Cost effective instrument panel design and development techniques were employed on the 1999 Audi TT sports vehicle, reducing the piece cost and enhancing performance. Technical solutions demonstrated include improved foam adhesion, eliminating the use of primer; thin wall injection molding technology, reducing the weight of the plastic retainer; heat aged performance improvement, reducing the cost of poor quality; as well as innovative development methods which reduce the total program costs.
These development methods include the validation of a hidden air bag door design, which incorporates a thin wall retainer molding with integral plastic halo surround. The thinner wall helped Audi engineers reduce the weight of the part, adding to vehicle performance.
Air bag system validation costs were also streamlined with the use of high frequency data acquisition in coordination with dynamic analysis simulations of the event. Manufacturing costs were minimized with implementation of an innovative pre-serration technique of the retainer and skin, and with the use of plastic injection flow analysis simulations, resulting in a thin wall instrument panel moldings at world class cycle time and first run capabilities.
