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Cylinder head design is a highly challenging task for modern engines, especially for the proliferation of boosted, gasoline direct injection engines (branded EcoBoost® engines by Ford Motor Company). The high power density of these engines results in higher cylinder firing pressures and higher operating temperatures throughout the engine. In addition to the high operating stresses, cylinder heads are normally heat treated to optimize their mechanical properties; residual stresses are generated during heat treatment, which can be detrimental for high-cycle fatigue performance. In this paper, a complete cylinder head high cycle fatigue CAE analysis procedure is demonstrated. First, the heat treatment process is simulated. The transient temperature histories during the quenching process are used to calculate the distribution of the residual stresses, followed by machining simulation, which results in a redistribution of stress.

In CAE analysis of cylinder bore distortion, valve seat distortion, valve guide-to-seat misalignment and cam bore misalignment, nodal displacements on the cylinder bore inner surface and on the gage lines of valve seats, valve guides and cam bores are typically output. Best fit cylinders, best fit circles and best fit lines are computed by utilizing the output displacements of the deformed configuration. Based on the information of the best fit geometry, distortions and misalignments are assessed. Some commercial and in-house software is available to compute the best fit cylinders, best fit circles and best fit lines. However, they suffer from the drawback that only one best-fit geometry can be computed at a time. Using this kind of software to assess distortions and misalignments of engine components would be tedious and prone to error, since data transfer as well as the intermediate computation has to be done by hand, and the process is not automatic.

PSA Group, SOLVAY and SOGEFI have teamed-up to produce the first Plastic Diesel Fuel Filter fully made of recycled polyamide 66, ready for mass-production. This has been achieved by using the brand new plastic compound developed by SOLVAY Engineering Plastics. This material is 100% recycled from airbag wastes, providing a premium material able to stand demanding applications requirements supplied through circular economy, which is quite unusual in automotive industry yet. SOGEFI has used this material through its existing plastic injection process, and tested the parts on extensive bench validation tests. It confirmed that this material is fully compatible with standard injection process, and that all the tests have been passed successfully. Finally, PSA Group has driven the choice of the tested parts: DV engine 1.6l Euro6b application, homologated the material grade and evaluated the whole validation process. A Life Cycle Analysis has been conducted also, demonstrating the benefits.

In this presentation, two cases of CAE simulations of oil pump-induced tonal noises are presented. The first case involves oil pump-induced whine in an I4engine during coast down. The second case addresses oil pan moan during hot idle and the effect of oil pump pick-up tube positioning inside the oil pan of an I5 engine. The investigations include several design modifications to the pump and the pick-up tube to prevent the tonal noise. Test data are also included to demonstrate the accuracy of the CAE simulation.

Diesel oxidation catalysts with ultra-low NO2 emissions have been developed based on palladium-tungsten (Pd-W). The catalysts are supported by aluminum-yttrium oxides (Al2O3-Y2O3) nano-washcoat on sintered metal fibers. Elemental composition analysis was performed using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) to quantify the distribution of the Al2O3-Y2O3 nano-washcoats and Pd-W catalysts on the surface of the metal fibers. Initially, emissions measurements were conducted to evaluate the performance of Pd-W catalysts using small coated samples of sintered metal fibers. The results show that the catalysts selectively oxidize CO into CO2 and reduce NO2 into NO, resulting in over 90% reduction in CO emissions and up to 85% reduction in NO2 emissions. Scale-up of an Active Diesel Particulate Filter (ADPF) was then tested on a Cummins 5.9L ISB diesel engine using the US-FTP transient test cycle and the ISO 8178 8-mode test cycle.

Recently, the European Union has adopted a new regulation on Real-Driving-Emissions (RDE) and also China is considering RDE implementation into new China 6 legislation. The new RDE regulation is focused on measuring nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate number (PN) emissions of both light-duty gasoline and diesel vehicles under real world conditions. A supplemental RDE test procedure was developed for European type approval, which includes on-road testing with cars equipped with portable emission measurement systems (PEMS). This new regulation will significantly affect the engine calibrations and the exhaust gas aftertreatment. In this study the impact of the new RDE regulation on two recent EU 6b certified turbocharged direct injected gasoline vehicles has been investigated. A comparison of several chassis dyno drive cycles with two new defined on-road RDE cycles was performed.

Tightening global emissions standards are driving automotive Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM’s) to utilize Three Way Catalyst (TWC) aftertreatment systems that can perform with greater efficiency and greater measured control of Precious Group Metals (PGM) use. At the same time, TWC aftertreatment systems minimize exhaust system pressure drops. This study will determine the influence of catalyst substrate cell geometry on emission and PGM usage. Additionally, a study of lightoff and backpressure comparisons will be conducted. The two substrate configurations used are hex/750cpsi and square/750cpsi.

