Automotive Instrument Panel Research Articles

Analysis of a Biopolymer Implementation in the Automotive Instrument Panel

Objective: The purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of different materials for vehicle dashboards in mitigating knee injuries during accidents, with a focus on environmentally friendly options. Theoretical Framework: The research is based on the premise that modern vehicle design should not only prioritize safety standards but also integrate sustainable practices. This framework underscores the importance of utilizing materials that not only meet safety requirements but also minimize environmental impact throughout their lifecycle. Method: The study compares the performance of two materials, polypropylene and poly-lactic acid (PLA), in vehicle dashboards. Data is gathered through experimentation to assess each material's ability to absorb energy and reduce knee impact injuries, as well as their environmental sustainability. Results and Discussion: The findings indicate that PLA demonstrates superior performance compared to Polypropylene in mitigating knee injuries during collisions, while also being more environmentally friendly due to its biodegradability and renewable sourcing. Research Implications: This research contributes to the development of safer vehicle designs by identifying materials that better protect occupants from knee injuries, while also considering the environmental impact of vehicle production and disposal. Implementing materials like PLA could lead to reduced injury rates and improved vehicle safety standards, benefiting both manufacturers and consumers, and promoting sustainability in the automotive industry. Originality/Value: This study offers original insights into the potential of PLA as a superior material for vehicle dashboards in terms of both safety and ecological impact. By exploring alternative materials, such as biopolymers, the research adds value to the ongoing efforts to enhance passive safety measures in automobiles while considering environmental sustainability as a critical factor in material selection.

Evaluation of Carbon Footprint of Automotive Instrument Panel Skin Based on LCA

This study primarily conducted a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis on six types of automotive interior instrument panel skins: Slush-molded PVC skin, PU-coated skin, Genuine leather-coated skin, Injection-molded TPV skin, Injection-molded TPEE skin, and Injection-molded TPES skin. The findings revealed that the leather coated skin had the highest carbon footprint. In contrast, the carbon footprints of the Injection-molded TPV skin, PU-coated skin, and Injection-molded TPES skin were relatively low. Among the six types of automotive instrument panel skins, the carbon emissions from the raw material acquisition stage constituted a significant portion of the total life cycle emissions, marking it as a critical phase in the product’s carbon footprint. Additionally, the study examined the impact of the electric factor on the carbon footprint, finding that the electric factor had the greatest effect on the carbon footprint of the Injection-molded TPEE skin.

Voice communication module for automotive instrument panel indicators based on virtual assistant open-source solution - Mycroft AI

This work was originated from the increasing interest in several industries to implement voice based virtual assistant solutions powered by the Natural Language Processing field of study. This work is focused on the automotive industry Human Machine Interface related products, specifically the Instrument Panel. Nowadays people are constantly using virtual assistants like Google Assistant, Alexa, Cortana or Siri on their electronic devices. Furthermore, 31% of cars have a built-in virtual assistant, for example Ford uses Alexa, Merced­es-Benz and Hyundai use Google Assistant, BMW and Nissan use Cortana, GM uses IBM Watson, Honda uses Hana and Toyota uses YUI. Apart from the proprietary solutions described earlier, there are also contemporary open-source generic solutions available on the market, such as Mycroft AI which stands out from other technologies due to ready to deploy, well documented, simple installation on a Linux PC or RPI SoC, and simple execution. This paper presents a way to use Mycroft AI as an alternative to add artificial intelligence-based voice assistance to applications in the automotive domain. The voice communication module presented here drives notifications related to three different entities: seat belt, fuel level and battery level, all of them are telltales present in any automotive Instrument Panel. Since the Mycroft AI design approach is based on Human Centered Design (HCD), the voice communication module presented here provides real user experience (UX) based design. As a conclusion, Mycroft AI demonstrates great potential as an alternative to add voice assistance to automotive industry Human Machine Interface related products. About future work, due to the fact that Mycroft AI is based on Python, there are many possibilities for connecting and expanding the voice communication module by using countless Python libraries in order to import and process any type of information, in any format or source, for example the information from communication technologies like CAN, LIN, Ethernet, MOST, GPS or any other device or technology in order to create comprehensive automotive solutions.

