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This paper presents the application of a proposed fuzzy inference system as part of a stability control design scheme implemented with active steering actuator sets. The fuzzy inference system is used to detect the level of overseer/understeer at the high level and a speed-adaptive activation module determines whether an active front steering, active rear steering, or active 4 wheel steering is suited to improve vehicle handling stability. The resulting model-free system is capable of minimizing the amount of model calibration during the vehicle stability control development process as well as improving vehicle performance and stability over a wide range of vehicle and road conditions. A simulation study will be presented that evaluates the proposed scheme and compares the effectiveness of active front steer (AFS) and active rear steer (ARS) in enhancing the vehicle performance. Both time and frequency domain results are presented.

A new turbocharged 60° 2.7L 4V-V6 gasoline engine has been developed by Ford Motor Company for both pickup trucks and car applications. This engine was code named “Nano” due to its compact size; it features a 4-valves DOHC valvetrain, a CGI cylinder block, an Aluminum ladder, an integrated exhaust manifold and twin turbochargers. The goal of this engine is to deliver 120HP/L, ULEV70 emission, fuel efficiency improvements and leadership level NVH. This paper describes the upfront design and optimization process used for the NVH development of this engine. It showcases the use of analytical tools used to define the critical design features and discusses the NVH performance relative to competitive benchmarks.

In the thermal expansion valve (TXV) refrigerant system, transient high-pitched whistle around 6.18 kHz is often perceived following air-conditioning (A/C) compressor engagements when driving at higher vehicle speed or during vehicle acceleration, especially when system equipped with the high-efficiency compressor or variable displacement compressor. The objectives of this paper are to conduct the noise source identification, investigate the key factors affecting the whistle excitation, and understand the mechanism of the whistle generation. The mechanism is hypothesized that the whistle is generated from the flow/acoustic excitation of the turbulent flow past the shallow cavity, reinforced by the acoustic/structural coupling between the tube structural and the transverse acoustic modes, and then transmitted to evaporator. To verify the mechanism, the transverse acoustic mode frequency is calculated and it is coincided to the one from measurement.

Driveline plunge mechanism dynamics has a significant contribution to the driver's perceivable transient NVH error states and to the transmission shift quality. As it accounts for the pitch or roll movements of the front powerplant and rear drive unit, the plunging joints exhibit resisting force in the fore-aft direction under various driveline torque levels. This paper tackles the difficult task of quantifying the coefficient of static friction and the coefficient of dynamic friction in a simple to use metric as it performs in the vehicle. The comparison of the dynamic friction to the static friction allows for the detection of the occurrence of stick-slip in the slip mechanism; which enables for immediate determination of the performance of the design parameters such as spline geometry, mating parts fit and finish, and lubrication. It also provides a simple format to compare a variety of designs available to the automotive design engineer.

Drivelines used in modern pickup trucks commonly employ universal joints. This type of joint is responsible for second driveshaft order vibrations in the vehicle. Large displacements of the joint connecting the driveline and the rear axle have a detrimental effect on vehicle NVH. As leaf springs are critical energy absorbing elements that connect to the powertrain, they are used to restrain large axle windup angles. One of the most common types of leaf springs in use today is the multi-stage parabolic leaf spring. A simple SAE 3-link approximation is adequate for preliminary studies but it has been found to be inadequate to study axle windup. A vast body of literature exists on modeling leaf springs using nonlinear FEA and multibody simulations. However, these methods require significant amount of component level detail and measured data. As such, these techniques are not applicable for quick sensitivity studies at design conception stage.

OEMs are racing to develop lightweight vehicles as government regulations now mandate automakers to nearly double the average fuel economy of new cars and trucks by 2025. Lightweight materials such as aluminum, magnesium and carbon fiber composites are being used as structural members in vehicle body and suspension components. The reduction in weight in structural panels increases noise transmission into the passenger compartment. This poses a great challenge in vehicle sound package development since simply increasing weight in sound package components to reduce interior noise is no longer an option [1]. This paper discusses weight saving approaches to reduce noise level at the sources, noise transmission paths, and transmitted noise into the passenger compartment. Lightweight sound package materials are introduced to treat and reduce airborne noise transmission into multi-material lightweight body structure.

Electric vehicles are receiving considerable attention because they offer a more efficient and sustainable transportation alternative compared to conventional fossil-fuel powered vehicles. Since the battery pack represents the primary energy storage component in an electric vehicle powertrain, it requires accurate monitoring and control. In order to effectively estimate the battery pack critical parameters such as the battery state of charge (SOC), state of health (SOH), and remaining capacity, a high-fidelity battery model is needed as part of a robust SOC estimation strategy. As the battery degrades, model parameters significantly change, and this model needs to account for all operating conditions throughout the battery's lifespan. For effective battery management system design, it is critical that the physical model adapts to parameter changes due to aging.