The automotive aftermarket industry is an extremely cost competitive market to say the least. Aftermarket manufacturers are sought by customers primarily for their ability to replace an OES (Original Equipment Supplier) for a fraction of the cost. This forces the manufacturers to yield on performance abilities to get a share in the market place. The TWC system in gasoline vehicles not only acts as an emissions reduction device but is an integral part of the overall vehicle performance itself, especially since the introduction of OBD (On-Board Diagnostics) II systems in 1995. An inefficient catalyst not only leads to excessive tailpipe emissions but also acts detrimental to vehicle fueling and hence overall performance. The aftermarket catalyst industry which is regulated by EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) and CARB (California Air Resource Board) for gasoline engines is subject to meeting a mandatory performance standard for the same reason.

Exhaust systems must satisfy a wide range of requirements, including lowering emissions to comply with future fuel economy and emissions regulations. To help meet these requirements, new emissions control systems have been developed today. In addition, since air-fuel ratio (hereafter, A/F) control has a major impact on emissions, a new two-A/F sensor system with A/F sensors provided both upstream and downstream of the catalyst was developed, incorporating an A/F control capable of further lowering emissions with greater robustness. This development identified the hysteresis characteristics of the O2 sensor downstream of the catalyst as an important factor affecting emissions during conventional A/F control. Subsequently, reaction analysis was carried out using sensor reaction models and by evaluating sensors under real-world operating conditions.

Diesel exhaust fluid, DEF, (32.5 wt.% urea aqueous solution) is widely used as the NH3 source for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx in diesel aftertreatment systems. The transformation of sprayed liquid phase DEF droplets to gas phase NH3 is a complex physical and chemical process. Briefly, it experiences water vaporization, urea thermolysis/decomposition and hydrolysis. Depending on the DEF doser, decomposition reaction tube (DRT) design and operating conditions, incomplete decomposition of injected urea could lead to solid urea deposit formation in the diesel aftertreatment system. The formed deposits could lead to engine back pressure increase and DeNOx performance deterioration etc. The formed urea deposits could be further transformed to chemically more stable substances upon exposure to hot exhaust gas, therefore it is critical to understand this transformation process.

Since diesel engines have higher thermal efficiency, superior power capability and better fuel economy than gasoline engines, diesel engines are widely used in vehicles, construction machineries and agricultural machineries. However, they emit more hazardous pollutants than gasoline engines, especially particulate emissions, which have negative impacts on human’s health and air quality in cities. In order to meet future increasingly stringent regulations for particulate emissions, exhaust gas aftertreatment technologies for diesel engines are essential. Particulate emissions from a heavy-duty diesel engine which meets the China national V emission regulation were studied, and the engine was equipped with/without diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), catalyzed diesel particulate filter (CDPF) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR). The fuel used in this article is ultra low sulfur diesel fuel whose sulfur content is less than 10 ppm.

Future emissions regulations proposed for the Asian automotive industry (BS VI regulations for India and NS VI regulations for China) are strict and similar to EU VI regulations. As a result, they will require both advanced NOx control as well as advanced Particulate Matter (PM) control. This will drive implementation of full Catalyzed Diesel Particulate Filter (cDPF) and simultaneous NOx control using Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technologies. In this work, we present the performance of various Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC), cDPF, SCR and Ammonia slip catalyst (ASC) systems utilizing the World Harmonized Transient Cycle (WHTC). Aftertreatment Systems (ATS) required for both active and passive filter regeneration applications will be discussed. The sensitivity of key design parameters like catalyst technology, PGM loading, catalyst sizing to meet the regulation limits has been investigated.

This article describes a NOx sensor based urea dosing control strategy for heavy-duty diesel aftertreatment systems using Selective Catalytic Reduction. The dosing control strategy comprises of a fast-response, model-based ammonia storage control system in combination with a long-timescale tailpipe-feedback module that adjusts the dosing quantity according to current aftertreatment conditions. This results in a control system that is robust to system disturbances such as biased NOx sensors and variations in AdBlue concentrations. The cross-sensitivity of the tailpipe NOx sensor to ammonia is handled by a novel, smart signal filter that can reliably identify the contributions of NOx and NH3 in the tailpipe sensor signal, without requiring an artificial perturbation of the dosing signal.

The paper provides an overview of a developed methodology and a toolchain for modeling and control of a complex aftertreatment system for passenger cars. The primary objective of this work is to show how the use of this methodology allows to streamline the development process and to reduce the development time thanks to a model based semi-automatic control design methodology combined with piece-wise optimal control. Major improvements in passenger car tailpipe NOx removal need to be achieved to fulfil the upcoming post EURO 6 norms and Real Driving Emissions (RDE) limits. Multi-brick systems employing combinations of multiple Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalysts with an Ammonia Oxidation Catalysts, known also as Ammonia Clean-Up Catalyst (CUC), are proposed to cover operation over a wide temperature range. However, control of multi-brick systems is complex due to lack of available sensors in the production configurations.

