Automotive design engineers face the challenging problem of developing products in highly competitive markets. In this regard, using conceptual models in the first step of automotive development seems so necessary. In this paper, to make a body in white conceptual model, an engineering approach is developed for the replacement of beam-like structures, joints, and panels in a vehicle model. The ...

Upon unloading in a forming process there is elastic recovery, which is the release of the elastic strains and the redistribution of the residual stresses through the thickness direction. It causes changes in shape and dimensions that can create major problem in the external appearance of outer panels. Thus surface deflection prediction is an important issue in sheet metal forming industry. The...

Semi-solid forming processes are now used for producing near net shape parts especially in the automotive and aircraft industries. Non Newtonian rheology of semisolid alloys and its dependence on the various parameters such as reheating cycle, method used to produce non-dendritic structure, thermo-shear history etc. have made the simulation of the flow behavior of semisolid material a difficult...

The rapid automation of automotive body assembly operations has resulted in a proliferation of the process steps to be monitored and displayed, thereby making the task of the worker more complex. The progression of assembly and associated machine cycling is controlled by programmable logic controllers whose states are displayed on control panels. The significance of the interface between a work...

This paper addresses innovation activities of automotive component manufacturers in South Africa. It looks at the technological trajectory of a handful of firms that stand out from the crowd and analyses the results of their endeavours in the context of their interaction with foreign capital, their internal agenda in terms of upgrading and R&D, and South Africa’s national innovation system (NIS...