Search Results

Gasoline-related factors that affect low-speed pre-ignition (LSPI) include the distillation properties of gasoline, manganese (Mn), ethanol, diesel fuel, detergent for aftermarket, and iron (Fe). The combined effect of Mn with ethanol or high calcium engine oil (high-Ca oil) has not been sufficiently clarified. Therefore, appropriate countermeasures for LSPI have not yet been implemented. To clarify the effect of the gasoline properties and additives on LSPI, engine tests were conducted using gasoline with different “PM Index” values, an indicator of distillation properties, different concentrations of Mn, ethanol, diesel fuel, detergent, Fe, and high-Ca oil. The results showed that the LSPI frequency tended to increase with the PM Index, Mn up to 60 ppm, diesel fuel up to 2 vol.%, and detergent up to three times the standard amount.

The spray structure and vaporization processes of flash-boiling sprays in a constant volume chamber under a wide range of superheated conditions were experimentally investigated by a high speed imaging technique. The Engine Combustion Network’s Spray G injector was used. Four fuels including gasoline, ethanol, and gasoline-ethanol blends E30 and E50 were investigated. Spray penetration length and spray width were correlated to the degree of the superheated degree, which is the ratio of the ambient pressure to saturated vapor pressure (pa/ps). It is found that parameter pa/ps is critical in describing the spray transformation under flash-boiling conditions. Three distinct stages namely the slight flash-boiling, the transition flash-boiling, and the flare flash-boiling are identified to describe the transformation of spray structures.

Light-duty China-6, which is among the most stringent vehicle exhaust emission standards globally, mandates the monitoring and reporting of real driving emissions (RDE) from July, 2023. In the process of regulation promulgation and verification, more than 300 RDE tests have been performed on over 50 China-5 and China-6 certified models. This technical paper endeavors to summarize the experience of RDE practice in China, and discuss the impacts of some boundary conditions (including vehicle dynamic parameters, data processing methods, hybrid propulsion and testing altitude) on the result of RDE measurement. In general, gasoline passenger cars confront few challenges to meet the upcoming RDE NOx requirement, but some China-5 certified samples, even powered by naturally-aspirated engines may have PN issues. PN emissions from some GDI-hybrid powertrain systems also need further reduction to meet China-6 RDE requirements.

The advanced Pedestrian Legform Impactor (aPLI) incorporates a number of enhancements for improved lower limb injury prediction capability with respect to its predecessor, the FlexPLI. The aPLI also incorporates a simplified upper body part (SUBP), connected to the lower limb via a mechanical hip joint, that expands the impactor’s applicability to evaluate pedestrian’s lower limb injury risk also in high-bumper cars.As the aPLI has been developed to be used in standardized testing, further considerations on the impactor’s manufacturability, robustness, durability, usability, and repeatability need to be accounted for.. The aim of this study is to define and verify, by means of numerical analysis, a battery of design modifications that may simplify the manufacturing and use of physical aPLIs, without reducing the impactors’ biofidelity. Eight candidate parameters were investigated in a two-step numerical analysis.

Particulate matter emissions are becoming a big issue for GDI engines as the emission regulations being more stringent. Methanol has been considered to be an important alternative fuel to reduce soot emissions. To understand the effect of methanol addition on soot and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) formation, the 2-D distributions of soot volume fraction and different size PAHs relative concentrations in methanol/gasoline laminar diffusion flames were measured by TC-LII and PLIF techniques. The effect of methanol was investigated under the conditions of the same carbon flow and the same flame height. The methanol volume fraction was set as M0/20/40/60/80. The results showed that the natural luminescent flame lift-off height and soot lift-off height increases consistently with the increasing methanol content due to the increase of outlet velocity of fuel vapor.

This study addresses the virtual optimization of the technical specifications for a recently developed Advanced Pedestrian Legform Impactor (aPLI). The aPLI incorporates a number of enhancements for improved lower limb injury predictability with respect to its predecessor, the FlexPLI. It also incorporates an attached Simplified Upper Body Part (SUBP) that enables the impactor’s applicability to evaluate pedestrian’s lower limb injury risk also with high-bumper cars. The response surface methodology was applied to optimize both the aPLI’s lower limb and SUBP specifications, while imposing a total mass upper limit of 25 kg that complies with international standards for maximum weight lifting allowed for a single operator in the laboratory setting. All parameters were virtually optimized considering variable interaction, which proved critical to avoid misleading specifications.

In applying the ISO 26262 controllability classification for motorcycles in actual riding tests, a subjective evaluation by expert riders is considered to be the appropriate approach from the viewpoint of safety. We studied the construction of an expert-rider-based C class evaluation method for motorcycles and developed some evaluation test cases reproducing various hazardous events. We determined that it was necessary to accumulate more evaluation cases for further representative scenarios and that, to avoid variations in such evaluations, a method in which different expert riders can carry out testing following a common understanding had to be devised. Considering these problems for practical application, this study aimed at establishing an actual riding test method for C class evaluation by expert riders and to develop a deeper understanding of test procedures and management.