The Effect of NCO Content in Polyurethane Foam for Automotive Instrument Panel

A thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) series for automotive panels with high durability have been newly synthesized using the reacting process based on polyester polyol (BTG), polycaprolactone triol (PCL), hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), and 1,4-butanediol chain extender as a function of NCO/OH ratio (NCO index). The dependence of varying NCO index of synthesized TPUs on tensile strength and hardness have evaluated. To form PU foams with suitable rigidity and uniform skin-pores, the optimal synthetic process was controlled precisely by the amount of solvent, foaming agent, silicone surfactant, and catalysts content. A considerable NCO index dependence was observed in the range of 0.96 ≤ NCO index ≤ 0.99 at almost same molecular weight. When NCO index of TPU was 0.98, mechanical properties achieved maximum value due to the uniform open cell structure of molding PU foam. With the ratio of NCO/OH increasing, the hardness of PU foam also increased until 0.98 NCO index while the hardness of 0.99 NCO index decreased. The designed TPU with 0.98 NCO could be a promising formulation for molding foams of automotive skin panels and seating.

Fracture and mechanical properties of an impact toughened polypropylene composite: modification for automotive dashboard-airbag application.

Thermoplastic olefin (TPO) is the principal material for automotive instrument panels and is prone to fracture especially under heavy airbag deployment, which can prevent the airbag deploying properly. Thus, polyolefin elastomer (POE) was introduced to improve impact properties and fracture resistance. Fundamental methods to characterise TPO with the addition of POE are proposed. The influence of POE content on the mechanical properties was examined. With increasing POE content, the storage modulus and glass transition temperature values decreased, and the damping increased due to the POE increasing the polymer chain mobility. The tensile modulus, ultimate tensile strength and yield stress decreased with increasing POE content, while the ductility of the blends significantly increased. Furthermore, the POE reduced hardness and increased energy absorption during impact. In the fracture analysis, the addition of POE content increased the fracture resistance by increasing the crack energy and decreasing the resistance to crack initiation. Fractographic analysis showed how stretched microfibrils in the blends increase the fracture resistance. These results gave a significant indication of the utility of the elastomer in improving some mechanical properties and impact toughness of the interior automotive material to resist an undesired failure or over-fracture in airbag deployment.

Automotive Instrument Panel Speed and Speed Tester, Speed Error Analysis of Navigation

Automotive Instrument Panel Speed and Speed Tester, Speed Error Analysis of Navigation

A fuzzy logic based PROMETHEE method for material selection problems

Material selection is a complex problem in the design and development of products for diverse engineering applications. This paper presents a fuzzy PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation) method based on trapezoidal fuzzy interval numbers that can be applied to the selection of materials for an automotive instrument panel. Also, it presents uniqueness in making a significant contribution to the literature in terms of the application of fuzzy decision-making approach to material selection problems. The method is illustrated, validated, and compared against three different fuzzy MCDM methods (fuzzy VIKOR, fuzzy TOPSIS, and fuzzy ELECTRE) in terms of its ranking performance. Also, the relationships between the compared methods and the proposed scenarios for fuzzy PROMETHEE are evaluated via the Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Styrene Maleic Anhydride and Polypropylene are determined optionally as suitable materials for the automotive instrument panel case. We propose a generic fuzzy MCDM methodology that can be practically implemented to material selection problem. The main advantages of the methodology are consideration of the vagueness, uncertainty, and fuzziness to decision making environment.

Analysis of the bonding process and materials optimization for mitigating the Yellow Border defect on optically bonded automotive display panels

The Optical Bonding (OB) technology has become a critical aspect of the performance of displays, and an essential requisite of their supply chain. This paper presents the development and the implementation of a technological solution to the OB of automotive instrument panel displays. The goal is to select and develop the adequate materials and bonding techniques that can meet the rigorous performance, quality, cost and productivity of OB displays for the automotive industry. The implementation of a display wet-OB production line is firstly presented. The process is then optimised by selecting the adequate silicone based OB materials that can eliminate defects such as Yellow Border, YB (a type of MURA defect), meeting the application requirements at reduced cycle time.

