HVAC system and new design cockpit improved cabin space by 20 percent.
Vendors’ Endeavour
Several vendors contributed to the success of Grand i10. Significant among them include Dymos for seating system, Halla Visteon Climate Control (HVCC) for HVAC system, Sharda Motors and Faurecia for exhaust system. Windshields are supplied by SaintGobain for domestic market and Asahi for exports. Supply of tyres are shared by Goodyear and Apollo while battery is from Exide. Wiring harness comes from KIML and headlamps and tail lamps from SL Lumax.
The most interesting aspect, which has also become the USP of the car is the HVAC system as it improved cabin space and efficiency. HVCC supplied the entire climate system –the passenger side and the engine side as well. The challenge for the company was in managing it in limited space, improve fuel efficiency and reduce weight without losing on comforts, said Subu Nagasubramony, president, Asia Pacific, HVCC.
“We co-worked with customers to understand their requirements. After benchmarking, we made our own concept design and proposed to customers and then validated it,” said Dong Woo Hwang, director South Asia Product Development, HVCC.
Space reduction:
In order to reduce space and weight HVCC adopted semi-central stack mounting methodology in the passenger side, for the first time in compact car segment. It gave 20 percent more space in the cockpit. “We have tweaked the entire system and introduced high capacity blower motors to increase overall efficiency,” Hwang said.
The central stack being symmetrical offered flexibility to the OEM to use the same unit for both left hand drive and right hand drive models as well. This standardisation in HVAC system has come as a boon for the vendor in terms of economies of scale and for the OEM in terms of manufacturing and serviceability.
“We have developed high efficiency Internal Heat Exchangers (IHX) with special radiator, which is lesser in weight and thinnest (10.8mm) in the market. We have introduced high efficiency slim condensers (12mm) and high efficiency Rotary Suction (RS) compressor, which weighs ten percent less than the older versions. The five percent fuel efficiency is achieved through its new technology heat exchanger, AC lines and the RS compressor,” he said.
Subu Nagasubramony, president, Asia Pacific, HVCC. Dong Woo Hwang, director South Asia Product
Development, HVCC.
IHX
IHX replaces parts of the existing suction and liquid refrigerant lines with an innovative co-axial tube, which exchanges heat between the cooler suction gas and the warmer liquid. This additional heat transfer increases the cooling capacity, improves fuel economy, and lowers carbon emission by increasing air conditioning efficiency. It also enabled customers to adopt environmental friendly R1234yf refrigerants without additional system modification. Overall it improved system cooling capacity by 14 percent and system efficiency by 12 percent. The weight of the radiator is reduced by 30 percent. All these benefits and standardisation helped in optimising cost, Hwang said.
Internal Heat Exchanger tube in tube
The RS compressor replaced the reed valve with rotary suction valve, thereby increasing the coefficient of performance by nine percent. The centre suction route helped in optimising lubrication thereby enhancing the durability by up to 40 percent and reducing weight by eight percent. The unique vane blade design cuts down on the NVH while increasing the airflow. The saw-toothed profile in the fan shroud avoids the turbulence. Air clean system and cluster ionizer adds to the comfort besides, increasing the flow by ten percent.
RS Compressor
While the vendors were banking on their capabilities in design development and system and integration, HMIL was focusing on sequential integration of systems through digital pre-assembly. This combination helped in taking corrective action besides, nullifying the iterations while making the tools and dies, eventually making cost effective vehicle at a shorter lead time. ACI
Story : T Murrali & Bhargav TS
