Thermoplastic Oil Pan

Market Overview and Design

Considerations

Ray Ballou,
BASF, Senior Applications & Development Engineer

Marianne Morgan
BASF, Powertrain Sector Leader
 Presentation Outline

 Oil Pan Market Overview

 Current Materials and Designs
 Thermoplastic Oil Pan Module Benefits

 Thermoplastic Oil Pan Design Considerations

 Part Performance Data
 Overview of Serial Production Pans
Oil Pan Types

Structural Oil Pan

 Cast Aluminum
 Provides stiffness for engine block and
transmission (Powertrain Bending Modes)
 Used on >70% of all engines globally

Non-structural Oil Pan

 Materials
 Plain Stamped Steel
 Metal-Plastic-Metal (MPM) aka Quiet Steel
 Provides sump capacity only
Aluminum Pan Designs

• 1 piece pan - Most common design

• “Split” Pan
Al upper with a stamped lower pan

Toyota Pan
 Why Thermoplastic Oil Pan
Modules?
The Value Proposition…….
Weight Reduction
Windage Tray with cam scraper function
 40 to 55%
Cost Reduction Oil Pick up Tube
 Piece price
 Lowered assembly cost
through integration
 Reduction of Secondary
Operations
 Welding, painting,
machining
Oil Pan with oil collection
channels
 OEM Complexity Reduction -
Fewer parts to manage Chrysler, 5.7L Hemi Oil Pan Module
SOP 2010
 Sump Volume Increase Supplier: MAHLE
 Greater design freedom Material: BASF Ultramid® B3ZG7 OSI
Thermoplastic Oil Pan
Design Considerations
 Oil Pan Specific Design Concerns

Major Regions Stone Curb Drain CaCl2 Modal Oil

Impact Impact Plug Noise Sealing
Asia X X X
North America X X
Europe X X

 Japan, Korea, China and Russia primarily use CaCl2 road salt – more
aggressive than NaCl2, FWD more exposed to curb impact
 European light vehicles generally have underbody shields to reduce drag
= improved fuel economy, no to little CaCl2 usage
 NA – stone impact is key area of concern. Curb impact has not been an
issue as yet based on higher up in the vehicle
 Structural Oil Pan Concern
Powertrain Bending

source: MTZ

Torsional & Bending Stiffness for NVH Performance

 Thermal Impact Thermoplastic Pan
Near Exhaust Pipes
Typical skin temperature plastic oil pan 50 °C to 80 °C

Bottom Rear
Bottom Rear Temperature Survey
P221 54L3V Composite Oil Pan Bottom Ctr RH Side
LH Side Test # 004
Rear wall Vehicle P221 311 W887 Bottom Frt

100

90

80

70
Temperature, Celsius

60

50

40
Range of Stabilized Oil temperature
30

Oil_pan_bottom_front Oil_pan_bottom_center
20
Oil_pan_bottom_rear Oil_pan_back_wall
10 Oil_pan_RH_side Oil_pan_LH_side
Dip_stick
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200
Time Time
 Design Considerations
“Picking a metal-to-plastic Candidate”
 Engine Design – relative to Powertrain bending management
 Attachment scheme between engine and transmission

 Flange Size for oil sealing design

 Press-in-place seal – requires larger flange than adhesive sealing
 Adhesive sealing - Form-in-place (RTV, Silicon)
 Location of the exhaust – impact on oil pan surface temperature
 Continuous and Instantaneous Temperature.
 Attachment of other components to oil pan
 High pressure oil line location
 Packaging space - bracket design, ribbing
 Stone or Curb Impact requirements
 Road Salt
 Bolt Spacing
Thermoplastic Oil Pan Part
Performance

- Small Stone Impact

- Large Stone Impact
- Engine Weight Static Load
- Modal / NVH
- Oil Plug Design
 Stone Impact
Equipment Setup
 Impactor - 25 mm diameter, semispherical head, mass 100 g
 Speed of the Impactor is measured with a photoelectric
barrier velocity sensor
 A pneumatic cylinder is used to accelerate the impactor