Interior Head Impact Analysis of Automotive Instrument Panel for Unrestrained Front Seat Passengers

This study presents the numerical and experimental interior head impact analysis of automotive instrument panel according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Regulation 21 (ECE R21). To minimize the possible injury risk for unrestrained front seat passengers due to the interior head impact with the instrument panel, the panel design needs to meet the ECE R21 standard which defines a pendulum-type head form as the impactor. The measured acceleration response of the head form should not exceed 80g continuously for more than 3ms. Motivated by the need to develop a simulation-based technique to evaluate the design of the instrument panel, a numerical model based on the explicit dynamic finite element analysis (FEA) by using the commercial FEA solver, LS-DYNA, is developed. To minimize the experimental cost, a gravity-based impactor with a smaller impact speed is develop as the test apparatus for verification purpose. The simulated results agree well with the experimental data; the average accuracy for the maximum value of impact acceleration at the head form is 95.4%. After the verification, the standard test conditions (with higher impact speed) are performed to evaluate the design. The outcome of this study can provide an efficient and cost-effective method to predict and improve the design of the instrument panel for interior head impact protection.

An interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy MABAC approach for material selection with incomplete weight information

In engineering design, selecting the most suitable material for a particular product is a typical multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) problem, which generally involves several feasible alternatives and conflicting criteria. In this paper, we aim to propose a novel approach based on interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IVIFSs) and multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC) for handling material selection problems with incomplete weight information. First, individual evaluations of experts concerning each alternative are aggregated to construct the group interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy (IVIF) decision matrix. Consider the situation where the criteria weight information is partially known, a linear programming model is established for determining the criteria weights. Then, an extended MABAC method within the IVIF environment is developed to rank and select the best material. Finally, two application examples are provided to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed IVIF-MABAC approach. The results suggest that for the automotive instrument panel, polypropylene is the best, for the hip prosthesis, Co–Cr alloys-wrought alloy is the optimal option. Finally, based on the results, comparisons between the IVIF-MABAC and other relevant representative methods are presented. It is observed that the obtained rankings of the alternative materials are good agreement with those derived by the past researchers.

Development of a biocomposite based on green epoxy polymer and natural cellulose fabric (bark cloth) for automotive instrument panel applications

Natural fiber reinforced composites have attracted interest due to their numerous advantages such as biodegradability, dermal non-toxicity and with promising mechanical strength. The desire to mitigate climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions, biodegradable resins are explored as the best forms of polymers for composites apart from their synthetic counterparts which are non-renewable. In this study biodegradable bark cloth reinforced green epoxy composites are developed with view of application to automotive instrument panels. The optimum curing temperature of green epoxy was shown to be 120 °C. The static properties showed a tensile strength of 33 MPa and flexural strength of 207 MPa. The dynamic mechanical properties, frequency sweep showed excellent fiber-matrix bonding of the alkali treated fabric with the green epoxy polymer with glass transition temperature in the range of 160 °C–180 °C. Treatment of the fabric with alkali positively influenced the mechanical properties of the fabric reinforced biocomposites.

Mechanical Properties of Automotive Instrument Panels with Semi-Rigid Foam

Semi-rigid polyurethane foam to soften the instrument panel has a lightweight, impact and energy absorption performance, while improving the texture of the surface of the instrument panel. This article was prepared by one-step car instrument panel with semi-rigid polyurethane foam, through the design of the four factors and three levels orthogonal test program, using Fourier infrared spectroscopy to characterize its structure, measuring its apparent density and hardness properties of transformation, the combination of research influence of the proportion of polyether foam system.

