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The paper presents a semi-empirical model to predict refrigerant and lubricant inventory in both evaporator and condenser of an automotive air conditioning (MAC) system. In the model, heat exchanger is discretized into small volumes. Temperature, pressure and mass inventory are calculated by applying heat transfer, pressure drop and void fraction correlations to these volumes respectively. Refrigerant and lubricant are treated as a zeotropic mixture with a temperature glide. As refrigerant evaporates or condenses, thermophysical properties are evaluated accordingly with the change of lubricant concentration. Experimental data is used to validate the model. As a result, refrigerant and lubricant mass is predicted within 20% in the evaporator. However, in the condenser, lubricant mass was consistently under-predicted while refrigerant mass was predicted within 15% error. Moreover, the lubricant under-prediction becomes more significant at higher Oil Circulation Ratio (OCR).

Ejector as a work recovery device offers potential for developing energy efficient heating and cooling systems based on vapor compression technology. For applications like automobile air conditioning, the operating conditions vary significantly which can lead to considerable performance degradation when the system is operated in off-design conditions. Therefore, system designing warrants development of accurate ejector performance models for a wide range of operating conditions. In this paper, a novel methodology for ejector performance maps is proposed using ejector efficiency as performance parameter and volumetric entrainment ratio as characterization parameter. The proposed performance map is developed after conducting experiments to find appropriate performance representation where ejector driven flow can be characterized using ejector motive flow. The developed performance map can predict ejector pressure lift within an accuracy of 20% using an iterative solver.

This paper presents a simulation model for a reversible air conditioning and heat pump system for electric vehicles. The system contains a variable speed compressor, three microchannel heat exchangers, an accumulator, and two electronic expansion valves. Heat exchangers are solved by discretizing into cells. Compressor and accumulator models are developed by fitting data with physical insights. Expansion valves are modeled by isenthalpic processes. System performance is calculated by connecting all parts in the same way as the physical system and solved iteratively. The model is reasonably validated against experimental data from a separate experimental study. Future improvement is needed to take into account maldistribution in outdoor heat exchanger working as an evaporator in HP mode. Charge retention in components also requires further study.

With the development of advanced ABE fermentation technology, the volumetric percentage of acetone, butanol and ethanol in the bio-solvents can be precisely controlled. To seek for an optimized volumetric ratio for ABE-diesel blends, the previous work in our team has experimentally investigated and analyzed the combustion features of ABE-diesel blends with different volumetric ratio (A: B: E: 6:3:1; 3:6:1; 0:10:0, vol. %) in a constant volume chamber. It was found that an increased amount of acetone would lead to a significant advancement of combustion phasing whereas butanol would compensate the advancing effect. Both spray dynamic and chemistry reaction dynamic are of great importance in explaining the unique combustion characteristic of ABE-diesel blend. In this study, a semi-detailed chemical mechanism is constructed and used to model ABE-diesel spray combustion in a constant volume chamber.

This paper develops a model for a parallel microchannel evaporator that incorporates quality variation at the tube inlets and variable mass flow rates among tubes. The flow distribution is based on the equal pressure drop along each flow path containing headers and tubes. The prediction of pressure drop, cooling capacity, and exit superheat strongly agree with 48 different experimental results obtained in four configurations using R134a. Predicted temperature profiles are very close to infrared images of actual evaporator surface. When compared to the uniform distribution model (that assumes uniform distribution of refrigerant mass flow rate and quality) results from the new model indicate superior prediction of cooling capacity, and exit superheat. Model results indicate maldistribution of refrigerant mass flow rate among the parallel tubes, caused primarily by pressure drop in the outlet header.

Thermal fatigue presents a new challenge in cast aluminum engine design. Accurate thermomechanical stress analysis and reliable failure criterion are the keys to a successful life prediction. It is shown that the material stress and strain behavior of cast aluminum is strongly temperature and strain rate sensitive. A unified viscoplasticity constitutive relation is thus proposed to simultaneously describe the plasticity and creep of cast aluminum components deforming at high temperatures. A fatigue failure criterion based on a damage accumulation model is introduced. Damages due to mechanical fatigue, environmental impact and creep are accounted for. The material stress and strain model and thermal fatigue model are shown to be effective in accurately capturing features of thermal fatigue by simulating a component thermal fatigue test using 3D FEA with ABAQUS and comparing the results with measured data.

