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To mitigate the NOx emissions from diesel engines, the adoption of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) has gained widespread acceptance as a technology. Employing EGR has the drawback of elevating soot emissions. Using hydrogen-enriched air with EGR in a diesel engine (dual-fuel operation), offers the potential to decrease in-cylinder soot formation while simultaneously reducing NOx emissions. The present study numerically investigates the effect of hydrogen energy share and engine load on the formation and emission of soot and NOx from hydrogen-diesel dual-fuel engines. The numerical investigation uses an n-heptane/H2 reduced reaction mechanism with a two-step soot model in ANSYS FORTE. A reduced n-heptane reaction mechanism is integrated with a hydrogen reaction mechanism using CHEMKIN to enhance the accuracy of predicting dual-fuel combustion in a hydrogen dual-fuel engine.

Ammonia (NH3) is emerging as a potential fuel for longer range decarbonised heavy transport, predominantly due to favourable characteristics as an effective hydrogen carrier. This is despite generally unfavourable combustion and toxicity attributes, restricting end use to applications where robust health and safety protocols can always be upheld. In the currently reported work, a spark ignited thermodynamic single cylinder research engine was upgraded to include gaseous ammonia and hydrogen port injection fueling, with the aim of understanding maximum viable ammonia substitution ratios across the speed-load operating map. The work was conducted under stoichiometric conditions with the spark timing re-optimised for maximum brake torque at all stable logged sites. The experiments included industry standard measurements of combustion, performance and engine-out emissions.

This paper delves into the intricate realm of Formula 1 race car aerodynamics, focusing on the pivotal role played by floor flow structures in contemporary racing. The aerodynamic design of the floor of a Formula 1 car is a fundamental component that connects the flow structures from the front wing to the rear end of the car through the diffuser, thus significantly influencing the generation of lift and drag. In this work, CFD was used to predict the structure of the vortices and flow pattern underneath a Formula 1 car using a CAD model that mimicked the modern Red Bull Racing Team’s car in recent years. Through comprehensive analysis and simulation, a detailed understanding of the complex flow patterns and aerodynamic phenomena occurring beneath the floor of the car and its vicinity is presented.

In the process of designing the aerodynamic kit for Formula SAE racing cars, there is a lot of repetitive work and low efficiency in optimizing parameters such as wing angle of attack and chord length. Moreover, the optimization of these parameters in past designs heavily relied on design experience and it's difficult to achieve the optimal solution through theoretical calculations. By establishing a parametric model in CAD software and integrating it with CFD software, we can automatically modify model parameters, run a large number of simulations, and analyze the simulation results using statistical methods. After multiple iterations, we achieve fully automatic parameter optimization and obtain higher negative lift. At the same time, the simulation process is optimized, and simulations are run based on GPUs, resulting in a significant increase in simulation speed compared to the original.

The AutoDrive Challenge competition sponsored by General Motors and SAE gives undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to get hands-on experience with autonomous vehicle technology and development as they work towards their degree. Michigan Technological University has participated in the AutoDrive Challenge since its inception in 2017 with students participating through MTU’s Robotic System Enterprise. The MathWorks Simulation Challenge has been a component of the competition since its second year, tasking students with the development of perception, control and testing algorithms using MathWorks software products. This paper presents the pedagogical approach graduate student mentors used to enable students to build their understanding of autonomous vehicle concepts using familiar tools. This approach gives undergraduate students a productive experience with these systems that they may not have encountered in coursework within their academic program.

A multi-material design strategy of steel and aluminium alloy is a key solution in response to stringent emission requirements and to offset the additional weight of batteries in electric vehicles. However, dissimilar Al/steel welding is mainly challenging due to the formation of brittle and hard intermetallic compounds (IMC). In order to resolve the issue of IMC formation, the present study proposed an alternative manufacturing method consisting of friction surfacing deposition and arc welding. The proposed method involves two steps for dissimilar welding: step 1, friction surfacing deposition of aluminium alloy on the steel surface and step 2, arc welding of friction surfacing deposited steel and aluminium alloy.

Mo-free 1.6-GPa bolt was developed for a Variable Compression Turbo (VC-Turbo) engine, which is environment friendly and improves fuel efficiency and output. Mo contributes to the improvement of delayed fracture resistance; therefore, the main objective is to achieve both high strength and delayed fracture resistance. Therefore, Si is added to the developed steel to achieve high strength and delayed fracture resistance. The delayed fracture tests were performed employing the Hc/He method. Hc is the limit of the diffusible hydrogen content without causing a delayed fracture under tightening, and He is the diffusible hydrogen content entering under a hydrogen-charging condition equivalent to the actual environment. The delayed fracture resistance is compared between the developed steel and the SCM440 utilized for 1.2-GPa class bolt as a representative of the current high-strength bolts.

