Mount Design Characteristics for Non-Round Substrates 2006-01-3506

Non-round substrates are often applied in exhaust applications with limited packaging space, including commercial vehicles, and the shape of their metallic shells are often designed to be similar, but enlarged to accommodate the layer of support mat. This gap is often planned to be constant around its perimeter, but measured data indicates this rarely occurs. This study evaluates a particular oval converter mount design and applies a unique method to couple finite-element modeling with support mat response characteristics to predict non-round shell shapes, planning for uneven gap distributions. This method allows for increased awareness of acceptable mount designs, as well as improved manufacturing and durability performance, which becomes even more important within commercial vehicle design applications, subject to larger substrate sizes, increased backpressures, and extended mileage requirements.