Pieces of Plastic
Related: Automotive Materials Related Suppliers BASF Corp. Evonik Degussa Corp. Sabic Innovative Plastics Solvay Advanced Polymers Blow Molding for Air Handling The 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbocharged engines found in several BMW models—including the 4, 5 and 7 Series, and the X3, X4, X5—are being fitted with a blow-molded charge air duct (it goes between the turbocharger […]
Plastic Under the Hood
You’re looking at a picture of what is claimed to be a global first: a catalytic converter bracket engineered for the Volkswagen Golf, a component that’s ordinarily a metal/rubber assembly, but which is now an all-plastic design, utilizing DuPont Zytel nylon resin (www.automotive.dupont.com). Not only does the bracket have to withstand dynamic forces and chemical […]
Plastics Under the Hood
While this charge air pipe for a VW diesel engine might ordinarily be made of aluminum due to the high heat involved, this one is produced with a glass-fiber reinforced polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) from Ticona because it is (1) lighter and (2) less expensive to produce than the metal version. An electric water-circulating pump— both […]
On the 2016 Honda Pilot
The 2016 Pilot exterior features a three-bar grille and swept back front headlamps. The vehicle is available with LED lighting front and back. There are available 20-in. wheels. And there is a panoramic glass roof that stretches over the second and third rows. Marc Ernst, large project leader for the 2016 Pilot, says that the […]
Moving from 2D to 3D for about the price of 2D
Related: Digital Domain Related Suppliers Autodesk, Inc. Â Autodesk, Inc. (San Rafael, CA) has a bundle for computer- aided design (CAD) professionals: the Autodesk Inventor Series, which includes AutoCAD 2004 (2D CAD), AutoCAD Mechanical Desktop 2004 (basically AutoCAD with a major mechanical bent), and Autodesk Inventor 7 (3D, adaptive solids modeler). With this bundle, users can […]
Mechanical Devices and Advanced Intelligence from AF
The ZF ProAI, a system that makes use of the NVIDIA DRIVE PX2 artificial intelligence computing platform. The Intelligent Rolling Chassis—a platform for an electrified vehicle. Previous Next Related: Automotive Chassis Related Suppliers NVIDIA ZF Group Dr. Stefan Sommer, CEO of ZF Friedrichshafen AG (zf.com) emphasizes that the automotive supplier produces a variety of mechatronic […]
Metal to Plastic Under the Hood
Related: Automotive Chassis Automotive Materials Automotive Supply Side To hear the plastic engineers and executives tell it, it wasn’t long after the latest Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards were signed into law that Tier 1 suppliers and OEMS suddenly began returning phone calls and replying to long-dormant emails. In some cases, the classic cost […]
Microscopic Manufacturing at Motorola
Because of the need for atomic-level precision and the high risk of contamination, the 200-mm silicon wafers onto which semiconductors are built are handled almost exclusively by machines. To move from machine to machine, the wafers are loaded into plastic cases and shuttled along a mile-long enclosed monorail that snakes throughout the plant. About 300 […]
MIT: The Auto Industry’s Other Research Lab
Back in the 1940s, most of the collaborative work between the automotive companies and academic institutions was related to technical projects. Engine development, materials science, and lubrication technology were the rage back then. They still are major fields of research, but in the past decade, the collaborations have expanded to more cross-functional endeavors. “We’re looking […]
Managing Product Lines by Focusing on Features
It’s all about the V Model for describing systems engineering. Applied to PLE, the V Model doesn’t show the engineering lifecycle of an individual product. Instead, it’s the engineering lifecycle for a complete family—covering every variant of any product in that product family. Related: Digital Domain Product lifecycle management (PLM) has been the system of […]