Design and Analysis of Automotive Instrument Panel

This study presents the automotive instrument panel (IP) design in order to improve the quality, cost, and safety of the existing design. A few conceptual designs were generated based on safety aspect and ergonomic design. The most suitable design was selected using concepts scoring. The IP head impact simulation was conducted using finite element analysis (FEA) to predict the head injury criterion (HIC) value of the front passenger in vehicle according to ECE-R21 regulation. The finite element (FE) model, which consist of upper IP, lower IP, carrier structure and head-form, was built-up to carry out head impact analysis of the IP assembly. The optimum IP design was proposed by analysis of different materials, which are 20% talc filled rubber modified polypropylene (PP+EPDM-TD20), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymer, and polypropylene (PP) copolymer. The HIC value for all IP was compared using simulation result and theoretical calculation. The lowest HIC value will reduce the head occupant injury. In this study, only the raw material cost was considered in cost evaluation. The IP from ABS polymer performed the lowest HIC value, which were 179.7 but very costly compare to other materials.

Conical tube hydro‐forming design of automotive instrument panel beams using computer aided engineering

AbstractThe hydroforming technology has been spreaded dramatically in automotive industry during the last 10 years. The advantages of hydroforming (less thinning, a more efficient manufacturing process, etc.) can, for instance, be combined with the high strength of extra high strength steels, which are usually less formable, to produce structural automotive components, which exhibit lower weight and improved service performance. Design and production of tubular components require knowledge about the tube material and forming behavior during hydroforming and how the hydroforming operation itself should be controlled. These issues are studied analytically in the present paper. In this study, the whole process of automotive IP (instrument panel) beam parts development by conical tube hydroforming using a steel material having a tensile strength of 370 MPa grade is presented. At the part design stage, it requires feasibility study and process design aided by CAE (computer aided engineering) to confirm the hydroformability in details. Effects of parameters such as geometry shape in automotive IP parts on the hydroforming process were carefully investigated. The overall feasibility of hydroformable IP parts could be examined by cross sectional analyses. Moreover, it is essential to ensure the formability of the tube material on every forming step such as pre‐bending, preforming and hydroforming. In addition, all the components of the prototyping tool are designed and the interference with the press is examined from the point of geometry and thinning.

A study of project critical success factors on three developments of commercial vehicle instrument panels using critical incident methodology and the EFQM models A study of project critical success factors on three developments of commercial vehicle in

To investigate the critical success factors in Brazilian Automotive Project Management studies were made on three successive development projects on instrument panels for commercial vehicles. These projects occurred between 1988 and 2002 in an important Automotive Industry. Based on a review of literature related to Quality, Project Management and Supplier Management, it was decided to utilize the application of the EFQM Excellence Models, in order to classify the critical success factors found in those projects. Participants of the three projects and interested parties from different levels of the Automotive Industry including their respective suppliers were interviewed. Through utilization of the critical incident methodology, the main positive factors, that led to success in the project as well as main negative factors that were not so successful were identified. The classification of these factors in to Criteria and Categories allowed a systematic comparison of the projects and the definition of the critical success factors as well as those success factors that indicated the suitability of the EFQM Excellence Models® Criteria Keywords: Automotive instrument panel development; project critical success factors; excellence in project management; Critical Incident Methodology; EFQM Project Excellence Model ®.

A practical method to evaluate the forming severity of tubular hydroformed parts

In view of the prevalence of non-linear strain paths that develop in parts that are formed in multiple stages, such as bent and hydroformed structural components, the conventional forming limit curve (FLC) cannot be used to assess the forming severity of this manufacturing process. A path-independent stress-based forming limit criterion has been shown to be far more suitable to evaluate such parts, and this paper shows how this failure criterion can be effectively used to evaluate tubular hydroformed parts “on the shop floor”. Knowing the strain history in a given location of a part, a shifted FLC can be computed from the stress-FLC and used to determine the safety margin at this location. This methodology was used to evaluate the forming severity of an automotive instrument panel beam. It was found that this approach is user-friendly and provides a significant improvement in the ability to assess process robustness and product quality compared to the conventional method. The FLCs obtained using the proposed method were found to be in good agreement with those predicted with an MK-based calculation code. Finally, it is shown that a numerical simulation of the entire forming process is recommended to confirm the estimated strain path in critical locations and improve the accuracy of the method.

