Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Its on
14 IntervIew
Balraj Bhanot, Chairman, Transport
Engg Divisional Council, BIS
18 Study
Identifying Attractive Export
Opportunities for Components to China
60 new vehIcle
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Baby S Ups The Ante
SuSpenSIon SyStemS
efficient future concePts Powered by
Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS)
SP37 TPMS 4 in 1 sensor with integrated RF transmitter
System benefits
n High integration level reduces overall system component count
Pressure
Acceleration Display
Temperature
Battery voltage
n Integrated peripherals
8051 microcontroller
On board FLASH memory
3x GPIOs
LF 125KHz receiver
RF transmitter 315/433 MHz
www.infineon.com
Editorial
CONCURRENT DEVELOPMENT
Dear Reader,
At a time when Toyota and Honda have renewed their pledge for hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles,
Elon Musk, Chief Executive of Tesla Motors have called them extremely silly. While this might rake up
debates, the good news is that fuel cells continue to prove their might as an alternative to fossil fuels,
along with the growth in electric mobility.
At the just concluded 2015 North American International Auto Show, Honda showed off its hydrogen-
powered FCV concept, while Toyota displayed its hydrogen fuel cell-powered production model, Mirai.
In fact, Toyota has gone on record saying it is redrawing its estimates for the Mirai, thanks to greater
demand for the fuel cell car. Since December 2014, the company has received over 1,500 orders, against
its planned production of 700 Mirai cars this year.
The TIME magazine, in one of its analysis last year wrote that advanced biofuels and nuclear fusion
can still make a fair claim to the title of fuel of the future, but hydrogen fuel cells will become a fuel of
the present in 2015. That could be true only in the case of Japan, which is aiming to put-up 100
hydrogen filling stations by the end of this calendar year. No other country seems as optimistic as
Japan, at least in the current context.
Lets look at the Indian scenario. The National Hydrogen Energy Road Map, which was launched in
2006, envisaged the demonstration of one million vehicles on road by 2020. The target may well be
called ambitious, but noteworthy are the attempts some of the vehicle manufacturers are making in this
regard. Tata Motors, for instance, in collaboration with ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation)
developed the countrys first hydrogen fuel cell bus, which was demonstrated in 2013. M&M has also
been developing products that run on hydrogen, but concerns over the supply of hydrogen remain one
of the primary barriers.
In fact, to make any of these alternate solutions mainstream, the need is to create a more inclusive
ecosystem that makes availability of greener fuels easy, and one that also helps creation of necessary
infrastructure. Rather than focussing on one, concurrent development of biofuel, electric and hydrogen
technologies is the need of the hour.
@deepangshu
suspension systems
efficient future concepts
24, 30, 36 | Suspension plays a critical role in the safety of any vehicle and its overall behaviour on
varied surfaces. From a stage, where suspensions were primarily designed to ensure occupants could just
about bear the shocks filtering through the road, weve today reached a stage where computers can
foresee road conditions and prepare the suspension adjustment beforehand, eliminating almost all of the
perceivable cabin movement. In this issue, Auto Tech Review takes a look at the work being done to
improve the ride quality and safety of future vehicles.
gueSt Commentary
IntervIeW
2
contents
technology others
52 Datsun Go+
Adding to Space, Value
ImprInt
senior correspondent: Naveen Arul (Bangalore) For Advertisements, write to Manager Sales at Auto Tech Review (ATR) is a monthly magazine focussed on automotive technology, and
appears 12 times a year. Views and opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessar-
naveen@autotechreview.com / @naveenarul advertising@autotechreview.com ily those of Springer India Pvt Ltd. No part of this magazine can be reproduced in any form,
including photocopies and information retrieval systems, without the prior written permis-
sion of the publisher. Springer India Pvt Ltd Limited reserves the right to use the informa-
manager sales: Sudeep Kumar For Subscription orders and reader registrations, tion published herein in any manner whatsoever.
sudeep@autotechreview.com please visit www.autotechreview.com
Printed and Published by Sanjiv Goswami on behalf of Springer India Pvt Ltd. Printed at
Gokul Offset, Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase I, New Delhi and published at Springer India
senior executive Ad sales: Pramodh R (Bangalore) Or, contact Manager Sales at Pvt Ltd, 7th Floor, Vijaya Building, 17, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi.
pramodh@autotechreview.com subscriptions@autotechreview.com 2013, Auto Tech Review
Venkataraman informed us that the company been any singular contribution from India as the
is already working with an undisclosed company company follows a global engineering model.
to bring down the costs of the electric drivetrain. There are Indian engineers working on global pro-
The company aims to retain all positive driving jects and are part of a regular knowledge transfer
and environmental characteristics of the bus process, he said. Responding to the scope of wid-
through this initiative, while lowering its accessi- ening electric CVs, he said that the company
bility cost. already has the technology to cater to segments
Batteries continue to be the most critical tech- such as intermediate commercial vehicles (ICVs),
nology for EVs. Battery technology is globally and can introduce them if demand builds up.
going through a progressive stage, he said, The company is also open to working with
adding the weight of the lithium-ion cell stack in Indian suppliers in ways, wherein global suppliers
the Versa is about 800 kg. There are multiple so- set shop in India to supply and the Indian part-
lutions being worked upon to not just increase the ners help lower the costs. As the market matures,
power output of cells but also reduce their weight the scope of these partnerships can be expanded
and improve their positioning and packaging further, said Venkataraman. The company already
Ashok Leyland recently unveiled the Versa electric within the vehicle. has an electric version of the Dost LCV indige-
bus from its UK arm Optare plc, at the Bus & Talking of the acceptability of such buses, he nously developed and has also developed an elec-
Special Vehicles Show organised by SIAM in told us that being a major electric bus provider in tric truck and bus as part of a technology devel-
Greater Noida. During the course of the show we the UK, the company has witnessed encouraging opment programme.
met T Venkataraman, Senior Vice President, response from passengers. Many people prefer to Theres a primary focus on hybrid technology
Global Buses, Ashok Leyland, who talked to us take an electric bus instead of their vehicles as within the company. It must be noted that ALL has
about the new bus, EVs and their potential in they find the low vibration and sound levels of the already developed a hybrid system specifically for
India, and also shared some future plans. bus to be more comfortable than their personal India, instead of tweaking an internationally-
vehicles, Venkataraman added. The sound of a sourced technology. Combining the skills of the
EV MOBILITY IN CV SECTOR diesel bus is rated at about 82 db, while the elec- Indian and global supply chain, Ashok Leyland is
tric bus is much quieter between 55 to 57 db. For ready to cater to any forms of electric mobility in
One might question the potential of EVs in the reference, an average human conversation is the Indian CV space, Venkataraman concluded.
commercial vehicle (CV) space, considering even rated at about 60 db.
two-wheelers are struggling with electric power-
trains. However, the technology actually makes a ENGINEERING NEW PRODUCTS
lot of sense in some commercial applications.
These would typically involve intra-city applica- In terms of engineering for the Versa, there hasnt TExT: Arpit Mahendra
tions such as airport shuttles or tarmac and
feeder services among others.
Apart from offering the usual benefits of zero
emissions and lower sound, the Optare bus can
travel about 150 km on a single charge of about
six hours, Venkataraman said, making it fit to
perform most intra-city roles. In addition, theres
also an option of superchargers, which can rapidly
charge the battery to majority of its capacity in as
short as 90 minutes.
We were told that in terms of running costs,
the electric bus can travel a kilometre in one
unit of electricity on an average, making it sig-
nificantly cheaper to run than a comparative
diesel bus. Coupled with the lower number of
moving parts and lesser maintenance expenses,
the bus should be able to prove more profitable
than a diesel bus in the long-run, despite its
higher initial purchase price.
4 www.autotechreview.com
I N T E R A C T I O N TATA MOTORS, TELIT
but in real conditions the number could be much any concrete details he did mention that the
higher. We were told that the company already has company is looking to play some sort of a role in the
about 50 orders for such buses for the JNNURM premium segment of buses in the coming time.
scheme and with more cities going the BRT way,
the potential is bright. OUTLOOK
Ramakrishnan also talked about the Ultra
Midi 900 mm AC bus, which is a medium-sized The bus segment generally remains more stable
bus made for higher operating efficiency for state than other commercial vehicle segments, Ram-
transport authorities. This bus is part of the akrishnan said. The ongoing slowdown, however,
second phase of JNNURM and is made for sub-ur- has turned out to be more detrimental than ex-
ban transportation, the focus area for the govern- pected and the bus business too has shrunk by
ment scheme. The name Midi depicts the medi- about 20 %. The only segment that has remained
um-size and has been designed keeping in mind stable during these times is the school bus
the sub-urban road conditions. These buses are segment. This segment accounts for about 30 %
equipped with ISBe Cummins engines mated to a of the bus divisions revenues, and continues to
At the recently concluded Bus & Special Vehicle new six-speed overdrive gear box and cable shift grow. Keeping in mind the reviving demand from
Show 2015 in Greater Noida, Tata Motors launched mechanism. This combination not only reduces multiple sectors, Ramakrishnan expects things to
its Tata SKOOLMAN telematics service. The new driver fatigue but also increases fuel-efficiency start turning positive in the later part of 2015.
service enables parents to track the arrival and and offers occupants with a lower NVH. He also mentioned that the government is
departure of their children in real time through Talking of the progress on the electric-hybrid keen on implementing the bus body code, which
SMS alerts, live tracking on a map or via a mobile front, we were told that the company will supply will ensure that buses meet certain standards of
phone application. Tata SKOOLMAN also provides some hybrid buses in the JNNURM-II scheme. As construction. This law will ensure that bus body
an effective fleet management tool for schools/ regards the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan building can be done only by accredited and certi-
bus fleet operators to plan bus routes better and (NEMMP), he said despite the governments efforts, fied companies. If enforced properly, Ram-
manage their school bus fleet more effectively. there is a long way to go and a lot to do before any akrishnan believes this law can prove beneficial
On the sidelines of this launch, we caught up with significant change starts taking shape. to OEMs as they would be able to meet the re-
R Ramakrishnan, Senior Vice President, Com- In addition, the company is happy with the quirements and in turn improve the quality and
mercial Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors to success of its Ultra range of buses and is looking at safety of the vehicles too.
discuss the companys upcoming products and adding more combinations involving larger and
the health of the overall CV sector in the country. smaller seats in order to cater to a wider spectrum
of applications. While Ramakrishnan didnt give us TExT: Arpit Mahendra
UPCOMING PRODUCTS & PROSPECTS
6 www.autotechreview.com
TELIT INDIA | M2M SOLUTIONS PART OF INDIAS FUTURE
8 www.autotechreview.com
2014 The MathWorks, Inc.
Q
Find it at
mathworks.in/accelerate
datasheet
video example
trial request
MODEL
PHYSICAL
SYSTEMS
in
Simulink
with Simscape
Electrical
Mechanical
Hydraulic
and more
10 www.autotechreview.com
SIAT 2015 | UNION MINISTERS ASSURE INdUSTRY OF CONTINUEd SUPPORT
Anant Geete, Minister of Heavy Industries & Public facility of ARAI at Chakan,
Enterprises, Government of India has assured the which will house the passive
Indian automotive industry of complete support, safety and fatigue labs, and is
especially under Prime Minister Narendra Modis expected to start operations in
ambitious Make in India campaign. The minister the coming fiscal year.
