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Oven and flame tests were designed and conducted to evaluate the heat resistance of a ceramic coating material, Cerakote C-7700Q, and evaluate its viability to replace the intumescent coating as one painting material for helicopter engine cowlings. The test results showed that the currently used painting scheme of the engine cowlings failed the 220°C oven test while after replacing the epoxy seal coat with the Cerakote, the new painting system passed the 220°C test in regards to painting bubbling. This study explained why serious appearance defects occurred in the inner skin of the engine cowling when the aircraft is hovering and suggested that one most time- and cost-effective solution is to repaint the current engine cowlings with a new three coating system of Cerakote, surface protection HS7072-622, and intumescent paint as a fireproof lacquer.

A dynamic modeling framework was established to predict status (position, displacement, velocity, acceleration, and shape) of a towed vehicle system with different driver inputs. This framework consists of three components: (1) a state space model to decide position and velocity for the vehicle system based on Newton’s second law; (2) an angular acceleration transferring model, which leads to a hypothesis that the each towed unit follows the same path as the towing vehicle; and (3) a polygon model to draw instantaneous polygons to envelop the entire system at any time point. Input parameters of this model include initial conditions of the system, real-time locations of a reference point (e.g. front center of the towing vehicle) that can be determined from a beacon and radar system, and instantaneous accelerations of this system, which come from driver maneuvers (accelerating, braking, steering, etc.) can be read from a data acquisition system installed on the towing vehicle.

Contamination protection of brake rotors has been a challenge for the auto industry for a long time. As contamination of a rotor causes corrosion, and that in turn causes many issues like pulsation and excessive wear of rotors and linings, a rotor splash protection shield became a common part for most vehicles. While the rotor splash shield provides contamination protection for the brake rotor, it makes brake cooling performance worse because it blocks air reaching the brake rotor. Therefore, balancing between contamination protection and enabling brake cooling has become a key critical factor when the splash shield is designed. Although the analysis capability of brake cooling performance has become quite reliable, due to lack of technology to predict contamination patterns, the design of the splash protection shield has relied on engineering judgment and/or vehicle tests. Optimization opportunities were restricted by cost and time associated with vehicle tests.

The Powertrain Analysis and Computational Environment (PACE) is a forward-looking powertrain simulation tool that is ready for a High-Performance Computing (HPC) environment. The code, written in C++, is one actor in a comprehensive ground vehicle co-simulation architecture being developed by the CREATE-GV program. PACE provides an advanced behavioral modeling capability for the powertrain subsystem of a conventional or hybrid-electric vehicle that exploits the idea of reusable vehicle modeling that underpins the Autonomie modeling environment developed by the Argonne National Laboratory. PACE permits the user to define a powertrain in Autonomie, which requires a single desktop license for MATLAB/Simulink, and port it to a cluster computer where PACE runs with an open-source BSD-3 license so that it can be distributed to as many nodes as needed.

We propose a composite thermal model of the vehicle passenger compartment that can be used to predict and analyze thermal comfort of the occupants of a vehicle. Physical model is developed using heat flow in and out of the passenger compartment space, comprised of glasses, roof, seats, dashboard, etc. Use of a model under a wide variety of test conditions have shown high sensitivity of compartment air temperature to changes in the outside air temperature, solar heat load, temperature and mass flow of duct outlet air from the climate control system of a vehicle. Use of this model has subsequently reduced empiricism and extensive experimental tests for design and tuning of the automatic climate control system. Simulation of the model allowed several changes to the designs well before the prototype hardware is available.

Variation in vehicle noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) response can be caused by variability in design (e.g. tolerance), material, manufacturing, or other sources of variation. Such variation in the vehicle response causes a higher percentage of produced vehicles with higher levels (out of specifications) of NVH leading to higher number of warranty claims and loss of customer satisfaction, which are proven costly. Measures must be taken to ensure less warranty claims and higher levels of customer satisfaction. As a result, original equipment manufacturers have implemented design for variation in the design process to secure an acceptable (or within specification) response. This paper focuses on aspects of design variations that should be considered in the design process of drivelines. Variations due to imbalance and runout in rotating components can be unavoidable or costly to control.

