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In-cylinder pressure measurement is an important tool in internal combustion engine research and development for combustion, cycle performance, and knock analysis in spark-ignition engines. In a typical laboratory setup, a sub crank angle resolved (typically between 0.1o and 0.5o) optical encoder is installed on the engine crankshaft, and a piezoelectric pressure transducer is installed in the engine cylinder. The charge signal produced by the transducer due to changes in cylinder pressure during the engine cycle is converted to voltage by a charge amplifier, and this analog voltage is read by a high-speed data acquisition (DAQ) system at each encoder trigger pulse. The high speed of engine operation and the need to collect hundreds of engine cycles for appropriate cycle-averaging requires significant processor speed and memory, making typical data acquisition systems very expensive.

The number of EVs are increasing in power distribution systems every day. This research analyses different penetration levels of electric vehicles in power distribution systems to provide stable energy for smart devices and observes its impacts on operational costs and environmental emissions. The supply of EV power is determined based on smart device consumption by optimal energy management of EV batteries so that both the utilities and the car owner get benefits. Utilities can save energy by reducing system loss, while EV owners can earn money by selling it to utilities at their convenient time for smart device operations. The PG&E 69-bus distribution system is used for the simulation and case studies. Case studies in this research show how the power management of EV's batteries charging and discharging characteristics benefits both utilities and EV owners. The uncertainty of the driving pattern of EVs is also considered in the research to get more accurate results.

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technology is a powerful tool in the field of experimental mechanics to obtain the full-field deformation/strain information of an object. It has been rapidly applied in industry in recent years. However, for the large-angle full-field strain measurement of small-sized cylindrical objects, it’s still a challenge to the DIC accurate measurement due to its small size and curved surface. In this paper, a measurement method based on the multi-camera DIC system is proposed to study the compressive performance of small-sized cylindrical materials. Three cameras form two stereo DIC measurement systems (1 and 2 cameras, and 2 and 3 cameras), each of which measures a part of the object. By calibrating three cameras at the same time, two stereos DIC coordinate systems can be unified to one coordinate system. Then match the two sets of DIC measurement data together to achieve large-angle measurement of the cylindrical surface.

Increasing the demand for EV charging has increased the burden and accretion of the power quality issues. Harmonic voltages and currents have a significant negative influence on power system components, specifically power transformers. The voltage and current harmonics created by EV chargers and their impacts on power transformers have been discussed in this paper, and an approach is proposed to reduce such harmonics in the system. For this purpose, firstly, the total harmonic distortion (THD) of a typical EV charger is evaluated. Then an analysis is performed utilizing Fast Fourier Transform (FTT) to extract individual harmonics. To this end, this paper addresses the power quality issues on the power transformers by implementing a passive filter. The harmonic voltages and currents were measured on different levels of charging loads. The simulation results show that more than 30% of total harmonic distortions were reduced to 1.16% using a passive filter.

As the industry moves further into the automotive age, the failure of the cup during the transportation of the parts during the assembly process is costly. Among them, the effective contact area of the suction cup could influence the significant availability of the pressure, which is necessary to investigate the truth. The essential objective for this research is trying to improve the effectiveness of the suction cups during gripers work in company’s industry. In this research, the real work condition is simulated by the experimental setup to find the influence of the effective contact area. In this paper, the proper methodology to measure the effective area by testing different size cups under different conditions is described. The results are verified by the digital image correlation (DIC) technique.

Integration of electric vehicles (EV) in power distribution systems reduces emissions that contribute to climate changes and improves public health by reducing ecological damage. Even though EVs significantly impact reducing carbon emissions and less dependency on hydrocarbon-based generators, they could negatively impact power systems, especially power quality. This paper analyzes electric vehicle charging stations’ impact on power quality concerning the voltage and current analysis of the harmonic distortion. As a case study, a sample system has been chosen, and a charging station is integrated into the system to investigate the harmonic impacts on the system. Finally, various mitigation techniques to eliminate the harmonics and minimize EVs’ adverse impacts on power quality in power distribution systems have been discussed.

A new method is demonstrated for rating the “severity” of a hypoid gear set duty cycle (revolutions at torque) using the intercept of T-N curve to support gearset selection and sizing decision across vehicle programs. Historically, it has been customary to compute a cumulative damage (using Miner's Rule) for a rotating component duty cycle given a T-N curve slope and intercept for the component and failure mode of interest. The slope and intercept of a T-N curve is often proprietary to the axle manufacturer and are not published. Therefore, for upfront sizing and selection purposes representative T-N properties are used to assess relative component duty cycle severity via cumulative damage (non-dimensional quantity). A similar duty cycle severity rating can also be achieved by computing the intercept of the T-N curve instead of cumulative damage, which is the focus of this study.