recently inaugurated the 14th Symposium on In- The inaugural session also
ternational Automotive Technology (SIAT) 2015 at saw Vinod Dasari, President
the Automotive Research Association of India and Chairman, ARAI; Rajan
campus in Pune. Wadhera, VP, ARAI; Rashmi Urd-
The three-day symposium, along with SIAT hwareshe, Director, ARAI and Dr
Expo 2015 is organised by the Automotive Re- David Schutt, CEO, SAE Interna-
search Association of India (ARAI) in association tional address the delegates.
with SAE India, NATRiP and SAE International. Later, Nitin Gadkari, Union
SIAT this year was focussed on the theme of clean Minister for Surface Transport, Highways and discuss with the finance minister the scope to
and green technology covering various facets of Shipping urged the industry and research organi- offer tax breaks for biofuel production, as well as
the industry, including powertrain, emission sations to work towards making the country free manufacture of automobiles that run on them. If
control, advanced electronics, NVH, alternate of vehicular pollution. The industry and research- the Indian industry cant take up the challenge,
fuels, hybrid and electric vehicles and materials & ers need to work to develop technologies that will the government will have to invite companies
manufacturing, among others. boost production of biofuels in the country and from abroad with expertise in the subject, he
Inaugurating the symposium, the minister make vehicles that would run efficiently on such warned. He also talked about the unacceptable
called on the automotive industry to adopt best fuels, Gadkari said. number of road accidents, and said
practices and technologies. He lauded the indus- He said the government wants to make engineering, education and enforcement is the
try for gradually moving in the direction of global production and distribution of biofuels more approach we want to adopt to make roads and
safety levels. Geete also e-inaugurated the new liberal, and towards this, he assured he would driving safer in the country.
ATUL SAREEN
Managing Director, Infor India
12 www.autotechreview.com
With global supply chains, fierce competition, and increas- understand how to forge, fabricate or assemble a part to meet the
ingly complex products, automotive manufacturers face demands customers specs. They must train their workforces to thoroughly
across all phases of the product development process. Infor pro- comprehend the operating value and characteristics of every sin-
vides scalable, attainable, cost-effective software for addressing gle part. Their employees need to constantly ask themselves,
many of the automotive industrys issues in each phase of the which operating parameters of each part can improve the overall
process conceptual design, engineering, manufacturing, and operation of the vehicles they support. Then they can team with
marketing development. customers to introduce enhancements. Its this kind of thinking
that is allowing visionary manufacturers to keep pace with the
evolving needs of OEMs, consumers and the industry as a whole.
SUPPLY CHAIN VISIBILITY
Logistics is a critical component to the total cost for any product SMART PEOPLE
sourcing. As transportation costs become competitive, risks of
quality and safety decrease, and reliability for material invento- So how does todays manufacturer ensure that its workforce
ries increase and inventory levels decrease. maintains the broad view needed for innovation?
Executives identified visibility ranks even higher as a critical First, management must buy in to the key elements of inno-
means to effectively contain cost and address their other top vation by maintaining collaborative dialogue with customers,
challenges; relying more on advanced analytics, in contextual suppliers and partners. Organisations should share business in-
business intelligence (BI) simulation and modelling tools, to eval- formation with the entire workforce, encourage employees to
uate increasingly complex & dynamic risks and constraints, and submit new ideas and reward them for taking calculated risks.
act on better insight. Second, todays automotive manufacturers must ensure they are
Sharing information across the value chain will bring about attracting the best and brightest people into their workforces.
many changes, such as an increase in the process visibility, and Many companies are still struggling with filling the gaps cre-
improvement in forecasting accuracy in order to reduce the Bull- ated, when a flood of experienced automotive professionals left
whip effect phenomenon. Lack of knowledge on prediction of the industry during the struggling economies of 2007 through
customers orders affects many SCM activities such as increase 2009. Conveniently, industry leaders have been able to rely on
and decrease in product stock, less efficiency in production the very technology theyve used to improve their manufacturing
schedule, and disorganising of distribution system. In the same processes in order to attract and maintain employees with the ex-
way, the increase in inventory, production and distribution act experience they need.
schedule among Indias automotive organisations might be the The recruitment process is especially easy for companies that
consequences of lack of proper prediction about the future order use the latest enterprise resource technology (ERP) solutions.
in these organisations. When todays 20-somethings see that the technology they are
able to use in manufacturing jobs is elegant and intuitive noth-
ing like the green screen systems their fathers had to work
SMART PARTS with they are right at home.
The automotive world has to design products that will
The key elements of todays automotive industry involve much launch in three years and last for 10. And six years from now,
more than nuts and bolts. Electronics are now being heavily inte- it will also have to compete with the iPhone 10, which the
grated with the parts that make up a vehicles engine, transmis- driver will have within easy reach of the steering wheel. Put
sion, chassis and brake systems in turn creating a more com- another way, if an auto manufacturer had begun working on
plex component. For example, sensors and other electronic parts social networking site integration several years ago, they
must be embedded into mundane components like head gas- would just now be getting ready to launch a Myspace or
kets and axles so that data on wheel load, torque levels and ther- Workspace or homepage feature today.
mal conditions can be fed back to the vehicle to improve safety Raised on iPhones, iPads and social media, the incoming
and drivability. Innovations rely upon the many ways that high- manufacturing workforce already knows how technology allows
tech capabilities can be integrated with the traditional parts and them to access and use real-time information in their personal
manufacturing processes. It is crucial to not only improve the au- lives. And now, more than a century after the assembly line be-
tomotive components and systems but also to streamline the gan its run, the evolving workforce is ready to use the tools of its
steps involved in building them. generation to drive innovation into the industrys next century.
With newer, smarter and disruptive solutions being introduced
by some of the best enterprise application players of the world,
SMART QUESTIONS the automotive industry is all geared up for a tremendous growth
into the next century.
Changing the mindset of manufacturing from a focus on the
physical product to a broader view of the entire automotive
system has been essential to taking advantage of opportunities
for innovation. read this article on
Todays automotive leaders know that its not enough just to www.autotechreview.com
Balraj Bhanot is a double graduate in Engineering, besides hold- ous GOI committees.
ing Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Management & MBA
from FMS Delhi. He is currently Chairman, Transport Engg Divi- He was a consultant to Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit Sys-
sional Council (TEDC) at the Bureau of Indian Standards, the tem Ltd (DIMTS) for introducing low floor buses in Delhi, and was
national body that frames Indian standards in the field of automo- instrumental in drawing its tender for modern low floor buses. A
biles, shipping, aircraft and metro, et cetera. He also chairs TED former Director of the Automotive Research Association of India,
28 committee of BIS, dealing with Intelligent Transport System he is also the founder Chairman of the CMVR-Technical Standing
(ITS). He has been a consultant to numerous organisations, Committee besides heading Automotive Standards Committee
including the World Bank and ADB, and is a member of numer- (AIS) and being the Chairman of SAE Western India.
14 www.autotechreview.com
ATR _ What to your mind are the most have probably been avoided if we had yet. That is one of the reasons why some
important standards that are required to proper and adequate tracking standards. of the high-end vehicles on our roads
be adopted in the country today? We have now created a group and are today have disabled their communication
BAlRAj BhAnoT _ The most important asking more people to join in with their features. Offering such communication
are the standards on crash; child restraint suggestions and recommendations. would in fact be deemed illegal. The BIS
system; Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) Similarly, we are also developing and the Ministry of Road Transport and
and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) for another unique standard on display Highways (MoRTH) are aware of this
passenger vehicles. Besides, Bus and boards/ devices for buses. It started with issue. We continue to push for this, but
Truck Code for commercial vehicles need buses in Delhi during the Commonwealth unfortunately we havent moved much
to be expedited as it is pending for a long Games. Although many other states have forward on this.
time. Standards for Intelligent Transport started adopting these devices, there is no We appreciate that the Department of
System (ITS) in general can play a crucial uniform standard. And that allows vari- Urban Development has issued guidelines
role in the entire transport system to ous vendors to enter into contracts with for installation of ITS equipment in buses.
enhance safety and awareness. Need for state corporations without a standard However, the problem is, due to the lack
ITS is catching up pretty fast, yet efforts product or solution. Our effort has been to of uniform standards, the kind of ITS we
towards unified ownership by a single set a uniform standard architecture for need isnt being addressed or used.
ministry needs to be established. I these display devices. Mostly, it is limited to a particular ven-
thought BIS can play a significant role in For the first time, multiplexing dors knowledge and expertise. We are
ITS, because it is one area that cuts wiring in buses has also been intro- not fully utilising the opportunity availa-
across a number of ministries in the duced. Efforts are on to frame a unified ble within ITS.
government. ITS is important not just for architecture for that as well. ITS is A panel is now looking at the frame-
the road transportation sector, but for indeed a vast area, and our effort has work required for ITS in buses. Finalisa-
railways, general utilities, municipal been to create a basic standard architec- tion of a standard would ensure the basic
corporations and what not. In the ture that allows the industry to trans- requirements under ITS is met, and any-
absence of any standard, customers find form it to customised requirements. one wishing to offer more will of course
it difficult to frame tenders, which delays be welcomed.
the process of introduction of ITS. This Technologies that help vehicles communi-
is one lacuna that needs to be covered cate with each other and with the infra- Are you looking at a specific timeline for
up somehow, maybe through a high level structure is also developing at a fast pace. rolling out the ITS standard? Are we pre-
task force or even a mission mode. Is the TEDC discussing this? pared as a country?
ITS is also software dependent, and Yes, we are. But for Vehicle to Vehicle Our effort is to roll this out at the earliest,
India has tremendous expertise in this (V2V) and Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) but the fact is, we have limited knowledge
domain. I strongly feel we have the communication to take place, we need a and expertise in the area of ITS. We are
option of leapfrogging, and we can play a standard frequency allocation from the now trying to rope in experts from the
huge role in promoting it globally. And Department of Telecommunications academia and have spoken to the Society
that is where standards become impor- (DoT). Unfortunately, we dont have that of Automotive Engineers (SAE) to help us
tant. Internationally, ISO has a little over
200 standards and our first effort was to
identify the ones that can be easily
adopted for the Indian requirements. In
parallel, work has been initiated in areas
like VTS (Vehicle Tracking System) and
RFID (Radio-frequency identification)
system as well. Besides, I am thinking of
starting a panel on ITS system used in
buses. We are also trying to identify suit-
able experts. This is an on-going process,
and we continue to study international
standards for local adoption.
16 www.autotechreview.com
THE TG165 SHOWS WHATS HOT
FOR INSTANT TROUBLESHOOTING.
