Browse Topic: Body structures

Items (1,899)

Requirements Extract for AS6500A Manufacturing Management Program

5/1/2026

This digital standard is a requirements extract of AS6500A Manufacturing Management Program. This file contains a general requirements extraction as well as files that are optimized for use with Doors Classic, Siemens Polarian, and PTC.

Requirements Extract for AS50881H Wiring Aerospace Vehicle

SA-DIG-00003

5/1/2026

This digital standard is a requirements extract of AS50881H Wiring Aerospace Vehicle. This file contains a general requirements extraction as well as files that are optimized for use with Doors Classic, Siemens Polarian, and PTC. <img src="https://wcm14-tst.cld.sae.org/site/binaries/content/gallery/mobilus-brx/digital-supplements/as7140-data-model.png/as7140-data-model.png/sae%3Amedium" alt="AS7140 Data Model" />

Requirements Extract for AS5127D Aerospace Standard Test Methods for Aerospace Sealants Methods for Preparing Aerospace Sealant Test Specimens

SA-DIG-00002

5/1/2026

This digital standard is a requirements extract of AS5127D Aerospace Standard Test Methods for Aerospace Sealants Methods for Preparing Aerospace Sealant Test Specimens. This file contains a general requirements extraction as well as files that are optimized for use with Doors Classic, Siemens Polarian, and PTC.

Requirements Extract for AS861C Minimum General Standards for Oxygen Systems

SA-DIG-00001

5/1/2026

This digital standard is a requirements extract of AS861C Minimum General Standards for Oxygen Systems. This file contains a general requirements extraction as well as files that are optimized for use with Doors Classic, Siemens Polarian, and PTC.

Requirements Extract for AS13001A Delegated Product Release Verification Training Requirements

SA-DIG-00006

5/1/2026

This digital standard is a requirements extract of AS13001A Delegated Product Release Verification Training Requirements. This file contains a general requirements extraction as well as files that are optimized for use with Doors Classic, Siemens Polarian, and PTC.

Requirements Extract for AS4159 Specification for an Automated Interchange of Standards Data

SA-DIG-00004

5/1/2026

This digital standard is a requirements extract of AS4159 Specification For An Automated Interchange Of Standards Data. This file contains a general requirements extraction as well as files that are optimized for use with Doors Classic, Siemens Polarian, and PTC.

A Scientific approach to identify the source of intermittent steering rattle noise and implementing the design solutions

2026-26-03461/16/2026

Body-on-frame vehicles are well-regarded for their durability and off-road capabilities, but their structural design often makes them more vulnerable to noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) issues. Vibrations originating from uneven roads are transmitted through the suspension and steering assemblies, sometimes resulting in rattles or other disturbances. These vibrations can be amplified by the inherent flexibility in the body-to-frame mounting system. In such vehicles, the steering system plays a critical role in driver comfort and is highly sensitive to vibrational inputs from the road surface, especially on coarse or uneven terrain. Occasionally, these inputs result in subtle rattle noises that are perceptible only to the driver and may not be detected under controlled testing environments. This poses a challenge for engineers trying to isolate and resolve such intermittent NVH phenomena. Identifying the source requires a combination of real-world driving evaluations, structural

Ramesh Chand, Karan Kumar, Gopinathan, Haridoss, Kabdal, Amit

Optimization of Air extractor for improved Door closing effort and perceived premium Feel

2026-26-05921/16/2026

This research analyses the significance of air extractor on car door closing effort, especially within the context of highly sealed cabins. The goal is to measure their effectiveness in lowering pressure-induced resistance, study how cut-out cross section and location affect performance, and its contribution to vehicle premium feel. Current vehicle design trends prioritize airtight cabin sealing for improving aerodynamic efficiency, NVH performance. This causes a problem in door closing operation. Air trapped while closing door creates transient pressure pulses. This pressure surge creates immediate discomfort to user i.e., Popping in Ears and requires high door closing force, and long-term durability problems in hinges and seals. In properly sealed cabins, air pressure resistance can contribute to 25% to 40% of total door closing force. Air extractors, which are usually installed in the rear quarter panels or behind rear bumpers, serve as pressure relief valves, allowing for smoother

P, Sivasankar, Sankineni, Vikhyath Rao, Shah, Sahil, Marimuthu, Anbarasan

A Novel Approach to Deep Drawing Using Hybrid System and Pneumatic-Assisted Forming