The Baja SAE Completion is an extreme off roading event that requires an effective suspension design to survive the many obstacles that make up the racecourses. Without an effective suspension the many participating teams will experience poor performance or even failure within their suspension. This research focuses on the development and optimization of a double wishbone suspension in both the front and rear. Additionally, the design and optimization of a sway bar attached to the rear suspension will be gone through. Both the front and rear suspension will be optimized through three simulations heave, roll, and steering through the use of Optimum Kinematics. The process for placing the coilovers to ensure they will move perpendicular to control arms throughout their travel and ensuring the coilovers length in fully compression and extension are not exceeded will be developed through the use of SolidWorks and Optimum Kinematics.

Hydrogen has recently become a primary focus as a future carbon-free fuel for transportation, especially for heavy duty commercial vehicles. The hydrogen internal combustion engine (H2 ICE) shows promise, as current manufacturing facilities and vehicle architectures can be largely maintained while keeping the initial purchase price of the vehicle relatively low. However, hydrogen combustion engines have challenges to overcome. One of the main challenges is to provide transient response on par with current diesel engines while maintaining low NOx emissions from the engine. Previously, simulations were performed by AVL List GmbH and SuperTurbo Technologies of a mechanically driven turbocharger, the SuperTurbo, on a 13L H2 ICE. This paper covers follow on work of actual engine testing of the H2 ICE with the SuperTurbo in an effort to reproduce the simulation results with engine test data.

Automotive body structures are being increasingly made in multi-material system consisting of steel, aluminum (Al) and fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP). Therefore, many joining techniques such as self-piercing riveting (SPR) and adhesive bonding have been developed. On the other hand, OEMs want to minimize the number of joining techniques to reduce the manufacturing complexity. Amount all joining methods, resistance spot welding (RSW) is the most advanced and cost-effective one for body-in-white. However, RSW cannot be applied for joining dissimilar materials. Therefore, a novel Rivet Resistance Spot Welding method (RRSW) was developed in which Al or FRP components can be directly welded to steel structures with existing welding systems. RRSW uses rivet-like double T-shaped steel elements as a welding adapter which are formed or integrated into Al or FRP components during their forming process. After that, they are welded to the steel components by RSW.

A novel one-dimensional multiphase and multicomponent spray model - hereafter referred to as the Kattke-Weigand model - has been developed to predict the penetration length of both vapor and liquid gasoline sprays under flash-boiling conditions, such as superheated injections. Its formulation is based on mass and momentum equations for unsteady jets and is therefore capable of capturing dynamic effects. Experiments were conducted in a constant volume chamber using various ambient and fuel temperature conditions and a six-hole GDI injector with a separated jet. Macroscopic spray parameters were extracted from the measurements to verify the model's ability to predict both liquid and vapor penetration length and the corresponding spray angles. Apart from the separated jet of the injector used, the other five jets interact strongly with each other under flash boiling conditions, resulting in spray collapse, and thus affecting spray characteristics.

With the rapid development of electric vehicles, the demands for lithium-ion batteries and advanced battery technologies are growing. Today, lithium-ion batteries mainly use liquid electrolytes, containing organic compounds such as dimethyl carbonate and ethylene carbonate as solvents for the lithium salts. However, when thermal runaway occurs, the electrolyte decomposes, venting combustible gases that could readily be ignited when mixed with air and leading to pronounced heat release from the combustion of the mixture. So far, the chemical behavior of electrolytes during thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries is not comprehensively understood. Well-validated compact chemical kinetic mechanisms of the electrolyte components are required to describe this process in CFD simulations. In this work, submechanisms of dimethyl carbonate and ethylene carbonate were developed and adopted in the Ansys Model Fuel Library (MFL).

Given the spread of natural gas engines in low-term toward decarbonization and the growing interest in gaseous mixtures as well as the use of hydrogen in Heavy-Duty (HD) engines, appropriate strategies are needed to maximize thermal efficiency and achieve near-zero emissions from these propulsor systems. In this context, some phenomena related to real-world driving operations, such as engine cut-off or misfire, can lead to inadequate control of the Air-to-Fuel ratio, key factor for Three-Way Catalyst (TWC) efficiency. Goal of the present research activity is to investigate the performance of a bio-methane-fueled HD engine and its Aftertreatment System (ATS), consisting of a Three-Way Catalyst, at different Air-to-Fuel ratio. An experimental test bench characterization, in different operating conditions of the engine workplan, was carried out to evaluate the catalyst reactivity to a defined pattern of the Air-to-Fuel ratio.