S E E T H E H E AT AT F L I R . C O M / T G 1 6 5 / E L E C T R I C A L
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY decision in case of foreign JVs is often IPOs having experience in both geogra-
taken at the global headquarters and phies, we have identified specific export
There are several macro-economic there is a need to involve the global par- opportunities across identified compo-
changes underway in China. This ent. However, there is a robust set of Chi- nents and OEMs in China, estimated at $
includes a focus on rebalancing the nese players across automotive segments 20 bn in 2013. This has been assessed in
economy towards domestic demand, a in China, many of whom may be open to terms of cost competitiveness, design
gradual appreciation of the Yuan, grad- sourcing from India. Even if specific capability and openness of the OEM to
ual strengthening of its banking system OEMs can be targeted within the Chinese Indian suppliers and prioritised accord-
and diversifying export base. All this market, the opportunity can be quite ingly. Of this, Priority 1 and 2 are esti-
will change the dynamics of its engage- large. However, China also has a large mated at $ 7.5 bn and an additional $ 10
ment with India changes in the rela- and thriving auto component industry, bn needs further exploration. An esti-
tive competitiveness will accelerate and which despite losing competitiveness in mated $ 3.3 bn may not be addressable
Chinese investment in India will recent times, will continue to be a formi- for specific reasons.
increase significantly. dable competitor in the domestic market, The opportunities have been drilled
The Chinese auto industry is the larg- especially in built to print components. down to identify specific component and
est in volume terms and akin to having Looking at the trade data of the two OEM combinations, which need to be
USA as our neighbour. In our view, the countries and feedback from OEMs and pursued by Indian component players
18 www.autotechreview.com
with specific OEMs/ Tier 1s in China.
However, accessing these opportunities
will require specific actions on the part
of the auto component companies and
support from the Indian Government.
been predominantly clustered around cit- :: Chinese players trying to take their
ies located along Chinas eastern coast, brands global;
Chinese Players Going Global
notably Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and :: Focus on development of Chinese
SAIC bought Rover
Shandong province. However, Chengdu, brands and in-China IP; and
Dongfeng bought 30 % stake
Wuhan and Changchun, located away :: Focus on green technologies.
in PSA
from the coast and more towards the vast As a result, many Chinese companies are
Geely acquistion of Volvo
hinterland, have benefitted from the gov- looking for development partners, who
ernments Go West campaign and the can help develop their brand, create IP
corresponding investments in the devel- and service the global market, 3.
opment of infrastructure, increasing trade
Focus on Chinese brands and with Central Asia and availability of
in-China IP
skilled workforce. These cities have COMPETITIVENESS OF THE CHINESE
Extra incentives for Chinese evinced interest from a number of West- AUTO COMPONENT INDUSTRY
brands offered by both ern OEMs, who have already set-up pro-
Chinese enterprises and JVs duction bases there in partnerships with Like most manufacturing, the Chinese
BYD and Daimler have domestic OEM players. auto component industry has also been
launched a joint brand Denza. However, MNC JVs operating in China, grappling with rapidly rising labour and
Could extend to Donfeng and in their current structure and ways of raw material costs in recent times. This
Nissan launching a variation functioning, are unlikely to be target cus- has particularly affected many units
of Leaf tomers for Indian auto component operating in the Eastern region. The
exports. In MNC JVs, the decision to larger groups are increasingly moving
induct a new supplier is taken by either inland (near Chongqing and Wuhan, the
the OEM at a global level (for critical com- Dongfeng belt) as a means to control
Focus on Green Technologies ponents) or by the JV locally, driven by costs power costs here are reasonable
Major focus on green the local partner. JV volumes are high and (with access to the hydro power from the
technologies - electric vehicles need highly automated lines or are often Three Gorges dams) and labour availabil-
China hoping to leapfrog different from India (e.g., Buick models ity being better than the East coast.
incumbents in green tech are very popular in the GM portfolio). Feedback from multinationals OEMs
Subsidies for EVs and hybrids Hence, synergy with Indian operations is operating in China, Indian OEMs sourc-
often minimal and scale economics will ing from China and IPOs operating in
be a disadvantage. Thus, MNC JVs in India indicates that exports from China
3 Major trends in China China are unlikely to be target customers is losing competitiveness due to various
for exports. Smaller volume JVs like Ford reasons, including withdrawal of vari-
have shown an interest and can be ous export benefits, rising costs, and
THE AUTO INDUSTRY IN CHINA approached through India IPOs and appreciating currency.
Global HQs. However, in the domestic market, Chi-
China, today, is by far the largest auto nese auto component players continue to
market of the world in volume terms, 2, Major Trends remain highly competitive in auto com-
growing at a CAGR of ~ 6 % over the The Chinese auto industry is forecasted ponents across several categories like
past four years, with a dip in 2012. Two- to grow at a healthy 6-8 % CAGR till casting and forgings, plastic components,
wheelers have de-grown, while passenger 2020. This would make China the largest gears, etc., where the key requirement
cars have grown at a CAGR of ~ 23 %. auto market in the world, exceeding that from the OEM is built-to-print and does
The market has two broad segments of Europe and the USA. Three distinct not require significant design capabili-
Chinese companies and MNC JVs. trends have been visible in the auto ties. Significant economies of scale and
Traditionally, Chinese auto sales have industry in China: challenges faced in competing in the
domestic market (relationships, non-tar-
iff barriers, etc.) are key drivers for this
continued strength in the domestic mar-
ket. The larger Chinese auto component
companies are also increasingly investing
in automation to continue to remain
competitive and meet the growing scale
needs of OEMs.
Supplying from India will mean a
cost disadvantage of ~ 13-17 % mainly
due to the import duty of 10 %, making
it difficult for India to compete in the
4 India's auto components trade with China 2010 - 2013, USD billion built-to-print components. However,
20 www.autotechreview.com
despite this, the exports of auto compo-
nents from India to China, has grown in
recent years and the trade deficit has
been stagnant, 4.
After landing in China, the goods are
subject to VAT, surcharges as applicable,
similar to products made in China.
There may also be indirect taxes on
facilities, contracts etc. Several tax and
trade policies have been modified in the
last few years to reduce some of the
benefits available to Chinese industry. 5 Export opportunity defined in terms of the target auto components and target customers in China
There are no major non-tariff barriers
for auto components in general. How-
ever, in some hi-tech areas, there are Target Opportunity by Segment, Compo- The price competitiveness of Indian
some schemes protecting the local indus- nent and Customer Group auto components, even after taking
try such as control systems, high-speed This opportunity in China is estimated duties and logistics into consideration, is
precision bearings etc. Safety items need at ~ $ 20 bn in 2013, and is estimated listed below:
CCC certification, which may require to be ~ 6 % of the total auto compo- :: Connecting Rods: Seems to be attrac-
some time. Also, getting into relation- nent market in China. This is driven tive for Indian suppliers. Landed
ships with government backed compa- largely by PVs and CVs. Our target cus- price from India is ~ 7-40 % lower
nies may require security clearances, tomers account for ~ 22 % of the PV than China ex-factory price.
which can act as a barrier at times. market, ~ 56 % of the CV market and :: Pistons: Seems to be attractive for
Emission standards in China are ~ 70 % of the 2W market. Engine com- Indian suppliers. Landed price from
largely based on European standards ponents represent the largest opportu- India is more than 30 % lower than
with a few exceptions and are similar nity within the target customer base in China ex-factory price.
to India, but up-gradation plans are China, 6. Changan, Dongfeng, FAW, :: Lighting: PV lighting seems to
more aggressive. Loncin, Foton, Great Wall and Lifan be attractive for Indian suppliers.
emerge as the key target customers Landed price from India is almost
accounting for ~ 50 % of the target 14% lower than China ex-factory
IDENTIFICATION OF market between them. Engine compo- price
EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES nents and lighting within large CV and :: Muffler and Exhaust Systems: Does
PV makers like Changan, Dongfeng, not seem to be attractive for Indian
We have used a two-step approach to Foton, FAW and engine assemblers like suppliers. Landed price from India is
arrive at the potential list of auto compo- Weichai are the largest export opportu- comparable to China ex-factory price.
nents to be considered for potential export nities, which can be targeted. :: Shock Absorbers: 2W seems to be
opportunities to China (i) detailed anal- attractive for Indian suppliers.
ysis of auto component trade between Prioritisation of the Target Landed price from India is ~25%
India and China, and (ii) discussing with Market Opportunity lower than China ex-factory price.
Indian OEMs and component suppliers The target market opportunity has been However, 4W pricing is not attractive
and preliminary competitiveness evalua- prioritised based on the framework driven for Indian suppliers, where landed
tion. Based on this, we have explored by the two dimensions shown in 7. price from India is almost 16 %
export opportunity for the following auto
components in China:
Targeted auto components include sus-
pension items (mainly shock absorbers);
mufflers & exhaust; lighting & signalling
equipment; valves; rocker arms; cylinder
liners; pistons, piston pins & rings; con
rods; crankshaft & cam shaft. Other
potential components, but not included in
the final evaluation, include transmission
& transmission components; rubber gas-
kets; engine mounts; and friction materi-
als and its assemblies.
The overall export opportunity is
defined in terms of the target auto compo-
nents and target customers in China, 5. 6 Target opportunity by component in 2013, in bn USD
CONCLUSION
8 Distinct opportunities that require to be pursued by Indian component players with specific OEMs/ Tier 1s
22 www.autotechreview.com
C o v e r S t o r y SUSPENSION SYSTEMS
iammacintosh | fotolia
24 www.autotechreview.com
AUThOrS
MOTIVATION AND STATEMENT OF complex interactions between the differ-
THE PROBLEM ent variables, since local improvements of
one requirement may have negative
With cost and weight advantages, the effects on the others.
twist beam rear axle has been increas- This fact is the main challenge for the
ingly used for vehicles in low and middle concept design of the twist beam axle.
classes. However, in comparison to multi- According to the state-of-the-art technol-
PROF. DR.-ING. XIANGFAN FANG
is Director of the Institute of link suspensions, more development ogy, the kinematics of the rigid axle and
Automotive Lightweight Design at efforts are required to improve the stiff- the independent suspension are usually
the University of Siegen (Germany). ness under lateral force and the axle kine- calculated using multi-body simulation
matics during cornering, which can cause (MBS) and then optimised with numeri-
over-steering behaviours. The develop- cal optimisation tools. Compared to the
ments of the last decade led to significant twist beam axle, in which especially the
improvements in axle stiffness and kine- cross member is designed relatively soft,
matics, so that an increasing use of the the components of the rigid axle and the
twist beam axle can be observed cur- independent suspension are much stiffer
DIPL.-ING. KANLUN TAN rently, also in higher class vehicles. and can be considered as rigid bodies in
is research Associate of
the Institute of Automotive The main requirements for the concept those simulations. This assumption can-
Lightweight Design at the design of the twist beam rear axle include, not be applied to the twist beam axle,
University of Siegen (Germany). (a) the lateral, toe and camber stiffness, since the deformation of the axle compo-
as mentioned above; and (b) the kine- nents, particularly the bending and twist-
matic toe and camber. The latter show the ing of the cross member, determine the
changes of the toe and camber angles properties of the axle kinematics and
during parallel and opposite wheel trav- must not be neglected.
els. The lateral stiffness is defined as the For this reason, a highly detailed, para-
ratio of an applied lateral force at the metric MBS model with deformable com-
wheel contact point to the displacement ponents is required to enable the concept
of the point in the vehicle transverse design and optimisation of the twist beam
direction. Similarly, the toe and camber axle. The large number of optimisation
stiffness are the ratios of the same lateral variables and the high complexity of flexi-
force to the changes of the toe and cam- ble multi-body models require a huge
ber angles. computing capacity and a very long com-
As can be seen in 1, all requirements putation time. Therefore, this CAE optimi-
are simultaneously influenced by many sation method is rarely being used in the
factors and there is also a strong depend- industrial practice for the twist beam axle.
