ME 531-Materials

Perspective in Industrial
Design
_ Energy efficient car design
_
Dr. Bahar Bam
zyein University
Mechanical Engineering

Bahar Basim- OzU Fall 2010

Outline
Background
Material Content of a Car
Design
The Manufacturing Process

Components
Chassis
Body
Paint
Interior assembly
Mate

Quality Control
The future

Background- History

In 1908 Henry Ford began production of the Model T

automobile.

Based on his original Model A design first manufactured

in 1903, the Model T took five years to develop.

Its creation inaugurated what we know today as the

mass production assembly line.

This revolutionary idea was based on the concept of

simply assembling interchangeable component parts.

Background-Energy and
Cars
Energy to produce cars/year
= 0.8% to 1.5% of total
energy consumed by nation
Energy to move cars/year

= 15% of total energy consumed

by nation

Transportation of people and

goods (total)

= 24% of total energy consumed

by nation

How to achieve energy economy

a. Improve engine efficiency
b. Reduce the weight of the car
c. Alternative engine and car designs

Background-Energy and
Cars

Material ContentContributors to the weight of car

71% Steel

Body shell, panels

15% Cast iron

Engine block; gear box;

rear axle

4% rubber

Tires; hoses

Balance

Glass, zinc, copper,

aluminum, polymers

Material ContentCandidate materials for car bodies

Resistance to plastic flow

The lightest panel is with smallest (/E1/3)

Plastic yielding

We need a panel with smallest (/y1/2)

Material ContentCandidate materials for car bodies

Density
()

Youngs Mod.
E

Yield Srength
y

/E1/3

/y1/2

Mild Steel

7.8

207

220

1.32

0.53

HighStrength
Steel

7.8

207

Up to 500

Aluminum
Alloy

2.7

69

193

0.66

0.19

GFRP

1.8

15

75

0.73

0.21

Material

0.35

Material ContentSecondary properties

Primary:
Resistance to deflection
Plastic yielding

Secondary
Fracture toughness
Fatigue
Creep
Environment
Material

Toughnes
s

ac (mm)

Fatigue

Creep

Mild Steel

100

140

OK

OK

HighStrength
Steel

100

26

OK

OK

Aluminum
Alloy

20

12

OK

OK

GFRP

37

30

OK

Creep
above 60oC

Material ContentSelection

Design

Introducing a new model of automobile generally takes three to five years from
inception to assembly.

Ideas for new models are developed to respond to unmet public needs and
preferences.

Trying

to predict what the public will want to drive in five years is no small feat, yet
automobile companies have successfully designed automobiles that fit public tastes.

With the help of computer-aided design equipment, designers develop basic concept
drawings that help them visualize the proposed vehicle's appearance.

Based on this simulation, they then construct clay models that can be studied by
styling experts familiar with what the public is likely to accept.

Aerodynamic engineers also review the models, studying air-flow parameters and
doing feasibility studies on crash tests.

Only

after all models have been reviewed and accepted are tool designers permitted to
begin building the tools that will manufacture the component parts of the new model.

Production MethodsTechniques
Handmade

Molding

Production Methods-

Parts

The automobile assembly plant represents only the final phase in the
process of manufacturing an automobile

Components are supplied by more than 4,000 outside suppliers, including;

company-owned parts suppliers

Those parts that will be used in the chassis are delivered to one area, while
those that will comprise the body are unloaded at another

The Manufacturing Process

Chassis
Body
Paint
Interior assembly
Mate

Manufacturing ProcessChassis

The typical car or truck is constructed from

the ground up (and out).

The frame forms the base on which the body

rests and from which all subsequent
assembly components follow.

The frame is placed on the assembly line

and clamped to the conveyer to prevent
shifting as it moves down the line.

From here the automobile frame moves to

component assembly areas where complete
front and rear suspensions, gas tanks, rear
axles and drive shafts, gear boxes, steering
box components, wheel drums, and braking
systems are sequentially installed.

Manufacturing ProcessBody

Generally, the floor pan is the largest body

component to which a multitude of panels and
braces will subsequently be either welded or
bolted.

As it moves down the assembly line, held in place

by clamping fixtures, the shell of the vehicle is
built.

The front and rear door pillars, roof, and body

side panels are assembled in the same fashion.

The shell of the automobile assembled in this

section of the process lends itself to the use of
robots because articulating arms can easily
introduce various component braces and panels
to the floor pan and perform a high number of
weld operations in a time frame and with a
degree of accuracy no human workers could ever
approach

Once the body shell is complete, it is attached to

an overhead conveyor for the painting process.

Manufacturing ProcessPre Paint- Cleaning

Prior to painting, the body must pass through a rigorous inspection process.

The shell of the vehicle passes through a brightly lit white room where it is fully
wiped down by visual inspectors using cloths soaked in hi-light oil.

Under the lights, this oil allows inspectors to see any defects in the sheet metal
body panels.

Dings, dents, and any other defects are repaired right on the line by skilled body
repairmen.

After the shell has been fully inspected and repaired, the assembly conveyor
carries it through a cleaning station where it is immersed and cleaned of all
residual oil, dirt, and contaminants.

Manufacturing ProcessPainting

As the shell exits the cleaning station it goes through a drying booth and then through an
undercoat dipan electrostatically charged bath of undercoat paint (called the E-coat) that covers
every nook and cranny of the body shell, both inside and out, with primer.

This coat acts as a substrate surface to which the top coat of colored paint adheres.

After the E-coat bath, the shell is again dried in a booth as it proceeds on to the final paint
operation.

In most automobile assembly plants today, vehicle bodies are spray-painted by robots that have
been programmed to apply the exact amounts of paint to just the right areas for just the right
length of time.

