Development of Low Cost FEAD System with Stretch Fit Belt

In Current scenario all Vehicle Manufacturer are looking towards cost effectiveness in their product development without compromising product quality and performance. With this reference, development of low cost FEAD (Front End Accessory Drive) system with stretch fit belt & idlers for multiple accessories has emerged as one of the alternative smart engineering solution against the FEAD with auto tensioner. The beauty of this low cost FEAD system is not only the cost saving but also the long lasting performance without affecting component life. In the current work, development of a low cost FEAD for 3 cylinder 1.5 litre diesel engine has been presented. It was one of the challenges to introduce stretch fit belt for 3 cylinder engine considering the high torsional vibration. The performance of this FEAD system was evaluated in terms of accessories pulley slip and belt flapping. The component durability was assessed both at engine as well as at vehicle level. The results were found satisfactory with slip was within acceptable limit of ±3% at transient conditions both at Engine &Vehicle level testing. Belt flapping was also observed to be within the limit (10% of the span length). The belt tension data taken on durability engine was worst for FEAD system. Belt tension first decreased by around 15% of the initial within 20 hours of engine running and then remained almost constant till end of test. Post-test analysis of stretch fit belt & idlers also confirmed that both were still away from end of life. Based on these analysis and testing data’s it can be concluded that low cost FEAD system with stretch fit belt is quite feasible for this size of 3 cylinder engine with multiple drive.