ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS OF CRACK INITIATION ON TAIL LIGHTS

AN AUTOMOTIVE CASE STUDY

University Malaysia Pahang(Pekan Campus) Prepared By : Mohamad Faizul Aslam Bin Mohd Ismail
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Supervised By : Dr. Ahmad Nasser Bin Mohd Rose

Introduction :
Tail lights were introduced
back around 1915 and 1936,
marks the introduction of
sealed beam headlamp.
[1][2][3]
The first LED tail lamps were introduced during 1993 in a mass-production
automotive until the 21st century. Nowadays, materials of these tail lights
are dominated by Polycarbonate (PC) whereas the transparent cover is
mostly Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA) or PC. Therefore literature has
been studied on root-cause analysis, failure analysis and root cause
prediction analysis of the tail lights.

Objective :
i) To find the root-cause of crack initiation on tail lights.
ii) To study the properties of the tail light lens.
iii) To develop an analysis that re-simulates a real life situation in an
automotive manufacturing plant.

Problem Statement :
Nowadays, tail lights using Two-Colour (2K) Molding Process with the
material of PMMA is facing crack defects in automotive production plant.
Furthermore, the cost of replacement of this component is expensive.
Therefore, for this analysis it would be focusing on finding the root-cause
of the pre-initial stress of the tail lights after being assembled on the car
which needs to be concluded whether there’s a fault in assembly itself or
material.

Reference :
Gantt Chart: 1. Gross, Jessica (12 July 2013). "Who Made That Turn Signal?". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
2. Jump up^ Paul, John (23 March 2016). "Florence Lawrence: Automotive Inventor and the "World's First Movie Star"". Historic Vehicle Association. Retrieved 2017-
June July August September
10-25.
Company Introduction 3. Jump up^ "Florence Lawrence - Lemelson-MIT Program". lemelson.mit.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
Task Introduction 4. M.A Kamaludin(2017). A fracture mechanics approach to characterising the environmental stress cracking behaviour of thermoplastics. Theoretical and Applied
Fracture Mechanics. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
Routine Job
5. M.S Balamurugan(2017). Dynamic mixed-mode fracture behaviors of PMMA and polycarbonate. Engineering Fracture Mechanics. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
Discussion 6. A.M.S. Hamouda(2002). The influence of humidity on the deformation and fracture behaviour of PMMA. Journal of Material Processing Technology. Retrieved
Conclusion 2002.

For this research, Root Cause Analysis using Ishikawa Diagram was used. This is because one of the objective was to create a
Methodology :
framework for analysis purpose in an automotive industry. In addition, this method is an conventional tool used to identify sources of a
problem. Subsequently, elimination method was used to reduce the root-cause for the crack of the Tail Lights.
Measurement Material Method
Assembly Process
Manufacturing Process
Tools/Jig

Material Properties Logistics/Kitting

Temperature PMMA
Crack
Humidity

Man Machine Environment