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A dual-loop waste heat recovery system with Rankine steam cycles for improving the fuel efficiency of gasoline automobiles has been investigated. A high-temperature (HT) loop recovers waste heat only from the exhaust gas. A low-temperature (LT) loop recovers heat dissipation from the HT loop, and waste heat from the engine coolant. The two separate loops are coupled with a heat exchanger. This paper has dealt with the layout of the dual loop system, a review of working fluids, and the design of the cycle. The design points and the target heat recoveries of the HT boiler and LT boiler, which are core parts of their loops respectively, have been presented. The prototype of the HT boiler was evaluated by an experiment. For the performance evaluation of the HT boiler, the inlet temperature condition of the HT boiler working fluid was set to a degree of subcool of 5°C. The exit condition was the degree of superheat, which was set at 5°C.

As environmental problems such as global warming are emerging, regulations on automobile exhaust gas are strengthened and various exhaust gas reduction technologies are being developed in various countries in order to satisfy exhaust emission regulations. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology is a very effective way to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) at high combustion temperatures by using EGR coolers to lower the combustion temperature. This EGR cooler has been mass-produced in stainless steel, but it is expensive and heavy. Recently, high efficiency and compactness are required for the EGR cooler to meet the new emission regulation. If aluminum material is applied to the EGR cooler, heat transfer efficiency and light weight can be improved due to high heat transfer coefficient of aluminum compared to conventional stainless steel, but durability is insufficient. Therefore, the aluminum EGR cooler has been developed to enhance performance and durability.

High strength oil-tempered wire was developed to apply to light-weight valve spring for automotive engine. By adding Mo, V, B and Ni, tensile strength increased by 20% compared to the conventional oil-tempered wire. Higher tensile strength of wire enabled a constant of valve spring to lower by reducing the size of spring. As a result, reduction of spring constant lowers the load of spring, thereby enhancing fuel efficiency.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and reduce a knocking noise from a rear suspension. First, the characteristics of a knocking noise are analyzed experimentally in the frequency domain. It was found that the knocking noise of a passenger room and vibration at a lower arm, a subframe and a floor are strongly correlated. Second, the knocking noise sensitivity is strongly dependent on suspension dynamics characteristics. Moreover, the improvement of ride comfort and noise was achieved simultaneously based on simulation analysis, principle vehicle testing. A design parameter study shows that the trailing arm bush stiffness, shock absorber bump/rebound damping characteristics, floor stiffness and shock absorber insulator bushing are one of the most sensitive parameter to affect the suspension knocking noise. Finally, this paper shows how the suspension knocking noise and ride comfort can be improved considering handling performance.

A fractional recirculation of cabin air was proposed and studied to improve cabin air quality by reducing cabin particle concentrations. Vehicle tests were run with differing number of passengers (1, 2, 3, and 4), four fan speed settings and at 20, 40, and 70 mph. A manual control was installed for the recirculation flap door so different ratios of fresh air to recirculated air could be used. Full recirculation is the most efficient setting in terms of thermal management and particle concentration reduction, but this causes elevated CO₂ levels in the cabin. The study demonstrated cabin CO₂ concentrations could be controlled below a target level of 2000 ppm at various driving conditions and fan speeds with more than 85% of recirculation. The proposed fractional air recirculation method is a simple yet innovative way of improving cabin air quality. Some energy saving is also expected, especially with the air conditioning system.

In order to align with net-zero CO2 ambitions, automotive OEMs have been developing increasingly sophisticated strategies to minimise the impact that combustion engines have on the environment. Intelligent thermal management systems to actively control coolant flow around the engine have a positive impact on friction generated in the power cylinder by improving the warmup rate of cylinder liners and heads. This increase in temperature results in an improved frictional performance and cycle averaged fuel consumption, but also increases the piston to liner clearances due to rapid warm up of the upper part of the cylinder head. These increased clearances can introduce piston slap noise and substantially degrade the NVH quality to unacceptable levels, particularly during warmup after soak at low ambient temperatures. Using analytical techniques, it is possible to model the thermo-structural and NVH response of the power cylinder with different warm up strategies.

