Int. J. Vehicle Performance, Vol. 4, No.

1, 2018 15

The software development for calculating the closing

energy of automotive side swing door based on
Microsoft excel

Yingjun Li
Body and Design Department
SAIC MOTOR Commercial Vehicle Technical Center,
Shanghai 201201, China
Email: LiYingjun@saicmotor.com

Gangan Ma*, Yunkai Gao

and Shanshan Wang
School of Automotive Studies,
Tongji University,
Shanghai Key Lab of Vehicle Aerodynamics
and Vehicle Thermal Management Systems,
Shanghai 201804, China
Email: 18729481001@163.com
Email: gaoyunkai@tongji.edu.cn
Email: shanshan1509@126.com
*Corresponding author

Abstract: The energy consumption of the door closing process was

decomposed into six subsystems, which include door weight, hinge, check-link,
latch, weather strip seal and air-binding effect. The working principle of each
subsystem was analysed and then the mathematical model of each subsystem in
the door closing process was established, respectively. The energy consumption
of the door was calculated programmatically via an Excel-based software using
VBA programming language. The energy consumption of different subsystems
of a production vehicle door was measured to verify the accuracy of the
calculation software developed. The proposed research provided not only the
theoretical basis for the future door closing energy research, but also an
interactive method and system, and improved the efficiency of vehicle door
design effectively.

Keywords: side swing door; closing energy; mathematical model; calculation

software; excel.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Li, Y., Ma, G., Gao, Y. and
Wang, S. (2018) ‘The software development for calculating the closing energy
of automotive side swing door based on Microsoft excel’, Int. J. Vehicle
Performance, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp.15–35.

Biographical notes: Yingjun Li received his BE in Automotive Engineering

from Shanghai Tiedao University in 1997 and ME in Automotive Engineering
from Jilin University of Technology in 2000. At present, he works at

Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

16 Y. Li et al.

SAIC Motor Commercial Vehicle Technical Center as Body and Design

Department Director. He mainly engages in modern commercial and passenger
automobile body design process, modularisation development and mass
optimisation.

Gangan Ma received his BE in Aerocraft Manufacture Engineering from

Northwestern Polytechnical University in 2015. He is now a Postgraduate of
the School of Automotive at Tongji University, China. His research interests
include automotive body structure design method and optimisation application.

Yunkai Gao was awarded his BE in Mechanical Engineering from Northeast

Forestry University in 1985. He was awarded ME and Doctor of Engineering in
Automotive Design and Manufacturing from Jilin University of Technology
in 1988 and 1995, respectively. He is now a Professor of the School of
Automotive at Tongji University, China. His research interests include
automotive body structure design method and optimisation application.

Shanshan Wang received her BE in Autobody Engineering from Jilin

University in 2013 and ME in Automotive Engineering from Tongji University
in 2016. She now works at SAIC Motor Commercial Vehicle Technical Center.

1 Introduction

The door closing energy is one of the important factors in the evaluation of the quality of
cars. However, predicting the door closing energy accurately is quite difficult but
essential. For a long time, the excessive door closing energy has been complained a lot by
most customers. Therefore, reducing the door closing energy is a serious problem that to
be settled urgently. Yang et al. (2006) simulated the door closing process via using
MSC.ADAMS and analysed the effect of several key parameters on door closing energy.
They concluded that the sealing strip and air-binding effect were the two biggest
influencing factors. Li et al. (2009) established the model of door closing force, proposed
the method to calibrate the model and predicted the door closing force. Zou et al. (2002)
analysed the reliability of the vehicle door subsystem and put forward that the main
factors that influenced the door closing force were the sealing strip and the deformation
of doors. Gao et al. (2009, 2010a, 2010b) analysed the energy consumption of the sealing
strip and air-binding effect during the door closing process systematically. Holt (1995)
measured the door closing force by using different test devices, which included the
door cannon. The device was loaded by a spring and controlled manually. The speed and
the starting angle of the door were not taken into consideration during the measurement
process and the subsystems that influenced the door closing energy were studied by
testing. Nayak and Im (2003, 2006) established the multi-rigid body model in ADAMS,
which included all design factors. The door movement was simulated and the door open
and closing energy can be obtained. At the same time, the main factors influencing the
door opening and closing are analysed, and a design criterion was proposed to analyse the
energy consumption of the door closing. Kumbla et al. (2006), Yoon (1997), Nikolaidis
and Zhu (1996) and Bylumd and Enksson (2001) developed a computational module
based on the finite element method. In this module, Hypermesh was used as the
pre-processing software of the door finite element model, Ls-dyna was used to calculate
 The software development for calculating the closing energy 17