Variability in design (e.g. tolerance), material, manufacturing, or other sources of variation causes significant variation in vehicle noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) response. This leads to a higher percentage of produced vehicles with higher levels of NVH leading to higher number of warranty claims and loss of customer satisfaction, which are proven costly to the original equipment manufacturers (OEM). Measures must be taken to insure less warranty claims and higher levels of customer satisfaction. As a result, original equipment manufacturers have implemented design for variation in the design process to secure an acceptable (or within specification) response. We will focus on some aspects of design variations in a tire/wheel assembly that should be considered in the design process. In particular, certain materials (e.g. rubber) are known to have variation in stiffness that is either unavoidable or proven costly if tighter control is desired.

This paper presents an experimental study of automotive V-ribbed belt slip noise under cold condition. In this study, a set of experiments was conducted to investigate the properties of the belt noise and friction using a self developed rig. The belt friction under cold condition is found to have higher value than that in room condition. The belt noise under cold condition is found to have much higher squeal frequency than that in room condition. This study is expected to provide accessory drive designers some fundamental understanding of belt startup noise under cold conditions.

This set combines the book Road Vehicle Dynamics with its corresponding workbook companion, Road Vehicle Dynamics: Problems and Solutions. Road Vehicle Dynamics provides a detailed overview of the dynamics of road vehicle systems, giving readers an understanding of how physical laws, human factor considerations, and design choices affect ride, handling, braking, acceleration, and vehicle safety. Chapters cover analysis of dynamic systems, tire dynamics, ride dynamics, vehicle rollover analysis, handling dynamics, braking, acceleration, total vehicle dynamics, and accident reconstruction. The workbook will enable students and professionals from a variety of disciplines to engage in problem-solving exercises based on the material covered in each chapter of that book. It presents systematic rules of analysis that students can follow in a step-by-step manner to understand the efficiencies or shortcomings of various techniques.

This workbook, a companion to the book Road Vehicle Dynamics, will enable students and professionals from a variety of disciplines to engage in problem-solving exercises based on the material covered in each chapter of that book. Emphasizing application more than theory, the workbook presents systematic rules of analysis that students can follow in a step-by-step manner to understand the efficiencies or shortcomings of various techniques. Readers will gain a greater understanding of the factors influencing ride, handling, braking, acceleration, and vehicle safety.

During the automotive brake system design and development process, a large number of performance characteristics must be comprehended, assessed, and balanced against each other and, at times, competing performance objectives for the vehicle under development. One area in brake development that is critical to customer acceptance due to its impact on a vehicle's perceived quality is brake pedal feel. While a number of papers have focused on the specification, quantification and modeling of brake pedal feel and the various subsystem characteristics that affect it, few papers have focused specifically on brake corner hoses and their effect on pedal feel, in particular, during race-track conditions. Specifically, the effects of brake hose fluid consumption pedal travel and brake system response is not well comprehended during the brake development process.

A Cyber-Physical System (CPS) facilitates the embedding of computational intelligence, communication, control, and new mechanisms for sensing and actuation into physical systems, such as the transportation infrastructure. They are a combination of computation and physical processes each affecting the outcome of the other. The wireless networked CPS sensors are envisaged to provide rapid response capabilities such as real time analysis, distributed coordination, classify events, condition based maintenance etc, to make critical decisions in networked transportation systems. To achieve the above it is required to fuse data from multiple heterogeneous sensors data. However, such ability is currently impeded by a lack of expressive and standardized syntactic and semantic models for the sensors data for proper exchange of information with the cyber and physical applications.

Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion offers significant efficiency improvements compared to conventional gasoline engines. However, due to the nature of HCCI combustion, traditional HCCI engines show some degree of sensitivity to in-cylinder thermal conditions; thus higher cylinder-to-cylinder variation was observed especially at low load and high load operating conditions due to different injector characteristics, different amount of reforming as well as non-uniform EGR distribution. To address these issues, a cylinder balancing control strategy was developed for a multi-cylinder engine. In particular, the cylinder balancing control strategy balances CA50 and AF ratio at high load and low load conditions, respectively. Combustion noise was significantly reduced at high load while combustion stability was improved at low load with the cylinder balancing control.

This paper studies the dynamics and noise of timing belt. A comprehensive theoretical contact dynamics model for belt tooth-sprocket tooth pair is developed. The general belt dynamics model in conjunction with the contact model is used to quantify the impact-sliding process of belt tooth. The effect of tooth meshing process is illustrated which results in the vibrations of belt span and tooth vibrations. The structural borne noise consists of structural impact portion and friction-induced portion. The relationship between system parameters and noise is quantified. The air borne noise due to air-pumping is investigated based on Lighthill's equation. A comprehensive model is developed and the spectrum signatures of the air-pumping noise are illustrated.

