Design and Analysis of Composite Oil Pan for Automotive Vehicle

The reduction of the carbon-dioxide emission of the vehicles is one of the main objectives in the research and development divisions of the automotive industry. The environmental pollution issues are still very actual that is why more regulations and standards are introduced to reduce the adverse effects on the environment. Thus, the new rules are adopted in the automotive manufacturing by the European Union and many car manufacturers are involved in developments aimed at the accomplishment of the significant weight reductions in vehicles.

One of the solutions lies in the replacement of the material of the components. Modern composite materials can be competitive with metals; their properties can be even higher than for steels. The paper presents the process of substitution of the metal oil pan into the composite one. Design modification of the oil pan and overview of the molding injection simulations is discussed. The effects of cooling channel design on the warpage of the component are analyzed. Finite element simulation of the injection molded part is also performed where the microstructure of the composite is considered. Different levels of homogenization of anisotropic material properties are applied in simulations to demonstrate the importance of the accurate prediction of the fiber orientation. Finally, the results of the weight reduction arise from the metal replacement is presented.