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In automotive design and development, there are different stages for product design. In this fast changing scenario product design, digital verification of design (CAE), physical validation of the product and launching of the same in short time is important in product development life cycle of any new generation vehicle. This paper proposes a new approach towards development of a green-field platform for commercial vehicles by improving reliability of CAE and thereby reducing the need for prototype testing and hence shortening development cycle and costs - we call it “Hybrid Mule”. This Hybrid Mule has complete design intent under-body and engine-house while upper-body is made of simple representative tubular space frame. FRP skin panels are attached to this space frame to create a safe environment for test-driver. FRP skin also provides early feel of styling in running condition and evaluates basic ergonomics and visibility.

In automobiles, there are various multiphysics (specifically fluid structure interaction) events taking place which are very important from vehicle operations. Examples are - oil splashing in engine, water spraying on the windscreen, fuel sloshing in a tank etc. The simulation of such events becomes important in the design stage in order to study their proper functioning before the prototypes are made. This paper enlightens the systematic procedures developed for the simulation of such events using coupled Euler-Lagrangian method available in commercial finite element explicit codes. These simulations are very time consuming because of very small time steps and very large cycle time. To overcome this problem an attempt is made to use rigid bodies and a low bulk modulus fluid to speed up the simulation exponentially. These quick simulations can be used for early design iterations and final designs can be revalidated with flexible bodies and correct bulk modulus.

Spot weld connections are used extensively in the automotive industry to join panels of automotive structures. Spot weld connections play a very vital role in the overall structural rigidity and integrity of the Body in White. The spot weld connections and layout have direct impact on functionability of automotive structure and capital investment for robots, guns and operators. There is continuous pressure on automotive engineers to reduce the number of spot weld connections in a structure without compromising on the structural performance across various disciplines such as crash, NVH & durability. Hence the need is felt to develop a generic and systematic CAE simulation procedure which will guide the designer towards arriving at an optimum design, with minimum number of spot weld connections, which meet all the performance requirements of the structure.

The automotive industry is heading in the direction of signing off the exhaust system durability based on computer simulation rather than rig simulation and physical vehicle testing. This is due to the cost, time and availability of prototype vehicles and test track. Use of Finite Element Method (FEM) enables to assure the structural integrity of the exhaust system and also contribute to better understanding of the system behavior in the various operating conditions and evaluation of structural strength. This paper deals with dynamic analysis of a modular automotive exhaust system where it is directly mounted on power train pack. Selection of dynamic loads, processing of the test data, and effect of assembly loads along with material property variation due to temperature are explained. It also includes validation of the CAE model, prediction of probable failure locations and improving the design based on analysis outcome.

Cost reduction is an essential and continuous process to meet the competitive environment of product pricing and to increase the profitability of an organization. Integrated cost reduction exercise encompass all the possible avenue., e.g. Alternate material & it's procurement system, batch size, material handling, manufacturing process improvements, logistics and finally review & make changes to derive an optimum design and cost reductions to maximum extent. This paper presents a systematic approach for achieving the cost reduction of an existing 5.7Tonnne LCV truck frame from design consideration.