Jim Holden at Husky's Detroit Technical Center in Novi

Photo: DaimlerChrysler
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Not only does the new process have the potential to improve fuel economy and cut vehicle body weight up to 50 percent, it also could reduce body tooling costs by up to 70 percent, Holden said. The facility is capable of simulating production line speeds, churning out one Jeep Wrangler hardtop every three minutes or less. The hardtop was chosen as the ideal part to test because it can be fitted easily to an existing production vehicle for real-world testing.

The new facility, built by Husky Injection Molding Systems of Bolton, Ontario, showcases the world's largest dual-platen injection molding machine. The machine is twice the size of the largest molding machines used in the automotive industry today and exerts 8,800 tons of clamp force and weighs 650 tons. Less than a dozen 4,400 - ton machines exist, which are large enough to mold fascias. The Husky molding machine was designed specifically for DaimlerChrysler's needs and can inject more than 100 pounds of thermoplastic at one time -- enough to create half of a car body in one shot. In today's cars, the entire body structure is made of 75-100 metal parts. Depending on future vehicle designs, DaimlerChrysler predicts a complete vehicle body could be made with only six - 12 thermoplastic pieces.

Color can be molded into the plastic material, eliminating the need for a costly paint shop in an assembly plant. A typical paint shop investment runs between $200 million - $400 million, including the expense for emissions control equipment. Also, with molded-in-color plastic, surface scratches are less noticeable because there is no paint to chip away. "When we started this project five years ago, the plastic body panels came in one color - a dull white," Oswald said. "Now, we can mold virtually any color, but we still have some work to do to create a glossy finish within the mold."

The material is 100 percent recyclable, which is still a challenge for many types of plastics and composites used in automotive production today. Also, new vehicles could be molded using up to 25 percent of recycled thermoplastic of the same color. The material's strength is another unique feature. This new thermoplastic material and innovative manufacturing process eliminates the need for a traditional steel "skeleton" or structural spaceframe that other composite-paneled vehicles, such as the Dodge Viper or Saturn, require. DaimlerChrysler's crash tests have shown that plastic-bodied cars can meet federal crash test requirements with minimal use of metal reinforcement. The innovative material also opens doors for the design community. Designers of recent concept vehicles like the Plymouth Pronto Spyder and Jeep Commander took advantage of the technology by creating crisp lines that would not have been possible with stamped steel.

Photo: GM

GM's Virtual Reality Design Studios

At GM's Virtual Reality Design studios in Russelsheim, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Warren, Pontiac, and Troy, Mich., designers are using 3-D virtual reality on a daily basis to explore a variety of vehicle options and respond more quickly to trends in the marketplace.

The Virtual Reality studio at GM's Design Center in Warren, Mich. is regarded by technology suppliers as the most sophisticated facility in the world and provides designers full-scale virtual images in phenomenal detail, color and brightness.

With the 3-D technology, the vehicle team can see and experience almost immediately three full-scale vehicles in virtual, "real world" environments. VisualEyes allows designers the ability to connect with the other GM Virtual Reality locations so that they can interactively review models and collaborate in real time. These virtual vehicles appear as if they were physical prototypes, but they exist only in the computer. The selection of vehicles, animated features, colors and backgrounds is easily changed, enabling the teams to develop and evaluate the vehicle's styling and theme, architectural constraints and manufacturing issues. Virtual reality enables the designers to experiment freely without having to rebuild the physical model every time a change is implemented, shortening the vehicle development time.

GM's formability and die process

Stamping engineers at GM's Metal Fabricating Division are also using the company's 3-D virtual reality system to detect and resolve potential manufacturing problems in sheet metal parts before the vehicle designs are produced.

When stylists at GM's Design Center develop the surfaces for new vehicles, the stamping engineers work with the computer math data to analyze the new designs for formability ... then design the dies that will eventually press the sheet metal. In virtual reality, the engineering team checks the designs for proper strain and stresses and then simulates the forming of the parts. Revisions are recommended and incorporated before the release of the new designs. Through the use of 3-D virtual reality, GM's Metal Fabricating Division has completely eliminated wood and foam from its design and engineering process.

GM's Assembly and Manufacturing Operations

General Motors is using virtual reality to develop tooling and model the plant floor layouts for its body-in white, general assembly and powertrain manufacturing operations.

Engineers are validating the manufacturing plant operations by simulating the interaction between humans, assembly tooling, and the product in a virtual world. They can determine tooling and processing requirements and predict tool, part and machine interface issues. At GM Powertrain, engineers validated the use of virtual reality in the design of the floor layout of a new 4-cylinder, overhead cam engine produced at Tonawanda, New York. Using virtual reality and other computer math tools, the engineering team was able to identify many problems early on and resolve the problems in a math environment.