Wednesday - SAE

Removing hexavalent chromium
Henkel Technologies’ (Booth 927) Alodine 4595 is a chrome-free
aluminum wheel pretreatment that offers enhanced corrosion protection
and paint adhesion, as well as eliminates legacy cost, according to the
company. Made from a blend of organic polymers and inorganic metals,
Alodine 4595 does not require additional manufacturing process steps,
such as extra rinse and pretreatment stages. The technology was implemented
in December 2003 by one of Henkel’s wheel-manufacturing
customers, with four additional customers expected to begin using it by
the end of this year.
Jean L. Broge
Dura gives windows a lift
At a press conference on
Tuesday, Larry Denton,
President and CEO of Dura
Automotive Systems, Inc.,
outlined his plans for the
future. One key aspect of his
strategy was investment in
new technology. Some of
Dura’s ideas are on display in
Technology Salon A.
An example of alternative
thinking is a new window-lift
system that offers OEMs a
lightweight alternative to
traditional window regulators.
Made from a lightweight, selflubricating,
proprietary, highstrength
polyamide material,
Performance engineering for all
The UK Trade & Investmentsponsored
Performance Engineering
Pavilion, located at the center of the
show floor, made its SAE World
Congress debut on Monday. “This
year you will see a theme throughout
the show: performance engineering,”
said Robert Chalker,
Director of Sales and Marketing for
SAE. “We believe hard-core, cuttingedge
engineering is often initiated in
the performance sector of our
business,” continued Chalker, and
from there it “trickles down” into
more mainstream passenger
vehicles.
According to Jeremy Burne,
Automotive Sector Specialist for
UK Trade & Investment (Booth
2042), the organization was
interested in sponsoring such a
pavilion because the UK has a
successful history in motorsports
and performance engineering. The
pavilion hosts a number of UK
companies, including Cosworth
Technology (Booth 1947),
Prodrive (Booth 1946), and Lotus
Engineering (Booth 1933).
The UK has “a tradition of
supporting independent design
and engineering firms that provide
The RackLift power window regulator from
Dura Automotive Systems eliminates most of
the traditional mechanism to free up space
inside the door cavity.
Dura’s RackLift system is fully recyclable and provides a 10 to 14 lb (4.5 to
6.5 kg) mass savings when installed on a four-door vehicle. Its electromechanical
lift mechanism uses a dual rack-and-pinion configuration that
eliminates unwanted horizontal side forces as well as the need for overpowered
motors that are prevalent in current automotive window systems.
The window-lift systems are engineered to be applicable for OEM
factory installation or as an integral part of a complete door module.
In addition to the dual-rail rack with an attached base housing, RackLift
consists of a high-efficiency and lightweight drive motor, drive gear, slave
gear, and appropriate glass-attachment device, such as glass clamps. The
base-motor-gear assembly drives the glass up and down the all-plastic rack.
RackLift is compatible with one-touch-up and express-down, and
incorporates anti-pinch safety technology. Other advantages of the technology,
according to Dura, are reduced travel time, fewer components, noise
reduction, and simplified installation.
A major OEM will feature RackLift in a MY2005 vehicle.
David Alexander
engineering [expertise] to vehicle
manufacturers,” said Burne. “It’s
not just about making fast cars; it’s
about…the business processes and
specialized knowledge, the ability
to solve problems quickly, and the
ability to tackle [unique] projects.”
Burne believes that independent
design and engineering firms will
be used for more projects in the
near future as automakers continue
to move into low-volume,
niche markets. One of the main
reasons for this trend, he noted, is
that performance companies tend
to be “smaller, more flexible, and
faster working” than traditional
Tier 1 and 2 suppliers.
“There’s a pool of resources and
knowledge that is performance
engineering, and you can apply it to
whatever you want,” said Burne.
Vehicles such as BMW’s Mini and
some of Chevrolet’s small passenger
cars make use of performanceengineering
principles, he said, as
do Chrysler Group vehicles
powered by the Hemi engine,
noting that Ricardo (Booth 2222)
was involved with the design of the
V8 as part of an extended team.
Ryan Gehm
Exhibit Directory
Addendum
The following is a Directory update
as of March 9, 2004.
NuForm Rolling Corp.
315 Nantucket Blvd.
Scarborough, Ontario M1P 2P2
Canada
www.nuformrollingcorp.com
Booth 1315
Nuform roll forms parts for the entire vehicle such as seat
track, window regulators, crash beams, chassis and door
beams. Using strict tolerances, hot rolled, cold rolled, HSLA
and Martinsite material. Nuform has a proven track record
with leading Tier 1 companies and manufactures over 10
million parts a year.
Ove Arup & Partners Detroit Ltd.
1625 West Big Beaver Rd., Suite C
Troy, Michigan 48084 United States
www.arup.com
Booth 1945
Arup Vehicle Design Group provides vehicle styling,
structural analysis, manufacturing analysis, software and
methods development services to the world automotive
industry from engineering centres in the UK, Detroit and
Tokyo. Services provided range from concept design and
development studies through to structural and production
feasibility assessments.
Safety trails cost
atop DuPont/SAE
survey
Thirty-three percent of respondents
to the 10th annual DuPont
Automotive/SAE Survey said only
cost is of more concern than safety
in the design of next-generation
vehicles. Surveyed were
preregistrants for the SAE 2004
World Congress. Ranking behind
cost and safety (13%) were
alternative powertrains (12%) and
fuel economy (12%).
Respondents also indicated that
they believe safety is the vehicle
feature that consumers most want
to see improved. Sixty-six percent of
respondents said safety is among the
top-five consumer concerns; while
47% believe vehicle performance is
a top-five concern. Next came
entertainment technology (37%),
fuel-efficient vehicles (16%), and
cleaner powertrains (25%).
At a Tuesday morning press
conference, Diane Gulyas, Group
Vice President of DuPont Electronic
and Communication Technologies,
briefly reviewed the survey and
spoke about how her company is an
enabler of safety through its ceramic
substrate and other technologies.
She said her division is growing more
than any other DuPont Automotive
unit as electronic safety-related
content in vehicles climbs steeply
and steadily. Gulyas cited a Strategy
Analytics Inc. study to show that
there will be more demand for safety
than for any other vehicle system.
DuPont is showing some of its
safety-related technologies in Booth
1643. Blind-spot detection is an area
of concentration for the company,
and headup and occupant-sensing
technologies are among others
being studied intently at DuPont.
Patrick Ponticel
18
Wednesday, March 10, 2004