate identification along with knowledge of the transfer paths of vibrations and noise in the vehicle is needed to facilitate measures for booming noise dampening and vehicle structure vibration amplitude. This paper focuses on the application of a unique design and development of vehicle body structure anti-vibration dynamic damper (DD), unique in its aspect in controlling booming noise generated at a specific RPM range.

The Auto industry has relied upon traditional testing methodologies for product development and Quality testing since its inception. As technology changed, it brought a shift in customer demand for better vehicles with the highest quality standards. With the advent of EVs, OEMs are looking to reduce the going-to-market time for their products to win the EV race. Traditional testing methodologies have relied upon data received from various stakeholders and based on the same tests are planned. The data used is highly subjective and lacks variety. OEMs across the world are betting big on telematics solutions by pushing more and more vehicles with telematics devices as standard fitment. The data from such vehicles which gets generated in high levels of volume, variety and velocity can aid in the new age of vehicle testing. This live data cannot be simply simulated in test environments. The device generates hundreds of signals, frequently in a fraction of seconds.

Front end accessory drive (FEAD) system explained in this paper is a sub-system of an engine. In FEAD system, a poly-v belt is used to drive the alternator and water pump by transmitting power from crankshaft pulley. In a new vehicle development program, durability targets of FEAD system are based on required life of poly-v belt, its static tension readjustment interval and replacement frequency. To meet these durability targets following methodology is applied in design stage:- 1 Simulation of FEAD system to calculate the theoretical life of belt 2 Part level testing of belt as per SAE J2432 These methods give sufficient information on belt durability. However in actual usage, certain failures are prone to happen and enormous difference is always observed between theoretical and actual life of belt. This paper describes the traditional stair-case approach followed to optimize the FEAD system based on the outcome of durability tests.

Clutch actuation system in manual transmission is one of the key systems of power-train with which driver interacts frequently. Therefore its load and travel feeling are important to customer. Clutch actuation system consists of clutch pedal assembly, flexible cable mounted on body panel, and clutch release arm/ shaft assembly inside transmission unit assembly. Clutch pedal load, travel and engagement point are important parameters to specify the actuation feeling while designing the clutch actuation system. Validation of actual values is being done at proto vehicle testing stage, as final output calculation may not be accurate due to dependency on variables difficult to estimate. To overcome these difficulties a virtual dynamic model of the entire clutch actuation mechanism has been created in MBD software. Model input factors are based on actual testing results to improve the accuracy. The model predicts the clutch pedal load and travel values for a given set of vehicle inputs.

Manual transmission is one of the key system of power-train to which driver directly interacts, so its shift feeling is important for the merchantability. The importance of the gear shift quality of manual transmissions has increased significantly over the past few years as the refinement of other vehicle systems has increased and also due to rise in customer expectations. Shift Tower is a system to assist the driver during selecting and shifting of Gears. The dynamic interaction of shift Tower at a component level is difficult to interpret by traditional test methods and virtually impossible at concept stage. To overcome these difficulties a dynamic model of the entire Shift Tower mechanism i.e. Shift select lever, 3D Ramp, Detent Pin, Spring, Interlock mechanism has been created. The model predicts the gearshift quality i.e. Shift and Select force values for a given set of input parameters, which can be correlated against test data.

The Indian passenger vehicle market has grown by more than 40% by volume in the last decade and has reached a record high in FY23. This has created a more diverse and demanding customer base that values interior design and quality. The modern customer expects a high level of aesthetics and sophistication in their vehicle interiors - including in the luggage area. The Luggage Cover (Parcel Tray) is a component in the luggage area of a passenger vehicle that is used to conceal the luggage & improve its aesthetics. The cover is generally made of thermoplastic material with rotating hinges and is held in its place by the compression from the back door, which is frequently opened and closed. The parts that connect the cover to the door (usually an elastomer interface on the thermoplastic tray) tend to change over a period due to climatic conditions and leads to rattling concerns over a period.