ence between the requirements. The most The commonly used approach in the
important influencing factors are the hard development of the twist beam axle starts
points, the three-dimensional form of the usually with several empirical or on
components and the sectional properties. benchmarking-based concepts. They are
These influencing factors are also the vari- at first roughly designed with CAD and
ables, which must be defined during the then converted into finite-element and
concept design. This means that the axle MBS models. A concept evaluation con-
stiffness and kinematics are mainly deter- cerning the stiffness and kinematics can
mined by its basic concept. Other factors, only be carried out after the simulations.
such as design details, do have influence The best concept must be further
on the strength and durability of the axle; developed and optimised via many opti-
however, they have only small influence misation steps. For this reason, many
on the axle stiffness and kinematics and resources must be invested in the CAD
will not be further considered in the cur- and CAE works before the concept eval-
rent investigation. uation. Furthermore, the quality of the
In addition to the illustration of the concepts is highly dependent on the
complex interactions, also clearly personal experiences of the engineers,
shows an enormous design potential. On so that unsuitable concepts might be
one hand, the large number of the varia- followed and optimised for a long time
bles can provide a large variety of concept without having a good result at the end.
possibilities, while on the other hand, the To solve these problems, a new method
design and optimisation of the twist beam for concept design was developed in the
axle become very difficult due to these work presented here. In this method, all
Lateral stiffness Toe stiffness Camber stiffness Other axle stiffnesses cross member with a high bending stiff-
ness but lower torsion stiffness. In the
example axle showed here, the cross
member has a hat profile cross section
Hard points
Three-dimensional
Sectional properties Other factors with reinforcements at each of the two
form of components
transition areas to the side arms, which
have a nearly circular cross section.
Each component can be idealised as
Kinematic toe Kinematic camber
Other kinematic five straight and homogeneous beams.
characteristics
This subdivision is sufficient enough to
1 Complex interactions between the concept variables and requirements represent the three-dimensional form of
the components. In order to describe the
strong variation of the cross sections of
Ul Ur the axle components in reality, each beam
can be defined with a separate property.
For example, the cross member in the axle
is idealised to have a rectangular profile at
(a) the ends, a hat profile in the central
region and a partially closed profile in the
transitional areas. To improve the accu-
racy of the model, extra beams can be
introduced; however, it causes a signifi-
RAS
cantly higher computation time.
RAS FS Besides a cross member and two side
Ul Ur arms, a twist beam axle usually has also
components to connect with spring
damper elements. Traditional spring
damper seats, such as the one shown in
(b) , are connected to the stiff side arms.
They can be nearly neglected in the ana-
lytical method because of their small
influence on the axle stiffness.
However, some modern spring-damper
RAS
RAS FS seats connect the cross member with the
side arms at the same time, so that the
relatively weak cross member is signifi-
cantly reinforced. This leads to an
increase of the total axle stiffness.
Because of the complex geometry of the
(c) seats, their implementation into the ana-
lytical method is difficult and can be con-
sidered as a further development perspec-
tive of the current method.
In the second step, all loads on the
nodes and bearings are calculated analyti-
cally. For this purpose, the axle is
2 Idealisation of the example axle as a beam model and the calculation of its bearing and node loads with the mounted as a statically determined sys-
statically determined constraints tem, which requires exactly six con-
straints for its freedom of movement,
the complex interactions in were NEW APPROACH OF ANALYSIS (b), (c). The two guide bearings, Ul
mathematically, purely analytically and and Ur, are idealised as ball joints here,
completely determined and imple- The basic approach of the stiffness analy- where Ur can also move translational in
mented into a software tool. Once the sis based on this new method can be the cars y-direction. While the lateral
concept variables are entered, the axle divided into four steps. In the first step, force acts on the left wheel contact point
stiffness and kinematics can be calcu- the axle is idealised as a beam model, 2 with a short offset RASFS, the right wheel
lated with a good accuracy in a few sec- (a). A twist beam axle usually consists of contact point RAS must have no move-
onds. The CAD data and CAE calcula- two side arms with high bending and tor- ment in the car z-direction. With these
tion are not required at all. sion stiffness, which are connected by a statically determined constraints, all
26 www.autotechreview.com
forces and moments acting on the bear-
ings and nodes can be calculated
analytically.
In reality, the two guide bearings are
not ideal ball joints but rubber bushings,
(a)
whose characteristics can also affect the
axle stiffness additionally. However,
because the effects of the rubber bushing
on the axle characteristic are often consid-
ered separately in the industrial practice,
the assumption here of idealised ball
joints can be considered as sufficient.
In the third step, the three-dimen-
sional and manifold deformations of
each beam are calculated analytically.
They consist of tension, compression and
bending deformations, as well as pure
torsion and warping torsion. The corre- (b)
sponding equations or systems of equa-
tions are developed in matrix form and
solved analytically.
To complete the stiffness analysis, the
individual beam deformations are assem-
bled in the fourth and last step and then
the total axle stiffness is determined. As
can be seen in 3 (a), the deformation
begins at the left side arm, while the
cross member moves only slightly with-
out deformation. Then the elastic defor-
mation of the cross member is added. (c)
This elastic deformation causes kine-
matic movements of the bearings. For
example, the side arms rotate inward,
but do not deform further, (b). It can
be concluded that these kinematic move-
ments have large influences on the axle
stiffness and must be considered in the 3 Deformation of the example axle with lateral force
analytical calculation.
The theory applied in the axle kine-
matic analysis was developed by Beck/
Hertel/Schneewei [1] and Matschinsky Parallel wheel travel
[2]. It is based on the following assump- Ul Ur
Opp vel
osit
ew el tra
tions: during parallel wheel travels, the hee e whe
l tra
vel osit
wheels rotate around the line joining the Opp
two guide bearings; while in opposite
wheel travels, the rotational axis of the
SC
wheel travels goes through the guide
bearing and the shear centre (SC) of the
cross member profile, 4. Generally, the
analytical determinations of the shear
centre for the typical cross member pro- 4 Geometric relationship of axle kinematics of twist beam axles
files, such as C, U or hat profiles, are
possible. However, cross members with
more complex profiles are being used in It has to be mentioned here, that RESULTS OF THE
current vehicles. Therefore, further mod- the theoretical rotational axis for oppo- ANALYTICAL CALCULATIONS
ules for the shear centre calculation of site wheel travel is only an approxima-
such kind of more complex profiles is tion, which has a deviation from the Based on the analytical method, a soft-
now under development. real wheel movement. ware tool was developed, which requires
Lateral stiffness Toe stiffness Camber stiffness ment. 5 shows that the results of the two
methods for the same example axle are
[N/mm] [N/min] [N/min] well comparable.
The results of the kinematics analysis
Simulation 1562.50 302.25 224.49
show that the analytically calculated
Analytical method 1584.10 291.14 208.04 curves for the case of parallel wheel travel
are exactly the same in comparison to the
Deviation [%] 1.38 -3.68 -7.33
curves of simulated ones, 6 (top). For
5 Stiffnesses of the example axle opposite wheel travel, a slight deviation
can be observed because of the above
Axle kinematics during parallel wheel travel mentioned inaccuracy of the
Axle theory, during
kinematics opposite wheel trav
80 80
(bottom). However, the result is still satis-
factory for the concept phase.
Toe angle of analytical calculation
60 60
Toe angle of MBS simulation
Camber angle of analytical calculation
40 40
CONCLUSION AND OUTLOOK
Wheel centre travel [mm]
20 20
With the presented analytical method, it
Design attitude
is possible to analytically evaluate a con-
Design attitude
0 0
cept of twist beam axles in terms of its
lateral stiffness and kinematics within a
-20 -20 seconds. In future developments, the
few
Toe angle of analytical method will be extended to enable the
-40 calculation -40
Toe angle of MBS simulation calculation of roll and longitudinal stiff-
Camber angle of analytical ness as well. The almost instantaneous
-60 calculation -60
computation times also enable the analyt-
Camber angle of MBS ical method as an ideal tool for optimising
simulation
-80 -80 concepts, since it can be combined
axle
-200 -150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150 -200 -150 -100 -50 0
Toe and camber angle [min] easily and quickly with suitable mathe- Toe and camber angle [min
matical optimisation algorithms.
Axle kinematics during opposite wheel travel Through further development, it
80
should be possible that after the user
Toe angle of analytical calculation enters the desired requirements and con-
60
Toe angle of MBS simulation straints, such as package, into the soft-
Camber angle of analytical calculation ware, the suitable concepts can then be
40
determined quickly and automatically by
Wheel centre travel [mm]
28 www.autotechreview.com
Moving energy made easy
... for robotics
30 www.autotechreview.com
AUThOrS
OVERALL SYSTEM WITH A key factor during the E-Axles devel-
TWO MOTORS opment was the use of simulation tools
already in an early stage. In this context,
During the development of the so-called the combination and interaction of differ-
Schaeffler E-Axle as an electrical drive ent simulation disciplines was also impor-
axle, the focus was laid on a modular but tant. For example, a CFD analysis of the
still compact design, together with a high cooling system went along with the ther-
TOMAS SMETANA
is head of the Product Division
performance and a wide application mal analysis of the motors and the com-
Electrical Axle Drives at Schaeffler range. Therefore, the current drive system, plete assembly. The results of those were
Technologies AG & Co. KG in 1, designed for a middle-class plug-in used as input data for strength analysis of
herzogenaurach (Germany).
hybrid vehicle, is equipped with a 65 kW the housing as well as for designing the
traction electric motor (at 264 V DC), sealings and press fits.
which transmits its power via a two-speed Another important aspect was the
transmission. This transmission enables a design of the system by means of simula-
pure electric drive and the support of the tions regarding efficiency, fuel savings
combustion engine and the recuperation considering different driving cycles and
as well over the complete speed range of the behaviour of the system, its sub-sys-
MICHAEL BERGER
is Project Manager inside the Product
the vehicle. tems and components in different driving
Division Electrical Axle Drives at At the integrated electro mechanical situations. Therefore, different models are
Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG torque vectoring (TV) functionality, used, which are set-up in a multi domain
in herzogenaurach (Germany).
(left), the force of a second electric motor software and validated by testing. Cur-
(maximum 6.7 kW) is used to distribute rently, the samples of the third generation
the controlled torque of the traction motor are produced and validated on the test rig
between the wheels of the vehicle. Com- as well as in vehicles. In the following,
pared to hydraulic solutions existing on the sub-modules transmission, gear shift-
the market, this concept is characterised ing as well as motors and power electron-
by high efficiency, short response times ics are discussed in more detail.
