Automotive and transport component design and engineering
Brackets, housings, battery enclosures and cooling plates designed for the process that will make them, with durability and cooling worked out on the model before tools are cut and parts go to the test rig.
Vehicles load their parts millions of times. A bracket that is strong enough on day one can still crack at a weld toe after a season of potholes, and a battery module that runs cool on the bench can drift towards its limit in slow traffic on a hot day. Durability rigs and climatic tests find these problems late, when every change means a tool modification and another round of testing.
More about automotive and transportation
Much of a part’s cost is fixed when its process is chosen. A sheet metal bracket, an injection-moulded clip, a machined housing and a printed low-volume part each need different wall sections, radii and draft, so the specification records the production route and volume alongside the loads and targets. Concepts are compared on packaging and on cost before detail design begins. FEA then covers stiffness, strength, fatigue life and vibration of metal and plastic parts, and CFD with conjugate heat transfer covers coolant flow in battery packs and inverters and air through grilles and heat exchangers.
The work suits vehicle makers, component suppliers, conversion specialists and builders of buses and rail vehicles. Results are reported against the load cases, code or standard you specify, and each finding comes with the change that answers it, such as a gusset at the weld toe or a cooling plate with its channels rerouted. Prototypes and short pre-production runs can be machined, printed or both before the drawings go to your production suppliers.
Typical work: suspension and powertrain brackets, subframes, battery enclosures and cooling plates, inverter housings, bus and rail interior structures, and trailer bodies.
Automotive and transport problems we help with
Will the bracket last the vehicle’s life?
Fatigue life under road load cycles or a duty cycle you supply, with the locations that limit life identified, such as weld toes, holes and section changes.
Will the battery pack stay in its temperature window?
Cell temperatures, and the spread between the hottest and coolest cells, during charge and discharge, with cooling plate layouts and coolant flow rates compared.
Can the part be pressed or moulded for less?
Sheet metal brackets reworked to fewer bends and welds, or moulded parts given even walls, ribs and draft, with stiffness and strength shown before the tool is ordered.
Is the power electronics cooling sufficient?
Temperatures of switching devices on the cold plate in inverters, onboard chargers and DC-DC converters, with channel layouts compared on temperature and coolant pressure drop.
Will a component resonate in service?
Natural frequencies and mode shapes of panels, brackets and mounted units, set against motor speeds, engine orders and road inputs, to keep clear of the vibration that turns into buzz and rattle.
Stages and studies most used in automotive and transport
Concept design
Bracket, housing and enclosure layouts compared against the specification on packaging and on cost at your production volume.
Fatigue analysis
Life prediction from stress results and S-N data, including mean stress effects and weld details where the code or standard you specify covers them.
Electric powertrain simulation
Thermal and structural behaviour of battery packs, motors and inverters, studied as one system where the coolant circuit links them.
CFD
Cooling airflow through front ends and underbodies, and coolant flow in plates and manifolds.
Engineering Pack
Production drawings with tolerances, weld symbols and finishes, and the manufacturing process written down, so every supplier quotes against the same information.
Prototype & Test
Functional prototypes and low-volume pre-production builds, machined, printed or a mix, tested against the targets in the specification.
Before you start
What to send us
- CAD of the component and its mounting points (STEP or native)
- Load cases or measured road load data, and the duty cycle
- Material grades and the intended production process and volume
- Power losses and coolant conditions for thermal studies
- Targets for life, stiffness, temperature or frequency
Can you use our measured road load data?
Yes. Measured or simulated load histories can be turned into load cases and cycle counts for fatigue, which gives a far better life estimate than a single static load.
How detailed is a battery pack model?
As detailed as the question needs. Cells are usually represented as heat sources with effective thermal properties, while cooling plates, interface materials and coolant flow are resolved in full.
Do you work with component suppliers as well as vehicle makers?
Yes. Suppliers often need to show that a part meets the vehicle maker’s requirements, and a study reported against that specification gives them the evidence to discuss it.
Can you design injection-moulded plastic parts?
Yes, with wall thickness, ribs and draft set for moulding and strength assessed with data for the grade at the temperature the part runs at. Most polymers lose stiffness noticeably as they warm, so an under-bonnet part needs hot properties.
Tell us what the part has to survive
