Design for Assembly & Armoring (DfA2) Methodology for Passenger Vehicle Protection Operations – Case Study Applied to a Front Door Assembled

Abstract

The personnel protection market of civilian armored vehicles (CAVs) continually grows in emerging countries. Therefore, this article proposes a Design for Assembly and Armoring, DfA2 methodology for the lightweight ballistic protection operations of CAVs based on real practical situations showing the main difficulties and best practices of current armoring operating conditions. A bibliographic review focused on Design for Excellence (DfX) and automotive and ballistic protection design criteria were performed to introduce the base of the DfA2 proposal and apply it to a front door assembly case study, including CAD/CAE interface analysis. The authors presented the detailed armoring flow of the front door system using the DfA2 method. In addition, strategical cross sections showed critical areas of the referred assembly. The opaque and transparent armor parts installed comply with the NIJ-IIIA ballistic protection level. The DfA2 method provided meaningful automotive and ballistic considerations to integrate protection parts in the front door system. In addition, it proposed to conduct and spread the best practices for operation guidelines and procedure standards related to CAVs on shop floors. Furthermore, the DfA2 methodology intends to preserve the original functionalities and guarantees automobiles for consumers. The article integrates the practical operations of armoring companies with DfX tools and automotive and ballistic guidelines, all of which are incorporated in the DfA2.