Reliability as an added‐value factor in an automotive clutch system

Abstract

In the present competitive scenario, companies face the challenge of developing new products in a short time period, with superior technology in relation to prior developments and reduced costs to guarantee the survival of their business. Success is directly coupled with client requirements where quality and reliability should be the highest feasible, whereas deadlines and price have to be the lowest possible. This paper discusses tools and methods applied to planning and assurance of quality, which have to be taken into account at the product conception project, which concerns the phase in which quality, reliability and the final price of a product are technically defined. A methodology is presented for this purpose, and it can be extended to any product or system with few adaptations concerning quality, reliability and cost models. The product selected for the case-study analysis in this work is an automotive clutch.The methodology proposed for the analysis is a combination of the KANO method, target cost and value analysis with respect to the assessment of client requirement compliance levels and the determination of the choice of functions-whose relative costs are above relative needs, therefore offering optimization or elimination potential. Thus, the reliability concepts of statistical distributions and fault tree analysis are employed to locate critical components and quantify design temporary performance. To provide life tests results to the highest failure risk in the system, the planning and deployment of accelerated tests are carried out. The final goal of this paper is the reliability assessment based on critical levels for the analysis of components to be improved or optimized and, mainly, to create a methodology for the development of optimized products.A n effective company administration that is able to assess customer needs is of utmost importance. This feature includes servicing customers properly and at the lowest cost for those who are not willing to pay more for the inefficiency of those companies that cannot administrate their own business adequately. Companies must design the most value-added products, recognized by customers, so as to boost productivity and consequently guarantee company survival, complying with quality requirements, reliability and final price.The proposal of this paper is the presentation of a methodology, which can plan and warrant the customer requirements, describing a case study involving an automotive clutch. When speaking about reliability as a method to guarantee such requirements, it is referring not only to statistics but also to a system of work planning, information gathering and storage. A systemic vision of the business is needed because the more the knowledge about the interfaces between processes and the environment, the more reliable the actions and results. In this way, companies must create means to hear the 'customer voice' and simulate situations to study the impact of a new product released in the market, especially because customer language is infor...

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Passenger Vehicle Clutch Reliability Optimization Based on the Stress-Strength Interference Model

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