ISO 26262, an international functional safety standard of electrical and/or electronic systems (E/E systems) for motor vehicles, was published in November 2011 and it is expected that the scope will be extended to motorcycles in a second edition of ISO 26262 going to be published in 2018. ISO/DIS 26262 second edition published in 2016 has Part 12 as a new part in order to apply ISO 26262 to motorcycle. Proper estimation of Exposure, Controllability, and Severity in accordance with ISO/DIS 26262 Part 12, are key factors to determine Motorcycle Safety Integrity Level. To estimate precise these factors, there would be a case that it might not be appropriate to apply studies done for passenger car to motorcycle, and it would be necessary to apply motorcycle specific knowledge and estimation methods. In our previous studies we clarified these motorcycle specific issues and studied the method for the adaptation.

Soot emission, known as PM (particulate matter), is becoming a big issue for GDI engines as the emission regulations being increasingly stricter. It is found that ethanol, as an oxygenated bio-fuel, can reduce the soot emission when added to gasoline. In order to fully understand the effect of ethanol on soot reducing, the soot characteristics of ethanol/gasoline blends were studied on laminar diffusion flames. In this experiment, the blending ratio of ethanol/gasoline was set as E0/20/40/60/80. Considering the carbon content decreasing due to ethanol addition, carbon mass flow rate was remained constant. The two-dimensional distributions of soot volume fraction were measured quantitatively by using two-color laser induced incandescence technique. The results showed that ethanol is able to decrease the soot significantly, but the effect of ethanol on soot reduction is weakened with the increasing ethanol ratio.

ISO 26262 was established in 2011 as a functional safety standard for road vehicles. This standard provides safety requirements according to ASIL (Automotive Safety Integrity Level) in order to avoid unreasonable residual risk caused by malfunctioning behavior of electrical and/or electronic systems. The ASIL is determined by considering the estimate of three factors including injury severity. While applicable only to passenger cars at present, motorcycles will be included in the scope of application of ISO 26262 in the next revision. Therefore, our previous study focused on severity class evaluation for motorcycles. A method of classifying injury severity according to vehicle speed was developed on the basis of accident data. In addition, a severity table for motorcycles was created using accident data in representative collision configurations involved with motorcycles in Japan.

ISO 26262, an international functional safety standard of electrical and/or electronic systems (E/E systems) for motor vehicles, was published in November 2011 and it is expected that the scope will be extended to motorcycles in a second edition of ISO 26262 going to be published in 2018. In order to apply ISO 26262 to motorcycle, proper estimation of Exposure, Controllability, and Severity are key factors to determine Motorcycle Safety Integrity Level (MSIL). Exposure is a factor to indicate the probability of the state of an operational situation that can be hazardous with the E/E system malfunction. And it is not easy to estimate the motorcycle Exposure due to less availability of back ground data in actual operational situation compared to motor vehicle. Therefore real traffic situation should be investigated in order to provide rationales for MSIL determination.

Along with the booming expansion of private car preservation, many Chinese cities are now struggling with hazy weather and ground-level ozone contamination. Although central government has stepped up efforts to purify skies above China, counter-strategies to curb ground-level ozone is comparatively weak. By using maximum incremental reactivity (MIR) method, this paper estimated the ozone forming potential for twenty-five Euro-3 to Euro-5 passenger cars burning conventional gasoline, methanol-gasoline, ethanol-gasoline, neat methanol and compressed natural gas (CNG). The results showed that, for all the fuel tested, VOC/NOx ratios and SR values decreased with the upgrading of emission standard. Except for Euro-3 M100 and Euro-4 M85, SR values for alternative fuel were to different degrees smaller than those for gasoline. When the emission standard was shifted from Euro-4 to Euro-5, OFP values estimated for gasoline vehicle decreased.

ISO 26262 was established in 2011 as a functional safety standard for passenger cars. In this standard, ASILs (Automotive Safety Integrity Levels) representing safety levels for passenger cars are determined by evaluating the hazardous events associated with each item constituting an electrical and/or electronic safety-related system according to three evaluation criteria including injury severity. On the other hand, motorcycles will be included in the scope of application of ISO 26262 in the next revision. It is expected that a severity evaluation for motorcycles will be needed because motorcycles are clearly different from passenger cars in vehicle mass and structure. Therefore, this study focused on severity class evaluation for motorcycles. A method of classifying injury severity according to vehicle speed was developed on the basis of accident data.

