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PARIS – PSA Peugeot Citroen and five academic and research partners launch a vibration laboratory aimed at turning research into income for the schools and new technology for the auto maker.
The VAT@Lyon laboratory is part of PSA’s Open Lab initiative launched last year in which the auto maker is trying to reduce research-and-development costs while helping researchers move their ideas toward development.
The VAT (Vibro-Acoustic-Tribology) lab has five specific goals:
- Reducing energy loss due to engine friction.
- Lessening vibrations with wave traps.
- Managing and controlling the vibro-acoustics of rotating components, such as engines, gearboxes and gear transmissions.
- Physically modeling complex automotive systems to be able to display chaotic behavior.
- Optimizing radically new vehicle shapes to account for motorists' auditory perceptions and aerodynamic noise.
The research will be conducted in the medium to long term, which generally means the next generation of cars, or the one after that. PSA says its project will enable laboratories “to capture the value of their research by transforming their findings into industrial applications.”
Partners include the French National Center for Scientific Research, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat, Institut National des Sciences Appliquees in Lyon and Universite Claude Bernard Lyon.
In addition to PSA engineers, experts from other laboratories in France will participate in the research venture.