the closing force of the door closing moment, Fatigue was used to predict the life cycle of
the door and the door structure was analysed. Sandrini et al. (2008) took a specific
hummer vehicle as research object to study the main variables that influence the side door
closing effort and reduced the door closing effort by optimising the parameters.
At present, most researches on door closing energy used the methods of experimental
and simulation. However, experimental study required considerable manpower and time
while simulation analysis was based on the complex and accurate finite element models,
which were not easy to build. In this paper, the energy consumption of the door closing
process was analysed with the method of numerical calculation. In addition, the existing
calculation method was improved by taking different compression directions of the
sealing strip into consideration. In the study of air-binding effect, we simulated the door
shape with trapezoid instead of rectangle and took the differences between front and rear
door into account. The software we developed improved not only the accuracy of
calculating the door closing energy, but also the applicability of the software.

2 Establishment of mathematical models

2.1 Sealing strip

Compression load deflection (CLD) properties of the sealing strip have a great impact on
the door closing force. Currently, bulb sealing strip is widely used in the car door and
reaction force is generated when the air inside the sealing strip was compressed. Thus, the
sealing strip is designed with vent holes to exhaust. Therefore, the door closing force is
also affected by the shape and distribution of vent holes.

2.1.1 Compression resistance force

The sealing strip was divided into N small segments and the length of each segment was
10 cm. The energy consumption of the whole seal can be calculated by superimposing
energy consumption of each segment. Assume Fi was the compression resistance force of
the ith segment, which can be obtained through the CLD curve of seal according to the
amount of compression of the point, iseali was the compression of each seal segment at
different moments and the method of calculating the seal compression would be
described more detailedly later.
Eseal = ∑ Fi iseali (1)

In this paper, compression direction of each point was taken into consideration. The
contact angle θc of a point on the sealing strip was defined as the door opening angle
when the point began to contact with the body or door. There was a gap between the door
and the body at this point when θ > θc. Conversely, the sealing strip of the point was
pressed to produce the compression resistance when θ < θc. Figure 1 showed the
deformation schematic diagram of the point on the main sealing strip without sliding.
When the door rotated around the hinge, point A, on the seal bulb, was the contact point
of the seal and body parts. Point A contacted the body firstly and point C was the
corresponding point on the vehicle body. The door rotated continuously and the seal bulb
was compressed. And, the arc ACB was a part of the annular track, which was formed by
the contact point rotated around the hinge.
18 Y. Li et al.

Tangential direction of the arc ACB was the instantaneous motion direction of the
point. Assuming id was the unit tangent vector of the arc ACB, motion displacement of
the seal can be expressed as:
dseal = dseal i d , (2)

where dseal = 2ri sin θ2 , o i d = hhxxrr , h was the direction vector of the hinge axis and r was
2
the direction vector of radius of gyration generated by the contact point to the hinge axis.
Compression direction of seal was perpendicular to the body parts. Figure 2 showed
that φd was the angle between the motion direction and compression direction. The actual
amount of compression of the contact point was not the movement distance dseal, but the
amount of compression of seal within the section that was determined by ib and in.