자동차 인스트루먼트 패널에 사용되는 플라스틱의 크리프 거동

자동차 인스트루먼트 패널에 사용되는 플라스틱의 온도와 시간에 따른 기계적 거동을 알아보기 위해 시편에 대한 인장 및 크리프 시험을 수행하였다. 여러 가지 온도에서의 물성치를 구한 결과 온도에 따라 물성치가 크게 변화함을 알 수 있었다. 4 가지 하중조건하에서의 3 점굽힘 크리프시험을 수행하고 지수법칙의 시간경화식을 적용하여 각종 계수를 구하고 크리프 거동을 간단한 식으로 표현하였다. 유한요소 크리프 해석 결과 하중이 커짐에 따라 수치해석 결과와 실험 결과가 차이가 커지지만 대체적으로 두 결과가 유사한 것을 확인할 수 있었다.

Developing and Assessing Commonality Metrics for Product Families: A Process-Based Cost-Modeling Approach

To be competitive in today's global economy, firms must deliver more products that are viable in the marketplace for shorter times. The use of product families allows firms to meet these needs in a cost-competitive manner. The determination of which components to share and which should be unique is very important to the development of product families. Commonality metrics are presented with the goal of assessing (at the early stages of development) the ability of the product family to reduce costs. The methodology of process-based cost modeling is used to project product development, fabrication, and assembly costs in both the standalone and shared situations. A case study of two automotive instrument panel beams is analyzed. Linear-regression analysis shows that when compared to total cost savings, a simple piece commonality metric and a fabrication-investment-weighted metric have higher <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R</i> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> than a mass- or piece-cost-weighted metric. When correlated to fixed cost savings, the fabrication-investment-weighted metric has the highest <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R</i> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> (0.62) and is significant at the 0.025 level. Fixed cost savings are proposed as the desired quantity when assessing product family efficiency.

Aero‐acoustic predictions of automotive dashboard HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air‐conditioning ducts).

The flow‐induced noise generated by automotive climate control systems is today emerging as one of the main noise sources in a vehicle interior. Numerical simulation offers a good way to analyze these mechanisms and to identify the aerodynamic noise sources in an industrial context driven by permanent reduction in programs timing and development costs, implying no physical prototype of ducts before serial tooling. This paper focuses on a numerical aeroacoustic study of automotive instrument panel ducts to estimate the sound produced by the turbulent flow. The methodology is the following: the unsteady‐flow field is first computed using a CFD solver—here FLUENT. Then, the acoustic finite element solver ACTRAN computes the acoustic sound sources from these time domain CFD results. The sources are finally propagated into the vehicle interior in the frequency domain. One advantage of the technique is that the CFD computations are completely separated from the acoustic computations. This allows reusing one CFD computation for many different acoustic computations. The theoretical background is presented in the first sections of this paper. Then, the accuracy of the method for real industrial cases is demonstrated by comparing the numerical results to experimental results available at VISTEON.

Quantifying the effects of product family decisions on material selection: A process-based costing approach

Product designers must continually assess trade-offs among various performance attributes and cost. Materials choice can play an important role in that decision-making process. Product platforms are used to meet the demand for increased product variety, while also managing costs. Because of their interdependent effects, it is possible that platforming strategies may alter preferred material choice. This paper examines the interrelationship of these early stage design choices through the application of process-based cost modeling. A case study is detailed concerning two alternative material options for an automotive instrument panel beam: a die-cast magnesium design and a conventional design (i.e., discrete stamped steel components) which allows for more component sharing than the integrated magnesium design. The effects of component sharing on product family costs are analyzed. It is shown that the magnesium design is less competitive in platformed scenarios.