Plastic plays a major role in automotive interiors. Till now most of the Indian automobile industries are using plastics mainly to cover the bare sheet metal panels and to reduce the weight of the vehicle along with safety concerns. Eventually Indian customer requirement is changing towards luxury vehicles. Premium look and luxury feel of the vehicle plays an equal role along with fuel economy and cost. Interior cabin is the place where aesthetics and comfort is the key to attract customers. Door Trims are one of the major areas of interiors where one can be able to provide premium feeling to the customer by giving PVC skin and decorative inserts. This paper deals with different types of PVC skins and its properties based on process constraints, complexity of the inserts. Door trim inserts can be manufactured by various methods like adhesive pasting, thermo-compression molding and low pressure injection molding process etc.

Recently, the Flexible Pedestrian Legform Impactor (or Flex-PLI) - an advancement over the existing EEVC legform - was included in the Global Technical Regulation for Pedestrian Safety viz. GTR-9. The legform tool undergoes impact testing with vehicle at 40kmph in order to evaluate the frontal structure of vehicle for Pedestrian Safety. Being more biofidelic design over the old EEVC legform, Flex-PLI is more flexible and sensitive towards different vehicle designs, shapes and inner bumper structure. This flexibility and sensitiveness of its design also calls for examining the Manufactured FlexPLI for its efficacy under impact testing in terms of its Durability, Repeatability and Reproducibility. This study aims at validating the performance of the test device by building a platform for computing the variations in test results. In this study, three key aspects are identified to measure the performance of this device - Durability, Repeatability, and Reproducibility.

The advent of BS6 coupled with RDE emission norms has increased the development efforts and costs due to the shear amount of testing and validation on real engines and vehicles which are necessitated by these stringent norms. Front-loading of tasks by moving actual vehicle and engine tasks on to virtual setup, will reduce the development efforts and costs significantly. This front-loading of tasks on to a LABCAR would need real time and highly accurate plant models, tools to parameterize these plant models and accurate data driven models to predict dynamic parameters like emissions. In this collaborative work between Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and ETAS India, ETAS VVTB and ICE plant models were parameterized with the data generated on engine test with ASCMO Global DoE test plan by using ASCMO MOCA. The ASCMO Global test plan also ensures the coverage of data points across the entire engine operating space. These plants models were optimized to an accuracy level of more than 95%.

Recent advancement in numerical solutions and advanced computational power has given a new dimension to the design and development of new products. The current paper focuses on the details of work done in order to improve the vehicle performance in Offset deformable Barrier (ODB) crash as per ECER-94. A Hybrid approach involving the Structural Crash CAE as well as Multi-body Simulation in MADYMO has been adopted. In first phase of the development, CAE results of Structural deformation as well as Occupant injury of the baseline model were correlated with physical test data. The second phase includes the improvement in intrusion and crash energy absorption by structural countermeasures in the vehicle body. In third phase parametric study has been carried out via Madymo simulation in order to decide on the factors which can be controlled in order to mitigate the Occupant injury. Recommendations of Madymo simulation have been confirmed by conducting Physical sled tests.

The side impact accident is one of the very severe crash modes for the struck side occupants. According to NHTSA fatality reports, side impact accounts for over 25% of the fatalities in the US. Similar fatality estimates have been reported in the EU region. Side crash compliance of a compact car is more severe because of the less space available between the occupant and the vehicle structure, stringent fuel economy, weight and cost targets. The current work focuses on the development of Side body structure of a compact car through Computer Aided Tools (CAE), for meeting the Side crash requirements as per ECE R95 Regulation. A modified design philosophy has been adopted for controlling the intrusion of upper and lower portion of B-pillar in order to mitigate the injury to Euro SIDII dummy. At first, initial CAE evaluation of baseline vehicle was conducted.

The durability evaluation of overhanging components of a vehicle (Ex: horn, radiator) is a challenge to durability engineers as resonance plays an important role in determining their fatigue life. As resonance cannot be avoided always, it is desirable to develop methods to evaluate life of the component in the presence of resonance. Though the existing vibration test standards suggest test profiles to evaluate resonance failures, there are cases in which, these methods do not yield the proving ground results. This may lead to unnecessary overdesign or unrealistic failures. In such cases it is suggested to generate a sweep endurance test procedure customized to the proving ground or actual roads. This paper studies a methodology for generating a sweep endurance test procedure for evaluation of resonating components. Responses like stress and accelerations were measured in test components in proving ground. Contribution of each frequency band towards overall damage is determined.