Figure 1 Schematic diagram of seal compression (see online version for colours)

Figure 2 Movement schematic diagram of seal (see online version for colours)

ib represented the door surface normal vector, in = ib × it represented the tangent vector of
seal section to the door surface, it represented the tangent vector of seal on sealing line
and ϕ was the angle between the compression direction of seal and the door normal
vector. Then, the actual amount of compression of seal can be expressed as:
 The software development for calculating the closing energy 19

i seal = iseal (i b cos ϕ + i n sin ϕ ). (3)

φd was the angle between the motion direction id and the actual compression direction
iseal, φd can be calculated as formula (4):
i d ⋅ i seal
cos ϕ d = = i d ⋅ (i b cos ϕ + i n sin ϕ ). (4)
i d i seal

The amount of compression and energy consumption of the point were expressed as
follows:
iseal = d seal cos ϕ d
(5)
Ei = Fi ⋅ iseali .

2.1.2 Damping force of seal venting

Let us take the seal with a vent hole as the research subject. The damping force is
generated when the sealing strip is compressed and the gas in the seal bulb outflows from
vent hole (Gur and Monnan, 1997). Figure 3 showed a scheme diagram that the seal was
working. The simplified model was established according to the working principle of the
damping force when the seal was compressed as shown in Figure 4. The damping force
of per unit length of the seal, which was caused by the gas outflow, can be obtained
through Lamb–Ge equation (6).

∂u  u2  1
+ ∇  + 2ω × u = f − ∇p. (6)
∂t  2  ρ

As Figure 4 was shown:

 + wh)
uex A hole = L( wh (7)

 + wh)
L( wh
uex = . (8)
A hole

Similarly,

x  w h 
u ( x, t ) = −  +  . (9)
2 w h

Thus,

∂  w h  u  w 2 h 2  x
u ( x, t ) = −  +  ⋅ +  2 + 2  ⋅ . (10)
∂t w h 2 w h  2
The total force of seal subjected was:
L 2
F = 2∫ w[ P ( x) − Pex ]dx. (11)
0
20 Y. Li et al.

Then, the non-linear damping force per unit length of the seal subjected was:

F ρ wL2  12h 2 w2   w 2 h 2   1.5h 2 w2  

 wh
Fd = =  2 − 1  2 + 2  +  2 − 1  (12)
L 24  A hole   w h   A hole  wh 

( )
where F was the non-linear damping force, w = h Ah + hh2 h was the effective width
 2

change rate, L was the damping force of vent hole, h was the effective height change
rate, Ρ was the air density, A was the cross-section change rate, w = A/h was the
effective width of seal, A hole was the vent area change rate, A was the cross-section of
seal and H was the effective height.

Figure 3 Schematics of the seal in compression

Figure 4 Simplified model of damping force of seal

2.2 Air-binding effect

The cabin was simplified to a rectangular parallelepiped analysis model as shown in
Figure 5 in the study of air-binding effect. A1 represented the pressure relief area of the
cabin, A2 represented the area of the door passed by during the closing process and V2
represented the volume of the door passed by during the door closing process.
The air pushed into the cabin during the process of the door closing was flowing
through the area A1 and A2. The differential equation can be established as follows
according to the conservation of mass:
 The software development for calculating the closing energy 21

d( ρV )
= − ρ ve Ae , (13)
dt
where ρ is the air density, V is the volume of air flowed out, Ae is the leakage area and ve
is the speed of air leaked.

Figure 5 Calculation model of air-binding effect: (a) calculation model of front door and
(b) calculation model of rear door

By applying Bernoulli equation of ideal gas, we can obtain the following equation:

2 ( p − pa )
ve = , (14)
ρa

where Pa is the atmospheric pressure and Pa = 101.3 kPa, ρa is the atmospheric density
and ρa = 1.225 kg/m3 and p is the cabin pressure. Rearranging equation (13), we can
obtain

dρ 1 2( p − pa ) 1 dV
=− ρ ( A1 + A2 ) − ρ . (15)
dt V ρa V dt

According to the process of gas isentropic change, the following expression can be easily
obtained:
7
p  ρ 5
=  , (16)
pa  ρ a 

where 7/5 is the air isentropic coefficient. Differentiating and simplifying equation (16),
we get:
dp 7 pa 52 dρ
= ρ . (17)
dt 5 75 dt
ρa
Substituting equation (15) into equation (17):
22 Y. Li et al.

