Unit 6: Crashworthiness Design

• Durability
• Fatigue
• Crashworthiness
• Impact/Crash Analysis/Simulations (Frontal/Rear/Side-
Impact/Roll-over)
• Topology and Topography Optimization
• Panel meters and controls on Handle-bar/Dash-board
• Body Manufacturing
• Aesthetics and Ergonomics Consideration for Stability
and Control
• Noise Factors & Failure Modes.
Durability
• Durability is the ability of a physical product to remain functional,
without requiring excessive maintenance or repair, when faced with the
challenges of normal operation over its design lifetime.
• There are several measures of durability in use, including years of life,
hours of use, and number of operational cycles. In economics, goods
with a long usable life are referred to as durable goods.
• Crashworthiness criteria such as energy absorption & fracture, collapse
mode, reaction force, and mean load is evaluated to provide reference
data for car design. With these tests, designer is able to provide dynamic
material data to its customers in order to propose the most appropriate
material solutions that maximize safety for passengers.
• The durability of parts is a critical factor to consider in vehicle design as
their complicated components are subject to a wide array of complex
stresses. In cars, material fatigue due to repeated mechanical loading can
lead to the damage of critical components.
• Also, as vehicles are mobile machines, they are subject to even
more unpredictable degrees of loading that can amplify the effects
of fatigue on their parts. Moreover, because fatigue failure is often
abrupt and difficult to detect, material providers must work to
improve durability and ensure longer fatigue life.
• EVs are more reliable than vehicles with internal combustion
engines, which means they have fewer parts. The average engine
incorporates hundreds of moving parts that need to get maintained
and replaced, whereas your electric vehicle relies on a battery,
transmission, and motor.
• Factors Affecting Electric Car Durability
1)Electric Car Battery Type
2)Temperature
3)Battery Charging
4)Types of Vehicle
• Electric Car Battery Type: The battery life of electric vehicles,
especially cars, varies depending on the type and settings of the vehicle.
However, in general, the average lifespan of an electric car battery is
between 10-15 years, or the equivalent of 200 thousand kilometers. In
addition, the life of an electric car battery is also influenced by the type
of battery used. Originally, the most widely used type of electric car
battery was lithium-ion (Li-ion). Li-ion batteries will undergo a cycle of
discharge when driving and charging when plugged into the SPKLU. The
cycle will have an impact on how much power the battery can hold.
Therefore, you must know how far the electric car can go before
recharging.
• Temperature: The battery life of an electric car is also affected by
temperature. Temperatures that are too cold or too hot can affect EV
battery life. Hot temperatures have the potential to make electric car
batteries reduce their lifespan faster. Meanwhile, temperatures that are
too cold can make the mileage of electric cars shorter than warmer
temperatures.
• Battery Charging: If overcharging will affect the efficiency of energy
storage so that the battery tends to run out faster. causing chemical
changes in the battery itself. On the other hand, emptying an electric car
battery before charging is also not a good idea, considering that most li-
ion batteries work best when their capacity is between 50-80 percent.
Charging the last 20 percent of the battery also takes longer than the first
80 percent. The average electric car has a battery that can be used up to
1000 times fully recharged. However, every year, the battery life will
decrease even though it can still be used.
• Types of Vehicle: The battery life of electric cars is also affected by the
type of vehicle. Therefore, several types of electric car batteries sold by
manufacturers have a free battery replacement warranty. It's just that, you
have to pay a subscription fee to get these facilities. As additional
information, the durability of a good electric car can be seen from its
power storage capacity. A good endurance electric car has a high number
of kilowatt-houts (kWh). A high number of kWh is likened to a larger gas
tank. The larger the tank capacity or kilowatt-hour, the more distance we
can drive without needing to stop.
Fatigue analysis
• Fatigue Analysis is the structural analysis of failure tendency of
systems when subjected to cyclical loads.
• Fatigue is the progressive and localized structural damage that
occurs when a material is subjected to cyclic loading.
• Continued cycling of high-stress concentrations may eventually
cause a crack that propagates and results in leakages. This failure
mechanism is called fatigue.
• Damage once done during the fatigue process is cumulative and
normally unrecoverable.
• Fatigue analysis is performed to find out the satisfactory
performance level of a structural member under cyclic loading. It
estimates the performance of the member under all three stages of
fatigue failure. Means fatigue analysis will give data related to
crack initiation, crack propagation, and finally failure probability
for a specific material.
Fatigue Analysis Methods
Fatigue analysis is performed using any of the two methods listed below:
• The S-N method of fatigue analysis is highly popular in the piping industry. The
S-N curves for each material are established by standards like ASME Sec VIII-
Div 2.
