Analytical Robust Door Hinge System Design Taguchi Approach

The automotive industry faces many competitive challenges including weight and cost reduction to meet CAFE standards. In particular, a non robust door hinge optimized for weight reduction may cause high warranty and durability problems in the field. Many analytical techniques such as optimization and sensitivity analysis have been widely used in a hinging system design. However, none of the techniques include robustness and the design variation in the analysis. This paper presents an application of finite element method coupled with the parameter design using Taguchi's design of experiment. This approach identified the hinge design variables in the pillar-hinge-door system and improved the robustness of vertical rigidity performance.