Review of the Research Program of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles: Second Report (1996)

United States Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP)

To develop lighweight materials for improved automotive fuel economy.

• Polymer composites (ACC)

• Light metals (Al, Mg, metal matrix composites)

• Engineered plastics

• Cast iron

• Steel

• Ceramics

Lightweight vehicle

• Negotiated cooperative agreement with DOE for $30 M over 5 years

• Conducted PNGV Goal 3 composites and aluminum supplier workshops

• Successful cart crash of Escort composite front end

• Completed design phase of Focal Project II composite pickup box (28% weight save and cost equal to steel plus liner)

• Completed second edition of Materials Characterization Test Procedures manual and obtained SAE approval as industry standard

Low Emissions Technologies R&D Partnership(LEP) Engine Support Systems Technologies (ESST)

Identify enabling technologies for improvements in emissions in the following areas:

• Fuel preparation and control, combustion and HC control

• Cold bag aftertreatment, OBDII, 100K compliance

• Evaporative emissions control

Efficient/ low emissions powertrain

• Demonstrated feasibility of spray formed tooling using low melting point alloys

• Produced test sections of dual wall manifolds to support cold start emissions reduction

• Developed hydrous metal oxide materials for NO_x reduction catalysts

• Developed three new catalyst systems based on Sol-gel/Aerogel technology

• Established world-class lean burn and diesel catalyst evaluation facilities at the Oak Ridge National Lab

Environmental Research Consortium (ERC)

• To develop common emissions testing instrumentation and methods

• Improve the understanding of vehicle and mfg. emission on the environment

• Reduce environmental impact of mfg. emissions

• Reduce worker exposure to mfg. emissions

Efficient/low emissions powertrain and manufacturing processes

Emissions Research:

• Canister purge and modal mini-diluter developed

• Prototype instruments developed

• Reference ULEV vehicle built

Emissions Assessment:

• Georgia Tech/EPA on-road vehicle emissions measured/analyzed

• Michigan Remote Sensing Project assessed remote sensing accuracy and high emission vehicle repair effectiveness

Atmospheric Modeling:

• Modeling runs identified differences in ground level ozone and agreement on the impact of HC and NO_x controls

United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC)

To pursue R&D of advanced energy systems capable of providing future generations of and electric vehicles and hybrids with significantly increased range and performance

Efficient energy storage conversion

• Initiated downselect process to manage mid-term and long-term technologies within financial constraints

• Received initial lithium polymer demonstration cells

• Powering Chrysler/Ford/GM vehicles with mid-term tech. batteries

• Phase II program proposal submitted to DOE to cover:

  • Commercialization of mid-term battery technologies

  • R&D of long-term battery technologies

• PNGV energy storage system proposal process initiated

Low Emissions Paint Consortium (LEPC)

• Test and evaluate materials, equipment, and facilities with low emission potential

• Develop and demonstrate new low emission processes

• Establish common industry database

• Focus initially on powder painting technologies

Environmental responsibility

• Began construction of $20M powder clearcoat system at Ford Wixom

• Participated in powder primer launches at GM and Chrysler plants and established powder primer launch manual

• Issued joint mat'l specifications for powder CC and primer

• Filed for 2 U.S. patents based on testing at GM

Supercomputer Automotive Applications Partnership (SCAAP)

Develop portable software easily run on a wide variety of high performance computers by automotive design engineers to:

• Shorten product lead time to meet environmental standards

• Increase the use of advanced materials, such as carbon fiber, in automotive body parts

Efficient vehicle design processes

• Released advanced CFD code for aero and engine intake flow dynamics

• Developed library of non-linear analytical material models for improved crash simulations

• Incorporated auto-grid generation to improve CAE time

• Initiated industry benchmarking effort to assess high performance computers

Vehicle Recycling Partnership (VRP)

• Reduce the environmental impact of vehicle disposal

• Increase the efficiency of component disassembly to enhance vehicle recyclability

• Develop mat'l selection and design guidelines

• Promote socially responsible/economical solution to vehicle disposal

Achieve 80% vehicle recyclability objective

• Established Vehicle Recycling Development Center in Highland Park and initiated technical programs in:

  • Seat recycling

  • Fluid reclamation

  • Disassembly protocols

  • Airbag dismantling/processing

  • Time/motion dismantling studies

• Developed design guidelines for recycling

CAD/CAM Partnership

To promote and apply the concepts of feature-based modeling technology to accelerate new product introduction and reduce complexity in automotive design and manufacturing processes

Efficient vehicle design processes

• Initiated discussions with Fraunhofer-Berlin on CAD Feature based modeling

Natural Gas Vehicle Technology Partnership (NGVT)

Sponsor the development of pre-competitive fuel storage technologies and gas composition standards to support production of more commercially viable natural gas vehicles by 1998

Develop alt. fuel technologies to support reduced emissions

• Established cooperative relationship with Gas Research Institute

• USCAR/Gas Industry developed environmental test and specification for storage tanks

• Storage tank cost reduction assessment complete resulting in a potential 23% cost savings

• Fuel composition emission, performance, and component freeze-up testing 50% complete

Auto/Oil Air Quality Improvement Research Program

To develop data for use by legislators, regulators, and the public on the potential improvements in vehicle emissions and air quality, primarily ozone, from reformulated gasoline, alternative fuels, and developments in automotive technology

Reduced emissions

• Demonstrated that changes in gasoline composition will reduce vehicle emissions by 15–25%

• Completed all emissions testing for the program

• Published 13 tech. papers, including results of reformulated gasoline, ethanol, methanol, and CNG tests

• Established database used by government to support environmental decision making

Electrical Wiring Component Application Partnership (EWCAP)

To develop common designs for electrical connectors to reduce cost and complexity, while improving reliability, quality, and serviceability

Affordability

• Developed common cigarette lighter specification

• Design 95% complete and programmed for ‘97/98 G38 Ford/Chrysler/GM vehicles

• Developed electrical connection guidelines and published

• Developed common footprint for fuel injector connector

• Developed common footprint for ABS module connector

• Initiated development of common 1.0mm pin and trailer tow connectors

Strategic Standardization Board (SSB)

Reduction in non-value added product development and manufacturing costs through the standardization of parts, components, and engineering processes across the U.S. auto industry

Affordability

• Established forum for industry standardization discussions

• Developed process for guiding industry agreements through established standards publishing bodies

• Stimulated ANSI to re-evaluate its strategic direction

• Commonized 20 nylon standards (down from 120)

• Commonized on standard design and process FMEAs

• Prioritized parts for joint engineering standardization

Occupant Safety Research Partnership (OSRP)

To conduct R&D on crash-test dummies and related areas such as modeling, instrumentation, data management and reduction, and subsystem safety test development

Safety and occupant protection

• Completed prototype fabrication of next generation side impact dummy (SID-IIs). Testing and evaluation in G42 progress

• Continued evaluation of NHTSA advanced dummy thorax

• Initiated working group with NHTSA on lower extremity instrumentation

• Initiated working group on common crash test instrumentation specifications