MATTHIAS GRAMANN
is head of Electrical Drives inside the
and high dynamics. An integration of the
Division Central Functions and TV system into vehicle driving stability
Mechatronics at LuK Gmbh & Co. KG systems like ESC can be used to improve TRANSMISSION
in Bhl (Germany).
the traction, increase the driving comfort
and improve the driving dynamics. The transmission is a further development
In the meantime, the E-Axle exists in of Schaefflers activEdrive [1]. It is
its third generation [1], for which the designed as two-speed, coaxial transmis-
development was done currently and sion, which contains two planetary gear
mainly towards a mass production feasi- sets as well as a spur gear differential. In
ble design. Therefore, the control and the first gear, both gear sets are powered,
MICHAEL MITARIU-FALLER
is Project Manager inside the Product
power electronics of the TV system and and in the second gear one gear set is
Unit XSG Double Clutch, Actuation the gear shifting actuator were developed forceless. Gear shifting is performed by
and Automatisation at LuK Gmbh & completely new and integrated into the means of a synchronised jaw clutch cou-
Co. KG in Bhl (Germany).
E-Axle. Nevertheless, the E-Axle is still pling with neutral position.
compact enough to be installed on the A key characteristic of the transmis-
vehicles rear axle without affecting the sion is the new developed torque vector-
space for trunk or fuel tank significantly. ing transmission with an electric motor
In its maximum configuration level, the positioned in parallel to the main axle.
flange distance is 525 mm, the E-Axles Inside this a superposition transmission
weight about 80 kg. is used, which consists of two planetary
Also hardware and software of both gear sets with common planet bolts. The
control units were developed with focus internal gear wheels are coupled with the
on mass production feasibility and a mod- output shafts. One of the sun gear
ular concept in that way, that the commu- wheels is fixed in the axles housing,
nication between them and the vehicles while the other is driven by the TV
control units can be established via CAN motor via a spur gear set.
bus or FlexRay, according to the custom- shows on the right the torque dis-
ers requirements. The TV system is com- tribution paths with activated TV system.
pliant to Asil-D specified safety require- The torque of the TV motor is transmit-
ments and the gear shifting system to ted into the superposition gear set via
Asil-C according to ISO 26262 [2]. the spur gear set and the first sun gear
wheel. On the other side, it is supported forces up to 1,500 N continuously. New accuracy, so that no additional sensors
by the second, fixed sun gear wheel. production processes and optimised lubri- are needed.
This results in a tensioning of the super- cation oil guarantee this robust design to
position gear set, which creates on both reach its claimed lifetime reliably.
of the internal gear wheels, torques of Thus, this mechanism allows the E-MOTORS AND
the same value but in different direc- use of a small EC motor in order to POWER ELECTRONICS
tions. Further this leads to a shifting of reduce the power need. Therefore, no
the driving torque from one output shaft additional axial space inside the axle is The traction motor on the one hand is
to the other and therefore to different tor- needed for the actuator mechanism; the capable of providing a maximum drive
ques on the wheels. motor is only lead through the housing power of 73 kW (at 323 V DC) for 10 s at
The ratios of the transmission have in radial direction. a maximum torque of 178 Nm. It achieves
also been chosen considering simulations Amongst others, the systems high a continuous power of 65 kW and a con-
regarding efficiency and consumption, so dynamics is assured by the mounted tinuous torque of 105 Nm with a cooling
that with the performance data of the actuator control unit (ACU), together system designed accordingly. 3 shows on
traction motors, the axle creates a starting with the high control quality of the gear the top side its speed-torque diagram.
torque of 2,000 Nm in the first gear and shifting system. The high position resolu- With the cooling system designed for the
can run up to the maximum vehicle speed tion of the EC motor enables a very good E-Axle, the motor provides a maximum
(> 250 km/h) in the second gear. In this
application, the optimal ratios are 12.3 in
the first gear and 4.2 in the second gear.
The TV transmission has a ratio of
37.7, which makes it capable to create a
maximum differential wheel torque of
1,600 Nm. The transmission is lubricated
without an oil pump. The axle is filled
with approximately one litre oil. The
transmission housing contains elements
to supply oil to the required locations
during operation.
SHIFTING
REFERENCES
[1] Smetana, T.; Biermann, T.; rohe, M.; hein-
rich, W.: E-Drive With Electrically Controlled Differ-
ential. In: ATZelektronik Worldwide 6 (2011), No.
5, pp. 4-8
[2] ISO 26262, Part 9: Asil and Safety regarding
Analyses, 2011
interfaces, the electric motor power as as all-wheel drive, from small cars to
well as the configuration of the gear light commercial vehicles or sports cars.
shifting can be varied, according to the
application. The implementation of the
TV unit is optional. Alternatively, it is CONCLUSION AND OUTLOOK
possible to integrate a parking lock or a
power shift transmission. With the E-Axle, Schaeffler has shown an
With these variants, all applications innovative and series-production feasible
from mild-hybrid via plug-in hybrid up to electrical drive system with high power
a pure electric vehicle can be covered density, which by means of using a mod-
as rear-wheel drive, front-wheel drive or ular system, can flexibly be adjusted to
ThAnkS
The authors thank all involved colleagues at
Schaeffler and the development partners for
their effort at the development of the Schaef-
fler E-Axle. Furthermore, they thank their col-
leagues Florian Drrfu, Eduard Enderle, Dr.
Martin Fritz, Andreas Kufner, Dr. Thomas
Schencke and Philip Wurzberger for their valu-
able contribution to this article.
5 E-axle modular system three possible configurations made of the combinable and modifiable modules read this article on
(The implementation of the TV unit is optional) www.autotechreview.com
34 www.autotechreview.com
C o v e r S t o r y SUSPENSION SYSTEMS
36 www.autotechreview.com
AUTHORS
INTRODUCTION CALCULATION MODEL
Nowadays, the use of analytical methods To reveal the deficiency of roll vibration
in developing and designing dynamical damping of a conventional independent
systems has unfortunately become rare. suspension it is sufficient to analyse a
Numerical software programmes that are strongly simplified two-dimensional linear
easily accessible even to small companies, axle model of a multi-body system con-
ALEXANDER PIEPER, M. SC.,
is Development Engineer at CP
as well as the hardly ever-exhausted com- taining an anti-roll bar, 1. The external
autosport GmbH in Bren and puting capacity of workstations and clus- excitations are assumed to be in the verti-
PhD Student at the Institute of ters, entrap engineers quite often to cal direction (marked blue). The proposed
Mechanics and Materials at the
Ruhr University Bochum (Germany).
employ simulation programmes of multi- model consists of three bodies two
body dynamics at the beginning of their uprights and the chassis [2-4]. In this
concept determination phase. model, the proportional mass of the
In this article, the effectiveness of the whole suspension on the left and right
alternative approach will be demon- side, often called unsprung mass, is
strated. It will be shown that even assumed to be concentrated in a point of
extremely complicated dynamical behav- each upright (lumped mass). The dis-
PROF. DR. KHANH CHAU LE
iour could be insightfully studied before- placements as the degrees of freedom of
is Professor at the Institute of hand within goal-oriented simplified mod- all masses, like the external excitations,
Mechanics and Materials at the els. To begin the concept development of are constrained to be in the vertical direc-
Ruhr University Bochum (Germany).
a dynamic system with an analytically tion only.
solvable model leads automatically to an Exclusively, the chassis has one more
essential gain of understandings of the degree of freedom corresponding to the
present problems. Moreover, such an rotation angle. Thus, there are altogether
approach enables the engineers to find four degrees of freedom in the chosen
novel and highly efficient solutions at the axle model (denoted by red). In a conven-
root of complex problems. Besides, the tional suspension, the motions of the two
DIPL.-ING. JRGEN KLBERER
is Head R&D of the CP autosport
use of simulation programmes in the later uprights and the chassis are coupled
GmbH in Bren (Germany). phase of development can also be realised through two main springs as well as
in a much more goal-oriented and effec- through two dampers. A so-called anti-roll
tive way. bar is often employed as a third spring
In this paper, the axle model with element in this kind of suspensions. The
made assumptions will be introduced. role of this anti-roll bar, that may have
The analytically derived solution thus various embodiments in the practical real-
makes it possible to analyse the problem isation, is to couple the uprights when
of detailed roll damping, as well as visu- they are moving in counter phases caus-
alise its behaviour by the help of various ing the increase of the spring stiffness of
diagrams [1]. Finally, the mechanical con- the whole system against the roll angle.
cept of optimising the roll vibration Due to the three-dimensional motion
damping developed by CP autosport will of the uprights and the non-parallel ori-
be presented. entations of the springs and dampers to
the vertical axis, an installation ratio
PARAMETERS USED between the vertical displacement of the
PARAMETER VALUE UNIT centre of the uprights and the resulting
elongation of the spring exist. This rela-
mf 500 kg
tion applies to upright and damper pis-
Jf 250 kg m 2
ton velocities as well. Because of that
mr 40 kg
reason the installation ratios are taken
kf 100,000 N/m into account in this model [5]. In reality,
ks 50,000 N/m these installation ratios do vary slightly
kr 350,000 N/m during the relative displacement of the
cf 500 kg/s uprights to the chassis due to the three-
cr 50 kg/s dimensional kinematics.
ik 0.9 However, within the linearised theory
of small vibrations the installation ratios
is 0.8
(ik,ic,is) can simply be assumed as con-
ic 0.9
stants. In order to enable the excitation of
l 1.85 m
1 Calculation model with parameters used the system through the uneven road
UPRIGHT CHASSIS
tem can directly be read off from and The shown directions hold certainly only
are presented in Eq. 2 and 3: for half a period of vibration and change
EIGENFREqUENCY
their signs afterwards in accordance with
LEFT RIGHT HEAVE ROLL
the law of harmonic vibra-
1
__ 2 1
__
K(q )= 2 mf z f + 2 Jf f + 2 tions. The weight analysis
f1 Eq. 2 of the degrees of freedom
1
__
2 mr (z [ l l
]
f+z l+__2 f )2+(z f+z r __2 f )2 of the system shows
f2 clearly that the first and
1 1 the third eigenfrequency
U(q)=__2 kf i2k (z2l +z2r )+__2 ks i2s (zlzr)2+
f3 Eq. 3 can be identified with the
1
__
2 k r [ ( zez z __
l f l 2
l
f )2
+( z ez z +__
r f r
l
2 ] f )2
heave vibration modes.
