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This year, in the third year of FutureTruck competition, the Ohio State University team has taken the challenge to convert a 2002 Ford Explorer into a more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly SUV. This goal was achieved by use of a post-transmission, charge sustaining, parallel hybrid diesel-electric drivetrain. The main power source is a 2.5-liter, 103 kW advanced CIDI engine manufactured by VM Motori. A 55 kW Ecostar AC induction electric motor provides the supplemental power. The powertrain is managed by a state of the art supervisory control system which optimizes powertrain characteristics using advanced energy management and emission control algorithms. A unique driver interface implementing advanced telematics, and an interior designed specifically to reduce weight and be more environmentally friendly add to the utility of the vehicle as well as the consumer appeal.

With the introduction of common rail fuel injection system enabling multiple injections per stroke and stringent pollutant emission standards, the optimization and calibration of modern compression ignition direct injection (CIDI) engines become more complex. Thus, a simple and efficient tool for CIDI combustion simulation with arbitrary fuel injection profile is required today. A crank-angle resolved combustion model was developed and validated by using a fuel injection rig and an engine dynamometer for the parameterization. With the calibrated models, accurate prediction of the in-cylinder pressure and NOx and also a virtual dynamometer mapping are possible. The results from these virtual mappings can be used to calibrate the black-box combustion models in control-oriented, dynamic Mean Value Models (MVM).