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Shoebox catalytic converter design to securely mount thinwall substrates with uniform mounting mat Gap Bulk Density (GBD) around the substrate is developed and validated. Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analysis, using heat transfer predictions with and without chemical reaction, allows to carefully select the mounting mat material for the targeted shell skin temperature. CFD analysis enables to design the converter inlet and outlet cones to obtain uniform exhaust gas flow to achieve maximum converter performance and reduce mat erosion. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is used to design and optimize manufacturing tool geometry and control process. FEA gives insight to simulate the canning process using displacement control to identify and optimize the closing speed and load to achieve uniform mat Gap Bulk Density between the shell and the substrate.

Computational Analysis and Engineering using P-Cat, WAVE, HeatCad, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) are sequentially applied to design, develop, and optimize catalytic converter. P-Cat is used to estimate back pressure due to substrates, end cones, and inlet/outlet pipes. WAVE simulation is used to predict the exhaust system back pressure from the engine headface to tail pipe to estimate engine performance. Heatcad, a transient heat transfer analysis is used to simulate the temperature response in the exhaust system to locate the catalytic converter to achieve maximum performance. Heatcad analysis provides the easy way to identify thermal management issues and to design and optimize the runner lengths, material thicknesses of the manifold and downpipes.