2026-26-03011/16/2026

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a novel Plunger-Integrated Hybrid System aimed at enhancing the efficiency and performance of deep drawing operations in metal forming processes. The proposed hybrid system strategically combines the mechanical strength of metals with the elastic flexibility of polymers, specifically polyurethane rubber, to improve formability and reduce spring-back, two critical challenges in conventional sheet metal forming. A novel two-stage forming technique is employed, an initial drawing operation using a larger radius with polyurethane rubber, followed by final radius formation using the same rubber in conjunction with a pneumatic cylinder. This integrated approach ensures uniform force distribution via the embedded plunger, significantly minimizing forming defects and enhancing the dimensional accuracy of the final components. The solution has been validated using Finite Element (FE) simulation methods, confirming its capability to produce high-quality parts

Chava, Seshadri Reddy, Singh, Prakhar, DHANAJKAR, NARENDRA, Roy, Amlan, Raju, Gokul

Side Crash Pressure Sensor response Prediction: CPM approach

2026-26-04131/16/2026

Side Impact crashes are generally hazardous because there is no room for large deformation to protect an occupant from the crash forces. A crucial point in side impacts is the rapid intrusion of the side structure into the passenger compartment which need sufficient space between occupants and door trim to enable a proper unfolding of the side airbag. This problem can be alleviated by using the rising air pressure inside the door as an additional input for crash sensing. With improvements in the crash sensor technology, pressure sensors that detect pressure changes in door cavities have been developed recently for vehicle crash safety applications. The crash pulses recorded by the acceleration-based crash sensors usually exhibit high frequency and noisy responses. The data obtained from the pressure sensors exhibit lower frequency and less noisy responses. Due to its ability to discriminate crash severities and allow the restraint devices to deploy earlier, the pressure sensor

Bhagat, Milind, Narale, Naganath, MAHAJAN, Ashutosh, wayal, Virendra, Jadhav, Swapnil

Methodology for optimizing the bench testing of Steering I shaft using vehicle level data to reduce overall product development time and cost.

2026-26-05601/16/2026

Steering I-shaft with rubber coupling (or hardy disc) is an important part of complete steering system mainly in body on frame vehicles. Hardy discs are used to dampen the vibrations that transmit to steering wheel through frame, steering gear and I-shaft. They also support to accommodate the variation between frame and BIW of body on frame vehicles. They are made up of rubber or other polymer composites, which have less torsional stiffness as compared to metals. The overall torsional stiffness of steering system reduces since the hardy disc is used in series in steering system, that impacts on the overall performance of steering system. So, during development I shafts with different design, stiffness of hardy discs are used to optimize the steering and NVH performance of vehicle. Considering the development time and cost, each design of I-shaft cannot be validated at vehicle level. The torsional and axial force or displacement of hardy disc is measured at vehicle level on different

Kabdal, Amit

Do Not Let the Door Hit

2026-26-00261/16/2026

Modern vehicles are equipped with numerous safety systems focused primarily on active and passive crash protection, but less attention is given to low-speed or stationary scenarios: particularly when occupants exits the vehicle. One common and often underestimated risk occurs when the vehicle door is opened without awareness of nearby obstacles such as walls, poles, or other vehicles. This paper introduces a novel, intelligent solution aimed at enhancing safety during driver egress. The proposed system leverages the existing ORVM (Outside Rear View Mirror) cameras to monitor and measure the surface area adjacent to the vehicle. When the vehicle is parked and the engine is turned off, the system becomes active. As the driver initiates the exit, the system scans for obstructions near the door. If an obstacle is detected within a predefined danger zone, it projects a warning symbol on the Instrument cluster via the puddle lamp and triggers an audible chime to alert the occupant. This dual

Bhuyan, Anurag, Khandekar, Dhiraj, Jahagirdar, Shweta

Experimental Evaluation of Metro Rail Bogie Frame through Bench Testing

2026-26-05611/16/2026

Bogie frame is a main skeleton and structural member in railway system which is carrying all the loads such as Suspensions,Axles,wheels, car body, Motor, Gear box etc. The frame is subjected the exceptional and service stresses in Vertical, Longitudinal, Lateral and twist directions throughout the service life which should be withstand for a life span of 30 years without failure. The purpose of this project is to determine the Structural integrity of the Metro rail bogie frame in consideration with EN13749 standard .This paper is the outcome of bench testing of metro rail bogie frame with the application of multiaxial loading in static and dynamic campaign through which stress data is collected with strain gauge sensors and correlated with the FEA results at design stage. This helps to verify and evaluate the design and validate the quality of metro rail frame as per the requirement specified in EN13749 European standard in early design stages.