dp 7 p 7 p dV
=− K ( A1 + A2 ) p − pa − . (18)
dt 5V 5 v dt
Equation (18) shows the internal pressure of the model varies with time, which was
caused by the air-binding effect. Thus, the internal pressure of the model during the door
closing process can be obtained as follows:
P = Pa + ∑ dp. (19)

When the door rotated to a certain angle, resistance caused by the air-binding effect was:
F = ( p − pa ) ⋅ S , (20)

where S was the door area.

The energy consumption of the air-binding effect was:
R
Ea = ∑ ∆E a = F ⋅ ⋅ dθ . (21)
2

2.3 Door weight

The height of centre of gravity of the door will be changed owing to the existence of the
inclination during the door closing process. That is to say gravity potential energy and
kinetic energy will be transformed into each other. Therefore, the door gravity will affect
the door closing energy. Supposing the three-dimensional coordinates of the centre of
gravity of the door (x, y, z) was converted into (x′, y′, z′) after rotating. The hinge axis
passed through a stationary coordinate (xo, yo, zo) as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6 Rotation of the centre of gravity (see online version for colours)

Transformation formula of the rotary coordinate of Z-coordinate was:

z ′ = ( x − x0 )  nx nz (1 − cosθ ) − n y sinθ  + ( y − y0 )  n y nz (1 − cosθ ) + nx sinθ 

(22)
+ ( z − z0 )  nz2 (1 − cosθ ) + cosθ  + z0 ,

where (nx, ny, nz) was the direction vector of hinge axis, (x0, y0, z0) and (x1, y1, z1) were the
centre coordinates of the upper and lower hinge, respectively, and θ was the angle of the
 The software development for calculating the closing energy 23

centre of gravity of the door rotating around hinge axis. Then, the energy consumption of
its own weight during the door closing process was:
Ew = mgh = mg ( z ′ − z ), (23)

where h = z′ – z was the vertical displacement of the centre of gravity of the door.

2.4 Latch
As shown in Figure 7, the latch body started to contact with lock catch when the door
opening angle θh reached y/r, where r was the distance between the latch body and hinge
axis and h was the width of lock catch. Latching force F brought about the displacement
d of the latch body and the displacement of the door latch under the latching force F was:

 0 θ > θh
∆d =  . (24)
r (θ h − θ ) θ ≤ θ h

Figure 7 Energy consumption model of the latch (see online version for colours)

The energy consumption of lock catch was equal to the force of overcoming latch
multiplied by the displacement under the direction of the force:
El = ∑∆El = F ⋅ ∆d , (25)

where El was the energy consumption to overcome the latching force, F was the latching
force and d was the displacement of the latch body.

2.5 Hinge
The door is connected to the vehicle body through two hinges. Two parts of the hinge
will produce friction during the process of the door closing and cause energy
consumption of the door closing. Energy consumption caused by the friction of hinge
was:
Eh = ∑∆Eh = ∑ Th ∆θ . (26)
24 Y. Li et al.

2.6 Check-link
Spring characteristics of the check-link determine its energy consumption, which equals
to the torque of overcoming the spring resistance multiplied by the rotational angle of the
door:
Ec = ∑∆Ec = Tc ⋅ dθ , (27)

where Ec was the energy consumption of the check-link during the door closing process,
Tc was the torque and dθ was the rotational angle of the door.