Designing a vehicle body involves meeting numerous performance requirements related to different attributes such as NVH, Durability, Safety, and others. Multi-Disciplinary Optimization (MDO) is an efficient way to develop a design that optimizes vehicle performance while minimizing the weight. Since a body design evolves in course of the product development cycle, it is essential to repeat the MDO process several times as a design matures and more accurate data become available. This paper presents a real life application of the MDO process to reduce weight while optimizing performance over the design cycle of the 2015 Mustang. The paper discusses the timing and results of the applied Multi-Disciplinary Optimization process. The attributes considered during optimization include Safety, Durability and Body NVH. Several iterations of MDO have been performed at different milestones in the design cycle leading to a significant weight reduction of the already optimized design by over 16kg.

Magnesium die-cast alloys are known to have a layered microstructure composed of: (1) An outer skin layer characterized by a refined microstructure that is relatively defect-free; and (2) A “core” (interior) layer with a coarser microstructure having a higher concentration of features such as porosity and externally solidified grains (ESGs). Because of the difference in microstructural features, it has been long suggested that removal of the surface layer by machining could result in reduced mechanical properties in tested tensile samples. To examine the influence of the skin layer on the mechanical properties, a series of round tensile bars of varying diameters were die-cast in a specially-designed mold using the AM60 Mg alloy. A select number of the samples were machined to different final diameters. Subsequently, all of the samples (as-cast as well as machined) were tested in tension.

Due to magnesium alloy's poor weldability, other joining techniques such as laser assisted self-piercing rivet (LSPR) are used for joining magnesium alloys. This research investigates the fatigue performance of LSPR for magnesium alloys including AZ31 and AM60. Tensile-shear and coach peel specimens for AZ31 and AM60 were fabricated and tested for understanding joint fatigue performance. A structural stress - life (S-N) method was used to develop the fatigue parameters from load-life test results. In order to validate this approach, test results from multijoint specimens were compared with the predicted fatigue results of these specimens using the structural stress method. The fatigue results predicted using the structural stress method correlate well with the test results.

Motivated by a combination of increasing consumer demand for fuel efficient vehicles, more stringent greenhouse gas, and anticipated future Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, automotive manufacturers are working to innovate in all areas of vehicle design to improve fuel efficiency. In addition to improving aerodynamics, enhancing internal combustion engines and transmission technologies, and developing alternative fuel vehicles, reducing vehicle weight by using lighter materials and/or higher strength materials has been identified as one of the strategies in future vehicle development. Weight reduction in vehicle components, subsystems and systems not only reduces the energy needed to overcome inertia forces but also triggers additional mass reduction elsewhere and enables mass reduction in full vehicle levels.

Transfer or response equations are important as they provide relationships between the responses of different surrogates under matched, or nearly identical loading conditions. In the present study, transfer equations for different body regions were developed via mathematical modeling. Specifically, validated finite element models of the age-dependent Ford human body models (FHBM) and the mid-sized male Hybrid III (HIII50) were used to generate a set of matched cases (i.e., 192 frontal sled impact cases involving different restraints, impact speeds, severities, and FHBM age). For each impact, two restraint systems were evaluated: a standard three-point belt with and without a single-stage inflator airbag. Regression analyses were subsequently performed on the resulting FHBM- and HIII50-based responses. This approach was used to develop transfer equations for seven body regions: the head, neck, chest, pelvis, femur, tibia, and foot.

This paper proposes an approach to determine driver's driving behavior, style or habit during vehicle handling maneuvers and heavy traction and braking events in real-time. It utilizes intelligence inferred from driver's control inputs, vehicle dynamics states, measured signals, and variables processed inside existing control modules such as those of anti-lock braking, traction control, and electronic stability control systems. The algorithm developed for the proposed approach has been experimentally validated and shows the effectiveness in characterizing driver's handling behavior. Such driver behavior can be used for personalizing vehicle electronic controls, driver assistant and active safety systems, and the other vehicle control features.

Injury distributions of belted drivers in 1998-2013 model-year light passenger cars/trucks in various types of real-world frontal crashes were studied. The basis of the analysis was field data from the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS). The studied variables were injury severity (n=2), occupant body region (n=8), and crash type (n=8). The two levels of injury were moderate-to-fatal (AIS2+) and serious-to-fatal (AIS3+). The eight body regions ranged from head/face to foot/ankle. The eight crash types were based on a previously-published Frontal Impact Taxonomy (FIT). The results of the study provided insights into the field data. For example, for the AIS2+ upper-body-injured drivers, (a) head and chest injury yield similar contributions, and (b) about 60% of all the upper-body injured drivers were from the combination of the Full-Engagement and Offset crashes.

