Component Mass Study Statistical Benchmarking
- 2018-10-27 14:04:00
- LUQIMENG Original
- 1998
• A database of over 500 vehicles fully disassembled
• Over 1100 parts reviewed per vehicle with data on mass, dimensions, materials, suppliers, coding, fasteners
• Average of 25,000 photos available per vehicle
• Over 400,000 parts stored and available for further review
• Additional 25 new cars in North America, 20 in Europe, 12 in China, 12 in India are dissembled every year
Determine mass statistics for Aluminum and Steel unadjusted for mass drivers
Create scatter plots of component mass vs significant mass driver
Determine mass-driver equation for component mass to allow objective comparison
Identify efficient designs of each material and compare mass
Identify material factor for each component
For selected subsystems, compare Aluminum-to-Steel mass reduction for Structure and for System
The body structure consists of the body-in-white with front sub-frame less doors including paint, sealer and mastic sound treatments.
Vehicles with full frames have been excluded.
Mass-efficient designs were quantified by the number of standard errors, r, below the nominal.
The criterion for choosing the number of standard errors below nominal, n, was at least three
data samples were observed with mass equal to or less than that value
There is a considerable range of mass for steel components of the same size and function. Thus, there
is an opportunity in current production vehicles for mass reduction, even with the technology and materials already in use.
When compared to an efficient steel design, the mass savings gap with aluminum significantly reduces.
Mass saving achieved in the structure due to material substitution is often not realized at the system level.