Two-stage turbochargers are a recent solution to improve engine performance, reducing the turbo-lag phenomenon and improving the matching. However, the definition of the control system is particularly complex, as the presence of two turbochargers that can be in part operated independently requires effort in terms of analysis and optimization. This work documents a characterization study of two-stage turbocharger systems. The study relies on a mean-value model of a Diesel engine equipped with a two-stage turbocharger, validated on experimental data. The turbocharger is characterized by a VGT actuator and a bypass valve (BPV), both located on the high-pressure turbine. This model structure is representative of a “virtual engine”, which can be effectively utilized for applications related to analysis and control. Using this tool, a complete characterization was conducted considering key operating conditions representative of FTP driving cycle operations.

Magnesium alloy extrusions offer potentially more mass saving compared to magnesium castings. One of the tasks in the United States Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP) ?Magnesium Front End Research and Development? (MFERD) project is to evaluate magnesium extrusion alloys AM30, AZ31 and AZ61 for automotive body applications. Solid and hollow sections were made by lowcost direct extrusion process. Mechanical properties in tension and compression were tested in extrusion, transverse and 45 degree directions. The tensile properties of the extrusion alloys in the extrusion direction are generally higher than those of conventional die cast alloys. However, significant tension-compression asymmetry and plastic anisotropy need to be understood and captured in the component design.

Magnesium alloys are the lightest structural metal and recently attention has been focused on using them for structural automotive components. Fatigue and durability studies are essential in the design of these load-bearing components. In 2006, a large multinational research effort, Magnesium Front End Research & Development (MFERD), was launched involving researchers from Canada, China and the US. The MFERD project is intended to investigate the applicability of Mg alloys as lightweight materials for automotive body structures. The participating institutions in fatigue and durability studies were the University of Waterloo and Ryerson University from Canada, Institute of Metal Research (IMR) from China, and Mississippi State University, Westmorland, General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Group LLC from the United States.

Engine cylinder deactivation is used to save engine pumping loss but raises oil consumption concerns for the deactivated cylinders. In this paper, general mechanisms of oil transport via piston rings are reviewed. The characteristic of oil transport and oil accumulation in a cylinder deactivation mode through the piston ring path are analyzed. Suggestions to reduce the oil transport to the combustion chamber in a deactivated cylinder are discussed. In a deactivated cylinder, the amount of oil brought into the combustion chamber by the top ring up-scraping due to the ring/bore conformability difference between intake stroke and compression stroke is much less compared to a firing cylinder. However, compared to a firing cylinder, a deactivated cylinder has more oil entering the combustion chamber through the top ring end gap and ring groove as a result of the lower cylinder gas pressure, lower ring temperature and more frequent top ring axial movements.

Fully Flexible Valve Actuation (FFVA) systems provide maximum flexibility to adjust lift profiles of engine intake and exhaust valves. A research grade electro-hydraulic servo valve based FFVA system was designed to be used with an engine in a test cell to precisely follow desired lift profiles. Repetitive control was chosen as the control strategy. Crank angle instead of time is used to trigger execution to ensure repeatability. A single control is used for different engine speeds even though the period for one revolution changes with engine speeds. The paper also discusses lift profile extension, instantaneous lift profile switching capability and built-in safety features.

A 1200-V, 600-A silicon carbide (SiC) JFET half-bridge module has been developed for drop-in replacement of a 600-V, 600-A IGBT intelligent power module (IPM). Advances in the development of SiC field effect transistors have resulted in reliable high yield devices that can be paralleled and packaged to produce high-voltage and high-current power modules not only competitive with existing IGBT technology but the modules have expanded capabilities. A SiC vertical junction field effect transistor VJFET has been produced with the properties of lower conduction loss, zero tail current, higher thermal conductivity, and higher power density when compared to a similarly rated silicon IGBT or any practical SiC MOSFETs previously reported. Three prototype SiC JFET half-bridge modules with gate drivers have been successfully integrated into a three-phase 30-kW (continuous), 100-kW (intermittent) AC synchronous motor drive designed to control a traction motor in an electric vehicle.