Question

Please explain the meaning of design and analysis on automotive term. thanks

Answer 1

DESIGN OF AUTOMOTIVE PARTS

The term design is ment to give someting a kind of shape to it so that it meets the requirements and best fits the applications which it is required to perform. When seen in terms of automotive the number of a simple automoblie consistis of minimum 10000 parts whose purpose are not identical to each of the different part.

For example, the chassis which is the main skeleton of the entire vehicle. So design of the chassis means it should be able to have a definite shape which should hold the passenger seats, engine, suspension system and etc. So to be able to hold these there should be mountings provided to the chassis frame. In engine the outer most part is casted and the casting material is generallly choosen as aluminium as it is easy to cast and machine in the last for assembly of various engine parts such as crank bearings, crank shaft, connecting rods, piston heads and spark plugs.

These aspects of engine components are not imaginarily choosen, but there are standards which are specified. For an engine to deliver a certain power output its components are designed according to it. Also, a 2500 Hp engine and 250 Hp engines are not of same size.

Initially the designs are developed in a 3D platforms such as AutoCAD, Solidworks, Catia and so on. The software which a designer uses is upto his comfort. Then the designs are evaluated for any defect or modifications for production purposes.

ANALYSIS OF AUTOMOTIVE PARTS

After the designs are done, on its the time for which material to choose because we cannot use a low melting point temperature material of a engine block and low strength material for the chassis. In analysis the designs are assigned the particular material and the form of the design are tested if it really fits for the real time applications or not.

The designs are analysed in virtual media first, this is because in real time testing the amount spent on the infrastructure or the test equipment is very high. This is where the softwares take the role in analysis. The softwares are developed and uses the principle of finite emelnt method of analysis.

The designs are assigned the material properties and tested by applying the loads which it is reqired to carry. The primary thing first is looked is the stresses develped in the design upon loading and are the stresses are within the elstic limits or not. Secondly, the factor of safety is check and this value shoud always be greater than 1 at any cost to avoid failure.

The above mentioned type is known as the static analysis and if the design is not good and dont meet the criterion the design is again modified untill it meets the required within the limits.

After this, one more type of analysis is the dynamic analysis or the fatigue analysis where the design has to withstand the variable loads for a long duration of time.

Once the results in virtual analysis is done then the real time analysis is done for saving the funds which consume a lot of investment of the analysis.

Hope this will better create a brief idea of design and analysis in terms of automotive parts. This is a brief summary since there are a number of components and its applications but here 2 examples are taken to better understand the terms.