Development of a temperature controlled weathering test box to evaluate the life cycle behaviour of interior automotive components
Research output: Journal contributions › Conference article in journal › Research › peer-review
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Development of a temperature controlled weathering test box to evaluate the life cycle behaviour of interior automotive components. / Zindove, Tumai; Van Niekerk, Theo; Wilm, Thomas et al.
In: IFAC-PapersOnLine, Vol. 48, No. 4, 01.06.2015, p. 117-122.Research output: Journal contributions › Conference article in journal › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of a temperature controlled weathering test box to evaluate the life cycle behaviour of interior automotive components
AU - Zindove, Tumai
AU - Van Niekerk, Theo
AU - Wilm, Thomas
AU - Mercorelli, Paolo
N1 - Conference code: 13
PY - 2015/6/1
Y1 - 2015/6/1
N2 - It is the desire of every motorist to drive an exquisite vehicle, so it is very crucial for players in the automotive industry to keep on improving the quality of vehicles. While the interior components of a vehicle are the most critical components to the overall durability and comfort of a vehicle, it is important to guarantee the quality of these components. Vehicle interior components are usually made of plastic, leather, fabric and painted components which can all be prone to quick ageing. Fading, cracking and distortion are rife in vehicle interior components, and these effects are caused by natural factors such as radiation, moisture and extreme temperature. This phenomenon is known as "weathering". Tireless work has been done over the decades to carry out weathering tests on automotive components in order to address critical areas during the design process of the components. This paper explores one method of carrying out weathering tests on automotive dashboards in which a metallic testing box is used to simulate the conditions inside a vehicle. The main concern is that the temperature inside the test box can go above the necessary testing range which causes test samples to be destroyed before sufficient data is collected. A temperature control system was developed and installed to monitor the temperature inside the box. Weathering tests are being carried out in extremely harsh environments; therefore both the weathering test box and the temperature control system have to be robust. A solar-powered programmable logic controller (PLC), which has the ability to withstand harsh conditions, was used to monitor and control the system.
AB - It is the desire of every motorist to drive an exquisite vehicle, so it is very crucial for players in the automotive industry to keep on improving the quality of vehicles. While the interior components of a vehicle are the most critical components to the overall durability and comfort of a vehicle, it is important to guarantee the quality of these components. Vehicle interior components are usually made of plastic, leather, fabric and painted components which can all be prone to quick ageing. Fading, cracking and distortion are rife in vehicle interior components, and these effects are caused by natural factors such as radiation, moisture and extreme temperature. This phenomenon is known as "weathering". Tireless work has been done over the decades to carry out weathering tests on automotive components in order to address critical areas during the design process of the components. This paper explores one method of carrying out weathering tests on automotive dashboards in which a metallic testing box is used to simulate the conditions inside a vehicle. The main concern is that the temperature inside the test box can go above the necessary testing range which causes test samples to be destroyed before sufficient data is collected. A temperature control system was developed and installed to monitor the temperature inside the box. Weathering tests are being carried out in extremely harsh environments; therefore both the weathering test box and the temperature control system have to be robust. A solar-powered programmable logic controller (PLC), which has the ability to withstand harsh conditions, was used to monitor and control the system.
KW - Engineering
KW - Automobile manufacture
KW - Automotive industry
KW - Control systems
KW - Digital storage
KW - Embedded systems
KW - Radiation effects
KW - Solar energy
KW - Temperature control
KW - Weathering
KW - Automotive component
KW - Harsh environment
KW - Programmable logic controllers (PLC)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84992511234&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.07.018
DO - 10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.07.018
M3 - Conference article in journal
VL - 48
SP - 117
EP - 122
JO - IFAC-PapersOnLine
JF - IFAC-PapersOnLine
SN - 2405-8971
IS - 4
T2 - 13th IFAC and IEEE Conference on Programmable Devices and Embedded Systems - PDES 2015
Y2 - 13 May 2015 through 15 May 2015
ER -