The roll vibrations are
f4
absent in these modes of vibrations. The
2 Direction of motion of all bodies in the different The corresponding dissipation function chassis and the uprights move in phase at
vibration modes stands as: the first eigenfrequency, while they move
in counter phase at
inputs, each upright is connected to a the third eigenfre-
notional wheel contact point having a
Eq. 4
1
[ 1 l
D(q )=__2 cf i2c (z 2l +z 2r )+__2 cr (z el z f z l __2
f)2+ quency. The sec-
given displacement as functions of time. ond and fourth
The spring and damper connecting the
__l
]
(z er z f z r+ 2 f ) 2
eigenfrequency
contact point and the upright model describe the roll
offers a viscoelastic behaviour of the Note that the translational degrees of free- vibrations of the chassis and at the same
wheel in the first approximation. The dom of the uprights do not describe the time counter phase vibrations of the
forced vibrations hold true provided that absolute displacements in space, but their uprights. The heave vibrations are absent
the contact between the wheels and the relative displacements with respect to the in these vibration modes. It is interesting
road exists during the whole vibration chassis. However, the degrees of freedom that the phenomenon of vibrations in
process. As mentioned before, the simpli- of the chassis correspond to the absolute phase and in counter phase between the
fied system is regarded as linear in spite displacement and rotation angle in the chassis and the uprights can also be
of the particularly strongly non-linear fixed frame of reference in space. From observed in this case.
elements of the system. the generalised Lagranges equation of The already identified amplitude ratios
second kind the system of equations of of vibration modes can be made more
motion (Eq. 1) for the axle model follow: accessible with the help of the targeted
MATHEMATICAL DISCLOSURE OF external excitation in form of two har-
THE DEFICIENCY OF ROLL monic functions. For this aim the system
d L L D
Eq. 5 __ ___ ___ + ___=0 with j=1...n
VIBRATION DAMPING dt q j qj qj is excited by two cosine functions. In the
first case, the identical excitation function
It is well known from the dynamics [6, 7] In order to recognise the vibration modes is used for the left and right wheel. In the
that the small forced vibrations of a of a vehicle, the corresponding conserva- second case, two excitation functions with
mechanical system like the one consid- tive system (with damping constants set the same amplitude and frequency but
ered above admit analytical solutions [1]. to be equal to zero) is going to be studied with the phase difference are applied
For any mechanical system with n degrees first. The advantage of this case study is (excitations in counter phase). By plotting
of freedom, the equations of forced vibra- that the amplitudes of free and undamped each contribution to the absolute dis-
tions take the form: vibrations with the eigenfrequencies 2.57, placement of the left upright in relation to
4.16, 16.57 and 17.92 Hz turn out to have the amplitude of the excitation as function
fixed relative ratios amongst them. This of the exciting frequency, one gets the
Eq. 1 Mq + Cq+ Kq = f(t)
enables to find and compare the contribu- magnification (or resonance) functions for
tion of each degree of freedom to the the components shown in 3.
Here q is a vector of generalised coordi- absolute displacement of the upright. In addition, the magnification function
nates. The entries in the chosen axle Besides, a certain degree of freedom that of the absolute amplitude of the left
model correspond to the heave and roll has the largest contribution to the abso- upright, which is the sum of all compo-
degree of freedom of the chassis and the lute amplitude of the upright can be nents, is also plotted in black. It is inter-
translational degrees of freedom of the assigned to each eigenfrequency. esting to observe that in case of the exci-
uprights. The constant matrices M, C and The magnitudes and signs of the tations in phase, only the first and the
K stand for the mass, damping, and stiff- amplitudes of all bodies obtained by the third mode of vibrations are excited,
ness matrices of the axle model, respec- exemplarily chosen parameters of the sys- which agrees with the previous weight
tively. The equations of motions are tem can be visualised with the help of dif- analysis of the components. In contrary,
derived by the energy method [6]. The ferent arrows in 2. The amplitudes with the excitations in counter phase lead to
kinetic and potential energies of the sys- the largest contribution are marked red. the resonances of the second and the
38 www.autotechreview.com
of the uprights are periodic motions.
This property does not depend on the
phase difference between the excitation
functions. When the absolute amplitudes
of the uprights are plotted as functions of
the frequency of excitation and of the
phase difference of the excitation func-
tions, one gets three-dimensional sur-
faces. The diagrams shown in 4 for the
undamped and damped systems have the
3 Two-dimensional plots of the magnification functions of all components of the left upright advantage that the magnification function
of the left upright in the range of the
heave vibration modes (1, 3) and the roll
vibration modes (2, 4) can be compared
in the same diagram. Especially in the
zoomed neighbourhood of the first and
second eigenfrequencies, it can be seen
that the amplitudes of the uprights in a
wide range around the second eigenfre-
quency (corresponding to the roll vibra-
tions of the chassis) remain significantly
large in spite of the damping. Due to
these large amplitudes of the uprights, the
force variation between the road and the
wheels contact patch will remarkably
increase and stability and controllability
of the vehicle will notably decrease.
40 www.autotechreview.com
KNOW WHATS HAPPENING
42 www.autotechreview.com
MOTIVATION concept is preferable because of the flow the asymmetric spray pattern of the
and cooling benefits features an inte- multi-hole injectors represents a compro-
In order to reach the same torque, it is grated, cooled exhaust manifold as well as mise between homogenisation and wet-
necessary to increase the mean effective a tumble port that is increased by mask- ting of the cylinder wall or the valves.
pressure when the displacement is ing the combustion chamber, and thanks Furthermore, there should be the option
reduced. This initially leads to less gas- to the special design of the intake ports. for an ignition-linked injection to opti-
exchange losses. Additionally, the relative In contrast to the basic engine, the valve mise the cold start and warm-up behav-
wall heat losses and friction losses also assembly is driven by a dry-running tim- iour. As part of the investigations, three
decrease due to the higher load [1]. Conse- ing belt. The valve assembly has cam different injection nozzles were com-
quently, the operating point of the down- phaser at the intake and exhaust side, pared with each other.
sized engine lies in an engine perfor- which permit an adjusting range of 50 In order to achieve high brake mean
mance range with a higher efficiency, CA. This results in a maximum valve effective pressures of up to BMEP = 27.5
which leads to lower specific fuel con- overlap of (EVC-IVO) = 73 CA with a valve bar, the engine is equipped with a two-
sumption. Achieving comparable maxi- lift of hv = 1 mm. As a result, a very wide stage charging system. It consists of a tur-
mum performance and torque characteris- adjusting range is available for dethrot- bocharger and a mechanical compressor
tics requires a high specific power output tling by means of internal exhaust gas that can be coupled via an electromag-
and therefore an increase in the maxi- recirculation at partial load or scavenging netic dry clutch. In addition to high boost
mum mean effective pressure by using to increase the torque at full load. pressure, this permits very good in-sta-
suitable charging units. The central location of the spark plug tionary behaviour, even in the low engine
However, higher temperatures and in combination with the small bore speed range, whereby fuel consumption
pressures at the end of the compression diameter of d = 65.5 mm has a positive and the effort required for the regulation
stroke in the end gas require higher knock effect on the knock resistance. This spark are acceptable. In view of the systematic
limits and thus lead to losses in efficiency plug positioning results in a slightly off- design of the research engine that is
[2] due to retarded spark timing at high centre injector position. The design of geared towards operation with ethanol-
loads or an adjusted lower compression.
Fuels with a higher knock-resistance
counteract this disadvantage so that using FUEL E10MB E20SB E85SB ETHANOL
recoverable, biogenic blended ethanol Density at 20C 746.2 kg/m 3 767.2 kg/m 3 781kg/m 808.8 kg/m 3
fuels, which feature a high octane num- research octane 95.7 102.2 106.1
number 108.6
ber, is a good idea. In addition to the
Lower calorific value 41.68 MJ/kg 39.71 MJ/kg 29.16MJ/kg 27.06 MJ/kg
above mentioned direct CO2 reduction
Carbon mass fraction 83.38 % 79.27 % 56.9 % 49.80 %
potential thanks to engine efficiency, the
hydrogen mass fraction 13.36 % 13.49 % 13.2 % 13.00 %
savings during the production of fuel
oxygen mass fraction 3.26 % 7.24 % 29.9 % 37.20 %
must be rated positively, if the energy
Mean molar mass 94.9 g/mol 87.4 g/mol 55 g/mol 42.9 g/mol
required for the production process is not
disproportionally high [3, 4]. Ethanol mass fraction 9.2 % 20.8 % 86.1 % 99.9 %
stoichiometric air
requirement 14.6 13.3 9.8 9
Vaporisation enthalpy 428.5 kJ/kg 495.5 kJ/kg 778.2 kJ/kg 1014.0 kJ/kg
TEST OBJECTS AND FUELS
Chemical and physical fuel properties
The engine block and the crank assembly
of a 0.8 l three-cylinder diesel engine are
used as a basis for the test object. The
high stability of the diesel engine permits
maximum mean cylinder pressures of up
to pcyl, max = 142 bar, which takes the high
peak pressures to be expected into
account with reasonable certainty, in par-
ticular when using ethanol-containing
fuels. The strength benefits are accompa-
nied by a frictional torque that is unusu-
ally high for gasoline engines. This must
be taken into account, when evaluating
the effective efficiency.
A new cylinder head was developed
using 1-D gas cycle simulations as well as
3-D CFD computations with the emphasis
on fatigue, cooling, and flow. The 3-valve Variation of valve timing at n = 2000 rpm and BMEP = 2 bar
containing fuels, compression ratios of tions was to highlight the potential of this stability. 2 shows the selected variables
CR = 11 that are relatively high for a extreme downsizing concept aimed at for this variation in each case above the
supercharged engine, or CR = 13 in a fur- reducing fuel consumption, as well as its valve timing exhaust valve closes (EVC)
ther expansion stage, were analysed. The limitations with regard to the increase in and intake valve opens (IVO) at a lift of 1
design of the piston crown represents a the specific power output. For this pur- mm. It is clear to see that the fuel con-
compromise between high compression pose, the engine was tested several hun- sumption drops with an increasing valve
ratio, valve clearance, and the longest dred hours on the engine test bench. In overlap and the resulting dethrottling.
possible unobstructed path length of the addition to performing basic investiga- On the other hand, the increased resid-
individual spray jets of the injectors. tions during partial load and wide open ual gas portion leads to an unstable com-
1 provides an overview of the proper- throttle, the oil dilution tendency, the bustion all the way down to misfires. The
ties of the three analysed fuels E10MB, heat-up characteristics, and the transient location of the maximum fuel conversion
E20SB, and E85SB, as well as that of pure properties of the engine were analysed. leads to the conclusion that the advantage
ethanol in comparison. The stoichiometric Some of the results will be presented by of better homogenisation due to early
air-to-fuel ratio (Lst) and the lower heating way of examples in the following. opening of the intake valves outweighs a
value (HU) of E20SB are reduced com- later exhaust event, which is preferable
pared to E10MB because of the presence Partial Load when it comes to expansion losses. Tak-
of the OH group in the ethanol molecule. The part load investigations started by ing a safe distance of 10 CA to timing
In E85SB, this effect becomes more pro- varying the valve
nounced due to the increased amount of timing at an
ethanol. In spite of the higher combustion engine speed of n
efficiency, the lower calorific value never- = 2000 rpm and a
theless results in higher volumetric fuel brake mean effec-
consumption. However, the carbon con- tive pressure of
tent that decreases with increasing etha- BMEP = 2 bar
nol content compensates for this effect, with the goal of
when considering at CO2 emissions. achieving an opti-
mum gas cycle as
a compromise
RESULTS OF THE TEST between low spe-
BENCH INVESTIGATIONS cific fuel con-
sumption and ade-
The goal of the experimental investiga- quate combustion
Variation of start of injection and rail pressure Comparison of different operation points
44 www.autotechreview.com
with first combustion misfires into
account, a moderate overlap of EVC = -5
CA after TDC and IVO = -18 CA after
TDC was selected.
As a compromise between friction,
combustion stability, and soot emissions,
injection timing and pressure were
derived for partial load operation in fur-
ther investigations. An early start of injec-
tion has a positive effect on the mixture
formation here and thus on the stability,
expressed by the standard deviation of the
indicated mean effective pressure, 3
(middle). In contrast to this trend, a start
of injection before 340 CA after TDC
leads to increased piston wetting and con- Variation of valve timing at n = 5500 rpm and full load
sequently to increased soot emissions.