An objective evaluation of ground vehicle performance is a challenging task. This is further exacerbated by the increasing level of autonomy, dynamically changing the roles and capabilities of these vehicles. In the context of decision making involving these vehicles, as the capabilities of the vehicles improve, there is a concurrent change in the preferences of the decision makers operating the vehicles that must be accounted for. Decision based methods are a natural choice when multiple conflicting attributes are present, however, most of the literature focuses on static preferences. In this paper, we provide a sequential Bayesian framework to accommodate time varying preferences. The utility function is considered a stochastic function with the shape parameters themselves being random variables. In the proposed approach, initially the shape parameters model either uncertain preferences or variation in the preferences because of the presence of multiple decision makers.

Self-piercing riveting (SPR) has been used in production to join sheet materials since the early 1990s. A large amount of experimental trial work was required in order to determine an appropriate combination of rivet and anvil design to fulfill the required joint parameters. The presented study is describing the methodology of SPR joint design based on numerical simulation and experimental methods of defining required simulation input parameters. The required inputs are the stress-strain curves of sheet materials and rivets for the range of strains taking place in the SPR joining process, parameters required for a fracture model for all involved materials, and friction parameters for all interfaces of SPR process. In the current study, the normalized Cockroft-Latham fracture criterion was used for predicting fracture. Custom hole and tube expansion tests were used for predicting fracture of the riveted materials and the rivet, respectively.

This research assesses the integration of different levels of electric vehicles (EVs) in the distribution system and observes its impacts on environmental emissions and power system operational costs. EVs can contribute to reducing the environmental emission from two different aspects. First, by replacing the traditional combustion engine cars with EVs for providing clean and environment friendly transportation and second, by integrating EVs in the distribution system through the V2G program, by providing power to the utility during peak hours and reducing the emission created by hydrocarbon dependent generators. The PG&E 69-bus distribution system (DS) is used to simulate the integration of EVs and to perform energy management to assess the operational costs and emissions. The uncertainty of driving patterns of EVs are considered in this research to get more accurate results.

This paper describes a laboratory-based test system and procedure for determining the durability of RTV sealant with fretting movement. A test machine is described in which shear and tensile stress-generating displacements at room temperature and temperature of 100°C are produced to load an RTV seal. The test system utilizes an air pressurized hollow cylinder with a cap sealed by RTV sealant on a reciprocating test rig. An external air leakage monitoring system detects the health of the tested RTV seal. When air leakage occurs, the seal is determined to have failed. RTV sealant used in the test was fully cured at room temperature and then aged with engine oil. In the experiments, a total of 6 displacements were used to generate cycle/amplitude graphs for both shear and tensile modes. Failures were determined to be caused by the loss of adhesion in tensile mode, and by crack nucleation due to the special step design in shear mode.

This paper proposes a method to evaluate the sensitivity of the perceived quality of a panel interface design to variation in the measurements of fit and finish. The novelty of this approach is in the application of the concept of utility to fit and finish. The significance is in the ability to evaluate alternative designs with regard to perceived quality long before time and money are spent on their realization. In the automotive industry “fit and finish” is the term applied to the precision of the alignment of one part to another. Fit and finish gives the buyer a sense of the overall quality of the vehicle purely from an aesthetic perspective. Fit and finish is usually evaluated by the manufacturer through dimensional measurements of the gap and flushness conditions between panels.

While experimental data measured directly on the engine are very valuable, there is a limitation of what measurements can be made without modifying the engine or the process that is being investigated, such as cylinder temperature. In order to supplement the experimental results, a Three Pressure Analysis (TPA) GT-Power model of the Cooperative Fuel Research (CFR) engine was previously developed and validated for estimating cylinder temperature and residual fraction. However, this model had only been validated for normal and knocking spark ignition (SI) combustion with RON-like intake conditions (naturally aspirated, <52 °C). This work presents improvements made to the GT-Power model and the expansion of its use for HCCI combustion. The burn rate estimation sub-model was modified to allow for low temperature heat release estimation and compression ignition operation.

