Automotive Door Pressure

Analyze the contact pressure between a door and the rubber seal on a vehicle.

Automotive Door Pressure

Wind, noise, and water leaks in a new vehicle can be a significant source of customer dissatisfaction, create a perception of poor quality, and cause warranty expenses. Proper adjustment of hinges and door latches while the car is in the factory and the doors are being mounted can eliminate these problems.

Challenge

Vehicle assembly technicians have had to guess about where to position the hinges and latches. To measure the pressure of the door seal, technicians would slide a piece of paper between the body and the weather strip to feel the amount of pull in different locations.

Solution

With the I-Scan™ pressure mapping system, assembly technicians now have an electronic "feeler" gauge that measures contact pressure while also acting as a direct feedback mechanism. Technicians can use the gauge to help them optimize seal pressure and deflection around the door frame.

The I-Scan system is an intuitive, visual feedback tool that easily measures and displays door seal pressures. The system enables the technician to immediately see how the door seal force changes as adjustments are made to the door latches and hinges as the door is mounted. Having a tight door seal reduces air leaks and wind noise in the passenger compartment and helps eliminate water leaks.

Figure 1. Door seal pressure output before adjustments

Figure 2. Door seal pressure output after adjustments

In the study above, about the same total force is applied to two different door seal designs. The 3D pressure display given by the I-Scan, with a 6300 sensor, shows a problem in Figure 1. The valley in the middle indicates a weak spot in this seal, which represents a leakage path for air or water, compared to Figure 2, which has a lower preak pressure, but a more even pressure distribution, making it the more effective seal design.