3 Software development

In this paper, we programmed for the established mathematical model of energy

consumption of each subsystem and calculated the energy consumption of each
subsystem during the door closing process. Besides, data from different subsystems were
integrated in different interface, respectively, and the influence of each subsystem on the
total door closing energy was analysed.
Taken the air-binding effect as an example, to calculate the influence of the
air-binding effect during the door closing process, the first step was to establish the
mathematical model according to the working principle and analyse the reaction force of
the door caused by air-binding effect. The next step was to extract all independent
variables of the mathematical model, which was the initial parameters of the energy
calculation and used as the inputs of the software. Finally, the mathematical model was
transformed into the VBA language based on the data structure and computing algorithm.
Other subsystems, such as weather strip seal, door weight and hinge, check-link and
latch, all adopted this kind of architecture of the superior-subordinate relationship. The
development process for each subsystem is shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8 The development process of subsystems

 The software development for calculating the closing energy 25

The main calculating interface was designed as shown in Figure 9, which was mainly
used to enter the basic parameters of the door. Meanwhile, the main interface can output
the final energy of each subsystem and generate the distribution of energy and speed. In
this paper, the inputs were door parameters of a production car and the results were
verified with the experimental data of the door.

Figure 9 Interface for calculating the door closing energy (see online version for colours)

4 Software calculation results and analysis

The input data of the main interface mainly included the basic parameters of the door as
shown in Table 1. The energy consumption of the door from fully open position to fully
close position was calculated in software and the initial angle of the door was 60°.

Table 1 Basic parameters of the door

Front door Rear door

x y z x y z
Hinge coordinates Upper/mm 522.03 837.00 519.96 1569.34 842.19 576.91
Lower/mm 514.65 848.01 98.96 1564.04 853.56 143.09
The coordinates of CG/mm 982.16 770 219.96 1905.25 784.30 481.71
Hinge tip angles of x–z plane/° 1.5 1.5
Hinge tip angles of y–z plane/° 1.0 0.7
Door weight/kg 28 24

4.1 Sealing strip

4.1.1 Seal compression resistance
As shown in Figure 10, the sealing strip was divided into four parts and the CLD curve of
seal was entered as shown in Figure 11. Primary seal was mounted on the door and
section shapes of the primary seal at different locations were different as well as the
compressive properties. Secondary seal was mounted on the body and section shapes of
26 Y. Li et al.

the secondary seal at different locations were the same as well as the compressive
properties.

Figure 10 Segmentation schematic of seal (see online version for colours)

Figure 11 CLD curve of seal (see online version for colours)

The energy consumption of seal compression resistance is shown in Table 2. Primary seal
shared a larger proportion of energy consumption, which accounted for 71% and
secondary seal accounted for 29% of energy consumption. Figure 12 showed that energy
consumption caused by seal compression resistance began to generate when the door was
closed to a smaller angle and the smaller the angle, the faster the energy consumed.

Table 2 Energy consumption of seal compression resistance

Front door Rear door

Energy/J Proportion Energy/J Proportion
Primary seal 0.53 70% 0.53 71%
Secondary seal 0.23 30% 0.22 29%
Total energy 0.779 1 0.774 1
 The software development for calculating the closing energy 27

Figure 12 Energy consumption of seal compression resistance

4.1.2 Damping force of seal vent holes

The information that need to enter to calculate the energy consumption are shown in
Table 3.

Table 3 Layout parameters of vent holes

Bulb effective Max. bulb Vent hole Vent hole

width/mm compression/mm diameter/mm Spacing/mm
Primary seal 14.00 8.60 3.00 100.00
Secondary seal 17.00 3.30 3.00 300.00

The energy consumption calculation results of damping force of vent holes are shown in
Table 4. Vent holes of secondary seal distributed sparsely and energy consumption
caused by damping force accounted for 73% of the seal system. Figure 13 showed that
the energy consumption caused by damping force began to generate when the door was
closed to a smaller angle and the smaller the angle, the faster the energy consumed.

