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The role of a brake disc is to convert the kinetic energy of automobiles into thermal energy caused by friction between the brake pads and disc surfaces. The braking performance of an overheated disc is decreased due to hot judder and fade. Hence, the cooling technology of a brake disc is one of the most important issues related to automobile safety. In the present study, the fluid flow and heat transfer analysis of a ventilated brake disc are conducted numerically. Some geometries of automotive parts such as bearings, hubs and wheels are considered in this study. The commercial code ANSYS CFX is used to simulate the fluid flow and the conjugate heat transfer which includes conduction and convection. To evaluate the cooling performance in each case, the results, including the flow patterns of cooling air inside the wheel and the heat transfer coefficient distribution at the disc surfaces, were investigated and compared for various disc-hub combinations.

Fuel tank in vehicle must hold the fuel in a stable way under any driving condition. However, the fuel tank might not conserve the fuel firmly in case a crack emerged while the fuel tank is exposed to different driving condition. Basically, when the engine is in purging at a normal ambient temperature before fuel boiling, the pressure inside the fuel tank decreases. However, the pressure inside a fuel tank increases while a vehicle is driven at extreme hot ambient temperature as fuel is boiling. This repetitive pressure change in the fuel tank comes with fuel tank’s physical expansion and shrink, which would cause a damage to the fuel tank. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the root cause of why fuel tank cracks at a fatigue point. We also aim to set up the method of how to test durability of the fuel tank in association with the pressure inside the tank.

The effects of tempering on carburized Cr-Mo gear steel were investigated through mechanical and fatigue tests. Specimens were carburized at 900°C for 180 minutes, and then oil quenched at 150°C for 10 minutes of holding time and cooled to room temperature. The subsequent tempering process was performed to 160°C for 90 minutes. Surface hardness and residual compressive stress were decreased by tempering treatment, whereas tensile strength, yield strength and impact energy were increased. Bending fatigue endurance limits for both tempered and untempered specimens were same as 779MPa. The strength of roller contact fatigue is also not greatly influenced by tempering treatment. Thermal distortion for carburized transfer driven gear before and after tempering exhibited a similar distribution. Microstructural changes during tempering were also discussed.

The banded microstructure of pearlite and ferrite in normalized alloy steel is susceptible to thermal distortion during carburizing process due to its unidirectional orientation parallel to rolling direction. The planetary gears with material of banded microstructure have been experienced in high thermal distortion during carburizing and quenching process and result in uneven surface hardness and effective case depth at the inside of pinion gear after honing. These defects played failure initiation site roles in durability test during development of new automatic transmission. The galling between the contacting components in severe lubricating system was the main failure mechanism. Double normalizing at 920 °C was designed to resolve the banded microstructure of normalized alloy steel. The microstructure and grain size of the double heated steel became equiaxed and fine due to homogenizing and recrystallization through double heat treatment.

This paper discusses the effects of lubricant viscosity on the friction characteristics of engine bearing and cam/tappet which are the typical moving parts of an engine and operate in different lubrication regimes. Based on the measured crankshaft temperatures, we calculated the friction coefficient of the engine bearing according to Sommerfeld number by a simple heat equilibrium equation. The oil film thicknesses between cam and tappet were measured in a motored cylinder head which had a direct acting type overhead camshaft. The boundary and viscous friction components were estimated separately according to a parameter defined as the ratio of the central oil film thickness to the composite surface roughness. These two friction components were added to calculate the friction coefficient. Finally, the motoring friction torque was measured and compared with the estimated friction coefficient.

Identification of structure borne sound sources induced by the structural vibration of an automotive powertrain has been studied. Based on the principal component analysis which uses singular value decomposition of a matrix consisting of the auto- and cross-spectra, the operating vibrational analysis is performed. The quantitative description of the output power due to intrinsic incoherent source is addressed. The applicability of the technique is tested both numerically and experimentally. First, the coherence analysis is numerically carried out with a simple structure which is modeled as multi-input and single output to identify the structure borne noise generation process. Second, the actual vibrational behavior of a powertrain structure and the interior noise analysis of a car under the running condition are carried out. The technique is shown to be very effective in the identification of the structure borne noise sources.