Tormal, Uday Bapurao

Virtual Strain correlation with measured strain test data over Frame using nCode Design Life

2026-26-05451/16/2026

Physical tests serve as a benchmark to validate and improve the accuracy of CAE models. If the CAE results correlate well with physical test data, it confirms that the simulation is reliable and can be used for predictive analysis. Earlier for correlation, we use stress output from generic load-cases and single max value of measured strain data which was inappropriate to get exact correlation. Since output of virtual strain gauge is strain history, so entire characteristics can be compared i.e. magnitude and phase. In this paper, we have used nCode Design Life’s virtual strain gauge approach to correlate an FE Model’s (Frame) result with measured strain gauge data of RLDA test. If the model has been properly meshed, loaded, and constrained, the predicted virtual strain from Design Life will correlate with the measured strain. In this problem, model (Frame) is loaded with unit force and moment in all three directions at 31 locations (Hardpoints). Virtual Strain gauge calculates the

Kumar, Mohit, Dhole, Avinash, Trigune, Vinayak, Kangde, Suhas

Optimized Panel Design for Reducing Seal Squeak and Chucking in Door & Body Seals

2026-26-03411/16/2026

Quieter cabins in an automobile are the new era, they provide customers with pleasurable driving experience. Squeak and Rattle are spoil sport for any OEM that aim to improvise customer driving experience. Their nonlinear nature makes it difficult to formulate design frontloading methods. The issue of seals rubbing against the body & door interface is a clear sign of seal squeak & seal chucking. Seals are applied with anti-friction coatings to avoid stick slip phenomena between EPDM and painted panel. Primary root cause for seal squeak is coating erosion. The challenge lies in determining whether the body or the closure side contributes to the seal issue. This paper presents a distinctive approach for identifying the seal squeaking noise and enriches on the new modelling methods for seal interaction with door and body interfaces using FE software. The proposed method was able to highlight the locations along the door-body interface for squeak noise. The approach for reducing the

H, RAVISHANKAR, C M, MITHUN, MICHAEL STEPHAN, NAVIN ESTAC RAJA, Mohammed, Riyazuddin

Design of the BIW structure for battery pack protection in case of side pole impact.

2026-26-00251/16/2026

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more popular than Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powered vehicles, but their battery and motor components elevate their Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), posing unique collision risks. Manufacturers strategically mount the high voltage (HV) battery packs under the passenger compartment to lower the Centre of Gravity and shield them from the front impacts. However, side impacts remain a concern, as the battery deformation in such instances could trigger fires or explosions, endangering occupants. To address this, crashworthiness designs adhere to New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) standards, particularly against side pole impact and side mobile barrier impact. Unlike the frontal section of BIW, which typically has larger crush space to absorb the crash energy, extensive design attention is required to the vehicle's side structure to absorb pole impacts without transmitting excessive force to the battery pack. Utilizing aluminium extrusions and sheet

Nivesh, Dharun, NAMANI, Prasad, Ramaraj, Rajasekar

An Outer Waist Seal with Integrated Glass Wiping Mechanism for a Window Frame of a Vehicle

2026-26-00111/16/2026

This innovation addresses a major safety concern where drivers experience poor visibility of the Outside Rear View Mirror due to rain, fog, dust, or ice accumulation on the side door window glass. Existing solutions like hydrophobic coatings and heated door window glasses offer limited effectiveness, leading to the need for a more reliable and efficient system. To solve this issue, we have modified Outer Waist Seal by integrating Glass Wiping Mechanism in it. The Outer Waist Seal is a weatherproof strip located at the bottom edge of a vehicle’s side window, attached to the door panel. It prevents heavy water flow, dust, and debris from entering the door cavity while also supporting the window glass during its movement. This system features a stationary fixed arm and a rotating arm with an attached wiper blade, driven by a low-speed, high-torque motor and connected with the vehicle's Body Control Module. Upon activation, the rotating arm with blade wipes the Outside Rear View Mirror

Neelam, Rajat, Chowdhury, Ashok, Panchal, Girish, Kumar, Saurav

Developing Advanced CAE Model for Door Glass Regulator Operating Noise Reduction through TEST/CAE Correlation

