AbstractsEngineering

Regarding the ground electrical connection in trucks and buses, the requirements of earthing in heavy-duty vehicles were gathered and evaluated. The most important problems in the state-of-the-art grounding devices are corrosion, electrical resistance and uncertainty in the mounting process, altogether with depreciation over time. The goal is to come up with new concepts that can give a more reliable and better ground connection into the frame with faster, easier and safer manufacturing operations. Several methods for attaching different ground connectors to the steel frame are going to be investigated, including bolted connections, press devices, soldering, brazing and local plating spots. It will be shown that the welding operation gives the best electrical results, while lowering mounting costs, time and variability. Two welded connectors are then going to be proposed as the best alternatives and a parallel investigation with both of them is going to be carried out. These new concepts, filed for patent protection, are going to be labelled as “SRM Welded ground stud” and “SRM Welded grounding nut”. The first of them consists of a plated steel threaded stud (M8 or M10) with a ring shaped contact surface built in one of the ends, where the Ø12 mm weld is to be performed onto the uncoated frame. The second concept comprises a stainless steel M10 round nut welded over a punched hole. The optimization will also cover different alternatives for plating metals, contact aid compounds and masking caps for both devices. The risk of mechanical weakening of the frame because of the new welded concepts is going to be tested for the case of the SRM Welded ground stud. The results will show an increase in fatigue resistance of at least 20% compared to the current ground screw. Furthermore, the strength of the welded interface will show higher proof load than the stud itself. The welded nuts, tested with torque loading, will show a sufficient performance as well. The electrical tests present an expected decrease in ground resistance of 40% for the welded stud and an increase of 28% for the welded nuts, compared with the current ground screw. The conclusion of this Master Thesis states the recommendation of the implementation of a new grounding method through the SRM Welded ground stud. Although, some modifications in the transportation process of the frames might be needed because of the new protruding parts, pointing an estimated distance of 20mm from the frame surface. ; När det gäller jordad elanslutning i lastbilar och bussar, har kraven på jordning i tunga fordon samlats och utvärderats. De största problemen i de mest avancerade jordade enheterna är korrosion, elektriskt motstånd och osäkerhet i monteringsprocessen, sammantaget med avskrivning över tiden. Målet är att utveckla nya koncept som…