NONLINEAR-ANALYSIS OF AUTOMOTIVE DOOR WEATHERSTRIP SEALS

Automotive door system weatherstrip seals play a major role in determi ning door closing effort, isolating the passenger compartment from wat er and reducing the wind noise inside the vehicle. Using nonlinear fin ite element analysis, a seal cross section can be analyzed for compres sion load deflection (CLD) behavior, contact pressure distribution and aspiration due to a pressure differential across the seal. The seal C LD response, the deformed shape during compression, the contact pressu re distribution and the aspiration pressure difference are all importa nt seal performance factors that are considered in door weatherstrip s eal design. The analyses described herein and the associated design ev aluations can be performed before any prototype hardware is developed if sufficient geometry and material property information is available (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.