2026-26-03111/16/2026

The importance of performance improvement and weight optimization using CAE in the early design stages of vehicle development has been continuously increasing over the past two decades. And, the accuracy of CAE models plays key role, more efforts are required to improve it. Representation of exact physical model in CAE is still a big challenge for achieving an accurate TEST vs CAE correlation. In this research, the procedure and application of door system model correlation were described to reduce the glass regulator operating noise. The function of a regulator in door system is to open and close the glass. The regulator under improper design creates unwanted noise and discomfort to the passenger. In current door CAE Model, we are unable to identify this real time problem. Therefore, this paper discusses how to correlate door system model according to the assembly stage based on modal correlation and it helped in calculating accurate glass regulator operating noise. As a result, the

PANUGANTI, NARESH KUMAR, Choi, Seungchan

A Comprehensive Study of vehicle side door structure and window glass displacement during slam for refinement

2026-26-05491/16/2026

In the vehicle closures validation process, the displacements in its structure and window glass have significant impact on its service life. The objective of this paper is to develop a test case using instrumentation and data acquisition for measuring the vehicle door structure and its window glass displacement along the lateral direction. This measurement support for understanding the door and window glass displacement impact on its primary and secondary rubber seals, striker, check arm, hinges, and its structural rigidity. The door mechanisms also get affects by door displacement which results to significant deterioration in its performance. The test setup comprises of sensors with required range and accuracy connected with data acquisition system by selecting appropriate sampling rate. The sensors placed on window glass and on door structure top corner during the measurement. Different window glass positions like full close, half close and fully opened considered for the study

Arthanathan, Sankaranarayanan, SHASHIDHAR, S, B, VENKATASUBRAMANIAN

Optimisation of frontal impact force scheme to accelerate the target setting process for development of front-end structures in vehicles.

2026-26-00011/16/2026

A passenger vehicle's front-end structure's structural integrity and crashworthiness are crucial to ensure compliance with various frontal impact safety standards (such as those set by Euro NCAP & IIHS). For a new front-end architecture, design targets must be defined at a component level for crush cans, longitudinal, bumper beam, subframe, suspension tower and backup structure. The traditional process of defining these targets involves multiple sensitivity studies in CAE. This paper explores the implementation of Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) in component-level target setting. PINNs integrate the governing equations into neural network training, enabling data-driven models to adhere to fundamental mechanical principles. The underlying physics in our model is based upon a force scheme of a full frontal impact. A force scheme is a one-dimensional representation of the front-end structure components that simplifies a crash event's complex physics. It uses the dimensional and

Gupta, Ishan, Bhatnagar, Abhinav, Kumar, Ayush

Development of Door Impact Loads Using Frugal use of Pedal Force Sensor

2026-26-05381/16/2026

The first step in designing or analyzing any structure is to understand “right” set of loads. Typically, off-road vehicles have many access doors for service/getting into cab etc. Design of these doors and their latches involve a knowledge of the closing loads when the door is shut mostly with an impact of varying magnitudes. In scenarios of these impact events, where there is sudden change of velocity within few milliseconds, produces high magnitude of loads on structures. One common way of estimating these loads using hand calculations involves evaluating the rate-of-change-of-momentum. However, this calculation needs “duration of impact”, and it is seldom known/difficult to estimate. Failing to capture duration of impact event will change load magnitudes drastically, e.g. load gets doubled if time-of-impact gets reduced from 0.2 to 0.1 seconds and subsequently fatigue life of the components in “Door-closing-event” gets reduce by ~7 times. For these problems, structures are usually

Valkunde, Sangram, Ghate, Amit, GAGARE, KIRAN

OPTIMIZER SUNSHADE PACKAGING WITH HALF ALUMINIUM CASSET AND METAL PULL BAR

2026-26-05971/16/2026

The automotive industry is advancing rapidly with the integration of cutting-edge technology, aesthetics, and performance. One area that has remained relatively underexplored in the pursuit of sleek, minimalistic interiors is the Sunshade packaging in door trim system. Traditional sunshade design, often bulky and are increasingly incompatible with the trend towards compact. Car sunshade is a shield that is placed on a car side window, and it is used for regulating the amount of light entering from the car window and improves the passenger comfort inside the cabin. Car Interior components specifically plastic and seats based on thermal stress properties. When we exposed these parts direct contact with sunlight, humidity and ambient temperature above threshold limit then interior plastic parts can start softening and melt after that they emit harmful chemical which is caused to anemia and poor immune systems. So, Sunshade protection not only serve to protect passenger comfort inside car

palyal, Nikita, D, GOWTHAM, BHASKARARAO, PATHIVADA, bornare, harshad, RITESH, KAKADE