• On the other hand, the (e-N) method of fatigue analysis which is also known as
the Crack Initiation method concerns itself only with the initiation of the first
crack.
Types of Fatigue
• High cycle fatigue involves little or no plastic action. Therefore, it is stress-
governed. Normally, a fatigue curve (also called the S–N curve) is generated for
every material by experimental tests that correlate applied stress with the number
of cycles to cause failure.
• For high-cycle fatigue, the analysis is performed to determine the endurance
limit, which is actually a stress level that can be applied for an infinite number of
times without showing any failure. As a general rule, the number of cycles 10^5
is considered as a demarcation point for high and low cycle fatigue.
• Characterized by a high number of cycles (Preferable N>10^4) with relatively
low-stress levels and the deformation is in the elastic range.
• This type of fatigue failure used in the design of rotating machinery. This type of
fatigue results from strain cycles in the elastic range. A stress level, endurance
limit, may be applied an infinite time without failure, is calculated.
• Low Cycle Fatigue involves The loading cycles applied in the piping
design are normally very few in the order of a few thousand. This type of
fatigue is identified as low-cycle fatigue.
• For low-cycle fatigue, the applied stress normally exceeds the yield
strength of the material, which causes plastic instability in the specimen
under test. But when strain is used as the controlled variable, the results
in the low-cycle region are reliable as well as reproducible.
• Characterized by high loads and a small number of cycles before failure.
• Here failure occurs only with stress levels in the plastic range, i.e.
significant plastic strain occurs during each cycle.
• The factors which affect the fatigue behavior are listed below:
1) Type and Nature of Loading.
2) Size of Component and stress or strain Distribution.
3) Surface finish and Directional Properties.
4) Stress or Strain Concentration.
5) Mean stress or Strain.
6) Environmental Effects.
7) Metallurgical Factors and Material Properties.
8) Strain Rate and Frequency Effects.
Fatigue Characteristics:
• Fatigue failure, or cracking under repeated stress much lower than the
ultimate tensile strength, is shown in most metals and alloys that
exhibit some ductility in static tests. The magnitude of the applied
alternating stress range is the controlling fatigue life parameter.
• Failure depends upon the number of repetitions of a given range of
stress rather than the total time under load. The speed of loading is a
factor of secondary importance, except at elevated temperatures.
• Some metals, including ferrous alloys, have a safe range of stress.
Below this stress, called the “endurance limit or fatigue limit”, failure
does not occur irrespective of the number of stress cycles.
• Notches, grooves, or other discontinuities of section greatly decrease
the stress amplitude that can be sustained for a given number of
cycles.
• The range of stress necessary to produce failure in a fixed number of
cycles usually decreases as the mean tension stress of the loading
cycle is increased.
• Examination of fatigue fracture shows evidence of microscopic
deformation, even in the apparently brittle region of origin and
propagates of the crack. The plastic deformation that accompanies a
spreading fatigue crack is usually limited in the extent to regions very
near the crack.
Fatigue design of battery packs
• Battery packs incorporate a large number of mechanical, electrical and
electrochemical component systems.
• They comprise thousands of discrete cells that are connected in series and
parallel to electrical busbars in order to supply the required energy capacity.
• Cells are often welded together to complete the electrical path. These welds are
highly susceptible to vibration and suffer from vibration-induced fatigue
damage.
• Furthermore, a combination of lightweight support structures with relatively
heavy electrochemical components can result in mechanical resonance in the
battery structure with a high risk of fatigue cracking.
• Vibration fatigue analysis enables engineers to identify the critical fatigue failure
points on all types of battery structure, materials, welds, and joining
technologies. Using FEA stress analysis results, together with measured or
calculated vibration load spectra, nCode Design Life can be used to perform this
frequency-based fatigue analysis to predict the life to failure.
• The battery pack structure and mounting may therefore be optimized
simultaneously for life, weight, cost and reliability during component design and
before any prototypes are manufactured.
Accelerated vibration testing of battery packs
• The complex internal structure of a battery pack makes it highly susceptible to
vibration-induced failures over its long service life.
• Vibration exposure on a battery pack covers a large frequency range which can result
in either a catastrophic failure of the battery pack or, more commonly, a progressive
decline in battery performance with respect to the vibration exposure on the vehicle.
Both failure modes have significant impact on the durability, reliability and
warrantee exposure of the battery pack.
• The challenge for engineers is to produce a suitable load spectrum for use in both
battery design and validation testing. A PSD loading spectrum representative of
fatigue damage can be generated in an accelerated timeframe using nCode
GlyraphWorks.