Powertrain Control development has gone through many changes in terms of process, tools and practice at all OEM's across the geography. This is mainly driven by increased number of powertrain components for control, shorter development schedules, cost control, and the need to realize the potential of electronic control to increase the performance, efficiency, safety and comfort. With the significant advancement in Powertrain Controls and additions of electronic functions, it has become imperative to automate the controller development process in the V-cycle to reduce the time and make the process more efficient while detecting any logic failures upfront at the early stage of the development cycle. Traditional practices and tools of defining the controls cannot meet new requirements. Model Based Design (MBD) approach is a promising solution to meet the critical needs of powertrain control engineering to define the control logic and validate.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used extensively in the optimization of modern passenger car to meet the ever growing need of higher fuel economy, better engine and underbody cooling. One of the way to achieve better fuel economy is to reduce the vehicle overall resistance to flow, know as drag. Vehicle drag is a complex phenomenon governed by vehicle styling, component shape, layout and driving velocity and road conditions. To reduce the drag a lot of aero-parts are used these days such as air-dam, skirts, spoiler, undercover, dams etc. However the design of these aero-parts must be optimized to get the desired result as their addition alone does not guarantee improvement in performance. This paper aims at studying the effect of air-dam height and position on vehicle aerodynamics. Also the effect of air-dam addition was verified using fuel economy simulations.

Increased engine thermal load, front end styling and compact vehicle requirements have led to significant challenges for vehicle front end designer to provide innovative thermal management solutions. The front end cooling module design which consists of condenser, radiator, fan and intercooler is an important part of design as it ensures adequate heat removal capacity of radiator over a wide range of operating conditions to prevent overheating of engine. The present study describes the optimization of cooling air flow opening in the front end using CFD methodology of a typical passenger car. The predicted vehicle system resistance curve and coolant inlet temperature to the radiator are used for the selection of cooling modules and to further optimize the front end cooling opening area. This leds to the successful optimization of the front end, selection of cooling modules with significant cost savings by reducing prototype testing and design cycle time.

Today automotive sector has become very dynamic. There is renewed emphasis on safety through adoption of new regulations, electric vehicles are on the verge of replacing ever evolving engine technology, emission norms are getting stringent year by year & several companies are trying to make vehicles more efficient by adoption of new light weight or high strength materials and altering manufacturing methods. In one of the new vehicle programs, there was focus on vehicle styling. In order to improve the styling, back door spoiler was to be considered from design stage itself. Back door spoiler is added in high speed vehicles for creating a downward force to improve the vehicle hold on road. However, nowadays in passenger vehicles that purpose has been subsided and spoiler is given in automotive vehicles for aesthetics or giving vehicle a sporty appearance. For instance in our case it was given to augment aesthetics. This would have resulted in additional cost and weight.

In this paper, a mild hybrid system is studied for Indian drive conditions. The study is focused to first come up with detailed component sizing through simulation. Different features of mild hybrid system are studied for their individual and cumulative contribution in the fuel economy improvement over the base non-hybrid vehicle. Model based development approach has been employed to develop a supervisory control strategy for such a system. Model based design saves time and cost as it gives flexibility to the control engineer to validate the control design at an early stage of development. The supervisory control strategy is first tested in a simulated environment and then, on a vehicle. To prove the system function, a full hybrid vehicle is experimented as a mild hybrid configuration. Experiments are conducted on the test vehicle over MIDC (certification cycle) to understand the impact of mild hybridization on fuel economy and tail pipe emissions

MSIL (Maruti Suzuki India Limited), India’s leading carmaker, has various SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicle) in its model lineup. Traditionally, SUVs are considered to have a bold on-road presence and this bold design language often deteriorates aerodynamic drag performance. Over the years, the demand for this segment has significantly grown, whereas the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) norms have become more stringent. To cater this growing market demand, MSIL planned for two new SUVs: (1) New BREZZA - A bolder design with similar targeted aerodynamic performance compared to its predecessor (BREZZA-2016) and (2) FRONX - A new cross-over SUV vehicle targeted best-in-class aerodynamic performance in this category at MSIL. This paper illustrates the aerodynamic development process for these two SUVs using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and full scale WTT (Wind Tunnel Test).