UNIQUE HYBRID PANORAMIC HEADLINER CLIP WITH HIGH TOLERANCE TO REPLACE DUAL LOCK FASTENERS

2026-26-02991/16/2026

Mounting strategies for vehicles with panoramic sunroofs remains a challenge owing to its high complexity to balance cost, performance and assembly efficiency. Achieving efficient and reliable headliner mounting solutions is one of the conundrums where cost optimization must go together with uncompromised performance. Traditional methods like Dual Lock Fasteners (DLFs), have set high benchmarks for robustness but at the cost of increased manufacturing complexity and expense. In pursuit of a more economical and production-friendly alternative, various plastic clip designs were explored. However, these solutions posed significant challenges during validation due to the stringent requirements for mounting feasibility, tolerance management, and long-term durability This paper introduces a novel hybrid plastic-metal clip solution that addresses those challenges comprehensively. The new design achieves precise tolerance control, ensuring reliable headliner installation under varying Body-in

D, GOWTHAM, Kumarasamy, Raj Ganesh, Shoeb, Mohd, Chauhan, Aarti

Optimization of the Rodip CED Process Suitability through Strategic Fixture System for Enhanced Hood Gap and Flushness Control in Automotive Manufacturing

2026-26-04861/16/2026

The Ro-dip Cathodic Electrodeposition (CED) process is latest technology used by Automotive Manufacturers for higher quality corrosion protection in new generation Automobiles. This process involves multiple 360-degree rotation of automotive body in white (BIW) which exert higher hydrostatic forces on large surface panels like Hood. For maintaining consistent gaps & flushness control at vehicle level, it is important to safeguard the dimensional stability of light weight (crash performance sensitive) steel Hood panel while undergoing through this CED process. This study investigates the enhancement of hood panel alignment through strategic optimization of support rod placement and quantity within the Ro-dip CED system. By conducting experimental trials and computational simulations, the research identifies critical deformation points and evaluates the impact of varying support rod configurations on dimensional stability. The outcome results demonstrate that positioning support rods at

Tile, Vikrant, Unadkat, Siddharth, ASKARI, HASAN, Jadhav, Devidas

Analysis of door seal compression and its influence on NVH performance in heavy-duty vehicle

2026-26-03391/16/2026

Seals in a truck cabin is one of the major contributors for cabin noise in terms of structure borne as well as air borne noise transfer path. This study emphasizes on the effect of door seal compression prediction and its impact on structure borne NVH in trucks. Vibrations are regarded as quality criteria in the perception of customers. It is necessary to ascertain the contribution of seal stiffness on compression of the seal under closed condition of the door rather than uncompressed conditions. The dynamic stiffness of door seal is calculated by non-linear analysis. The simulations models are constructed using the Mooney - Rivlin theory for both 2D and 3D seals. This encompasses contemplating the relevant seal mounted boundary condition on the body and the door of the vehicle. The stiffness after compression of seal is extracted from this non-linear analysis which is further used to obtain the vibration modes for the doors in the truck cabin. Subsequently, the compressed seal

L, Kavya, Ramanathan, Vijay

Crash Pulse Characterization for the Passenger Vehicle Fleet in India.

2026-26-00291/16/2026

A crash pulse is the signature of the deceleration experienced by a vehicle and its occupants during a crash. The deceleration-time plot or crash pulse provides key insights into occupant kinematics, occupant restraints, occupant loading and efficiency of the structure in crash energy dissipation. Analysing crash pulse characteristics like shape, slope, maximum deceleration, and duration helps in understanding the impact of the crash on occupant safety and vehicle crashworthiness. This paper represents the crash pulse characterization study done for the vehicles tested at ARAI as per the ODB64 test protocol. Firstly, the classification and characterization of the crash pulses is done on the basis of the unladen masses of the vehicles. The same are further analysed for suitability of mathematical waveform models such as Equivalent Square Wave (ESW), Equivalent Triangular Wave (ETW), Equivalent Sine Wave (ESW), Equivalent Haversine Wave (EHSW) as well as EDTW (Equivalent dual trapezia

