A Finite Element Methodology to Design and Validate the Performance of an Automotive Exhaust System

A modern exhaust system consists of various parts like manifold, flexible joint, catalytic converter, muffler and intermediate pipes. All these parts are integrated and serve the functional requirement of silencing the noise caused by high pressure exhaust gases leaving the engine and the level of emitting the toxic gases. The loads induced due to powertrain roll motion and the vibration characteristic from the ground and powertrain system is to be studied for the design of Exhaust system. The validation of exhaust system integrity is a challenging job. Thus the system, the design suggestions and iterations are studied using finite element approach to reduce product development time and cost. In this paper, an attempt is made to provide a design direction through finite element approach. However the scope of this paper is restricted only for the structural durability study of an exhaust system design. The transient vibration loads measured from structural durability tracks are used to perform the modal transient vibration study to an exhaust system design and the results are correlated between experimental tests and finite element simulations. The improvement in design is suggested targeting the performance expectation.