The reporter recently went to Beiqi Foton Motor Co., Ltd. and interviewed the deputy general manager of the company and the director of the Automotive Engineering Institute Yan Xuebin. He introduced the progress made in China's truck design level and R&D strength under the background of reform and opening up.
China Automotive News: In your opinion, what is the level of China's truck design before and after the reform and opening up?
Yan Xuebin: Automotive design includes three aspects. The first is the performance design, mainly to make the car have a certain function and performance, and convert qualitative user requirements into quantitative engineering indicators. The second is the structural design, which is to determine the shape and connection of components by drawing. Third, process design is the most effective way to produce products. China is relatively mature in automotive structural design. Through reverse development and learning from other countries, Chinese auto manufacturers have formed their own structural design capabilities.
Performance development is a weak link in China. I divided the automotive design level into three phases. The first phase of reverse development, mainly to improve the vehicle and parts structure, only stay at the structural design level, does not involve the development of performance. The second stage is the joint development of the positive and negative directions. At this time, the performance of the entire vehicle and its components has been partially optimized for the preliminary analysis of the process manufacturing. The third phase is developing positively, mainly on the improvement of performance indicators. In the initial period of reform and opening up, the country was in the first stage for a long time. At that time, there were only FAW and China Gas at the major domestic automobile manufacturers. FAW's experience in absorbing foreign countries has improved the liberation of trucks and has certain foundations. Nowadays, the level of automobile development in China has reached the second stage and is moving toward the third stage.
China Automotive News: Please talk specifically about how performance development is carried out.
Yan Xuebin: For Futian, Futian Company attaches great importance to performance development and strives to integrate design concepts with international standards. Before the vehicle design, Foton identified 16 performance indicators, including safety, fuel consumption, cost, power, emissions, and reliability. Many of these indicators contradict each other. Simply speaking, the improvement of dynamics and fuel economy will be reduced. How to find the balance point in the contradiction is the key to performance design. Ten years ago, design followed the feeling and there was no trick. Now want to develop a car, we must first develop performance indicators based on user needs. User needs are obtained through statistical data, and through analysis, it is determined which performance must be met and which performance needs to be adjusted. The role of a design engineer is to translate these requirements into performance metrics, then select components based on performance metrics, and so on. If the indicators can be decomposed smoothly and meet the requirements of the indicators, the quality of R&D can be controlled.
China Automotive News: What progress has China made in truck R&D?
Yan Xuebin: The progress of R&D strength is mainly reflected in three aspects. One is R&D team, the other is R&D measures, and the third is international cooperation. I remember that when I was in college in the early 1980s, there were only 9 colleges in the country that set up automotive majors, and there were very few auto majors. In the early days of Foton, there were less than 100 R&D personnel. By 2007, Futian had more than 20 foreign experts and overseas R&D personnel, and the entire R&D team had about 2,000 people.
The changes in R&D methods are also very large and are now basically in line with international standards. Before the reform and opening up, truck design mainly used manual methods to draw computer drawings. It usually takes 5 to 8 years for a car to get out of the furnace. At that time, the analysis of power and fuel economy can only rely on manual calculations. In the 21st century, domestic computer-aided design software is widely used, and research and development methods are progressing very quickly. There is basically no gap with foreign countries.
In terms of performance design, domestic finite element analysis of dynamics, fuel economy, emissions, etc. is very mature.
For example, Fukuda used Cruise software from Austria's AVL company to optimize parameters and design. It can not only predict vehicle performance, but also optimize and match the powertrain. It is believed that with the Chinese talents in mathematics and physics, computer-aided design will soon surpass foreign countries.
In addition, test equipment is also an important part of R&D. Nowadays, all auto companies attach great importance to the improvement of research and development, increase investment in research and development funds, and add advanced experimental equipment. Take Futian as an example. In 2007, Futian's R&D and testing expenses totaled 500 million yuan, and plans to invest 70-800 million yuan this year. Key laboratories have already been put into use. Among them, Futian's vehicle environment laboratory can simulate temperature, humidity, sunlight and other environments, and can also perform performance tests in terms of combustion, emissions, fuel consumption, etc., saving test costs and improving efficiency.
China Automotive News: Can you talk about the situation of international cooperation?
Qi Xuebin: I believe that the real international cooperation of Chinese auto companies began with the cooperation between Brilliance Automotive and the Italian company to develop Chinese cars. Now Foton is actively working with international partners to develop products, such as the Auman 9 series heavy truck, Foton and Japan MIM company and the United States Visteon Corporation to develop body systems and interiors, and Mercedes-Benz cooperation to develop the chassis. On the engine side, we cooperated with AVL and Cummins; we cooperated with the British Lotus on vehicle development. These cooperations are highly interactive and not "turnkey projects." Through this cooperation, we have not only developed technologically advanced products, but more importantly, improved the capabilities of Fukuda's R&D team.
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