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Automobile part suppliers have always relied on trial and error in developing products and processes. Prototypes are built for testing results of which are used to alter the design of a part or the way to make it till arriving to a compromise. This approach is unfortunately not effective: it costs time and money. Further, resulting products or processes are not optimum. An alternative to the traditional trial and error product and process development is still trial and error, but on a computer. Products or ways to make them are simulated through combined materials and finite element analyses. The design of a part can be altered faster and at a low cost as can changes to materials and the manufacturing process. This paper describes some material tests necessary to building computer models that simulate the performance and processing of automobile parts. It presents studies WIDL successfully completed on behalf of suppliers to “the big three” in Canada and the United States.

To date, Federal Mogul Tri-Way Ltd. has relied on past experience to design machinery, a system of belts or gears providing torsion and thrust to cutting tools. If a shaft within a spindle system is not properly sized, it can deflect under the action of the tangential cutting effort resulting in a poor finish of the machined component. Of even more importance, if rotation of the tool approaches a natural frequency of the shaft, deflections of the spindle under load amplify. In fact, Tri-Way has at instances replaced shafts during trials, causing delays in delivering machinery. On the other hand, over-designing spindles cost money. A literature search by the Canadian Institute for System Technologies Information did not locate tools to help Tri-Way optimize spindles. The company has turned to Windsor Industrial Development Laboratory to develop and validate a computer model to simulate the static and dynamic behavior of spindle systems.

Trends in the automotive industry to develop better products, faster and at a lower cost create a need for simulation rather than testing prototypes. Modeling requires a laboratory to characterize rubber and high-end software to carry out nonlinear analysis typical to rubber applications (contact, large deformations and hyper-elastic material response). This paper describes some tests on rubber necessary to building quasi-static models. It also presents several analytical studies WIDL completed on behalf of molders of rubber components for the automotive industry. Computer predictions were within 5% of test results in most cases presented.

This paper summarizes a study aiming at saving weight on the 4.3 L rocker cover Versatech Sealing Systems (VSS) molds for the General Motors (GM) Vortec engine. The search consisted of characterizing rubbers and plastic in the assembly and modeling via Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The paper presents aspects to testing and simulation in optimizing a full sealing system. It also lays tests geared at validating the analytical work.

This paper summarizes crush test results of General Motors 4.3 liter Vortec V6 valve cover currently made at Joh, a division of Gecamex Technologies Inc., through injection-compression of 25% glass reinforced epoxy vinyl ester by Cytec Industries Inc. The test consisted of displacing the middle of three central bolts to 15% of cover's height, disregarding gasket and grommet which simulates worst cover conditions. One of the production molds was modified at Build-A-Mold ltd. to allow injection of thermoplastics from four suppliers, DuPont, BASF, GE Plastics and DSM Engineering Plastics. These were crush tested in a similar manner to production covers, Dry As Molded and after moisture conditioning to 50% Relative Humidity. While thermoset covers exhibited progressive cracking, covers made out of glass reinforced nylons sustained compression whereas polyethylene terephthalate covers cracked prematurely.