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Automotive manufacturers have intensified their efforts to decrease the vehicle drag coefficients and weight in order to optimize fuel consumption, in all light commercial vehicles segments. The sump guard is an important component to be evaluated; it has significant influence in drag and in the total weight of vehicles. The present work intends to evaluate the sump guard component replacing steel - more commonly used in the Brazilian market - for polymeric materials. A complete study of feasibility under the light of the aerodynamics and structural analysis is made. It also considered the benefits of applying polymers instead of steel. In the structural analysis, an impact and its consequences over the integrity of the component are verified using the finite analysis method. As for the aerodynamics, a complete car in a wind tunnel is replicated, using the finite volume analysis, to verify the influence of drag and pressure coefficients over the sump guard.

Automotive manufacturers have intensified their efforts to increase the ride comfort in all light commercial vehicles segments. Experimental methods and numerical models have been developed in order to minimize the participation of human subjects in such studies. The ride comfort is directly related with the parameters concerning the engine suspension project. Parameters like elastic members positioning and their elastic properties have great influence in the vehicle comfort. This paper discusses the engine suspension participation in the ride comfort level of the light commercial vehicles, presenting vibration levels in the passenger compartment proceeding of engine and vehicle suspensions. The prediction of the phenomenon is discussed through multibody numerical procedures.

Nowadays the torsion beam rear suspensions have become a tendency in light commercial vehicles due to its simplicity and manufacturing low cost, allied to its packaging and functionality. The elastic properties of this type of suspension determine its performance. The present work has as main objective, to study the influence of the geometry of the cross section member in the wheel travel behavior of the suspension, using the finite element method (FEM) as a tool.

Considering the competitiveness of current automotive market, the search for low cost solutions that fulfill quality demands becomes essential to product development processes. A great issue in engine mount design consists of obtaining optimized geometrical shapes, maintaining component quality as well as complying with project requirements. In this work, an analysis is proposed to optimize the engine mount differential side of a commercial vehicle; all project steps for this component are also presented. A comparison between the try-error method and the topologic optimization method (TOM) was made, both using the finite-element method (FEM). The TOM has proved to be a powerful tool for optimizing geometry in a variety of engineering problems. Afterwards, the resulting geometry of TOM will undergo a yet more accurate optimization process, using the engine mount geometrical shapes as design variables.