From Physical Prototypes to Virtual Simulations: Advancing Automotive Latch Validation with nanoFluidX

Automotive door latches play a crucial role in occupant safety and user experience. The mechanisms utilized as latching systems in automotive doors are designed to hold the doors in a closed position relative to the body of a vehicle and can be grouped into three major categories: hood/frunk latches, lift gate latches, and side door latches. These mechanical systems vary in design across vehicle models, but all must withstand harsh environmental conditions, including water intrusion. Therefore, their requirements and validations include rigorous testing that verifies the continued functionality of the device after being subjected to extreme environmental conditions, such as cold, heat, humidity. The increase in global temperatures has led to more extreme precipitation patterns globally along with shifting climate dynamics that cause traditionally cold regions to experience milder winters. Rainfall in winter months leads to ice storms where water freezes instantly upon contact with cold surfaces leading to ice formation on structures. In some cases, water can penetrate latch systems, freezing the latch systems making them inoperable. Currently, validation methods require physical parts for testing, meaning that to assess the risks, it is necessary to advance the development of the product to its final stages to have a prototype that adequately represents the design intention of the automotive latch. This study employs Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), a mesh-free numerical method well-suited for analyzing complex fluid behaviors. By leveraging nanoFluidX, an SPH-based simulation tool accelerated by GPU computing, we achieve high-fidelity fluid simulations with reduced computational time, enabling rapid iteration during design cycles. This paper presents a comparative analysis of physical water spray tests and virtual simulations conducted using nanoFluidX. Correlating simulation outcomes with test data validates the model's accuracy. Design changes informed by this insight are proposed to mitigate water ingress and enhance system robustness.