Ride Height and Wheel-to-Body Setup Optimization - Engineering vs Styling

This document is the result of the project that I conducted during my 6-months internship at the Ford Motor Company site in Cologne, Germany. The thesis focuses on optimizing ride height and wheel-to-body setup, with a specific emphasis on testing and design for the wheel arch and its functional area. The work is divided into five main chapters, including the introductory and concluding chapters. It begins with an in-depth technical review of tire characteristics, followed by an analysis of the legal constraints imposed by the ETRTO (European Tire and Rim Technical Organization). Next, different approaches to develop tires and clearance envelopes for implementation of updates during the design phase are discussed. The third chapter analyses the suspension system, covering technical reviews of key features and configurations that influence the wheel arch area, as well as testing for kinematic and compliance (K&C) simulations and the resulting data. Then, a statistical analysis of nearly 1000 measurements on 60 Ford Puma and 60 Ford Kuga vehicles was conducted to verify the accuracy of information provided by the Chassis Team regarding tolerances of air over tire and tire offset. The fourth chapter explores the design phase of the wheel arch and its components, including a benchmarking phase of competitors' wheel arch designs and a comparison between Ford's and competitors' wheel arch sections, to identify potential areas for improvement and available solutions. The thesis concludes with reflections on alternative approaches and the evolution of objectives in response to the decreasing complexity from a powertrain perspective, as the industry moves toward an all-electric future.