Generally, the HVAC system of a vehicle is composed of Blower unit assembly and Heater unit assembly, and is located on the driver’s side of the dash panel. However, electric vehicles have far fewer parts than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, so electric vehicles have large space in the engine room. This allows HVAC, which occupies large volume in the interior side, to be pushed in the direction of the engine room altogether, or by placing a part inside the engine room to make a slim cockpit and expand the interior space. However, this new structure, called the Split HVAC System, is mounted through the dash, allowing noise to pass through relatively easily. Since this adversely affects the NVH of an electric vehicle, it needs to be developed in terms of noise transmission. Therefore, in this paper, a study was conducted to predict the sound transmission loss of Split HVAC through an analytical method.

In this paper, an application process is studied at which the insertion loss (IL) test data of sound insulating parts or noise control treatments are utilized for the sound transmission loss (STL) simulation of the trimmed dash structure. The considered sound barrier assemblies were composed of a felt layer, a mass layer, and a decoupler layer. Flat samples of sound barrier assemblies with several different thicknesses were prepared, and ILs of them were measured by using a sound transmission loss facility. Flat samples were assumed to have mass-spring-mass resonance frequencies. The mass was set as the area mass of the sound barrier layer of the felt layer and the mass layer. The spring constant of the decoupler layer was assumed as the multiplication of that of an air spring and a spring correction factor.

Automotive OEMs have introduced a new development paradigm, modular architecture development, to improve diversity quality and production efficiency. It needs solid fundamentals of system-based performance evaluation and development for each system level and single component level. When it comes to NVH development, it is challenging to realize the modular concept because noise and vibration should be transferred through various transfer path consisting of many parts and systems, which interact with each other. It is challenging for a single system of interest to be evaluated independently of the adjacent parts and environments. In this study, a new system-based development process for a vehicle suspension was investigated by applying blocked force theory and FRF-based dynamic substructuring. The objective is to determine the better dynamic stiffness distribution of many bushes installed in a suspension system in the frequency range corresponding to road noise.

The method of Front End Auxiliary Drive (FEAD) system optimization can be divided into two ways. One is to use a mechanical device that decouples crank pulley from torsional vibration of crank shaft by using characteristics of spring. The other is to control belt tension through auto-tensioner in addition of alternator pulley device. Because the former case has more potential to reduce belt tension than the latter case, the development of mechanically decoupled crank pulley, despite of its difficulty of development, is getting popular among the industry. This paper characterizes latest crank pulley technologies, Crank Decoupler and Isolation Pulley, for torsional vibration reduction through functionality measurement result which composed of irregularity, slip, tensioner movement, belt span vibration, bearing hubload of idler and so on. Also it investigates their potential of belt tension reduction through steady state point fuel consumption test on dynamometer.

This paper introduces a newly developed suspension system for new Elantra model of Hyundai Motor Company which will be on the market this year. The new chassis of Elantra has been developed to give more driving pleasure and confidence to a driver. To achieve these driving targets, the suspension has been changed and finely adjusted to achieve better ride and handling performance compared with the previous generation. Especially, a new multi-link suspension which has two upper links has been developed. The kinematics and compliance characteristics have been contrasted to those of the previous model. Also, the crashworthiness and package efficiency has been considered without limitation of suspension performance. Based on the customer's voice of market, the suspension of new Elantra has tried to fit the all kind of the customer's demand.

In terms of the responsive quality of cars, reducing the vibration of car seats is very important, as this vibration is transmitted directly to the driver. Here, a sensitivity analysis method was used to reasonably reduce the vibration of car seats at minimal cost. A laboratory test was conducted under two excitation conditions: first, vibration in idle state; second, random vibration not exceeding 100 Hz. To determine the reliability of the laboratory test, the actual vibration in idle state was simulated in a multi-axial simulation table for the idle excitation environment of cars that are sensitive to even the smallest changes in the environment. The frequencies of interest were selected by adding the sums of frequency response functions measured at the 24 nodal points of interest under the two excitation conditions.

Suspension is a system which operates dynamically according to road condition unlike other system statically mounted to the body. Especially this is more remarkable in high performance vehicle because there are more high inputs from road to suspension than normal vehicle. For this reason, the tightening torque of suspension system of high performance vehicle is more important than other systems and normal vehicle. To support the clamping between parts against force from road when cornering, optimized tightening torque is required to maximize R&H performance. For this optimization, it should be conducted first to comprehend how much performance effects on vehicle by tightening torque. This paper presents relationship between tightening torque of suspension parts hardware and R&H performance.