• This analysis using measured proving ground vibration data, along with a vehicle
usage profile that describes how it will be used over its design life. Implicit checks
ensure that the accelerated tests are not over-accelerated and therefore prevent
atypical failure modes.
• PSD spectra obtained from GlyphWorks can also be used to drive a high-
performance shaker-table and control system for vibration testing. This PSD spectra
obtained in GlyphWorks can be used to drive virtual shaker table analysis for
understanding vibration fatigue in nCode DesignLife.
• This ensures that the battery will achieve its required vibration durability while
simultaneously optimizing design for weight, cost, and reliability.
Fatigue analysis of vehicle structures
• In electric vehicles, drivetrains may utilize existing platforms or designed
within brand-new architectures. Both scenarios present challenges to
structural engineers. For existing vehicle platforms, modifications such
as the weight distribution due to battery packs affect the dynamic
response, as well as the structural durability.
• New architectures present opportunities but radical changes introduce
risks that need to be mitigated using detailed up-front simulation. CAE-
based analysis using nCode DesignLife enables this essential fatigue
analysis to be performed for the rapid assessment of the vehicle
structures.
• Structural failure of the electrical systems are often associated with
mountings and connections, and may be due to extreme movement
between mounting points on the battery, inverter and electric motors.
nCode enables advanced processing of loads data and preparation for
input to fatigue analysis. Gear systems may present higher frequency
failure modes which requires rotating machinery analysis to give insights
on the source of different frequencies using nCode VibeSys.
Crashworthiness Design
• For impact tests which influence the overall vehicle structure, these
standard tests may be categorized into four major groups: front
impact, side impact, rear impact, and roll-over resistance.
Primary mandated crashworthiness Primary mandated crashworthiness
requirements: Front Impact requirements: Side Impact

Primary mandated crashworthiness Primary mandated crashworthiness

requirements: Rear impacts requirements: roof impacts
• Crashworthiness is defined as the ability of materials to absorb impact
energy by means of controlled failure mechanisms and modes.
• The core idea of crashworthiness structure design is to preset a crumple
zone, which can absorb the kinetic energy of vehicles during crashes,
possibly lowering the acceleration. In a frontal crash, for example, the
stiffness of the front structure determines the acceleration pulse during a
crash. This pulse should have a specific shape, to minimize the risk for
the occupant. During a massive collision, there are three essential phases,
as follows:
• Crash initiation phase: In this phase the sensor triggering for the belt
pretensioner and the airbag must take place. For optimal sensor triggering
the front end of the car should be sufficiently stiff to generate within a
short time interval a velocity change that lies above the trigger value of
about 6 km/h.
• Airbag deployment phase: In this phase the airbag is inflated, and the
occupant tightens the belts while moving forward with a relative velocity
with respect to the car. To minimize the injuries due to the impact with the
airbag, the deceleration of the car should be sufficiently low in this phase,
implying that the stiffness must be relatively low.
• Airbag deployment phase: In this phase the airbag is inflated, and
the occupant tightens the belts while moving forward with a relative
velocity with respect to the car. To minimize the injuries due to the
impact with the airbag, the deceleration of the car should be
sufficiently low in this phase, implying that the stiffness must be
relatively low.
• Occupant contact phase: In this phase the occupant has hit the
airbag and there is a stiff contact between the occupant and the car.
In this phase, high decelerations may occur because the occupant
will not be subjected to further shock loads caused by contacts with
the interior. The frontal car structure should be stiff enough to
decelerate substantially in the remaining time.
• factors affect crashworthiness involves,
1)strength of the container (cockpit and cabin),
2)adequacy of seats and restraint systems,
3)adequacy of energy attenuation systems,
4)injurious objects in the local environment of occupants, and
5)post-crash factors, principally fire prevention and adequacy of
escape routes.
• The design process of the crashworthiness structure seeks to control the paths of
load transformation and to optimize the energy-absorbing process and
acceleration pulse.
• Path 1: Accessories—bumper—crash boxes—longitudinal beams
• Path 2: Upper rails—A pillar
• Path 3: Subframes—sill beams
• The components in three paths are deformable and can absorb the
impact energy. Notably, the first path absorbs more than 50% of the
total crash energy in most frontal crashes.
• The features and functions of these components are as follows:
• Bumper: the bumpers are usually reinforcement bars made of steel,
aluminum, plastic, or composite material and can absorb crash
energy to a certain extent. The primary purpose of a bumper is to
minimize the cost of repair after low-speed crashes. It can also
benefit the protection of pedestrians.
