|
<Table>
<TR> <TD><FONT class=featurehead_print>Dana Shields Take the Heat</FONT> <FONT class=hilighttext_print>By Tom Murphy</FONT> <FONT class=basicbold_print>WardsAuto.com,Feb 10 2005 </FONT> Heat shields are growing in sophistication and now provide a tidy business unit for Dana. </TD></TR> <TR> <TD> DETROIT – Dana Corp. is well known for its axles and pickup truck frames, but it is a smaller, lesser known component that has generated surprisingly strong results for the Toledo, OH, supplier as of late.</P> Dana is doing well with heat shields, which have evolved into something more advanced than a simple 1-piece steel stamping.</P><LINK href="http://subscribers.wardsauto.com/files/1004/main/styles/storyelements.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet> <DIV class=storyimagecut-right style="WIDTH: 175px">  <P class=storycut>Dana’s heat shield for Hummer H3 is sophisticated 3-piece assembly.</P></DIV> Heat shields are used to protect underhood components placed precariously close to others that operate at extremely high temperatures, such as an exhaust manifold. Catalytic converters in exhaust systems also are covered with heat shields to protect them from debris and slush under the vehicle.</P> Dana calls its latest iteration the thermal-acoustical protective shield (TAPS), which appears on the ’06 Hummer H3.</P> For the H3, Dana’s TAPS is a unique 3-piece design, consisting of an outer steel stamping and inner layers of Mylar (an extremely strong polyester film) and a deadening material.</P> Dana produces heat shields in Europe, North America, Brazil and Japan, and the company’s sales of the component have shot from zero to $100 million annually within five years, says Mike Laisure, president-Automotive Systems Group.</P> “This is one of those interesting, quiet businesses,” Laisure tells journalists here recently. “You wake up five years later, and all of a sudden you have this nice little niche. You say, ‘What’s going on?’ You do the analysis and say, ‘Well, that really makes sense.’”</P> As engine compartments become more cramped – especially with the growing popularity of V-8 engines – packaging space is at a premium, and the proliferation of electronics underhood requires more protection from heat than ever before. The trend correlates directly to a healthy market for heat shields, Laisure says.</P> The components will continue to grow in sophistication. One concept Dana is considering allows for coolant to be routed through the shield for additional protection from heat.</P> Further in the future, Dana is contemplating a 5-layer heat shield to help with noise, vibration and harshness, says Chuck Heine, president-Technology Development.</P> In the Hummer application, TAPS was designed to transfer heat from the exhaust manifold to a close-coupled catalytic converter, speeding up lightoff and reducing emissions.</P> An attractive benefit of these new-generation heat shields is a noticeable reduction in warranty costs.</P> “Our customers are telling us with TAPS, it’s helping to quiet down their engines so the customers inside the cockpit aren’t hearing as many noises,” Heine says. “It’s actually reducing some of their engine warranty, and they’re attributing that to the fact of just containing the noise inside the engine compartment. We would have never thought of that as a benefit years ago.”</P></TD></TR></Table> |
<Table>
<TR> <TD><FONT class=featurehead_print>Dana Shields Take the Heat</FONT> <FONT class=hilighttext_print>By Tom Murphy</FONT> <FONT class=basicbold_print>WardsAuto.com,Feb 10 2005 </FONT> Heat shields are growing in sophistication and now provide a tidy business unit for Dana. </TD></TR> <TR> <TD> DETROIT – Dana Corp. is well known for its axles and pickup truck frames, but it is a smaller, lesser known component that has generated surprisingly strong results for the Toledo, OH, supplier as of late.</P> Dana is doing well with heat shields, which have evolved into something more advanced than a simple 1-piece steel stamping.</P><LINK href="http://subscribers.wardsauto.com/files/1004/main/styles/storyelements.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet> <DIV class=storyimagecut-right style="WIDTH: 175px"> <P class=storycut>Dana’s heat shield for Hummer H3 is sophisticated 3-piece assembly.</P></DIV> Heat shields are used to protect underhood components placed precariously close to others that operate at extremely high temperatures, such as an exhaust manifold. Catalytic converters in exhaust systems also are covered with heat shields to protect them from debris and slush under the vehicle.</P> Dana calls its latest iteration the thermal-acoustical protective shield (TAPS), which appears on the ’06 Hummer H3.</P> For the H3, Dana’s TAPS is a unique 3-piece design, consisting of an outer steel stamping and inner layers of Mylar (an extremely strong polyester film) and a deadening material.</P> Dana produces heat shields in Europe, North America, Brazil and Japan, and the company’s sales of the component have shot from zero to $100 million annually within five years, says Mike Laisure, president-Automotive Systems Group.</P> “This is one of those interesting, quiet businesses,” Laisure tells journalists here recently. “You wake up five years later, and all of a sudden you have this nice little niche. You say, ‘What’s going on?’ You do the analysis and say, ‘Well, that really makes sense.’”</P> As engine compartments become more cramped – especially with the growing popularity of V-8 engines – packaging space is at a premium, and the proliferation of electronics underhood requires more protection from heat than ever before. The trend correlates directly to a healthy market for heat shields, Laisure says.</P> The components will continue to grow in sophistication. One concept Dana is considering allows for coolant to be routed through the shield for additional protection from heat.</P> Further in the future, Dana is contemplating a 5-layer heat shield to help with noise, vibration and harshness, says Chuck Heine, president-Technology Development.</P> In the Hummer application, TAPS was designed to transfer heat from the exhaust manifold to a close-coupled catalytic converter, speeding up lightoff and reducing emissions.</P> An attractive benefit of these new-generation heat shields is a noticeable reduction in warranty costs.</P> “Our customers are telling us with TAPS, it’s helping to quiet down their engines so the customers inside the cockpit aren’t hearing as many noises,” Heine says. “It’s actually reducing some of their engine warranty, and they’re attributing that to the fact of just containing the noise inside the engine compartment. We would have never thought of that as a benefit years ago.”</P></TD></TR></Table> |
Is this what is coming with the H3 or is it an aftermarket product?
|
It's part of the stock vehicle design.
|
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 05:22 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin Version 3.0.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.