Abstract
Generally, starter motors are tested at increased usage rate to verify the durability of the component and to identify the premature failure aspects in the controlled ambient environment. During the process, the latent failures which exhibit unique failure modes at variable environment are hidden, which can impact the warranty of the product. Specifically the Stop–Start (SS)-type starter motors, which often work under increased thermal condition, may show latent failures. Principally, a starter motor is mounted over the IC engine where the working temperature is always between 60 and 120 °C, to establish easy contact with the engine flywheel during cranking. Hence, identifying the latent failures of the starter motor at increased thermal condition is useful to ensure the reliability of the motor as per the requirements of automotive manufacturers. This paper emphasis to improve the reliability of the starter motor’s commutator for high-temperature applications, which may exhibit the failure mode of “Commutator Segment Lift”. The said analysis is performed using time-to-failure data from the laboratory testing of proto samples. This reliability study for the design improvement on commutator includes failure mechanism study, failure source identification and failure improvement.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bain LJ, Engelhart M (1991) Statistical analysis of reliability and life-testing models: theory and methods, 2nd edn. Mercel Dekker, New York
Denton T (2011) Automotive mechanical and electrical system, automotive technology: vehicle maintenance and repair. Butterworth-Heinemann, United Kingdom
Escobar LA, Meeker WQ (2006) A review of accelerated test models. Inst Math Stat 21(4):552–577. https://doi.org/10.1214/088342306000000321
Ganesan BK, Neelakandan V, Ganesan T, Chakrapani Rao P (2018) Enhancement of starter brush life for micro hybrid (start/stop) applications. SAE technical paper 2018-28-0102, 2018, https://doi.org/10.4271/2018-28-0102
Halderman JD (2012) Automotive technology principles, diagnosis, and service, 4th edn. Pearson Education, New Jersey
Jayatilleka S, Okogbaa OG (2001) Accelerated life test for identifying potential failure modes and optimizing critical design parameters in a journal bearing. In: Annual reliability and maintainability symposium 2001 proceedings, (Cat.No.01CH37179) Philadelphia, PA, USA, 2001, pp 70–74, https://doi.org/10.1109/rams.2001.902444
Meeker WQ, Escobar LA (1998) Statistical method for reliability data. Wiley, New York
Murugesan VM, Chandramohan G, Senthil Kumar M, Rudramoorthy R, Ashok Kumar L, Palla R (2014) Analysis of automobile starter solenoid switch for improved life. Automatika 55(3):256–264. https://doi.org/10.7305/automatika.2014.12.405
Neelakandan V, Kumar B, Ganesan T, Rao PC (2018) Analysis and design optimization for improved fatigue life of one-way clutch drive used in starter motor. Proc Fatigue Durab Fract Mech. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6002-1_22
Nelson W (1990) Accelerated testing: statistical models, test plan and Data analysis. Wiley, New York
Rajkumar K, Kundu K, Aravindan S, Kulkarni MS (2011) Accelerated wear testing for evaluating the life characteristics of copper-graphite tribological composite. Sci Dir Mater Des 32:3029–3035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2011.01.046
Ramasamy R, Neelakandan V, Ganesan T, Praveen CR (2018) An investigation into failure of starter solenoid spring. J Mater Sci Eng 7:491. https://doi.org/10.4172/2169-0022.1000491
Windover PR, Russell J Owens, Terry M. Levinson, Michael D. Laughlin (2015) Stop and restart effects on modern vehicle starting system components. Energetics incorporated for Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, ANL-15/04
Wright A, Newbery PG (2008) Electric fuses, 3rd edn. The Institution of Engineering and Technology, London
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank M/S. COMSTAR Automotive Technologies Pvt Ltd management for giving opportunities to explore and implement new ideas and methodologies inside the work areas.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Devendran, S., Ramasamy, R., Neelakandan, V. et al. Failure assessment using accelerated testing on IC engine’s starter motor for reliability improvement. Life Cycle Reliab Saf Eng 8, 175–181 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41872-019-00076-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41872-019-00076-1