• Crash boxes: the crash boxes are generally thin-walled tubes with
well designed cross-sectional shape and crumple points (e.g.,
ditches and crash beads). They may collapse in a particular pattern
to absorb energy efficiently.
• Longitudinal beams: the longitudinal beams are also a thin-walled
structure, but longer and stronger than crash boxes. The
deformation modes of longitudinal beams include folding, tearing,
and bending.
Impact / Crash Analysis / Simulations (Frontal / Rear / Side-
Impact / Roll-over):
• The purpose of a crash analysis is to see how the car will behave in
a frontal or sideways collision. Crashworthiness simulation is one
typical area of application of Finite-Element Analysis (FEA). This
is an area in which non-linear Finite Element simulations are
particularly effective.
• Crash analysis is performed by using explicit dynamic module in
Ansys workbench. Four different materials such as aluminum
alloy, aluminum metal matrix (KS1275), and Kevlar-49 and High
strength carbon fiber are used as car body materials and concrete is
selected as material for wall.
Common EV Crash Tests
Impact/Crash Analysis
• Vehicle crash is a highly nonlinear transient dynamics phenomenon. The purpose
of a crash analysis is to see how the car will behave in a frontal or sideways
collision. Crashworthiness simulation is one typical area of application of Finite-
Element Analysis (FEA). The crash analysis simulation and results can be used to
assess both the crashworthiness of current frame and to investigate ways to
improve the design.
• The primary concern for drivers and passengers is safety. To protect the occupants
of a car, there are many new tangible safety features such as airbags; ABS control
brakes, traction. A less tangible feature that cannot easily be seen by drivers and
passengers is the crash response behavior. In a well designed automobile, the car
body and various components are the protective layer for the occupants of the
vehicle. They serve as the crumpling zone to absorb the energy of impact.
• The three types of impact that occur (in succession) are those involving the
vehicle, the body of the vehicle occupant, and the organs within the body of the
occupant.
• Crash testing for vehicles is very important in helping minimize losses such as
deaths, injuries, and property damage from vehicle crashes that happen on the
roads.
• A crash test for vehicle safety is a type of destructive testing undertaken to
ensure that the standards for safe design with regards to crash
compatibility and crashworthiness are followed for different
transportation modes.
• It helps to minimize losses such as deaths, injuries and properly damage
from vehicle crashes that happens on the road.
• Examples of crash tests are, frontal impact tests, an offset test, side impact
tests, a roll over test and roadside hardware crash tests.
• Frontal impacts are test impacts undertaken against a solid concrete wall
at a precise speed SUVs are singled out from frontal impact tests. An
offset test requires only a portion of the front of the car to impact the
barrier or a vehicle.
• An offset test is important since impact forces in this type of test remain
the same as those with the frontal impact test, but a small portion of the
car is necessary to absorb all the force of the impact.
• Side impact tests as a crash test for vehicle safety are also very important
since side impact accidents in vehicles result in a high fatality rate This
happens because cars usually do not have a significant crumple zone to
cushion all the impact forces before the occupant is injured.
• Rollover test: A rollover test verifies the car’s ability to support itself,
especially from the pillars supporting the roof, during a dynamic impact.
Roadside hardware crash tests ensure that crash barriers and crash cushion
s protect the passengers of the vehicle from roadside hazards.
• This kind of crash test also makes sure that some appurtenances such as
sign posts, guard rails, light poles may not serve as a hazard to vehicle
occupants.
• A lot of crash test programs are practiced around the world and are
dedicated to provide vehicle owners and drivers with data regarding safety
performance of new and used vehicles. These test programs provide the
necessary safety performance based on real world crash data.
Crash analysis of electric vehicle:
• Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, the power source for all-electric vehicles,
are flammable. They contain a liquid electrolyte that stores energy and can
overheat and combust with prolonged exposure to the wrong conditions.
These power cells are also subject to short-circuiting if they are damaged,
and those short-circuits can result in fires if the proper safety precautions
are not in place.
• when compared to the flammability of gasoline, Li-ion batteries pose a far lower
risk of fire or explosions. In cases of vehicular fires that were the result of
damaged Li-ion batteries, the fire was limited to the area where the batteries were
contained before it could be extinguished. In cases of vehicle fires that were the
result of spilled gasoline or damaged fuel-delivery components, the fire tended to
spread to other parts of the vehicle before it could be contained, and those fires
also required more effort from firefighters to extinguish.
• Thermal runaway was addressed by designers and engineers of electric cars to
help prevent the type of overheating and battery explosions. To prevent thermal
runaway, the vehicle’s batteries are typically surrounded by a protective cooling
shroud filled with chilled liquid coolant from a traditional-style automotive
radiator. In the event the batteries do overheat despite their external cooling,
batteries in all models of electric vehicles are installed in an array rather than as
one large battery pack.
