Today automotive sector has become very dynamic. There is renewed emphasis on safety through adoption of new regulations, electric vehicles are on the verge of replacing ever evolving engine technology, emission norms are getting stringent year by year & several companies are trying to make vehicles more efficient by adoption of new light weight or high strength materials and altering manufacturing methods.
In one of the new vehicle programs, there was focus on vehicle styling. In order to improve the styling, back door spoiler was to be considered from design stage itself.
Back door spoiler is added in high speed vehicles for creating a downward force to improve the vehicle hold on road. However, nowadays in passenger vehicles that purpose has been subsided and spoiler is given in automotive vehicles for aesthetics or giving vehicle a sporty appearance. For instance in our case it was given to augment aesthetics.
This would have resulted in additional cost and weight. Hence, challenge was to introduce it in minimal cost and weight and still it should pass all performance criteria.
Each and every aspect of design, manufacturing method, material selection, mounting concept etc. were challenged to arrive at final product.
Hence, this paper focuses on:
- 1
Challenges that were faced in cost reduction and weight optimization of the part and how those were addressed.
- 2
Material selection criteria for the back door spoiler.
- 3
Past quality concerns that were addressed through new generation spoiler.