As international markets and competitiveness gain importance in the automobile industry, interest in the issue of standards harmonization is growing. Currently, the main efforts aimed at harmonizing standards are run through the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE). One major area of ongoing progress is safety standard harmonization. One main conflict affecting resolution of this issue is the fundamental difference in regulation administration between the United States, Europe, and Japan for safety standards. Of these regions, Europe and Japan follow type approval methods, while the United States adheres to self-certification. This difference bars the United States from participating in efforts to develop a globally accepted type approval system. Key policy alternatives presented are the continuation of U.S. support for current harmonization efforts, the worldwide acceptance of one set of already-existing regulations, and non-harmonization.

Due to the increasing consumption of fossil fuels, alternative fuels in internal combustion engines have attracted a lot of attention in recent years. Ethanol is the most common alternative fuel used in spark ignition (SI) engines due to its advantages of biodegradability, positively impacting emissions reduction as well as octane number improvement. Meanwhile, acetone is well-known as one of the industrial waste solvents for synthetic fibers and most plastic materials. In comparison to ethanol, acetone has a number of more desirable properties for being a viable alternative fuel such as its higher energy density, heating value and volatility.

The motivation of the present work was to understand the mechanism by which alcohols produce less aromatic species in their combustion process than an equal amount of hydrocarbon with similar molecular structure does. Due to its numerous advantages over short-chain alcohols, butanol has been considered very promising in soot reduction. Excluding the influence of spray, vaporization and mixing process in engine cases, an adiabatic constant-pressure reactor model was applied to investigate the effect of butanol additives on aromatic species, which are known to be soot precursors, in fuel-rich butane flames. To keep the carbon flux constant, 5% and 10% oxygen by mass of the fuel were added to butane using butanol additive, respectively. Based on the soot reduction effects proposed in literature, effects on temperature, key radical concentrations and the carbon removal from the pathway to aromatic species were considered to identify the major mechanism of reduction in aromatic species.

Expansion work recovery by two-phase ejector is known to be beneficial to vapor compression cycle performance. However, one of the biggest challenges with ejector vapor compression cycles is that the ejector cycle performance is sensitive to working condition changes which are common in automotive applications. Different working conditions require different ejector geometries to achieve maximum performance. Slightly different geometries may result in substantially different COPs under the same conditions. The ejector motive nozzle throat diameter (motive nozzle restrictiveness) is one of the key parameters that can significantly affect ejector cycle COP. This paper presents the experimental results of the application of a new two-phase nozzle restrictiveness control mechanism to an automotive transcritical R744 ejector cycle.

In this study, the influence of compressor speed, ejector motive nozzle needle position and evaporator inlet metering valve opening on the oil circulation rates (OCRs) of an automotive R744 transcritical standard ejector cycle was experimentally investigated. Significantly higher OCR (~10%) was observed at the evaporator inlet of the ejector cycle than at the high pressure side. It has been observed that evaporator OCR was increased with increasing compressor speed. When the motive nozzle needle moved towards the nozzle throat, both compressor discharge flow rate and evaporator OCR were observed to be significantly lowered. As the evaporator inlet metering valve opening was adjusted, the compressor mass flow rate did not vary significantly while the evaporator mass flow rate decreased with decreasing metering valve opening. The evaporator OCR decreased from 6.5% to 2.2% as the metering valve opening varied from 86% to 27%.

This research compares the responses of a vehicle modeled in the 3D vehicle simulation program SIMON in the HVE simulation operating system against instrumented responses of a 3-axle tractor, 2-axle semi-trailer combination. The instrumented tests were previously described in SAE 2001-01-0139 and SAE 2003-01-1324 as part of a continuous research effort in the area of vehicle dynamics undertaken at the Vehicle Research and Test Center (VRTC). The vehicle inertial and mechanical parameters were measured at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). The tire data was provided by Smithers Scientific Services, Inc. and UMTRI. The series of tests discussed herein compares the modeled and instrumented vehicle responses during quasi-steady state, steady state and transient handling maneuvers, producing lateral accelerations ranging nominally from 0.05 to 0.5 G's.

Using neural networks, an algorithm has been developed to steer a wheel loader vehicle. Mathematical functions have been used in the past in an attempt to model a human in their operation of many types of vehicles. Since such functions can typically only be derived for situations in which the problem domain is thoroughly understood, research continues in an effort to develop a complete “operator model”. Neural Network algorithms were utilized in an attempt to determine the feasibility of accurately modeling the operator of a wheel loader construction vehicle. These algorithms were also used to determine how the control of different vehicle functions might be automated on a wheel loader.

