Engineering solutions company shows how SUV weight can be slashed

Lightweight SUVs and go an extra mile and more for your money? Well, it looks like a company – Detroit Engineered Products – has a solution for OEMs globally. And given that demand for SUVs, in India and worldwide, continues to be on the upswing, this solution could have many takers.

As is known, increasing emphasis and high expectation on the fuel economy standards have pushed automotive OEMs globally to optimise their vehicle platforms irrespective of the vehicle footprint. Fuel economy standards have to be achieved with holistically balancing of safety, Noise Vibration Harshness (NVH) and durability performance regulation and requirements. With competitive markets and compressed time to market needs, OEMs are looking for technologies that enable them to cut short their development time or make their current platforms more efficient.

The entire value engineering is divided into three phases by Detroit Engineered Products (DEP) and is Baseline evaluation, Parametrisation and Optimisation.  The DEP technology, proprietory CAE software, MeshWorks and industry leading process have led to a Multi-Disciplinary Optimization approach that has been very well received by OEMs globally.

Parameterising to cut the kilos
The technology of parameterising complete vehicle CAE models using Design Enabled Optimisation in DEP MeshWorks and the process of Multi-disciplinary Optimization are the key pieces that deliver value. This CAE-driven process has been deployed successfully in both early-stage vehicle development as well as for optimising existing platforms.

Conventional full vehicle CAE model build is generally driven by CAD data. This process though well-established takes a lot of time. Vehicle manufacturers are constantly looking at technologies that reduce the CAE model to manufacturing time. In yet other perspective, vehicle manufacturers are also looking at technology and tools that can help them quickly build and evaluate concepts.

Detroit Engineered Products (DEP) says it has been working on a transformational approach to both the conventional CAE model build as well as for early-stage concept model development. For instance, DEP's CAE model-based Morphing, Merging; Cut & Swap techniques have helped the customers accelerate not only their CAE model build an early-stage concept development timing but also have helped reduce the product development cycle time.

According to Radha Krishnan, founder and president, Detroit Engineered Products (DEP), "DEP's MeshWorks Morpher-driven MDO approach has been successfully extended beyond the full vehicle to various other vehicle subsystems as well. This feature-based morphing approach preserves and carries forward the integration and manufacturing best practices with the flexibility to change the shape and sections. Morphing technology and methods from MeshWorks have realised about 60 percent time-saving in the pre-production design stage of vehicle development.  ”

Detroit Engineered Products (DEP) is an Engineering Solutions and Product Development company. Since its inception in 1998 in Troy, Michigan, USA, DEP is now a global company with footprints in Europe, China, Korea, Japan and India.

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