Considerable research and programming has gone into the dynamics of robotic painting in order
to ensure the fine "wet" finishes we have come to expect.

Our robotic painters have come a long way since Ford's first Model Ts, which were painted by
hand with a brush.

Once the shell has been fully covered with a base coat of color paint and a clear top coat, the
conveyor transfers the bodies through baking ovens where the paint is cured at temperatures
exceeding 275 degrees Fahrenheit (135 degrees Celsius).

Manufacturing ProcessInterior Assembly

The

painted shell proceeds through the interior assembly area where workers
assemble all of the instrumentation and wiring systems, dash panels, interior lights,
seats, door and trim panels, headliners, radios, speakers, all glass except the
automobile windshield, steering column and wheel, body weatherstrips, vinyl tops,
brake and gas pedals, carpeting, and front and rear bumper fascias.

Next,

robots equipped with suction cups remove the windshield from a shipping
container, apply a bead of urethane sealer to the perimeter of the glass, and then
place it into the body windshield frame.

Robots

also pick seats and trim panels and transport them to the vehicle for the ease
and efficiency of the assembly operator.

After passing through this section the shell is given a water test to ensure the proper
fit of door panels, glass, and weather-stripping.

It

is now ready to mate with the chassis.

Manufacturing ProcessMate
The

chassis assembly conveyor and the body

shell conveyor meet at this stage of production.

As

the chassis passes the body conveyor the

shell is robotically lifted from its conveyor fixtures
and placed onto the car frame.

Assembly

workers, some at ground level and

some in work pits beneath the conveyor, bolt the
car body to the frame.

Once

the mating takes place the automobile

proceeds down the line to receive final trim
components, battery, tires, anti-freeze, and
gasoline.
The vehicle can now be started.
From

here it is driven to a checkpoint off the line, where its engine is audited, its lights
and horn checked, its tires balanced, and its charging system examined.

Any defects discovered at this stage require that the car be taken to a central repair
area, usually located near the end of the line.

A crew

of skilled trouble-shooters at this stage analyze and repair all problems.

When the vehicle passes final audit it is given a price label and driven to a staging lot
where it will await shipment to its destination.

Quality Control
All of the components that go into the automobile are produced at
other sites that means the thousands of component pieces that
comprise the car must be manufactured, tested, packaged, and
shipped to the assembly plants, often on the same day they will be
used.
This requires no small amount of planning. To accomplish it, most
automobile manufacturers require outside parts vendors to subject
their component parts to rigorous testing and inspection audits
similar to those used by the assembly plants.
In this way the assembly plants can anticipate that the products
arriving at their receiving docks are Statistical Process Control
(SPC) approved and free from defects.

Quality Control

Once the component parts of the automobile begin to be assembled at the

automotive factory, production control specialists can follow the progress of
each embryonic automobile by means of its Vehicle Identification Number
(VIN), assigned at the start of the production line.

In many of the more advanced assembly plants a small radio frequency

transponder is attached to the chassis and floor pan. This sending unit
carries the VIN information and monitors its progress along the assembly
process.

Knowing what operations the vehicle has been through, where it is going,
and when it should arrive at the next assembly station gives production
management personnel the ability to electronically control the manufacturing
sequence.

Throughout the assembly process quality audit stations keep track of vital
information concerning the integrity of various functional components of the
vehicle.

The Future- Electric Cars

The development of the electric automobile will owe more to innovative
solar and aeronautical engineering and advanced satellite and radar
technology than to traditional automotive design and construction.
The electric car has no engine, exhaust system, transmission, muffler,
radiator, or spark plugs. It will require neither tune-ups nortruly
revolutionarygasoline.
Instead, its power will come from alternating current (AC) electric motors
with a brushless design capable of spinning up to 20,000
revolutions/minute.
Batteries to power these motors will come from high performance cells
capable of generating more than 100 kilowatts of power.
Unlike the lead-acid batteries of the past and present, future batteries will
be environmentally safe and recyclable.
Integral to the braking system of the vehicle will be a power inverter that
converts direct current electricity back into the battery pack system once
the accelerator is let off, thus acting as a generator to the battery system
even as the car is driven long into the future.

The Future- Alternative

Borate Operated Automobiles
Fuels
Daimler Crysler- NATRIUM (Hydrogen Fuel cells))

% 50 less fuel consumption

400 miles range
No emmission, produces water
Quiet
Easy maintanance
Operates at room temperature
%40 lighter engine

The FutureNavigation improvements

The growth of automobile use and the increasing resistance to road building
have made our highway systems both congested and obsolete.

But new electronic vehicle technologies that permit cars to navigate around
the congestion and even drive themselves may soon become possible.

Turning over the operation of our automobiles to computers would mean they
would gather information from the roadway about congestion and find the
fastest route to their instructed destination, thus making better use of limited
highway space.

The advent of the electric car will come because of a rare convergence of
circumstance and ability.

Growing intolerance for pollution combined with extraordinary technological

advancements will change the global transportation paradigm that will carry
us into the twenty-first century.

The FutureConcept Cars

A two

wheel vehicle that sports a massive

self-balancing wheel system and is
housed by an organic structure.

The

Maybach DRS Concept draws is

inspiration from the original human
powered elitist form of transportation in
Tokyo during the 1870's, the human
powered rickshaw.

The

vision of this concept was to produced a mode of transportation from a coded DNAcocoon, encased in a complex organic metamorphosis.

The

powertrain on this concept is a self balancing electric drive unit that is controlled via an onboard computer that communications with the city's transport infrastructure.

Futuristic

indeed! Maybach is a division of Mercedes-Benz and the Maybach DRS Concept was
envisioned by Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Center in Japan and presented at the Design
Challenge at the 2010 LA Auto Show.
http://www.autoteknika.com/la-auto-show-maybach-drs-concept/

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