• The crash tests for EVs are similar to those for gas-powered vehicles except for
the electrical isolation test, which replaces a test in a gas-powered vehicle to
ensure a fuel pump is shut off after a crash to limit the possibility of a fire.
• “After a crash we want to make sure that the battery has been disconnected,”
“Instead of a fuel pump being shut off [in a crash of a gas-powered car] when an
airbag deploys, a switch or a fuse is blown in the battery itself, cutting off the
voltage to the vehicle.”
• The term “crashworthiness” provided a measure of the ability of a structure and
any of its components to protect the occupants in survivable crashes.
• Similarly, in the automotive industry, crashworthiness connotes a measure of the
vehicle’s structural ability to plastically deform and yet maintain a sufficient
survival space for its occupants in crashes involving reasonable deceleration
loads.
• Restraint systems and occupant packaging can provide additional protection to
reduce severe injuries and fatalities.
• Crashworthiness evaluation is ascertained by a combination of tests and analytical
methods.
Crashworthiness Requirements
• The vehicle structure should be sufficiently stiff in bending and torsion for proper
ride and handling. It should minimize high frequency fore-aft vibrations that give
rise to harshness. In addition, the structure should yield a deceleration pulse that
satisfies the following requirements for a range of occupant sizes, ages, and crash
speeds for both genders.
• Deformable, yet stiff, front structure with crumple zones to absorb the crash
kinetic energy resulting from frontal collisions by plastic deformation and prevent
intrusion into the occupant compartment, especially in case of offset crashes and
collisions with narrow objects such as trees. Short vehicle front ends, driven by
styling considerations, present a challenging task to the crash worthiness engineer.
• Deformable rear structure to maintain integrity of the rear passenger
compartment and protect the fuel tank.
• Properly designed side structures and doors to minimize intrusion in side
impact and prevent doors from opening due to crash loads.
• Strong roof structure for rollover protection.
• Properly designed restraint systems that work in harmony with the vehicle
structure to provide the occupant with optimal ride down and protection in
different interior spaces and trims.
• Accommodate various chassis designs for different power train locations
and drive configurations.
• There are three categories of tests: component tests, sled tests, and full-
scale barrier impacts.
• The component test determines the dynamic and/or quasi-static response
to loading of an isolated component. These component tests are crucial in
identifying the crush mode and energy absorption capacity. Understanding
their performance is also essential to the development of prototype
substructures and mathematical models.
• In a sled test, engineers use a vehicle buck representing the passenger
compartment with all or some of its interior components such as the seat,
instrument panel, steering system, seat belts, and air bags. Mechanical surrogates
of humans (anthropomorphic test devices -“dummies”) or cadaver subjects are
seated in the buck to simulate a driver and/or passenger and subjected to dynamic
loads, similar to a vehicle deceleration-time pulse, to evaluate the occupant
response in a frontal impact or side impact. The primary objective of a sled test is
evaluation of the restraints. This is accomplished by high-speed photography of
the dummy kinematics. In addition, various sensors located in the dummy and on
the restraints monitor the forces and moments to help determine the impact
severity and the effectiveness of the restraint system in reducing loads transferred
to the occupant.
• The typical full-scale barrier test involves collision of a guided vehicle, propelled
into a barrier at a predetermined initial velocity and angle. Typically, a barrier test
uses a complete vehicle. To evaluate individual substructures, a sled test can be
equally effective, especially in evaluation of the restraint systems.
• Another type of testing has emerged over the past few years to evaluate the
structural integrity of the vehicle when subjected to frontal offset impact with 40
to 50 percent overlap. The impact target may be rigid or deformable. In this type
of test the vehicle front structure is subject to more deformations and potential
intrusion and relatively less severe deceleration.
Crashworthiness Models Requirements
The models should satisfy at a minimum the following overall
requirements:
• Accuracy – the model should be able to yield reasonably accurate
predictions of the essential features being sought
• Speed – the model should be executable with a reasonable
turnaround time, not to exceed 12 hours regardless of its size, to
allow for iterations and parameter studies.
• Robustness – small variations in model parameters should not yield
large model responses
• Development time – the model could be built in a reasonably short
period of time, not to exceed two weeks
Optimization methodology of automotive components

e.g. for Automotive Spring Lower Seat Topology optimization is performed to

identify the density of the required elements, whereas topography optimization is
utilized to strengthen the structure of the lower seat by applying bead parameters in
the model. Based on topology optimization, the mass of the model is improved by a
reduction of 36.5%. Topography optimization is subsequently performed to fine-tune
the topology-optimized model. Beads are added to the model to strengthen the
stiffness of the structure.
