Magna Motor Mount Project

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Role: EcoCAR EV Challenge - Design and Integration Team Subsystem Lead

Summary: I designed and simulated the Manga rear powertrain mount system for Magna AWD architecture so it can be safely installed in the Cadillac LYRIQ EV - one of the team’s main architectures for the competition.

Skills: Altair Inspire, Solidworks, FEA, BOM, Stress Analysis, DFA, DFM, FMEA, Communication, Presentation

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— Limited image sources and vague descriptions due to NDA —

In my junior year in college, I joined the GT EcoCAR Challenge team where we challenge to convert Cadillac LYRIQ EV from RWD to AWD. Last semester (SP23), the team focused on designing several architectures with motors from different sponsors. Among all the sponsored motors, I was responsible to mount Magna's rear motor into the chassis - Magna was (and still is) the best motor option due to its high-performance specs. However, the problem was the large size of the motor; thus, it was tricky for me to design a mount.

I, first, investigated the rough fit of the motor in the vehicle using the Siemens NX CAD software. And it didn’t take me long to realize that I had to reroute some components of the vehicle including coolant tubes. Using Solidworks, I designed several iterations of the mounting system and rerouted the coolant tubes. After that, I utilized Altair Inspire to test some extreme cases (with high g forces) with FEA ensuring the safety of the design. More specifically, I used the Von Mises Stress Criterion and Factor of Safety. Along the way, I constantly communicate with vendors/sponsors to make sure what I’m doing does not affect the specs of their products.

As a result, the team was able to put Manga AWD architecture as our first selection and got 3rd place on the Architecture Selection Proposal. The judges allowed the team to move forward with the Magna AWD architecture for the rest of the competition.

From this project, I have learned realized how important it is to run simulations on the design that I made. I learned not only how to utilize FEA and its proper settings but also how to communicate with other parties efficiently.