The rail pressure also affects the develop- efficiency becomes obvious. An up to 16 the right in the centre at the location of
ment of soot emissions through droplet % higher power output is achieved with the spark plug.
diameter and penetration depth or wall high-octane, ethanol-containing fuels than (left) shows a clear drift of the spray
wetting. (below) shows that rail pres- with conventional fuel. The rated power in the direction of the combustion cham-
sures of below 100 bar are not an effective output of Pe = 96 kW is reached at an ber wall. High flow velocities via the
solution here in spite of a low frictional engine speed of n = 5,500 rpm using intake valve of over 150 m/s already
mean pressure. E20SB. This corresponds to a specific reach the fuel jet at a very early stage and
While no significant efficiency advan- power output of 120 kW/l. thus prevent an optimum mixture forma-
tages can be noted by using high-octane The earlier mentioned investigations tion while severely wetting the wall. A
ethanol fuels in the lower partial-load for finding optimum valve timing, start central position of the injector would rem-
range, their increased knock resistance of injection, as well as injection pres- edy the problem, (right). However, the
becomes beneficial in the upper load sure were performed at this operating risk of an extended flame propagation and
ranges and at wide open throttle, 4. In point as well. 5 shows an extract from the associated increased tendency of pre-
contrast to conventional E10MB fuel with the results of the valve timing variation ignition with a decentralised spark plug
an octane number of 95.7, the engine at the rated output. We can see that the position have to be taken into considera-
with E20SB (RON = 102.2) and E85SB targeted mean effective pressure of tion in this case.
(RON = 106.1) can also be operated in BMEP = 26.2 bar is achieved over a
the upper load range for a longer period wide adjusting range. Only at early New European Driving Cycle
of time or with complete optimal effi- intake valve timing is it not possible to To evaluate the steps taken to reduce CO2
ciency with a centre of combustion of build up sufficient boost pressure. emissions, a conventional 1.4 l turbo-
approximately 8 CA after TDC. As The advantage of the high evaporation charged engine with a comparable power
shown at the bottom of , the presence enthalpy of E20SB fuel and the
of oxygen in the ethanol molecule signifi- associated early centre of com-
cantly reduces the tendency of soot for- bustion as well as the lower
mation. This advantage is especially pro- need for enrichment is not as
nounced in the higher load range. As a pronounced as expected in the
result of the low calorific value of ethanol, experiment. This implies that
a larger volumetric fuel flow rate must be the mixture formation is inad-
supplied with increasing ethanol content equate. This assumption is
at the same load. In order to avoid long confirmed by an above aver-
injection times and associated poor mix- age oil dilution level in the
ture formation, the injection pressure has range of the rated power out-
been increased to the maximum of 250 put. The cause and a possible
bar, when using the E85SB. countermeasure are illustrated
in 6. It shows the droplet dis-
Wide Open Throttle tributions at 510 CA after
Taking a look at the maximum achievable TDC as the result of a 3-D CFD
indicated mean effective pressure at an simulation of the rated power
engine speed of 1,500 rpm, (right), the output point on the left for the
advantage of the lower stoichiometric air- current, slightly decentralised
to-fuel ratio in addition to the improved position of the injector and on 3-D-CFD simulation at rated power for different injector positions
with optimal efficiency with as little as offer a high potential for counteracting group for their great support.
46 www.autotechreview.com
YOUR PARTNER IN THE
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
TYROLIT in India
+91 80 23121811 | sales-metalprecision@tyrolit.co.in
The kind of automotive attention that at a speed never experienced before. We the future. The organisers stated that
the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) spoke to some of the participants at CES 17 % of the exhibit space was taken
has been getting is no surprise. Modern 2015, and understand that automotive is up by automotive exhibits, a record by
vehicles are getting synonymous with no longer a trend, but very much an far. It is hard to say which of the
technology. Whether it is driverless cars integral part of CES. technologies displayed were most
or vehicle communication technologies; Led by Toyota and Volkswagen, eight significant, for there were far too many.
gesture-controlled infotainment systems other top automakers Audi, BMW, This is not an exhaustive list, but
or head-up displays that augment reality Chrysler, Ford, GM, Hyundai, Mazda highlights of a few important and
automotive technology is developing and Mercedes lined up innovations for innovative demonstrations.
48 www.autotechreview.com
MERCEDES-BENZ This is the first manifestation of a con- parking in multi-storey car parks. For the
nected safety technology, and promises to demonstration, the carmaker used an i3,
The German giant showcased its vision of address the growing incidences of crashes which had four advanced laser scanners
an autonomous driving future through the between cars and cyclists in many mature that record the environment and reliably
demonstration of the F 015 Luxury in markets. Volvo Cars City Safety system identify impediments such as columns,
Motion concept. The one-box design car standard on the all-new XC90 is a tech- for example in a multi-storey car park, the
is over five metre long and two metre nology that can detect, warn and auto- company noted in a release to the press. If
wide, and has a wheelbase of 3,610 mm. brake to avoid collisions with cyclists. The the vehicle approaches a wall or a column
The body is a combination of CFRP, alu- technology uses radar and camera to too quickly, the system brakes automati-
minium and steel, which has aided in detect cyclists and based on advanced cally to prevent the threat of collision. The
lowering the vehicle mass by around 40 sensor technology, it can apply full auto- vehicle is brought to a standstill very pre-
%. The interior is lounge like, with four matic braking should the car come close cisely with centimetres to spare. Like all
rotating chairs that can turn to face each to a collision. BMW assistance systems, this research
other. There is no B pillar, and the front application can be overridden at any time
and rear-hinged doors that open to 90 by the driver.
degrees, aid access to the F 015. HYUNDAI MOTOR CO
High resolution display screens
integrated into the dashboard, rear and The Korean automaker, meanwhile, pre- HARMAN INTERNATIONAL
side panels are controlled by eye-tracking, sented Display Audio, a high resolution
gesture control or touch. These allow seven-inch colour touch-screen display Global leader in infotainment and audio
passengers to interact with the car and that has been optimised specifically for systems for the car, home, and profes-
the outside world. LEDs are used to enhanced smartphone integrations and sional markets, HARMAN International
communicate with other cars and road the latest generation Blue Link system. also focussed on the connected car revo-
users white will indicate manual Display Audio allows iPhone owners to lution. And since the infotainment sys-
driving, while theyll glow blue when the use Apple CarPlay to take the familiar fea- tem is the gateway between the vehicle
car is in autonomous mode. Dr Dieter tures from their iPhones and put them and the Internet, it is a key factor in
Zetsche, CEO, Daimler called the F 015 a right on the touch-screen display while making the Connected Car vision a real-
mobile living space. driving. Similarly, Android Auto brings ity, said Sachin Lawande, Executive Vice
the Android experience into the car by President and President, Infotainment
projecting apps and services into the Division, HARMAN in a pre-event web-
VOLVO CARS Display Audio system. The smartphone cast to the media.
integrations can be brought in using an Among many innovative displays, one
In what is an interesting three-way collab- easy-to-access USB port. Once the connec- critical feature that HARMAN believes is
oration, Volvo Cars has been working tion is made, users can access their smart- a killer feature or app of the connected
with protective gravity sports gear manu- phone for phone calls and contacts, car is the high-end navigation solution
facturer POC and Ericsson to develop an music, navigation, messaging, and opti- based on the Navigation Data Standard,
innovative safety technology that helps mised third-party apps. or NDS, that is able to incrementally
car drivers connect with cyclists on the update map data in the field. Incremental
road. The technology, demonstrated at updates of map data were not possible in
CES, consists of a connected car and hel- BMW the past due to the inherent complexity of
met prototype that establishes a two-way the highly co-related data, said Lawande.
communication offering proximity alerts Among several new innovations, BMW But the new over-the-air incremental
to Volvo drivers and cyclists, and thereby showcased a 360-degree collision avoid- update capability the first in the indus-
avoiding accidents. ance technology, and fully-automated try ensures that the map data and navi-
Volvo Cars displayed an innovative safety technology connecting car drivers, cyclists BMW ConnectedDrive menu, like RTTI, can be uploaded even in traffic jams
At the CES, Bosch demonstrated how it is traffic or construction sites on the route
making cars an active part of the internet. into the digital map and make this infor-
On the hardware side, Bosch has a con- mation available for vehicle electronics.
nectivity control unit, which essentially is In fact, the dynamic eHorizon turns cars
a small box connected to the in-car net- into moving sensors, which constantly
work and comprises a GMS module for exchange data on the road with the
communication, and usually also a GPS cloud, he said. Continental also show-
module that provides data on the current cased connected energy management for
position important information for its mild hybrid system 48 Volt Eco Drive,
many services. As early as 2016, Bosch which allows for the most efficient operat-
expects every new long-haul commercial ing strategies during the drive.
vehicle in Europe and the United States to The company also demonstrated how
be offered with a networking solution. a smart watch can be transformed into a
On the other hand, Bosch Software remote car key. As a car key, the smart
Innovations offered a modular software watch uses Bluetooth to connect to Conti-
suite that can be flexibly utilised. From nentals latest bidirectional remote key
2015, it will form the platform for an also known as the gateway key. The gate-
innovative intermodal transportation way key works as an interface between
concept in Stuttgart, Germany. eCall, the vehicle and the smart watch to trans-
meanwhile, is a life-saving in-vehicle fer data (vehicle and diagnostics data, and
emergency notification service. In the user profile) to the vehicle, stated a com-
event of an accident, the eCall service pany release. Through an App on the
sends information to a Bosch communi- smart watch, the driver can open or close
cation centre, from where necessary the vehicle or exchange other information
Harman aha cloud service can project vehicle health
immediate assistance is initiated. simply by using its display.
50 www.autotechreview.com
Book your
booth now!
Bookings open
For more information, please contact:
sameer.khedkar@india.messefrankfurt.com
+91 22 6757 5900 (Ext.: 935)
t e C h n o l o g y DATSUN GO +
DATSUN GO+
ADDING TO SPACE, VALUE
When the Datsun brand was revived and launched globally in India, it was clear that Nissan wanted to strength-
en its position in the market. The company announced the GO hatchback, which it believed to be accepted well
by the young first-time buyers on the lookout for a modern and spacious hatchback at low price. However, the
GO wasnt successful at attracting enough customers to Nissan India showrooms. The recent negative Global
NCAP crash test results didnt help either. The company has now launched the GO+, a seven-seat compact
MPV, which it calls Indias first compact family wagon. Being a sub-four metre vehicle, the GO+ qualifies for ex-
cise duty benefits and that has allowed the company to price the vehicle lower than any other seven-seat vehicle
in the country. But is that enough to draw customers from choosing the GO+ over B-segment hatchbacks? We
drove the vehicle around the serene surroundings of Rishikesh to understand the product better.
52 www.autotechreview.com
ver, its not just the space, which makes
the last-row an uncomfortable place, since
ingress and egress too isnt easy. This is
probably due to the retention of the
wheelbase, which didnt allow for widen-
ing the doors entrance area. The seatbelts
at the rear dont have an inertia reel, in
favour of cost-cutting and the belts in the
last row are waist-over two-point belts,
which isnt too safe. Also, every time the
middle-row is folded down, the seat belts
come off and need to be re-inserted.