To ensure ride comfort, the dynamic characteristics, such as natural frequencies, of a vehicle is often tuned to a specific value by managing the magnitude and location of some masses and/or configuration of stiffeners without sacrificing the structural strength and overall fuel performance of the vehicle. We first formulate the mathematical statement of the problem in a constrained eigenvalue form. Optimal solutions are sought using various finite element techniques. A novel methodology involving genetic algorithm and Newton’s iterative method is developed to solve the constrained eigenvalue problems. Several examples, including discrete and continuous systems, are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed methodology. The strategy of managing the mass location and distribution to target a preferred natural frequency or frequencies is given in the conclusion.

Variable Compression Ratio systems are an increasingly attractive solution for car manufacturers in order to reduce vehicle fuel consumption. By having the capability to operate with a range of compression ratios, engine efficiency can be significantly increased by operating with a high compression ratio at low loads, where the engine is normally not knock-limited, and with a low compression ratio at high load, where the engine is more prone to knock. In this way, engine efficiency can be maximized without sacrificing performance. This study aims to analyze how the effectiveness of a VCR system is affected by various powertrain and vehicle parameters. By using a Matlab model of a VCR system developed in Part 1 of this work, the influence of the vehicle characteristics, the drive cycle, and of the number of stages used in the VCR system was studied.

The need for transient thermal simulations in vehicle packaging studies has grown rapidly in recent years. To date, the computational costs associated with the transient simulation of 3D conjugate heat transfer phenomena has prohibited the widespread use of full vehicle transient simulations. This paper presents results from a recent study that explored a method to circumvent the computational costs associated with long transient conjugate heat transfer simulations. The proposed method first segregates the thermal structural and fluid physics domains to take advantage of time scale differences. The two domains are then re-coupled to calculate a series of steady state conjugate heat transfer simulations at various vehicle speeds. The local convection terms are then used to construct a set of surrogate models dependent on vehicle speed, that predict the local heat transfer coefficients and the local near wall fluid temperatures.

Bendability is a critical characteristic of sheet metal during the stamping process in automobile industry. Bending operation plays an important role in the panels forming of vehicles. In this study, the recently developed “Incremental Bending” method was utilized to evaluate the ambient bendability of 7xxx series avoiding bending crack. A 3D digital image correlation (DIC) measurement system is improved to capture the displacement and strain information on the stretched side of the sheet samples. The background, experimental method and data post-procedure are introduced in detail. After several sequential images acquisition and data processing, the major strain histories on the stretch zone of the samples are measured. With different bending process and parameters, the location of peak strain and the surface major strain distribution were evaluated as a function of R/T ratio (the inner radius over sheet thickness).

Real-time measurement or estimation of crank-angle-resolved engine cylinder pressure may become commonplace in the next generation of engine controllers to optimize spark, valve timing, or compression ratio. Toward the development of a real-time cylinder pressure estimator, this work presents a crank-angle-resolved engine cylinder pressure estimation model that could accept inputs such as speed, manifold pressure and throttle position, and deliver crank-angle resolved cylinder pressure in real-time, at engine speeds covering the useful operating range of most engines. The model was validated by comparing simulated cylinder pressure with thirteen sets of cylinder pressure data, from two different commercial engines from two different OEMs. Estimated pressures were compared against the actual measured pressure traces. The average relative error is about 3% while the maximum relative error is 5%. Both can be improved with further tuning.

A V-engine high pressure fuel pipe have experienced several failures during dyno engine validations at brazed joints due to combination of static and dynamic engine loads. The braze fillet experience high local stress concentration with large gradients and it was critical to capture strain contour at this spot to properly understand the failure. Strain gauges was used to measure strain but was incapable of capturing the braze fillet due to the small fillet radius and lack of real estate to install the gauge (braze fillet radius ~ 0.10 mm). A whole field optical experiment method Digital Image Correlation was utilized to successfully captured strain contour at area of interest and results fed back to computational model.

The purpose of this research was to measure and correlate the area-average heat transfer coefficients for free, circular upward-impinging oil-jets onto two automotive pistons having different undercrown shapes and different diameters. For the piston heat transfer studies, two empirical area-average Nusselt number correlations were developed. One was based on the whole piston undercrown surface area with the Nusselt number based on the nozzle diameter, and the other was based on the oil-jet impingement area with the Nusselt number based on the oil-jet effective impingement diameter. The correlations can predict the 95% and 94% of the experimental measurements within 30% error, respectively. The first correlation is simpler to use and can be employed for cases in which the oil jet wets the whole piston undercrown. The latter may be more useful for larger pistons or higher Prandtl number conditions in which the oil jet wets only a portion of the undercrown.