Photoelectric
Barrier for Impactor Oil Pan
Velocity Fixture
Measurement

Pneumatic
Driven Cylinder
 Stone Impact Performance
Baseline target development
 8 pans of each type at 4 points, no leakage testing
 Cracking energy varied – average range – 27 to 38.8 j
 Average crack initiation energy – 33 joules
 Stone Impact Solution
Waffle Ribs and Ultramid OSI
“Optimized for Stone Impact” Resins
Unique rib pattern with specially formulated impact modified resin
Multiple impact performance

Ultramid® B3ZG7 OSI A380 Die Cast Aluminum Stamped Steel

Result: PASS Result: FAIL Result: FAIL

 Stone Impact Solution
Sacrificial Ribs

• 1 time impact
• Energy absorption more
location dependent than
waffle ribs
• Requires adequate space to
package
• Adds more weight to part
than waffle rib
 Stone Impact Simulation
ULTRASIMtm

BASF ULTRASIM™

• High Speed material

characterization

• Accounts for fiber

orientation

• Excellent correlation to
test results
 Low Speed Large Stone
Laboratory Tesing
Glancing Impact
Curb impact analysis is
achieved by changing the
boundary conditions

• 165 mm Diameter
• 4kg
• 50km/h
• -30°C
 Engine Weight Static Load
Testing
Some Oil Pans must support engine during installation / repair

Test Equipment

Contact angle 0°
Universal testing machine
 Static Load Testing
at 0° Crush Angle
• MPM Pan – deforms at 5 KN, part failure
• Plastic Pan deforms @ 5 KN, No cracks – all plastic
deformation!

Plastic Pan MPM Pan

30KN = 6744 lbf

---- Energy ---- Force ---- Energy ---- Force

 Modal Performance

Mode 1 : 208 Hz Mode 2 : 229 Hz Mode 3 : 302 Hz

Modal Performance Goals

1.Panel modes above 330 Hz

 Accomplished
2.Pick up tube modes similar to current
metal tube (219 Hz)
Mode 4 : 339 Hz  Optimized
 208 vs. 219 Hz
Vehicle Dyno NVH Testing
SPL - Plastic Module vs. MPM/Steel

Plastic – dark pink Top of Engine - 1

Side of Vehicle - 2

Plastic – dark blue

Similar performance
Driver’s Right Ear - 3

3
1
Plastic – dark green

2
 Ford Scorpion 6.7L
Thermoplastic Oil Pan Plug Design
Oil Drain Plug Innovation!
 First plastic drain plug
 First drain plug with a cam lock design.

Cam Lock Feature

Locking
Tabs
Drive interface

22
Commercial Successes!

Serial Production
Engineering Plastic
Oil Pans
 Serial Production Engineering
Plastic Oil Pan Applications
2003........... 2008 2009 2010
Daimlar, Actros
Class 8 Truck
1st thermplastic Pan
Material: BASF Ultramid® Resin

2004 SPE Powertrain Innovation Award Winner!

Mercedes C Class
I4 Diesel DC OM651, MY 2009
1st Passenger Vehcile

2008 SPE Powertrain Innovation Award Winner!

Ford, F250/350
Scorpion 6.7L, 2010 MY
1st Full Road Exposure
Material: BASF Ultramid® Resin

2009 SPE Powertrain Innovation Award Winner!

 Serial Production Engineering
Plastic Oil Pan Applications
2009... 2010 2011 2012 2013

Cummins, Avalon ISF

3.8L, Diesel
Material: BASF Ultramid® Resin

Cummins, Firefox ISF

2.8L, Diesel
Material: BASF Ultramid® Resin

MTU BR1600
Material: BASF Ultramid® Resin
Chrysler, 5.7L Hemi
New level of part integration
Unique Oil movement features
Material: BASF Ultramid® Resin

Multiple Additiona mass productions launchs: 2011 – 2014 schedules

THANK YOU!

Questions!