The interior is pretty basic and the area around the hand brake can be uncomfortable for the knees of the driver. Plastic and build quality though was impressive
Space in the last row isnt adequate and the lack of a three-point seat belt reduces the safety quotient. Power windows can be operated only from respective door panels
cabin. At city speeds though, things are a spacious hatch, the GO+ turns out to somewhat in its positioning. Projecting it
more acceptable. offer unmatchable space. With the last- as a seven-seater could result in many
row folded, boot volume increases from returning disappointed, but for those
48 l to 350 l, which is comparable with looking at it as an alternative to a hatch-
TECHNICAL ROUND-Up some compact sedans. Space in the first back, the GO+ comes across as a reason-
two rows is generous and the seats able choice. The GO+ is priced between
Like every vehicle, the GO+ has its posi- themselves are quite comfortable for ` 3.79 to ` 4.61 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi.
tive and negative traits, and ultimately it long journeys. At this price, its clear that the company
will come down to the priority of con- Equipment is pretty basic with the has passed the cost-cutting benefits to its
sumers and the vehicular traits fulfilling inclusion of AC, mobile-docking station customers and for those finding value in a
them or not. What makes the GO+ dif- and power-steering. Power windows can low-cost vehicle with flexible and ample
ferent is its projected positioning as a only be operated form their respective space, there is no alternative to the GO+
compact seven-seater. Anyone with a door panels and ORVMs have to be for now in the market.
requirement for a seven-seater might not adjusted manually from the outside. The
feel convinced about the GO+ in gen- glove-box too is uncovered, with the plas-
eral. An uncomfortable third-row with tic and build-quality being a saving grace TExT: Arpit Mahendra
lesser safety of a two-point seat-belt is for the cabin. Safety features such as ABS pHOTO: Bharat Bhushan Upadhyay
not a place where anyone would/ should and airbags are not available even as an
place their kids. option since low-cost visibly turns out to
For a hatchback owner though, the be the platforms prerogative.
GO+ might come across as a good For a vehicle that looks decent and Read this article on
option. For someone on the lookout for offers good practicality, the problem lies www.autotechreview.com
54 www.autotechreview.com
S H O P F L O O R SCANIA INDIA
PREMIUMNESS TO REMAIN
HALLMARK, BUT LOCALISATION KEY
Scania Commercial Vehicles India (SCVI), a major player in the premium commercial vehicle segment globally,
has already gathered a significant market share in India. In a recent visit to the SCVI shopfloor, we took a look
at the chassis and body assembly facility, as well as its service and repair facilities. We also spoke to Anders
Grundstrmer, Managing Director, SCVI & Senior Vice President, Scania Group and Richard
Wardemark, Director Production,
SCVI, and went through
assembly line at the facility.
56 www.autotechreview.com
INTRODUCTION recruited from colleges and were trained on the trucks include the closed cross
according to Scanias production stand- member on the chassis, wheel arches,
While most of the trucks and buses are ards (SPS). Wardemark said when pro- head lamps, head lamp frames, and plas-
only assembled in the companys facility duction began at the facility in August tic parts like light lenses. The different
in Narsapura, near Bangalore, the produc- 2013, the operators could manufacture configurations of tipper bodies and sys-
tion of bus bodies has begun on trial one truck per day, and now with appro- tems for the trucks are currently supplied
basis. The company plans to begin full- priate training, they are able to roll out by Hyva, with the possibility of using
scale production of bus bodies, with a five trucks. The chassis assembly facility other suppliers, on customer request.
high level of local content on compo- currently has a total of about 65 employ- Wardemark said the company is con-
nents, by the first quarter of 2015. ees, with more than 50 employees consti- stantly looking to find additional local
The Regional Product Centre, which is tuting blue-collar positions. Within the suppliers, who can meet the required
what Scania calls all its assembly facilities blue-collar section of employees, 38 are standards in supplying components,
globally, also houses a service area. The operators belonging to production, and which would result in reduced costs of
facility is spread over 250,000 sq m, with the rest take care of logistics. The bus the vehicles.
only half of it being built up right now, body plant currently has about 300 The company offers trucks with vari-
and houses the chassis assembly facility, employees, which is expected to reach ous power and torque outputs in six-cylin-
Scania service workshop and bus body 1,200 employees by 2017, for the produc- der engine configurations, and has
factory. Scania has invested a total of ` tion of both trucks and buses. recently launched its truck with a V8
300 cr into its facility in Bangalore, for a Components manufactured in Sweden engine as well. Customers, who wish to
production capacity of 2,500 trucks and and Brazil are shipped to Zwolle in Hol- have a truck with an engine configuration
1,000 buses per year. The company plans land, where they are kitted-up and finally not currently offered, can request to have
to double its production capacity by 2017, sent to India. The kits come in batches of their vehicles fitted with a different Scania
and will need to invest about ` 150 cr for multiples of three, as per the production engine, Wardemark noted. He added that
that, Grundstrmer said. The assembly requirement, and are arranged in wagons the only condition is that the engine
facility at SCVI is a flexible one that can in order of the station that they are offered will be one from Scanias global
be used for bus chassis, as well as chassis required in. All the critical components of line-up of engines. This reflects the high
of trucks in the on-road and off-road seg- buses and trucks, including engine, trans- customisability of the products offered by
ments. The facility assembles tippers and mission and axles come as pre-assembled the company. The final station of the
trailer trucks in various configurations kits, which are then assembled into the assembly line is where all the fluids, such
and capacities. The tippers assembled at finished vehicle. The trucks have a local as fuel, oils, and other special fluids are
the facility range between 18.83 and component content of over 25 %. The fed into the vehicle. This station is also
32-cubic metres in capacity, with rock cabins come painted to the facility accord- where the software programming for the
body and coal body configurations. ing to customer requirements, thus result- vehicle is done. The programming is
ing in the omission of a paint booth com- important since every vehicle assembled
pletely. Cabin parts like the roof panels, at Scanias facility is fitted with a fleet
SCANIA PRODUCTION SYSTEM (SPS) side panels and flooring are indigenised, management system. This fleet manage-
while the dashboard continues to arrive ment system is the main telematics tech-
The assembly line at the facility has seven with the kit. The trucks assembled at the nology that is offered by the company.
stations and four sub-assembly lines, with facility are currently being fitted with On the buses, only the battery and
each station carrying out specific assem- MRF tyres, adding to their local content, tyres are localised, which accounts for
blies with regards to trucks or buses. The but the company said there is no restric- only 18 % currently. The rest of the com-
stations have position standards, with ele- tion on that. Wardemark said different ponents are in the form of kits. Once the
ment sheets that define set of tasks to be tyres brands requested specifically by cus- bus manufacturing facility is completely
carried out by each station. Operators at tomers can be supplied as well. set-up, the content of localised parts is
the facility are freshers, who were directly Other parts that are currently localised expected to go up to almost 80 %. This is
Components are received as semi-assembled kits, and are put in feeders for final assembly
PRE-DELIVERY INSPECTION
Scanias chassis assembly facility is used for both trucks and buses, having a total annual production capacity of 3,500 units
58 www.autotechreview.com
www.autotechreview.com January 2015 | Volume 4 | Issue 1
14 INTERVIEW
Vinnie Mehta,
Director General, ACMA
18 TECHNOLOGY FORESIGHT
Ethernet as an Emerging Trend in
Vehicle Network Technology Part II
60 NEW VEHICLE
Tata Bolt New Lease of Life for Tata
Motors
FUTURE MOBILITY
WHAT LIES AHEAD OF US POWERED BY
EACH
AUTO TECH REVIEW | SPRINGER INDIA PVT. LTD., 7th Floor, Vijaya Building, 17 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi 110001. Ph: +91 11 45755888 | Fax: +91 11 45755889
Advertising: advertising@autotechreview.com | Editorial: editor@autotechreview.com | Subscriptions: subscriptions@autotechreview.com
Reach us at: www.autotechreview.com
N E W V E H I C L E MERCEDES-BENZ
MERCEDES-BENZ C-CLASS
BABY S UPS THE ANTE
60 www.autotechreview.com
In recent time, a slew of new mod- INTRODUCTION struction, 48 % to be precise, resulting
el introductions have transformed in a weight loss of 100 kg over its prede-
Mercedes-Benz Indias line-up into One just needs a first glance to under- cessor. Aluminium content, both sheet
stand why the new C-Class is referred to metal and cast, has increased from four
a youthful and expansive one. A as the Baby S. While the design language per cent of vehicle weight (previous
key member of MBIL portfolio is of the S-Class has been carried forward to generation) to 24 %, indicating the
the smaller C, in terms of features too, it focus on weight reduction.
the C-Class, with over 20,000 cars
borrows a lot from the elder sibling, A long bonnet signals the presence of a
on Indian roads. We recently put which already is the most technically powerful engine and driver-focussed cre-
the new fourth-generation C200 advanced car in its segment presently. dentials. In a nutshell, the new C-Class
Would that mean the C-Class automati- combines subtlety and dynamism as a key
through its paces to find out if it trait of its design language, while main-
cally becomes the most advanced car in
carries on from where the old mod- its segment? The answer to that is a bit taining a forward-looking attitude.
el left, and if its the best around in complicated and long, and keeping that in
mind, weve tried explaining its technol-
the market. ogy herein. POWERTRAIN
INTERIORS
62 www.autotechreview.com
A matured design up front and a neat yet sporty rear lend the new C-Class with a distinct and plesant visual characteristic
between three colours. USB, the system also offers in-built navi- such as ABS, brake assist, ESP, ASR, Hill
The control-system for the display gation from Garmin. Start Assist and Attention Assist, the car
includes a rotary-knob, under a touch- features Adaptive High Beam Assist Plus.
sensitive mouse-like unit. The unit This system allows for high-beam to be
responds to swipe motion to shuffle func- SAFETY always kept on, and oncoming traffic is
tions between menus and also to drawing automatically relieved of the glare by
gestures. Control layout is ergonomic- Mercedes-Benz cars have traditionally adjustment of the beam path. PRE-SAFE
friendly and offers a high-quality tactile been at the forefront of safety technolo- system automatically tightens the belt
response. Beyond the usual playback gies and the new C-Class is no different. restraint for passengers and closes all win-
sources such as Bluetooth, FM, CD and In addition to the usual safety systems dows and the sunroof in case of an immi-
nent accident.
ROUND-UP
The touch interface reduces the need for the driver to take eyes off the road and the Burmester sound system Read this article on
offers brilliant sound quality along with an aesthetic design. www.autotechreview.com
64 www.autotechreview.com
NOW
AVAILABLE
www.comsol.co.in
FROM MODEL
TO APP
Verify and Optimize your Designs with The Application Builder provides you with
tools to easily design a custom interface
for your multiphysics models. Use
COMSOL Multiphysics COMSOL Server to distribute your apps to
colleagues and customers worldwide.
Visit www.comsol.co.in
NOW FEATURING THE APPLICATION BUILDER
PRODUCT SUITE
COMSOL Multiphysics
COMSOL Server
Copyright 2014 COMSOL. COMSOL, COMSOL Multiphysics, Capture the Concept, COMSOL Desktop, and LiveLink are either registered trademarks or trademarks of COMSOL AB. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners, and COMSOL AB and
its subsidiaries and products are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or supported by those trademark owners. For a list of such trademark owners, see www.comsol.com/trademarks