Optimization methodology of automotive components
Topology and Topography Optimization
• Topology optimization is performed to identify the density of the required
elements, whereas topography optimization is utilized to strengthen the
structure of the lower seat by applying bead parameters in the model.
• Topology optimization is the mathematical method which optimizes the
structural layout of the design space with the given load criteria, material,
degree of freedom, constraints, and objective functions. This optimization
is limited only to linear static analysis for the simplification purpose,
however, it can also solve non-linear static simulation.
• The goal of topology optimization is achieving the optimal performance
of the structure, including objectives such as strength, stiffness and
stability by using the least amount of material, the most simple process,
low cost. Depending on the simulation experiment and the experience of
the traditional optimization design method is difficult to solve the design
problems such as plane, automobile, ship, mold and other large-scale
complex structure parts and bridge, tunnel and other large engineering.
Topology optimization method is becoming one of the key means to solve
such problems.
• Topography optimization is an advanced form of shape optimization
which utilize sheet structure and changes it by adding stamped beads. In
this way, stiffness is maximized without adding mass. This approach is
used for sheet metals only which has a thickness of 0.5 to 6mm. the cross-
section is an important parameter which is used as a design variable.
Additional changes to the layout of the design model cannot be made,
however stress concentration, displacement, compliance can be minimized
by modifying the shape of the design model.
• Topography optimization helps manufacturers to design and optimize
any thin-walled part. Like a drum skin, these thin sheet structures can be
easily excited, causing undesirable noise, vibration and even damage
under certain conditions.
• To improve the vibration characteristics, local shape modifications such as
beads are added for stiffness. Most of the time, the location, shape, and
orientation of these beads is based on the natural geometry of the part and
the designer’s experience. Topography optimization enables designers to
define spaces where beads can and cannot be added, the width of the
beads, as well as the draw direction, angle, and height. This means only
practical designs are generated, with optimal patterns.
Electric Vehicle Dashboard
Hour Meter + Speedometer + Voltmeter + Ampere Meter + Turning +
Brake + Forward / Reverse
• instruments assemblages are designed for electric vehicles information indication,
integrating indicating light, ampere meter, voltage meter, battery meter, hour
meter, speed meter and odometer into a single device panel.
• Features include:
1) Attractive, easy-to-read, 8 character dot matrix Liquid Crystal Display
enhances the look of any vehicle.
2) Two display versions available:
– Three LEDs: Green to indicate that hour meter is being displayed; Amber to
indicate that battery state-of-charge is being displayed; and Red to indicate
that a fault has occurred.
– Six LEDs: Five Green to indicate battery state-of-charge; and one Red to
indicate that a fault has occurred.
3) Standard models display hours of use, battery state-of-charge and messages
from a CURTIS motor controller.
4) Interfaces directly to CURTIS motor controllers and displays various system
parameters.
5) Molded-in rear Molex style connector provides a low-cost, rugged and
reliable installation.
6) Front sealed (IP65) for use in harsh environments.
EV Body Considerations
EV Body Considerations
• design and engineering features that must be considered in producing electric cars
are the following:
• Batteries that store energy and power the electric motor are a science of their own
in electric car design, and many options are being studied to find the most
efficient batteries that are also safe and cost effective. An electric motor that
converts electrical energy from the battery and transmits it to the drive train. Both
direct-current (DC) and alternating current (AC) motors are used in these traction
or propulsion systems for electric cars, but AC motors do not use brushes and
require less maintenance.
• A controller that regulates energy flow from the battery to the motor allows for
adjustable speed. Resistors that are used for this purpose in other electric devices
are not practical for cars because they absorb too much of the energy themselves.
Instead, silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs) are used. They allow full power to go
from the battery to the motor but in pulses so the battery is not overworked and
the motor is not underpowered.
• Any kind of brakes can be used on electric automobiles, but regenerative braking
systems are also preferred in electric cars because they recapture some of the
energy lost during braking and channel it back to the battery system.
• Two varieties of chargers are needed. A full-size charger for installation in
a garage is needed to recharge the electric car overnight, but a portable
recharger (called a convenience recharger) is standard equipment for the
trunk so the batteries can be recharged in an emergency or away from
home or a charging station. For safety, an inductive charger was created
for electric cars with a paddle that is inserted in the front end of the car. It
uses magnetic energy to recharge the batteries and limit the potential for
electrocution.