Simulation based design optimization has become the common practice in automotive product development. Increasing computer models are developed to simulate various dynamic systems. Before applying these models for product development, model validation needs to be conducted to assess their validity. In model validation, for the purpose of obtaining results successfully, it is vital to select or develop appropriate metrics for specific applications. For dynamic systems, one of the key obstacles of model validation is that most of the responses are functional, such as time history curves. This calls for the development of a metric that can evaluate the differences in terms of phase shift, magnitude and shape, which requires information from both time and frequency domain. And by representing time histories in frequency domain, more intuitive information can be obtained, such as magnitude-frequency and phase-frequency characteristics.

One of the major challenges in multiobjective, multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) is the long computational time required in evaluating the new designs' performances. To shorten the cycle time of product design, a data mining-based strategy is developed to improve the efficiency of heuristic optimization algorithms. Based on the historical information of the optimization process, clustering and classification techniques are employed to identify and eliminate the low quality and repetitive designs before operating the time-consuming design evaluations. The proposed method improves design performances within the same computation budget. Two case studies, one mathematical benchmark problem and one vehicle side impact design problem, are conducted as demonstration.

Current legform impact test methods using the FlexPLI have been developed to protect pedestrians from lower limb injuries in collisions with low-bumper vehicles. For this type of vehicles, the influence of the upper body on the bending load generated in the lower limb is compensated by setting the impact height of the FlexPLI 50 mm above that of pedestrians. However, neither the effectiveness of the compensation method of the FlexPLI nor the influence of the upper body on the bending load generated in the lower limb of a pedestrian has been clarified with high-bumper vehicles. In this study, therefore, two computer simulation analyses were conducted in order to analyze: (1) The influence of the upper body on the bending load generated in the lower limb of a pedestrian when impacted by high-bumper vehicles and (2) The effectiveness of the compensation method for the lack of the upper body by increasing impact height of the FlexPLI for high-bumper vehicles.

As a probable solution to both energy and environmental crisis, methanol and methanol gasoline have been used as gasoline surrogates in several provinces of China. Most recently, the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China is drafting a special emission standard for methanol-fueled light-duty vehicles. Given the scarcity of available data, this paper evaluated regulated emissions, carbonyl compounds and particulate matter from a China-5 certificated gasoline/methanol dual-fuel vehicle over New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). The results elucidated that in context with gasoline mode, CO emitted in methanol mode decreased 11.2%, while no evident changes of THC and NOx emissions were noticed with different fueling regimes. The total carbonyls and formaldehyde have increased by 39.5% and 19.8% respectively after switching from gasoline to methanol. A remarkable decrease of 65.6% in particulate matter was observed in methanol mode.

Since their inception, the design of airbag sensing systems has continued to evolve. The evolution of air bag sensing system design has been rapid. Electromechanical sensors used in earlier front air bag applications have been replaced by multi-point electronic sensors used to discriminate collision mechanics for potential air bag deployment in front, side and rollover accidents. In addition to multipoint electronic sensors, advanced air bag systems incorporate a variety of state sensors such as seat belt use status, seat track location, and occupant size classification that are taken into consideration by air bag system algorithms and occupant protection deployment strategies. Electronic sensing systems have allowed for the advent of event data recorders (EDRs), which over the past decade, have provided increasingly more information related to air bag deployment events in the field.

Robustness/Reliability Assessment and Optimization (RRAO) is often computationally expensive because obtaining accurate Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) may require a large number of design samples. This is especially true where computationally expensive high fidelity CAE simulations are involved. Approximation methods such as the Polynomial Chaos Expansion (PCE) and other Response Surface Methods (RSM) have been used to reduce the number of time-consuming design samples needed. However, for certain types of problems require the RRAO, one of the first question to consider is which method can provide an accurate and affordable UQ for a given problem. To answer the question, this paper tests the PCE, RSM and pure sampling based approaches on each of the three selected test problems: the Ursem Waves mathematical function, an automotive muffler optimization problem, and a vehicle restraint system optimization problem.

This study proposes a method for presenting maneuver request information of accelerator pedal to a driver via the accelerator pedal itself. By applying periodic force like vibration on an accelerator pedal, information is transferred to the driver without displacing the accelerator pedal. In this study, the authors focus on a saw-tooth wave as the periodic force. When the saw-tooth-waved force is applied on the accelerator pedal, a human driver feels as if the accelerator pedal is knocked by someone periodically. In addition, information about the quantity of requested maneuver can be transferred by the amplitude of the saw-tooth wave. Based on these facts, the saw-tooth wave is modified and optimized empirically with ten human drivers so that the information of direction is transferred most reliably. In addition, the relationship between the amplitude of the saw-tooth wave and requested quantity of the pedal maneuver that the drivers feel is formulated.