Table 4 Energy consumption of seal damping force

Front door Rear door

Energy/J Proportion Energy/J Proportion
Primary seal 0.11 24% 0.11 27%
Secondary seal 0.36 76% 0.31 73%
Total energy 0.47 1 0.42 1

4.2 Air-binding effect

According to the simplified physical model in Section 2.2, quantitative analysis of
air-binding effect required the doorway height, doorway length, fixed relief valve area,
carriage volume including the reserve cabin and so on. The entered door data is shown in
Table 5.
28 Y. Li et al.

Figure 13 Energy consumption of seal vent holes damping force

Table 5 Input parameters of air-binding effect

Parameters Values
Doorway length/mm 840 770
Doorway height/mm 977 980
L2/L3/(L4/L5)/mm 660/0 450/800/(240/600)
Relief valve area/m2 0.04 0.04
Vehicle interior volume/m3 4.0 4.0

Then, the energy consumption of air-binding effect can be obtained by substituting the
input data into the mathematical formula. The relationship between energy and door
opening degree is shown in Figure 14. The energy consumption of the rear door caused
by air-binding effect was higher than that of the front door.

Figure 14 Energy consumption of air-binding effect

4.3 Door weight

The centre of gravity continued to decline for the presence of leaning angle and caster
angle thus the gravity has been doing positive work. The relationship between energy
 The software development for calculating the closing energy 29

consumption of gravity and the door opening degree is shown in Figure 15. The rear door
weight was lighter than the front door weight and its caster angle was smaller. Therefore,
the energy offered by rear door gravity was less than that by the front door.

Figure 15 Energy consumption of door weight

4.4 Door latch

The force-displacement curve of overcoming lock catch is shown in Figure 16.
Coordinates of discrete points on the curve were input into the system and then the
energy consumption of latch can be calculated, which is shown in Figure 17.

Figure 16 Force-displacement curve of latch

4.5 Hinge
The torque-angle curve was obtained through experiments and the front and rear door
hinges were the same, which can be seen from Figure 18. The relationship between
energy consumption of the hinge and the door opening angle is shown in Figure 19.
Hinge torque was a constant, therefore energy consumption of the hinge was proportional
to the door closing angle.
30 Y. Li et al.

Figure 17 Energy consumption of the latch

Figure 18 Torque curve of hinge

Figure 19 The energy consumption of hinge

4.6 Check-link
The torque curve of check-link, as shown in Figure 20, was obtained by measuring
experimentally, which was used as the input data of system calculation. Coordinates of
discrete points on the curve were input into the system and then the energy consumption
of check-link can be obtained after calculating, which is shown in Figure 21.
 The software development for calculating the closing energy 31

Figure 20 Torque curve of the check-link

Figure 21 Energy consumption of check-link

4.7 Total energy of the door closing

Total energy consumption of the door can be obtained by superimposing the energy
consumption of six subsystems as shown in Figure 22(a). As can be seen from the figure,
there were two peaks and troughs in the curve, which were corresponded to the gear of
check-link. Figure 22(b) showed the percentage of energy consumption of six subsystems
in the process of door closing. As it can be seen, the total energy consumption of front
and back doors was different whereas energy consumption of each subsystem shares
similar proportion. The energy consumption of check-link accounted for a large
proportion for this car door.

5 Experimental verification

5.1 Test environment and equipment

The door closing energy test should be carried out at a temperature of between 22°C and
30°C and a relative humidity of 40 ± 20%. The test vehicle must be parked on a flat test
site. If the sealing strip is completely new, then the seal must be installed to the test
vehicle before a certain period of time and keep the door closed. The main test equipment
was the slam canon, which was composed of the canon head riser and the base.
32 Y. Li et al.

