This presentation was made at the NAFEMS Americas "Creating the Next Generation Vehicle" held on the 14th of November in Troy.

The automotive engineering community is now confronting the largest technology transformation since its inception. This includes the electrification of powertrains for more efficient consumption and cleaner emissions, the reinvention of the battery with fast wireless charging capabilities and finally the advent of a fully autonomous vehicle. Compounding to these technology changes, the automotive companies design verification process is moving away from a major reliance on physical testing to almost a full virtual simulation product verification process.

The automotive engineering community is now confronting the largest technology transformation since its inception. This includes the electrification of powertrains for more efficient consumption and cleaner emissions, the reinvention of the battery with fast wireless charging capabilities and finally the advent of a fully autonomous vehicle. Compounding to these technology changes, the automotive companies design verification process is moving away from a major reliance on physical testing to almost a full virtual simulation product verification process.

Resource Abstract

Zero prototype sounds familiar to most of the virtual validation team members as it is the goal that is being chased. This has brought increasing focus on ability of virtual validation to almost represent the physical test. Virtual validation team have already addressed several difficult areas like capturing HAZ for welds, including formability for parts, coupon tested material property inclusion besides the implementing the preloads and bolt torques. Best modeling practices have been developed to address representation of above scenarios. As one of the part of digital twin loads are being fed from the data acquisitions system or from load cells / accelerometers instrumented on existing product operating on the ground. Correlation technique between FE results and physical testing is also addressed adequately enough. This paper focuses on enabling what is next. After correlated FE model being made possible, it is important to have FE models made parametric so that failure scenarios could be addressed comprehensively with countermeasures. This paper examines abilities to create quick countermeasures that help overcome fatigue failure and plan energy management under fatigue loads. Such parametric models and design enabler tools applied to validated FE models goes a long way to enable transition from physical testing. This paper focuses on how quick countermeasure creation and parameterization option help come up with countermeasure for axle suspension brackets fatigue analysis. Axle suspension brackets welded to axle tube take transverse, longitudinal and vertical loads to help in the stability of the vehicle and they generally fail at welding locations under fatigue loads. So, new or modified axle suspension bracket designs are verified for strength and stiffness under bench test and road loads specially at welding locations. This is accomplished through CAE analyses, bench tests and vehicle proving ground tests. It has been observed that not only welding locations but welds dimensions and Heat Affected Zones (HAZs) also play an important role in suspension brackets design life and thus overall Axle life. This paper elaborates the process that can not only quickly create seam welds in FE model along with Heat affected zones at the location of choice mentioned by the Engineer but also gives the freedom to parameterize the weld locations and dimensions at all suspension brackets simultaneously. We have observed this process helped Engineers analyze several possible options and come up with feasible option that meets the performance in record time. This methodology besides saving time of putting together physical prototype, saved more than 30 percent time for the Engineers as the countermeasures were created directly on FE models without waiting for CAD data.