50 PRODUCT PROFILE
The road ahead
David Cue, vice president of engineering for ride performance at DRiV,
discusses the major developments currently underway at the company
VehicleDynamicsInternational.com •November/December 2019
ABOVE LEFT: The
Monroe CVSA2
interconnected
Kinetic roll control
system eliminates
the need for roll
bars, reducing
vehicle weight
while giving
superior drive
performance
ABOVE RIGHT:
The Monroe CVSA2
Kinetic suspension
system delivers the
lowest energy
consumption in the
high-performance
vehicle market
Have you developed chassis and
suspension components for the
specific requirements of EVs?
Aside from the weight penalty of the
batteries in electric vehicles, these
vehicles are also virtually silent,
although the electronic inverters and
electric motors do emit noise. Therefore
OEMs are working very hard to make
these vehicles quieter by positioning
the drivetrain on subframes and paying
extra attention to structural and
airborne noise. Our strength in this area
is in having business units dedicated to
advanced elastomers (rubber bushings)
and chassis components (suspension,
brakes, etc) under one roof. It is well
known that battery electric vehicles
(BEVs) have higher requirements
for NVH components. From our own
investigations, we have found that BEVs
are more challenged to deliver on the
comfort levels that consumers have come
to expect from their favourite brands.
We are updating our product portfolio –
both passive and semi-active – so that
we can help OEMs deliver on comfort
and handling dynamics across different
types of propulsion.
Are you investigating using additive
manufacturing for components?
Within our innovation matrix, we have
identified digital manufacturing as
one of the exponential technologies.
›› DRiV has many innovative
ideas. Are they developed
entirely in-house or do you
collaborate with universities and
other research partners?
DRiV has a strong in-house research
team, but we also work closely with
leading universities around the world.
Next to the pure research – which
stimulates improvements at the
quantitative and qualitative levels
of academic and applied knowledge
of vehicle dynamics, chassis systems,
mechatronics, material science and
manufacturing – we are also working
on a broader mission.
This mission is to predict and propose
strategies to implement a vision of
the future and exploit advantages for
sustainable mobility.
We combine elements of four
approaches in our research, which we
call the ‘4 Cs’: contrast, combination,
constraint and context. Contrast is
challenging conventional thinking
and assumptions.
Combination is brainstorming on
new combinations of technology and
science. Constraint stands for identifying
gaps and encouraging new ways of
thinking. Context is explaining our
views to outsiders and leading discussion
to innovation hotspots in order to
challenge our assumptions.
Of course, additive manufacturing is
a form of digital manufacturing. In
digital manufacturing, there is a shift in
complexity towards the manufacturing
process, by creating single flow lines
suitable for high-variation products.
As a result, we are becoming much
more flexible in variation of product
demands, which mitigates risk.
Additive manufacturing is part of
this strategy. We are investigating
the possibilities and advantages of
going from 3D printing to high-speed
laser cladding. In particular, virtual
engineering is becoming one of our main
tools for simulating and understanding
the ductility of materials and the flow
of heat through components during the
manufacturing process.
DRiV is embarking on adapting and
implementing Industry 4.0, or digital
manufacturing, enabled by low-cost
sensors and smart manufacturing
concepts. Machine assets can
communicate and exchange information
in real time, driving more efficient
industrial production processes,
strengthening traceability capabilities,
and making the transfer from
preventive to predictive maintenance.
Virtual engineering tools are also
being evaluated for manufacturing
engineering. This goes from simulating
lines and individual machine assets, to
simulation of team members’ movements
/VehicleDynamicsInternational.com