• The manufacturing process required almost as much design consideration
as the vehicle itself; and that design includes handcrafting and
simplification as well as some high-tech approaches. The assemblers work
in build-station teams to foster team spirit and mutual support, and parts
are stored in modular units called creform racks of flexible plastic tubes
and joints that are easy to fill and reshape for different parts. On the high-
tech side, each station is equipped with one torque wrench with multiple
heads; when the assembler locks on the appropriate size of head, computer
controls for the machine select the correct torque setting for the fasteners
that fit that head.
• Particularly strategic and widely used minerals and elements/structures for
electric vehicles include nickel, cobalt, rare-earth minerals, lightweight
and high strength steel alloys and underlying metals (e.g., magnesium and
aluminum), carbon fiber, graphite and graphene, copper, and steel alloying
materials.
• The electric car's skeleton is called a space frame and is made of
aluminum to be both strong and lightweight. The wheels are also made of
aluminum instead of steel, again as a weight-saving method. The
aluminum parts are poured at a foundry using specially designed molds
unique to the manufacturer.
• Materials forecasted for the cells include aluminium, carbon, cobalt,
copper, graphite, iron, lithium, manganese, nickel, silicon, phosphorous,
polyvinylidene fluoride and polyolefins.
• Pack materials forecasted include aluminium, copper, thermal
management materials, thermal interface materials, steel, glass fibre
reinforced polymers, carbon fibre reinforced polymers, inter-cell
insulation and compression foams and pack fire-retardant materials.
• Motor materials forecasted include aluminium, boron, cobalt, copper,
dysprosium, iron, neodymium, niobium, silicon-steel, terbium and
praseodymium.
Aesthetics and Ergonomics Consideration for Stability and
Control
• Ergonomics is a multidisciplinary science involving fields that have
information about people (e.g., psychology, anthropometry,
biomechanics, anatomy, physiology, psychophysics).
• It involves studying human characteristics, capabilities, and
limitations and applying this information to design and evaluate the
equipment and systems that people use.
• The basic goal of ergonomics is to design equipment that will
achieve the best possible fit between the users (drivers) and the
equipment (vehicle) such that the users’ safety (freedom from harm,
injury, and loss), comfort, convenience, performance, and efficiency
(productivity or increasing output/input) are improved.
• The field of ergonomics is also called “human engineering,”
“human factors engineering,” “engineering psychology,” “man–
machine systems,” or “human–machine interface design.”
Ergonomics Approach
• Fitting the Equipment to the Users: equipment should be designed
such that people (population of users) can fit comfortably
(naturally) within the equipment and they can use the equipment
without any awkward body postures, movements, or errors.
• Designing for the Most: to assure that most users within the
intended population of the users of the product can fit within the
product.
• Systems Approach: the designer must treat the human to be a
component of the system that is being designed. The process for
designing a vehicle should thus involve the considerations of the
following major components: (a) the driver/user, (b) the vehicle, and
(c) the environment.
Ergonomics Engineer’s Responsibilities in Vehicle Design
• Provide the vehicle design teams with needed ergonomics design guidelines, information, data,
analyses results, scorecards, and recommendations for product decisions at the right time (called
the “gateways” or “milestones”) in front of the right level of decision makers (involving design
teams, program managers, chief engineers, senior management, etc.).
• Apply available methods, models, and procedures (e.g., Society of Automotive Engineers Inc.
[SAE, 2009] and company practices) to address issues raised in the vehicle development
process.
• Conduct quick-react studies (i.e., experiments) to answer questions raised during the vehicle
development process.
• Evaluate product/program assumptions, concepts, sketches, drawings, CAD models, physical
models/mock-ups/bucks, mechanical prototypes (called “mules” in the auto industry), prototype
vehicles, and production vehicles made by the manufacturer and its competitors.
• Participate in the design and data collection phases of drive clinics and market research clinics
involving concept vehicles and existing leading products as comparators (or controls).
• Obtain, review, and act on the customer feedback data from complaints, warranty, customer
satisfaction surveys, market research data (e.g., J. D. Power survey data [J. D. Power and
Associates, 2010]), inspection surveys with owners, automotive magazines, press, etc.
• Create ergonomics scorecards at selected program milestones during the vehicle development
process.
• Provide ergonomics consultations to members of the vehicle development teams.
• Perform long-term tasks: conduct research, translate research results into design guidelines, and
develop design tools.
Characteristics of Ergonomically Designed Products, Systems, and
Processes
If a product (or a system) is designed well (i.e., meets ergonomics requirements), the
following
effects or outcomes are expected:
1) An ergonomically designed product should fit people well (like a well-fitting
suit). Thus, when it is time to replace an old product, a customer will most likely
purchase a newer version of the same product that fits him or her well. This
suggests that ergonomically designed products more likely will be repurchased.
