Innovations spawned by extensive skills and simulation capacities
Thermal comfort depends on a host of internal and external factors. Faurecia has developed a specific approach that measures heat exchanges to serve as a blueprint for developing product solutions improving thermal comfort and the performance of the vehicle's other functions.
Faurecia takes a global approach to vehicle simulation, from the front end and the engine to the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system. Faurecia combines its extensive knowledge of modular architecture and its expertise in thermal comfort to offer customers innovative product solutions, such as seat heating and ventilation systems to maintain seats at the ideal temperature for the occupant, and the prism air diffusion system for the draft-free ventilation of the vehicle's interior.
Faurecia's R&D team uses computer fluid dynamic (CFD) tools to simulate the airflow. They also use a wide range of test equipment, including wind tunnels, thermal infrared cameras, tomoscopic lasers and sunlight simulation chambers.
Faurecia's teams develop a vast range of skills in thermal comfort: air distribution and speed inside the vehicle, temperature distribution, flow rate, pressure loss, thermal analysis and solar radiation analysis. The acoustic design of the Peugeot 5008 leverages a flat false floor at the back, beneath the passengers' feet, featuring a highly rigid sommold dual-layer shell with incorporated storage space. The front under-carpet insulation integrates the air vents directly into the foam.
This is a Faurecia innovation, which brings in conditioned air from the instrument panel to the passengers' feet and simplifies assembly on the production line by reducing the number of parts.