The standard “FCA PF.90131 Functional performance characteristics for interior hard floor panel assemblies” developed by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), an Italian-American automotive company, describes the environmental, physical, electrical, mechanical, functional, regulatory and durability requirements for hard floor panel assemblies in NAFTA/APAC/EMEA/LATAM/Maserati. The figure in the standard shows the main subassemblies that make up a typical hard floor assembly for passenger cars, sport utility vehicles and minivans.
For hazardous substance control, products and processes used to manufacture products listed in this standard must comply with worker and consumer health, worker safety, regulated substances, recycling and environmental reporting requirements.
If there are mandatory or recommended tests provided in this standard, they are for the purpose of assuring compliance with the specification, but do not relieve the responsible organization from ensuring that the component or system meets all environmental, physical, electrical, mechanical, functional, regulatory, and durability requirements, including all applicable system interface requirements, as described in the standard, for the entirety of the specified useful life. Unless otherwise specified, all mating, underlying, and interfacing components are included in the virtual model and physical test setup.
A test plan must be developed to verify and validate all required functionality specified in this standard. The responsible organization must provide additional testing deemed necessary to meet the functional requirements. The tables at the end of this standard provide a summary of all requirements and are used to develop the test plan.
Samples used for design verification must meet the specified drawing tolerance range. Samples for manufacturing verification must meet the statistical capabilities for the machine and manufacturing processes.
Each line item of the test plan must be supported by a comprehensive test or laboratory procedure, as required. A test plan agreement by the FCA does not relieve the responsible organization from ensuring that the component or system meets all environmental, physical, electrical, mechanical, functional, regulatory, and durability requirements, including all applicable system interface requirements within the organization's area of responsibility, for the specified useful life as described in the standard.
Unless otherwise specified, all tests in this standard are conducted using a fixture that mounts the rigid floor or components in the body position. All body attachment points shall be present and all body fasteners shall be used. When non-rigid floor components are located behind the rigid floor, these components (wiring, modules, seat belts, etc.) shall be included in the fixture. The test fixture shall be designed and constructed to include vehicle boundary conditions that may restrict the movements of the specimen, but shall not affect the test results. Test fixtures containing sheet metal for production purposes shall be approved by FCA prior to the commencement of any testing. Default test tolerances shall not be applied to actual test results. The rigid floor in this standard represents actual commercial grade products.
Hard floor components shall not exhibit any deterioration in specified component functions when exposed to applicable environmental conditions resulting from climatic stresses, mechanical stresses, solid/liquid stresses and chemical stresses defined in this standard throughout the design/service life of the vehicle. Compliance with these environmental requirements shall be demonstrated during the design validation and production verification phase using FCA recommended verification tests specified for these stresses. Where possible, the same samples are used in more than one test and are agreed upon by the supplier and FCA.
Rigid trim components shall withstand the climatic stresses defined in this section when packaged as part of the interior trim in the vehicle cabin. The component under test shall be confined to a representative mating panel or a test fixture that simulates actual assembly conditions. In certain designs, heat age, thermal cycling, and moisture age testing may be performed on a fixture.
The tested hard floor component is subjected to thermal aging according to the table given in the standard. When components exposed to direct sunlight and those not exposed are tested together, the heat lamp load should be applied to the top surface of the component exposed to direct solar load so that the surface temperature is maintained at all times throughout the test. When only components exposed to direct sunlight are tested, the heat lamp is not required if the climate chamber can reach the target temperature.
The component tested for thermal cycling exposure shall also be subjected to the conditions specified in the standard. The cycle is performed 96 times for a total of 4 hours. If system-level testing is required with parts exposed to direct sunlight and parts not exposed, a heat lamp is required. In the case of testing only parts exposed to sunlight, a heat lamp shall be used if the climate chamber cannot reach the target temperature.
Among the numerous tests, measurements, analyses and evaluation studies that our organization has carried out for businesses in various sectors, it also provides testing services defined in the “FCA PF.90131 Functional performance characteristics for interior hard flooring” standard with its trained and expert staff and advanced technological equipment.
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