Investigation of Leakage Sources in Gasoline Muffler Using RCFA, CFD, and Experimental Validation

Abstract

When the exhaust valve is open high-pressure exhaust gases are released one after the other, which combine to form a steady noise. To reduce this unwanted noise a muffler or silencer is used. Thus, quality is a major concern in the production of exhaust components. An inferior exhaust component can lead to the reduction in engine efficiency and increase in undesirable vehicle noise. The major causes of an indecent muffler may arise due to play in the sheet feeder, worn out vertical or horizontal roller set, taper in the horizontal bed or improper sheet stopper settings. This paper substantially aims to diagnose leakage in Gasoline muffler. For this purpose, various statistical tools and leakage test was incorporated. To understand ideal fluid flow inside Muffler, computational fluid dynamics was carried out using Fluent in ANSYS 12.0. Through Root Cause Failure Analysis, it was evident that indecent seaming operation was the prime source of leakage. A fishbone diagram was used to illustrate various causes of the defective seam. Which lead to problem detection in Lock Seaming Machine and respective adjustment was carried out. Finally, leakage testing was carried out in Universal Leakage Testing Machine to validate the respective result.