Biodiesel as a renewable energy is becoming increasingly attractive due to the growing scarcity of conventional fossil fuels. Meanwhile, the development of after-treatment technologies for the diesel engine brings new insight concerning emissions especially the particulate matter pollutants. In order to study the coupling effects of biodiesel blend and CCRT (Catalyzed Continuously Regeneration Trap) on the particulate matter emissions, the particulate matter emissions from an urban bus with and without CCRT burning BD0 and BD10 respectively was tested and analyzed using electrical low pressure impactor (ELPI). The operation conditions included steady state conditions and transient conditions. Results showed that the particulate number-size distribution of BD10 and BD0 both had two peaks in nuclei mode and accumulation mode at the conditions of idle, low speed and medium speed while at high speed condition the particulate number-size distribution only had one peak.

The use of diesel particulate filter [DPF] has become a standard in modern diesel engine after treatment technology. However pressure drop develops across the filter as PM accumulates and this requires quick periodic burn-out without incurring thermal runaway temperatures that could compromise DPF integrity during operation. Adequate understanding of soot oxidation is needed for design and manufacture of efficient filter traps for the engine system. In this study, we have examined the impact of blending biodiesel on oxidation of PM generated from a high speed direct injection [HSDI] diesel engine, which was operated with 20% [B20] and 40% [B40] blends of two biodiesel fuels. The PM samples were collected from the engine exhaust using a Pall Tissuquartz filter, the oxidation characteristics of the samples were carried out using thermogravimetric analyzer [TGA]. The biodiesel oxidation data obtained from pure petrodiesel was compared against the fuel blends.

While not commonly in production today, Gasoline Particulate Filters (GPFs) are likely to see widespread deployment to meet stringent EU6.2 and China particulate number (PN) standards. In many ways the operating conditions for GPFs are orthogonal to those of their diesel counterparts, and this leads to different and interesting requirements for the control strategy. We will present some generic system architectures for exhaust systems containing a GPF and will lay out an architecture for the GPF control strategy components which include: regeneration assist feature, soot estimation algorithm, GPF protection. The regeneration assist feature uses spark retard to increase exhaust temperature. The soot estimation algorithm describes how we can estimate soot from an open loop model or from a normalized pressure metric. The GPF protection feature controls oxygen flow to limit the soot burn rate. We will show validation data of the control strategy under different operating conditions.

In the near future, particulate number (PN) regulations, including the Euro 6 regulations, will be going into effective and becoming more stringent around the world targeted at gasoline engine vehicles. There is a type of particulate filter that has used for diesel engine vehicles, as a means to satisfy PN regulations. There are two types of particulate filters. One is a “bare” or “adding-type” GPF that is uncoated with catalyst, and the other is a replaceable-type GPF that is coated with catalyst. The replaceable-type GPF (coated GPF) has advantages in terms of cost-performance, installation space, and lower level of pressure drop, compared to the uncoated GPF. The three main functions required for a coated GPF are, an improvement of three-way catalytic performance, lowering of pressure drop, and PN filtration efficiency improvement.

Heavy duty vehicles take a large role in providing global logistics. It is required to have both high durability and reduced CO2 from the viewpoint of global environment conservation. Therefore lubricating oils for transmission and axle/differential gear box are required to have excellent protection and longer drain intervals. However, it is also necessary that the gear oil maintain suitable friction performance for the synchronizers of the transmission. Even with such good performance, both transmission and axle/differential gear box lubricants must balance cost and performance, in particular in the Asian market. The development of gear oil additives for high reliability gear oil must consider the available base oils in various regions as the additive is a global product. In many cases general long drain gear oils for heavy duty vehicles use the group III or IV base oils, but it is desirable to use the group I/II base oils in terms of cost and availability.

Demanding CO2 and fuel economy regulations are continuing to pressure the automotive industry into considering innovative powertrain and vehicle-level solutions. Powertrain engineers continue to minimize engine internal friction and transmission parasitic losses with the aim of reducing overall vehicle fuel consumption. Strip friction methods are used to determine and isolate components in engines and transmissions with the highest contribution to friction losses. However, there is relatively little focus on friction optimization of Front-End-Accessory-Drive (FEAD) components such as alternators and Air Conditioning (AC) compressors. This paper expands on the work performed by other researchers’ specifically targeting in-depth understanding of system design and operating strategy.