Jaju, Divyan, Mishra, Satish, Kulkarni, Dileep, Borse, Tanmay, Mahindrakar, Rahula Ashok, Mahajan, Rahul

Packaging the HPTS Airbag in a Second-row bench seat

2026-26-00331/16/2026

Seats of modern cars should necessarily meet the regulatory safety norms along with aesthetics and comfort. In the existing passenger cars prevailing across the Indian subcontinent, the measure of safety has been a challenging one. The stringent regulatory norms thereby make the Airbag very promising. In the domain of automotive safety, certain features hold exceptional importance, with airbags taking a forefront position. Their fundamental objective is to provide an advanced level of safety for both the driver and passengers in the unfortunate event of a collision. This is accomplished through the automatic deployment of an inflatable airbag, engineered to swiftly respond during a crash and furnish the necessary sophisticated cushioning to enhance overall passenger safety. The technology has been practiced widely upon a many vehicles seat. However, the present work highlights a novel approach of packaging the HPTS air bag in second row seat. This Air bag unit is fitted in the seat

Buradkar, Rajat Ramkrishna, BOSE, KARTHIK, JADHAV, DEEPIKA, Balakrishnan, Gangadharan

Infotainment-Free Sunroof Control Testing Using National Instruments Framework

2026-26-05191/16/2026

Verification of sunroof operation via voice commands conventionally necessitates a fully assembled vehicle platform integrated with an updated Body Control Module (BCM) and infotainment software. This hardware-software dependency presents significant limitations, particularly during the early stages of development, where rapid validation and iteration are critical. Additionally, vehicle availability and software readiness often act as bottlenecks in the validation process. To address this, a novel approach has been developed to simulate sunroof operations—including both physical switch and voice command inputs—using a National Instruments (NI) system. This setup eliminates the reliance on the vehicle’s BCM and infotainment system by simulating LIN commands directly through the NI interface. The integration of the sunroof module with the NI system facilitates comprehensive bench-level testing, including functional validation, endurance evaluation, and abuse case simulation. This

GHANWAT, HEMANT, Lad, Aniket Suryakant, Joshi, Vivek, More, Shweta

Wireless Mobile charger Packaging in Pecuilar Rear Door Trim Profile.

2026-26-02701/16/2026

Abstract A mobile wireless charger is a device that charge a smartphone or other compatible gadgets without the need for physical cables. Principle of wireless mobile charger system based on inductive coupling phenomena. The main objective of this paper aims to address the challenge of packaging wireless mobile charger in peculiar door trim profile keeping overall functionality and aesthetic appearance of door trim intact. This paper deals with integration of a wireless charging system within the door trim of a vehicle to provide convenience and advanced functionality. The objective is to pack a wireless charger in door trim meeting the ergonomic target and equilibrium state stability while maintaining sleek and minimalist design of the door trim. The study focuses on innovative packaging solutions related to space optimization in door despite multiple challenges involved. Major challenge lies in packing the unit amidst complex mechanisms such as window regulators, speakers, structural

palyal, Nikita, D, GOWTHAM, BHASKARARAO, PATHIVADA, Kumarasamy, Raj Ganesh, bornare, harshad

Airbus RACER High Speed Demonstrator Flight Tests

F-0081-2025-0182

5/20/2025

Developed in the frame of the European Clean Sky 2 program, the RACER High Speed Helicopter Demonstrator of Airbus performed its maiden flight on April 25th, 2024. In the continuity of the previous high-speed demonstrator X3 (1st flight in 2010) the RACER is a 7/8t (15000 / 18000 lb) class compound helicopter powered by two SHE Aneto-1X engines, including a wing and two propellers. The tail rotor is removed as the two propellers control the yaw axis by differential thrust. At flight 07, with its initial default settings, it reached a true airspeed of 227 kts in level flight, exceeding its objective of 220 kts.