In the face of growing concerns about environmental sustainability and urban congestion, the integration of eco-driving strategies has emerged as a pivotal solution in the field of the urban transportation sector. This study explores the potential benefits of a CAV functioning as a virtual eco-driving controller in an urban traffic scenario with a group of following human-driven vehicles. A computationally inexpensive and realistic powertrain model and energy management system of the Chrysler Pacifica PHEV are developed with the field experiment data and integrated into a forward-looking vehicle simulator to implement and validate an eco-driving speed planning and energy management strategy assuming longitudinal automation. The eco-driving algorithm determines the optimal vehicle speed profile and energy management strategy.

In the racing world, speed is everything, and the Formula Student cars are no different. As one of the key means to improve the speed of the car, lightweight plays an important role in the racing world. The weight reduction of unsprung metal parts can not only improve the driving speed, but also effectively optimize the dynamic of the car, so the lightweight design of unsprung parts has attracted much attention. In the traditional Formula Student racing car, the hub and spoke are two independent parts, they are fixed by four hub bolts or a central locking nut, the material of these fasteners is usually steel, so it brings a lot of weight burden. In order to achieve unsprung lightweight, a new type of wheel part design of Formula Student racing car is proposed in this paper. The hub and spoke are designed as integrated aluminum alloy parts, effectively eliminating the mass of hub bolts or central locking nuts.

Due to increasingly strict emission regulations, the demand for internal combustion engine performance has enhanced. Combustion stability is one of the main research focuses due to its impacts on the emission level. Moreover, the combustion instability becomes more significant under the lean combustion concept, which is an essential direction of internal combustion engine development. The combustion instability is represented as the cycle-to-cycle variation. This paper presents a quasi-dimensional model system for predicting the cycle-to-cycle variation in 0D/1D simulation. The modeling is based on the cause-and-effect chain of cycle-to-cycle variation of spark ignition engines, which is established through the flow field analysis of large eddy simulation results [1]. In the model system, varying parameters are turbulent kinetic energy, the distribution of air-to-fuel equivalence ratio, and the in-cylinder velocity field.

Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a proven strategy for the reduction of NOX emissions in spark ignited (SI) engines and compression ignition engines, especially in lean burn conditions where the increase of thermal efficiency is obtained. The dilution level of the mixture with EGR is in a conventional SI engine limited by the increase of combustion instability (CoV IMEP). A possible method to extend the EGR dilution level and ensure stable combustion is the implementation of an active pre-chamber combustion system. The pre-chamber spark ignited (PCSI) engine enables fast and stable combustion of lean mixtures in the main chamber by utilizing high ignition energy of multiple flame jets penetrating from the pre-chamber to the main chamber. In this paper, as an initial research step, a numerical analysis is performed by employing the 0D/1D simulation model, validated with the initial experimental and 3D-CFD results.

The push for environmental protection and sustainability has led to strict emission regulations for automotive manufacturers as evident in EURO VII and 2026 EPA requirements. The challenge lies in maintaining fuel efficiency and simultaneously reducing the carbon footprint while meeting future emission regulations. Alcohol (primarily methanol, ethanol, and butanol) and ether (dimethyl ether) fuels, owing to their comparable energy density to existing fuels, the comparative ease of handling, renewable production, and suitable emission characteristics may present an attractive drop-in replacement, fully or in part as an additive, to the gasoline/diesel fuels, without extensive modifications to the engine geometry. Additionally, lean and diluted combustion are well-researched pathways for efficiency improvement and reduction of engine-out emissions of modern engines.

This study investigates the effects on combustion characteristics of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles as additives for diesel in a constant volume chamber. Depending on the amount of aluminum oxide nanoparticles added, the test fuels are labeled as DA25, DA50, and DA100, which represent 25, 50, and 100 mg of aluminum oxide nanoparticles into 1 L of pure diesel, respectively. The ambient temperature for this experiment ranged from 800 to 1200 K to cover conventional and low-temperature combustion regimes. The oxygen concentration ranged from 21% to 13% to simulate different levels of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). Based on in-cylinder pressure traces and results of apparent heat release rates, there was an improvement in combustion characteristics with the addition of aluminum oxide nanoparticles.

The increasing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and shift away from fossil fuels has raised an interest for methanol. Methanol can be produced from renewable sources and can drastically lower soot emissions from compression ignition engines (CI). As a result, research and development efforts have intensified focusing on the use of methanol as a replacement for diesel in CI engines. The issue with methanol lies in the fact that methanol is challenging to ignite through compression alone, particularly at low-load and cold starts conditions. This challenge arises from methanol's high octane number, low heating value, and high heat of vaporization, all of which collectively demand a substantial amount of heat for methanol to ignite through compression.