Vehicle Body Panels Research Articles

Investigation into noise problems in vehicle structure using vibro-acoustic approach

The main focus of this paper is the study of the relationship between components of vibration and noise inside the passenger cabin of a production vehicle. The noise inside automobiles is largely composed of contributions from the engine, ground and wind. The engine and tyres successively transfer the vibration via the structural connections to the body panels, which then propagates through the air to the interior of the car cabin. The analysis technique is based on the signal analysis method of sound pressure level and vibration response, and the modal analysis method of vehicle structural components. Firstly, the results were obtained by the noise contour test, which is a contour of sound pressure level, done over the horizontal cross-sectional plane inside the cabin. This was carried out under the random excitation, to predict the dominating noise frequencies. Secondly, the vibration response on the front suspension in the vertical direction under the engine excitation was studied. Finally, the modal analysis was used to determine the dynamic characteristics of every component of the vehicle body panels; this would contribute to the interior noise. It was found that the interior noise of the car vehicle is mainly caused by the excessive bending mode vibration of the front suspension and twisting mode vibration of the cross-roof beam.

Formability Evaluation of Recycle-Friendly Automotive Aluminum Alloys

Aluminum consumption in automotive applications has maintained consistent growth in the past 30 years and is expected to continue to climb to meet the growing demand for more energy-efficient vehicles. Recycling post-consumer aluminum to build new vehicles will further reduce manufacturing life-cycle energy consumption and emissions leading to significantly lower production costs. To take full advantage of recycling automotive aluminum alloys, a guideline for the recycling practice and design of recycle-friendly alloys such as cost benefits is needed, while meeting the property requirements. Formability is one of critical properties for aluminum vehicle body panels and strongly depends on alloy composition and processing. The forming limit curve (FLC) offers the opportunity to determine process limitations in sheet metal forming and is used in the estimation of the stamping characteristics of sheet metal materials. The comparison of deformations on stamped metal sheets with the FLC leads to a security estimation of the stamping process. Numerical analysis has also been applied to simulate the forming process of automotive parts and to predict the forming behavior of aluminum alloys. A combination of numerical analysis and the FLC comparison can serve as a good guideline to optimize the recycling process and alloy compositions of automotive aluminum alloys.

Life cycle economic and environmental implications of using nanocomposites in automobiles.

By reducing the energy and materials required to provide goods and services, nanotechnology has the potential to provide more appealing products while improving environmental performance and sustainability. Whether and how soon this potential could be realized depends on phrasing the right research and development (R&D) questions and pursuing commercialization intelligently. A sufficiently broad perspective at the outset is required to understand economic and technical feasibility, estimate life cycle environmental implications, and minimize unanticipated negative impacts. The rapid rise in federally funded nanotechnology R&D dictates that consideration of societal benefits will have a large role in setting the R&D agenda. We estimate potential selected economic and environmental impacts associated with the use of nanotechnology in the automotive industry. In particular, we project the material processing and fuel economy benefits associated with using a clay-polypropylene nanocomposite instead of steel or aluminum in light-duty vehicle body panels. Although the manufacturing cost is currently higher, a life cycle analysis shows potential benefits in reducing energy use and environment discharges by using a nanocomposite design.