Eglin, Paul, Embacher, Martin, Desvigne, Damien, Roca-Leon, Enric

Flap-Lag Stability Analysis of RACER in High-Speed Flight conditions

F-0081-2025-0226

5/20/2025

By its seventh flight after the first take-off, the RACER (Rapid And Cost-Effective Rotorcraft) demonstrator smoothly reached the targeted 220kts speed in stabilized forward flight, validating the high-speed compound architecture developed by Airbus Helicopters in the frame of Clean Sky 2 programme. During the flight envelope exploration, the dynamic behavior of the main rotor was carefully assessed, by monitoring the vibratory loads and validating its aeroelastic stability. Particular care was taken to validate the predicted stability domain of the Dual Rotor phenomenon, a particular case of flap-lag coupling associated with high-speed flight conditions. This paper presents the most significant results shaping the success of RACER flight test campaign. After having introduced the theoretical background and the associated analytical equations, the simulation framework based on the comprehensive analysis tool STORM is presented to discuss the numerical resolution of the stability

Skladanek, Yan, Coisnon, Remi, Ferullo, David

Fatigue Analysis of Motorcycle Rear Swing Arm on Different Road Surfaces

2024-32-00464/18/2025

The rear swing arm, a crucial motorcycle component, connects the frame and wheel, absorbing the vehicle’s load and various road impacts. Over time, these forces can damage the swing arm, highlighting the need for robust design to ensure safety. Identifying potential vulnerabilities through simulation reduces the risk of failure during the design phase. This study performs a detailed fatigue analysis of the swing arm across different road conditions. Data for this research were collected from real-vehicle experiments and simulation analyses, ensuring accuracy by comparing against actual performance. Following CNS 15819-5 standards, road surfaces such as poorly maintained, bumpy, and uneven roads were tested. Using Motion View, a comprehensive multi-body dynamic model was created for thorough fatigue analysis. The results identified the most stress-prone areas on the swing arm, with maximum stress recorded at 109.6N on poorly maintained roads, 218.3N on bumpy surfaces, and 104.8N on

Chiou, Yi-Hau, Hwang, Hsiu-Ying, Huang, Liang-Yu

Necessity of Body Torsional Rigidity of Personal Mobility Vehicles (PMVs) with an Inward Tilting Mechanism

2024-32-00134/18/2025

In traditional four-wheeled automobiles, the imbalance between the roll moment, which is the product of the centrifugal force during a turn acting on the center of gravity and the height of the center of gravity, and roll stiffness, which is the product of the left-right difference in tire vertical load and the tread width and commonly used among automotive suspension engineers, of the front and rear sections necessitates body torsional rigidity. However, there is a lack of specific cases and guidelines for constructing the body structure of three-wheeled PMVs (Personal Mobility Vehicles) with a tilting mechanism from the perspective of vehicle dynamics characteristics. In this paper, the basic considerations related to the dynamics of such three-wheeled PMVs are investigated. We use the term “torsional rigidity” to refer to the stiffness as the torsional deformation of the body itself, and the term “roll stiffness” to refer to the moment that counteracts the roll moment during a turn

Haraguchi, Tetsunori, Kaneko, Tetsuya

Prediction Method of Strength Robustness Affected by Arc Welding Sectional Dimensions

2024-32-00384/18/2025

The arc welding process is essential for motorcycle frames, which are difficult to form in one piece because of their complex shapes, because a single frame has dozens of joints. Many of the damaged parts of the frames under development are from welds. Predicting the strength of welds with high reliability is important to ensure that development proceeds without any rework. In developing frames, CAE is utilized to build up strength before prototyping. Detailed weld shapes are not applicable to FE models of frames because weld shapes vary widely depending on welding conditions. Even if CAE is performed on such an FE model and the evaluation criteria are satisfied, the model may fail in the actual vehicle, possibly due to the difference between CAE and actual weld bead geometry. Therefore, we decided to study the extent to which the stresses in the joint vary with the variation of the weld bead geometry. Morphing, a FE modeling method and design of experiment method, was utilized to

Hada, Yusuke, Sugita, Hisayuki

Analysis of the Effect of Combination Frame Flexibility on Weave Modes

2024-32-00494/18/2025

The weave mode of a motorcycle is known to be affected by the flexibility of the vehicle frame. The weave mode has been shown to be more unstable in the 10-DOF model than in the 4-DOF model. However, it is not clear why the weave mode would be unstable, given the six different frame flexibilities. In this study, the authors analyzed the stability of the weave mode in a 4-DOF model when the same was integrated with two types of frame flexibilities. In the vehicle specifications used in the analysis, the combination of the bending flexibility of the front forks and the torsional flexibility of the main frame destabilizes the weave mode. The analysis results show that the phase delay of the front tire lateral force is caused by the phase delay of the steering angle. The combined bending flexibility of the front forks and the torsional flexibility of the main frame results in a large phase lag in the steering angle.