A thermal fluid flow analysis for multiflow channel(MFC) condenser for automotive air-conditioning system using HFC-134a refrigerant has been carried out. The present study has been done as a part of the work intended to develop a design tool of HFC-134a refrigerant air conditioning system for passenger vehicle by applying a steady state simulation scheme to obtain the performance optimization. Thermodynamic and flow properties of HFC-134a refrigerant and temperature profile of the air flow over the surface of MFC condenser are predicted as a function of flow channel distance using a model of finite difference method. Variations of the heat transfer rate and pressure distribution are predicted under consideration of the actual multiflow channel constructions. The results of the predicted analysis obtained from the simulation analytical model were found to be conform with the known actual operation conditions of HFC-134a condenser in passenger vehicle air conditioning system.

Design optimization of a vehicle is required to increase a product value for noise and vibration performances and for a fuel-efficient car. This paper describes the development process of a high stiffness and lightweight vehicle. A parameter study is carried out at the initial stage of design using the mother car, and a design guide with a good performance is achieved early prior to the development of the proto car. Influences of body stiffness based on the relative weight ratio of the floor and side structures are analyzed. Results show that bending and torsional stiffness has a significant effect on weight distribution ratio. Influences of the distribution of side joint stiffness are analyzed through numerical experiments. Results reveal that the stiffness difference between the upper and lower parts should be small to increase the stiffness of a body.

This paper introduces newly developed suspension system for new Sonata model of Hyundai Motor Company which will be on the market this year. The new chassis of Sonata has been developed to give more driving pleasure and confidence to a driver. To achieve these driving target, suspension has been changed and finely adjusted to achieve better ride and handling performance compared to previous generation. The kinematics and compliance characteristics have been contrasted to those of previous model. Also, the crashworthiness and package efficiency which related to suspension layout has been considered without limitation of suspension performance. Based on the customer’s voice of market, the suspension of new Sonata has tried to fit the all kind of the customer’s demand.

This paper presents the development of the active geometry control suspension(AGCS) system as the world-first, unique and patented chassis technology, which has more advantages than the conventional active chassis control systems in terms of basic concept. The control approach of the conventional systems such as active suspensions(slow active, full active) and four wheel steering(4WS) system is directly to control the same direction with acting load to stabilize vehicle behavior resulting from external inputs, but AGCS controls the cause of vehicle behaviors occurring from vehicle and thus makes the system stable because it works as mechanical system after control action. The effect of AGCS is the remarkable enhancement of avoidance performance in abrupt lane change driving by controlling the rear bump toe geometry.

The purpose of this paper is an attempt to make a good compromise between ride and handling without deteriorating each other. Compromise between ride and handling has been a problem for suspension designer. Attempts are made by varing suspension parameters. Effects of each combination has been tested with basic ride and handling test methods. For ride to maintain a constant natural frequency through all load range was a primary target. And for handling to get adequate roll angle at 0.5g lateral acceleration was a target. In conclusion, combination of polyurethane suspension bump and normal rear spring was proved to be able to provide the best compromise, low cost, light weight and better performance. This also showed polyurethane bumper could carry out spring aids successfully.

This paper introduces newly developed suspension system for the all-new SantaFe model of Hyundai Motor Company which will be on the market this year. The new suspension of the all-new SantaFe has been developed to give better handling and driving confidence to a driver compared to the previous model while maintaining a good ride experience. To achieve these targets, the suspension has been fully changed and finely adjusted. The compliance characteristics have been contrasted to those of the previous model. Also, the crash performance and package efficiency which are related to suspension layout has been considered without limitation of suspension performance. Based on the customer’s voice of market, the suspension of the newly developed SantaFe has tried to fit the various customer’s demands.

In the path following problem, a commercial vehicle has a delay of a hydraulic steering actuator and slow steering response accordingly. In addition, there are disturbances due to the harsh driving conditions of commercial vehicles. These disturbances may include uncertainties about actuator dynamic delay, modeling error and steering angle sensor offset. Designing a lateral controller with good performance that can overcome this problem is the key to successfully carrying out autonomous driving of commercial vehicles. Usually, it is difficult to consider disturbances with uncertainties in the geometric based control methods. Therefore, this paper proposed a lateral controller using feedback augmented disturbance observer for the commercial vehicle. First, a dynamics was modeled which can describe delay of the hydraulic actuator of the commercial vehicle. After that, a lateral controller was designed based on this dynamics model.