The Multi Material Lightweight Vehicle (MMLV), developed by Magna International and Ford Motor Company, is a result of US Department of Energy project DE-EE0005574. The project demonstrated the lightweighting potential of a five-passenger sedan while maintaining vehicle performance and occupant safety. Prototype vehicles were manufactured and limited full-vehicle testing was conducted. The Mach-I vehicle design, comprised of commercially-available materials and production processes, achieved a 364 kg (23.5%) full-vehicle mass reduction. This resulted in environmental benefits and fuel economy improvements. A significant factor in the overall MMLV mass reduction was the decrease in the powertrain system weight from 340 kg (conventional) to 267 kg (MMLV). This enabled the application of a 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine as the main powerplant. By downsizing the engine, and by implementing material changes within the engine, the weight of the dressed engine was lowered by 29 kg.

This paper details the lightweighting efforts of the Ford Research & Advanced Transmission team as part of the Multi Material Lightweight Vehicle Project. The Multi Material Lightweight Vehicle (MMLV) developed by Magna International and Ford Motor Company is a result of a US Department of Energy project DE-EE0005574. The project demonstrates the lightweighting potential of a five passenger sedan, while maintaining vehicle performance and occupant safety. Prototype vehicles were manufactured and limited full vehicle testing was conducted. The Mach-I vehicle design, comprised of commercially available materials and production processes, achieved a 364kg (23.5%) full vehicle mass reduction, enabling the application of a 1.0-liter three cylinder engine resulting in a significant environmental benefits and fuel consumption reduction.

Side swipe accidents occur primarily when drivers attempt an improper lane change, drift out of lane, or the vehicle loses lateral traction. Past studies of lane change detection have relied on vehicular data, such as steering angle, velocity, and acceleration. In this paper, we use three physiological signals from the driver to detect lane changes before the event actually occurs. These are the electrocardiogram (ECG), galvanic skin response (GSR), and respiration rate (RR) and were determined, in prior studies, to best reflect a driver's response to the driving environment. A novel system is proposed which uses a Granger causality test for feature selection and a neural network for classification. Test results showed that for 30 lane change events and 60 non lane change events in on-the-road driving, a true positive rate of 70% and a false positive rate of 10% was obtained.

The efforts of the ISO “Test Variability Task Force” have been aimed at improving the understanding and at reducing brake dynamometer test variability during performance testing. In addition, dynamometer test results have been compared and correlated to vehicle testing. Even though there is already a vast amount of anecdotal evidence confirming the fact that different procedures generate different friction coefficients on the same brake corner, the availability of supporting data to the industry has been elusive up to this point. To overcome this issue, this paper focuses on assessing friction levels, friction coefficient sensitivity, and repeatability under ECE, GB, ISO, JASO, and SAE laboratory friction evaluation tests.

This paper presents the extended Kalman filter-based sideslip angle estimator design using a nonlinear 5DoF single-track vehicle dynamics model with stochastic modeling of tire forces. Lumped front and rear tire forces have been modeled as first-order random walk state variables. The proposed estimator is primarily designed for vehicle sideslip angle estimation; however it can also be used for estimation of tire forces and cornering stiffness. This estimator design does not rely on linearization of the tire force characteristics, it is robust against the variations of the tire parameters, and does not require the information on coefficient of friction. The estimator performance has been first analyzed by means of computer simulations using the 10DoF two-track vehicle dynamics model and underlying magic formula tire model, and then experimentally validated by using data sets recorded on a test vehicle.

Clutch wear is dominantly manifested as the reduction of friction plate thickness. For dry dual clutch with position-controlled electromechanical actuators this affects the accuracy of normal force control because of the increased clutch clearance. In order to compensate for the wear, dry dual clutch is equipped with wear compensation mechanism. The paper presents results of experimental characterization and mathematical modeling of two clutch wear related effects. The first one is the decrease of clutch friction plate thickness (i.e. increase of clutch clearance) which is described using friction material wear rate experimentally characterized using a pin-on-disc type tribometer test rig. The second wear related effect, namely the influence of the clutch wear compensation mechanism activation at various stages of clutch wear on main clutch characteristics, was experimentally characterized using a clutch test rig which incorporates entire clutch with related bell housing.