Haraoka, Reiya, Katayama, Tsuyoshi, Yoshino, Takahiko

Test GV 162025

JTEST162025 (Current)1/6/2025

test

Ground Vehicle European Prospect Committee

3D-Printed Reactor Core Makes Solar Fuel Production More Efficient

TBMG-5219312/1/2024

In recent years, engineers at ETH Zurich have developed the technology to produce liquid fuels from sunlight and air. In 2019, they demonstrated the entire thermochemical process chain under real conditions for the first time, in the middle of Zurich, on the roof of ETH Machine Laboratory. These synthetic solar fuels are carbon neutral because they release only as much CO2 during their combustion as was drawn from the air for their production. Two ETH spin-offs, Climeworks and Synhelion, are further developing and commercializing the technologies.

Developing Customer Loss Function for Door Opening Angle in Passenger Cars: Balancing the Ergonomic Performance between “Entry/Exit (Ingress/Egress) Accommodation” and Door Reachability

15-17-03-00147/27/2024

Abstract Occupant packaging is one of the key tasks involved in the early architectural phase of a vehicle. Accommodation, as a convention, is generally considered related to a car’s interior. Typical roominess metrics of the occupant like hip room, shoulder room, and elbow room are defined with the door in its closed condition. Several other roominess metrics like knee room, leg room, head room, and the like are also specified. While all the guidelines are defined with doors in their closed condition, it is also important to consider the dynamics that exist while the occupant is entering the vehicle. This article expands the traditional understanding of occupant accommodation beyond conventionally considering the vehicle interior’s ability to accommodate anthropometry. It broadens the scope to include dynamic conditions, such as when doors are opened, providing a more realistic and practical perspective. As a luxury car manufacturer, it is important to ensure the best overall customer

Rajakumaran, Sriram, Sreenivas, Kalyan

Impact of the Wind on the Hovering Performance of Stabilized Payload Lifting with a Single Tethered Fixed-Wing Aircraft

F-0080-2024-0035

5/7/2024

Over the last 90 years, many concepts of lifting payload with a single tethered fixed-wing aircraft have been proposed. In this concept, an airplane flies along a quasi-circular flight path and the payload should remain at the center of this circle. The main challenge encountered has been payload stability in hover (i.e., when the payload is fixed in space and the aircraft flies along a quasi-circular path above). In calm conditions, lengthening the tether to reach two or three kilometers (1.5 mile) has been proven to stabilize the payload in an orbit with a radius of the order of 1 meter (3 ft). However, the presence of wind has shown a drastic reduction in payload stability. At the end of the 1990s, a patent proposed to add a thruster-based stabilization device onto the payload but no further studies explored such a concept. This study proposes a new concept inspired by the former. The main difference lies in the addition of a reel-in mechanism to control and stabilize the payload in

Doguet, Maxime, Rancourt, David

Surface Mount On-Blade Optical Telemetry System

F-0080-2024-1219

5/7/2024

AAM concepts use multiple distributed electric motors driving propellers and rotors to augment or directly generate lift and propulsive forces. Several current concepts incorporate separate drive systems for providing vertical lift, for takeoff and landing, and propulsive thrust for wing-borne cruising flight. Measurement of loads and performance on these rotating systems is very important in both the design and development stage, as well as for certification use and ultimately supporting HUMS monitoring. However, providing instrumentation in the rotating frame and extracting their associated measurements is often problematical, as it requires some means for both power and signals to bridge the rotating interface between the blade of the rotor/propeller and the fixed frame (fuselage) system. This paper describes work conducted to leverage prior CDI development of a novel optical telemetry/instrumentation system to create a prototype unit that can support ground and flight tests

McKillip, Robert

Low Noise Helicopter Operations Recommendations to Improve Helicopter Acceptance

F-0080-2024-1223

5/7/2024

This paper presents activities performed in the frame of MOTUS, a DGAC-funded research project, to better understand and reduce annoyance of helicopter operations. It focuses on the operational context of La Réunion island where local authorities intend to define concrete measures to answer multiple complaints from the population. In parallel with ongoing research towards a better understanding of short- and long-term annoyance thanks to both laboratory and field studies, the paper presents an in-depth analysis of helicopter operations in the area. Furthermore, specific recommendations on low noise operations are proposed to local operators in order to reduce their noise footprint and improve helicopter acceptance.

Caillet, Julien, Ruaud, Elise, Guntzer, Frédéric, Dieumegard, Pierre