Browse Topic: Materials testing
This procedure describes a method of measuring the resistance to wet color transfer of materials such as textiles, leather, and composites.
Weather-strip sealing systems are critical to automotive closure performance, influencing water- and dust-tightness, aerodynamic noise control, and overall NVH quality. Conventional validation often relies on flat or straight JIG-based tests that inadequately represent the curved, angled, and non-uniform geometries of real closures such as doors, tailgates, hoods, roofs, and fixed or movable glass. This disparity limits the predictive accuracy of sealing performance in actual vehicles. This study proposes a vehicle-integrated validation framework that mirrors true geometric and contact conditions. The methodology combines finite element analysis (FEA) of both flat JIG and full-vehicle CAD geometries with experimental JIG tests, establishing a baseline for pressure distribution, compression load, and sealing contact behavior. A comparative analysis highlights significant deviations between flat-section predictions and vehicle-specific closure profiles. Results demonstrate that the integrated method more accurately reflects sealing efficiency, sound transmission loss, and long-term deformation, offering improved reliability for early-stage NVH optimization and product qualification. The findings recommend incorporating vehicle-profile-based validation into standard development practice for automotive weather-strips.
This recommended practice describes two methods for determining the tendency of interior materials used in automobiles and other vehicles to (a) produce a light scattering deposit (fog) on a glass surface, or (b) produce a measurable deposit (mass) on aluminum foil.
The rising importance of sustainability in the automotive sector has led to increased interest in circular and environmentally responsible materials, particularly for plastic trims parts, both interior and exterior. This study focuses on developing textile solutions using recycled polyethylene terephthalate (r-PET) sourced from post-consumer plastic waste, along with bio-based fibres such as bamboo. These materials made into woven and knitted fabrics are studied to suit different vehicle interior applications. r-PET textiles show promising strength, aesthetic appeal, and durability performance. Bamboo fabrics are known for their natural antimicrobial properties and enhanced breathability. Extensive testing is performed to validate explored sustainable materials performance against key automotive requirements. With this study, we gain an understanding of the performance of variedly sourced sustainable raw materials for automotive specific textile applications by different manufacturing methods.
Automotive chassis components are considered as safety critical components and must meet the durability and strength requirements of customer usage. The cases such as the vehicle driving through a pothole or sliding into a curb make the design (mass efficient chassis components) challenging in terms of the physical testing and virtual simulation. Due to the cost and short vehicle development time requirement, it is impractical to conduct physical tests during the early stages of development. Therefore, virtual simulation plays the critical role in the vehicle development process. This paper focuses on virtual co-simulation of vehicle chassis components. Traditional virtual simulation of the chassis components is performed by applying the loads that are recovered from multi-body simulation (MBD) to the Finite Element (FE) models at some of the attachment locations and then apply constraints at other selected attachment locations. In this approach, the chassis components are assessed separately from the vehicle environment. The MBD model predicts the dynamic behavior of the motions of the flexible bodies (subframe, control arms, knuckle, wheel, yoke, tie rods, etc.) that are connected to each other through kinematic constraints / joints / contacts. The loads from MBD model do not consider the energy loss due to plastic deformation of the chassis components when the vehicle goes through a pothole or slides to a curb. To accurately predict chassis component performance, an integrated vehicle system model is needed. An FE-based full vehicle model has its challenges: (1) time consuming to build, (2) model is too large if all kinematic constraints / joints / contacts / tires are considered, or (3) cannot “drive” through the desired road. A tightly coupled co-simulation between MBD and FE model can overcome these inherent challenges. Co-simulation using Simpack and Abaqus is an ideal combination of solvers which combines the benefits of a high fidelity, detailed system level response and highly accurate Abaqus non-linear solution using plasticity and damage material models. This paper depicts case studies of Simpack-Abaqus co-simulation for chassis components under various extreme loading events performed.
Material solutions for thermal management, protection and assembly. Today's ADAS designers are adding more electronic components and redundant computing systems to printed circuit boards (PCBs). These heat-generating electronic assemblies are installed in enclosures that provide environmental protection, but the high heat generated by high-performance computing systems can degrade ADAS performance or cause device failure. Not all thermal management materials can withstand temperatures up to 200 C (392 F), and most do not retain their flexibility at elevated temperatures. This creates a problem when PCB components expand and contract at different rates due to mismatches in their coefficients of thermal expansion.
The future of space travel is seemingly changing by the day and a Coventry University academic is doing his bit to stay at the front of the space race.
Military performance requirements for adhesives have been traditionally derived to fulfill niche defense needs in harsh operational environments with little consideration for dual-use commercial potential. U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen, MD The term “military-grade” can have a variety of meanings that are perspective dependent. In 2014, Ford Motor Company emphasized the term heavily in advertising campaigns to garner consumer acceptance for the transition from steel to aluminum in the body of their flagship F150 model. As cited by Ford, “Engineers selected these high-strength, military-grade aluminum alloys because of the metals' unique ability to withstand tough customer demands.” From this point-of-view, military-grade implies superior performance. However, the bureaucratic and logistical barriers required for certification to military-grade acceptance levels per DoD performance requirements can also be perceived as impediments to innovation and the transition of fundamental science into tangible product. This is in-part due to the legacy age of many DoD performance standards dating to the 1950s and 1960s when the US military peaked in technology market share and was responsible for approximately two-thirds of domestic research and development (R&D) and one-third of global R&D. In 2023 the commercial private sector provides the overriding funding stream for technology development for primarily non-military applications. Since the “golden age” of DoD-derived performance specifications the interactive roles between requirements and innovation are now understood to be dependent on their timings to product life cycle, which is typically ignored universally across the materials domain. Traditional DoD adhesive specifications are measures of late life cycle quality assurance for low-risk bonding applications with long-term historical usage and well-understood design allowables.
Composites are increasingly being used in aerospace and defense parts manufacture for several reasons including the high strength to weight ratio of materials, and due to the fuel savings generated by their lighter weight. Force measurement and material testing is an essential process for product designers and manufacturers to ensure part integrity, and to gain insightful data for creating the highest quality composite components.
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