Inlet valve deposits in gasoline engines have a significant effect on engine operation with particular reference to cold starting and driveability. Present methods of quantifying these deposits by weighing them or rating them with the aid of a visual rating scale are recognized as not being reliable indices of the detrimental effect of these deposits. A valve deposit quantification system was developed that relied on the use of machine vision. Algorithms were formulated to track the silhouetted edge profile of a backlit valve from which a valve volume was determined. The valve deposit volume was calculated as the difference in volume between the valve in its clean and coked states. The system was able to detect a minimum coke deposit level of 0.06g at the 95% confidence limit, the accuracy being based on the correlation between the volume as determined by the vision system and the mass of the deposit.

The ability to design and assess new control schemes is integral to the development of any human operated vehicle. Design and placement of controls and gauges effect operator effort, operator visibility, and vehicle aesthetics. By minimizing operator effort designers can insure that productivity is increased for any vehicle. Increased operator visibility helps to make the operation of the vehicle safer. Improved vehicle aesthetics increases customer acceptance which ultimately leads to greater sales. This paper outlines a qualitative method to quickly change and evaluate prototype controls and their placement before they are ever built.

In this paper we demonstrate our work to date on our underactuated two link robot called the Pendubot. First we will overview the Pendubot's design, discussing the components of the linkage and the interface to the PC making up the controller. Parameter identification of the Pendubot is accomplished both by solid modeling methods and energy equation least squares techniques. With the identified parameters, mathematical models are developed to facilitate controller design. The goal of the control is to swing the Pendubot up and balance it about various equilibrium configurations. Two control algorithms are used for this task. Partial feedback linearization techniques are used to design the swing up control. The balancing control is then designed by linearizing the dynamic equations about the desired equilibrium point and using LQR or pole placement techniques to design a stabilizing controller.

A global, systems-level model which characterizes the thermal behavior of internal combustion engines is described in this paper. Based on resistor-capacitor thermal networks, either steady-state or transient thermal simulations can be performed. A two-zone, quasi-dimensional spark-ignition engine simulation is used to determine in-cylinder gas temperature and convection coefficients. Engine heat fluxes and component temperatures can subsequently be predicted from specification of general engine dimensions, materials, and operating conditions. Emphasis has been placed on minimizing the number of model inputs and keeping them as simple as possible to make the model practical and useful as an early design tool. The success of the global model depends on properly scaling the general engine inputs to accurately model engine heat flow paths across families of engine designs. The development and validation of suitable, scalable submodels is described in detail in this paper.

A significant fraction of hydrocarbon (HC) emissions occurs during the cold-start phase of an engine's operating cycle. Fuel drop sizes in the cylinder and impingement of fuel on the cylinder wall are two factors which can affect the HC emissions during this period. Therefore, measurements of in-cylinder drop sizes and wall fuel impingement were made on a steady flow bench at flow rates and manifold vacuum conditions which simulated desired engine operating conditions. Experimental variables included three injector types, two cylinder head geometries, three valve lifts, and two simulated engine speeds. Injector performance was assessed prior to the flow bench studies. Fuel injector performance was found to affect in-cylinder drop size and wall fuel impingement. The dual-jet injector produced two liquid streams which were not atomized into drops at a distance of 10 cm (a typical injector to valve distance) from the injector tip.

The removal of over 40 toxic compounds, including heavy metals, synthetic pesticides and organic compounds, by cellulose acetate (CA) and crosslinked-polyethylenimine (C-PEI) membranes were examined. With few exceptions both membranes removed 97+ percent of the heavy metals and pesticides tested; the C-PEI membrane was found to be somewhat more effective than the CA membrane. In addition, the C-PEI membrane removed 70+ percent of 13 of the 19 organic compounds tested; only two compounds were removed less than 50 percent. In contrast, however, the CA membrane removed less than 50 percent of 16 of the 19 organic compounds tested, and three compounds were found to exhibit negative removal. The ability of C-PEI membrane to remove organic compounds and its resistance to high temperature and pH have made reverse osmosis an effective separation process for the removal of toxic compounds from water.

Six, one hundred eighty horsepower aircraft piston engines have been operated through their normal overhaul life using three different ashless dispersant multi-viscosity aircraft oils. Two of these oils achieved their multi-viscosity characteristics by utilizing some synthetic base stock while the third utilized additional viscosity-index (V-I) improver. The performance of these three oils was compared with that of a conventional, single-grade AD oil in six identical control aircraft engines. The results of this test indicates that multi-viscosity oils provide improved cold-weather starting, less consumption, and comparable wear rates to the six control engines.