Figure 22 Energy distribution of the door: (a) the energy consumption of the door; (b) energy
distribution of front door and (c) energy distribution of rear door (see online version
for colours)

5.2 Test scheme

To measure the energy consumption of each subsystem in the whole vehicle, the test
scheme was designed as follows:
• Kept the door as the initial state, closed the passenger and measured the door closing
energy.
• Removed the seal and unchanged other parts, closed the passenger and measured the
door closing energy at this time. The energy consumption of the sealing strip can be
obtained.
• Installed the seal and unchanged other parts, opened the other three doors completely
and measured the door closing energy at this time. The energy consumption of the
air-binding effect can be obtained.
• Removed the check-link and unchanged other parts, closed the passenger and
measured the door closing energy at this time. The energy consumption of the check-
link can be obtained.
 The software development for calculating the closing energy 33

• The unlocking force can be measured directly by applying the ergometer to the
catch. The energy consumed by the latch was the product of the unlocking force and
the stroke.

5.3 Results comparison

To verify the accuracy of the results calculated by the software，the calculation results
and experimental data provided by the 15 reference were compared firstly as shown in
Table 6. Test data provided the energy consumption when the door initial closing angle
was 60°.

Table 6 Experimental verification of calculation results

Subsystem Test/J Calculation/J Deviation/%

Air-binding 2.15 2.300 6.98
Seal system 1.64 1.660 1.22
Latch 0.25 0.248 –0.80
Hinge 1.05 1.047 –0.29
Weight 4.99 4.944 –0.92
Check-link 3.06 3.063 0.10
Total energy 3.16 3.374 6.77

It can be seen that the calculation results of latch system, hinge system, weight system
and check-link agreed well with the test data. The biggest deviation was the air-binding
effect, which was 6.98% and the total energy deviation was 6.77%. The deviation of each
subsystem and the total energy were all within the allowable range of the project, so the
accuracy and validity of the calculation software was proved.

Table 7 Experimental verification of calculation results

The measured
calculation values The software calculation values
Right Right Right Right
Subsystem front/J rear/J front/J Deviation/% rear/J Deviation/%
Air-binding 1.46 1.84 1.30 –10.96 2.00 8.70
Primary seal 0.55 0.52 0.61 11.09 0.55 6.54
Secondary seal 0.57 0.53 0.57 0.70 0.53 0.75
Latch and hinge 0.42 0.42 0.421 0.24 0.421 0.24
Weight and check-link –0.42 –0.27 –0.416 –0.95 –0.272 0.74
Total 2.58 3.04 2.72 5.43 3.23 6.25

To further verify the accuracy of the software, the calculation results and experimental
data provided by a passenger vehicle company were compared as shown in Table 7. Test
data provided the energy value when the door initial closing angle was 7°, which was
120 mm the latch from the body. Apparently seen from Table 7, calculation deviation of
air-bind and sealing strip were the two biggest. In addition to the simplified geometric
34 Y. Li et al.

model, factors that affected the accuracy of the results also included measuring deviation
of door size, the taken points’ position on seal and deviation of CLD curve.
The energy calculation deviation of the door system did not exceed 10%, which can meet
the engineering requirements basically.

6 Conclusion and prospect

1 In this paper, the factors that influence the door closing process were divided into six
subsystems, which included the door weight, hinge, check-link, latch, sealing strip
and air-binding effect. The working principle of six subsystems that affects the door
closing energy was analysed and the mathematical models that used to calculate
were established.
2 Modular programming methods were applied for second development of the Excel
software. The analysis system of door closing energy for side swing door was
developed via using VBA language. Just entered the appropriate parameters, the
computer can analyse quickly and accurately and the analysis results were quite
accurate. This analysis system will play an important role in the development process
of the door.
3 The different compression directions of each point were taken into consideration in
the calculation for energy consumption of compression resistance force of the sealing
strip. And, the different shapes of front and rear doors were taken into consideration
in the calculation of air-binding effect, which improved the calculation accuracy.
4 The calculation for door closing energy in the door closing process based on the
software did not depend on the actual vehicle, sophisticated test equipment and door
finite element model. The only data we need was the basic parameters of the door.
Thus, it can be used to guide the door design in the initial stage of development and
improved the development efficiency a lot.

References
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