Mechanical Engineers and the Automotive Industry

Function and design stress will need attention regardless of motivation. Is this not the field of mechanical engineering?

Ride and handling, rolling gear (wheels & axles), there has to be some form of drive train from the motor to the wheels. Chassis, body shell - wind and rolling noise.

And then there's the mech input to the infrastructure and manufacturing plant - including manufacturing the fuel cells/prime movers.

Panic not.

If a good design was perfected today, it would take years to replace the rolling stock. 50 years maybe as they would keep on making cars.

If oil suddenly vanished = another story, but we will have fuels for 500+ more years and they will be cheap enough to keep some share.

if a law is passed, no more gas engines in 5 years = a solution. Never in America.

Just a small fraction of the MEs employed here in Detroit are assigned to the engine; do you believe that the rest of the vehicle designs and builds itself?

Even as a straight electronic designer, there is hardly a project on which I work that does not incur some mechanical design. As long as there are mechanical things (which is just about everything) there will be a need for mechanical engineering.

Well one should not forget that mechenical engineering is existing form stone age and it will continue to exist till the man exists.Fine electrical engineering and electranics engnieering etc will compliment mechenical engineering . what ever form of energy that may find its way in future to harness the new form of energy one needs mechenical engineering.Mechenical engineering can never die

I received the following a couple of days ago, it gels nicely with this debate:

see www.e-i-s.org.uk for more details

For our electrical colleagues, NVH = Noise Vibration & Harshness

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Dear Friends and Contacts,

I am organising the Green Vehicle Conference for the Engineering Integrity Society.

This one day meeting will be exploring the ways in which the "greening" of vehicles will affect the work of our NVH community. The likely location is the South Midland Region of the UK.

Here are some thoughts on the topics that the conference might cover: -

Improved efficiency from IC engines

This can be from genuine improved thermo-dynamic improvements and also from reduced weight.

Possible NVH implications

Lower mass of the engine may pose interesting challenges for engine mounting as well as noise.

Fuel Cell Vehicles.

Predicting the overall characteristics of these vehicles and how they will develop/change over the next ten years.

Possible NVH implications

A new weight distribution will shift resonant frequencies and mode shapes. This will certainly have NVH implications.

Different modes may re-awaken sleeping Buzz, Squeak and Rattle "events".

Light Weight Materials

Reducing mass throughout the body immediately improves performance (BHP/Ton > increases) and reduces fuel consumption for any given performance.

Possible NVH implications

Weight/Mass is usually benificial for NVH performance; reductions in weight can have unpleasant consequences.

Electric Motor Drive

When powered by electric motor(s) the vehicle internal combustion (IC) engine/ exhaust noise vanishes.

Possible NVH implications

Gearmeshing noise; Tyre/Road noise, BSR… will all suddenly become audible without the masking affect of the IC engine

Aerodynamic/Usage Optimisation

Evaluation of customer needs may result in vehicles of radically different form e.g. SMART two seater.

Possible NVH implications

A radical change in vehicle package shape will mean different demands on sealing systems for windows and doors.

Reduced Rolling Resistance

Significant improvements in efficiency can be achieved by improved tyre performance.

Possible NVH implications

Does lower rolling resistance mean higher noise transmission?

The above is by no means an exclusive or exhaustive list of possible topics. The educational purpose of the day is to give the NVH community a better understanding of what might be coming and a better appreciation of the constraints on other disaplins. For example a full understanding of the trade-offs involved in tyre performance is essential in target setting.

At this early stage I would like to hear from you on any aspect of the intended meeting. Of course volunteers who wish to present papers are warmly welcomed as are those who would like to attend.

Regards

Alan Bennetts

Engineering Integrity Society - NVH Group
5 Wentworth Avenue
Sheffield
S11 9QX
UK

Tel: +44 (0)114 262 1155