2) An ergonomically designed product can be used with minimal mental and/or
physical work. Thus, as product usage increases, the customer will realize the
ease, comfort, and convenience features and the absence of problems while using
the product.
3) An ergonomically designed product is easy to learn.
4) A product with usability problems (i.e., the absence of ergonomics) can be
quickly noticed—usually after use. Thus, ergonomic characteristics of many
products are not generally noticed in the showrooms where the customer does not
have an opportunity to use them.
5) Ergonomically designed products are generally more efficient (productive) and
safer (less injurious).
Human Characteristics And Capabilities
The human characteristics and capabilities used in equipment design can be classified as
follows:
Physical Capabilities
These can be measured by use of physical instruments (e.g., measuring tapes, rulers, calipers,
weighing scales, strength/force measuring gauges).
• Anthropometric characteristics (which involve measurements of human body dimensions).
The measurements made when a human subject is stationary (not moving) are called
“static” dimensions, which generally are taken when a subject is standing erect or sitting in
an anthropometric measurement chair (with vertical torso and lower legs and horizontal
upper legs). The human body dimensions measured when a subject is in a work posture
(e.g., sitting in a car seat and performing a task) are called “functional” anthropometric
dimensions. Other measurements of human body (and body segments) such as surface
areas, volumes, center of gravity, and weights are also considered to be part of
anthropometry (science of human body dimensions; see Chapter 2 for more details).
• Biomechanical characteristics (e.g., ability to produce forces/strength and body
movements.
Information-Processing Capabilities
• These are mental (cognitive) capabilities involving the acquisition of information through
various sensors (eye, ear, joint, vestibular tissues, etc.), transmitting this sensed
information to the brain, recalling information stored in the memory, processing the
information to make decisions (detecting, recognizing, comparing, selecting, etc.), and
making responses (e.g., motor action—generating a body movement, activating a control,
or making a verbal response.
Aesthetic aspects in electric vehicle
• The car aesthetic designer is responsible for the overall form and
design of the vehicle but no just so that it is beautiful to look at, they
must consider the functionality and ease of use of their design when
the final vehicle is assembled.
• It is also known that aesthetics have a major influence on a vehicle's
desirability and subsequent commercial success. Similarly, brand
perception of the vehicle manufacturer greatly influences
desirability and judgments of quality and is shown to be closely
linked to aesthetic features.
• Aesthetics is a core design principle that defines a design's pleasing
qualities. In visual terms, aesthetics includes factors such as
balance, color, movement, pattern, scale, shape and visual weight.
Designers use aesthetics to complement their designs' usability, and
so enhance functionality with attractive layouts.
Noise Factors & Failure Modes
• The noise factor, usually of an amplifier, is defined as the ratio of the
signal to noise ratio at the input to the signal to noise ratio at the output
of the amplifier stage. It indicates the “noisiness” of the amplifier.
• When moving at higher speeds, electric vehicles, or E.V.s, produce
roughly the same wind and road noise that I.C.E. vehicles do, but at
lower speeds they operate in near-silence: electricity flows from the
battery to the motor, which spins with a barely audible hum.
• Most of an EV's life is spent operating between 25 and 50 miles per
hour. At this speed, wind noise is still minimal and motor noise is
mostly masked by road and tyre noise. That means that the most
dominant noise experienced by drivers and passengers of EVs will
mostly be road and tyre noise.
• When a motor runs, the commutator switches the direction of the
electricity that flows in the windings. Though the system keeps the
motor running, occasional spark occurs between brushes and
commutator at the timing of the commutation. The spark is one of the
causes of the electrical noise.
• Noise Factor is the measure of degradation of the signal to noise ratio in a
device. It is the ratio of the Signal to Noise Ratio at the input to the Signal
to Noise Ratio at the output. Since the signal to noise ratio at the output
will always be lower than the Signal to Noise ratio at the input, the Noise
Factor is always less than 1. The Lower Noise Factors results in better
performance of a devices.
• When categorizing noise, there are generally four main types: continuous,
intermittent, impulsive, and low-frequency. The main differentiating
factor between these types is how the noise changes with time.
• The noise factor can be derived simply by taking the SNR at the input and
dividing it by the SNR (signal to noise ratio) at the output. As the SNR at
the output will always be worse, i.e. lower, this means that the noise factor
is always greater than one.
• Noise figure (NF) and noise factor (F) are figures of merit that indicate
degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) that is caused by
components in a signal chain. These figures of merit are used to evaluate
the performance of an amplifier or a radio receiver, with lower values
indicating better performance.