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Lane changing is an essential action in commercial vehicles to prevent collisions. However, steering system malfunctions significantly escalate the risk of head-on collisions. With the advancement of intelligent chassis control technologies, some autonomous commercial vehicles are now equipped with a four-wheel independent braking system. This article develops a lane-changing control strategy during steering failures using torque vectoring through brake allocation. The boundaries of lane-changing capabilities under different speeds via brake allocation are also investigated, offering valuable insights for driving safety during emergency evasions when the steering system fails. Firstly, a dual-track vehicle dynamics model is established, considering the non-linearity of the tires. A quintic polynomial approach is employed for lane-changing trajectory planning. Secondly, a hierarchical controller is designed.

Ammonia shows promise as an alternative fuel for internal combustion engines (ICEs) in reducing CO2 emissions due to its carbon-free nature and well-established infrastructure. However, certain drawbacks, such as the high ignition energy, the narrow flammability range, and the extremely low laminar flame speed, limit its widespread application. The dual fuel (DF) mode is an appealing approach to enhance ammonia combustion. The combustion characteristics of ammonia-diesel dual fuel mode and ammonia-PODE3 dual fuel mode were experimentally studied using a full-view optical engine and the high-speed photography method. The ammonia energy ratio (ERa) was varied from 40% to 60%, and the main injection energy ratio (ERInj1) and the main injection time (SOI1) were also varied in ammonia-PODE3 mode.

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells will play a crucial role in the decarbonization of the transport sector, in particular for heavy duty applications. However, performance and durability of PEMFC stacks is still a concern especially when operated under high power density conditions, as required in order to improve the compactness and to reduce the cost of the system. In this context, the optimization of the geometry of hydrogen and air distributors represents a key factor to improve the distribution of the reactants on the active surface, in order to guarantee a proper water management and avoiding membrane dehydration.

Both ammonia and hydrogen, as zero-carbon fuels for internal combustion engines, are received growing attention. However, ammonia faces a challenge of low flame propagation velocity. Through injecting hydrogen into active pre-chamber, its jet flame ignition can accelerate the flame propagation velocity of ammonia. The influence of different pre-chamber structures on engine combustion characteristics is significant. In this paper, numerical studies were conducted to assess the impact of various pre-chamber structures and hydrogen injection strategy on the combustion characteristics of ammonia/hydrogen engines while maintaining the equivalent ratio of 1.0. The results indicate that the jet angle significantly affects the position of jet flame and the followed main combustion. The in-cylinder combustion pressure peaks at jet angle of 150°. Meanwhile, the combustion duration of 150° is shortened by 74.3% compared with that of 60°.

In the context of carbon neutrality, ammonia is considered a zero-carbon fuel with potential applications in the transportation sector. However, its high ignition energy, low flame speed, and high natural temperature, indicative of low reactivity, make it challenging to be applied as a sole fuel in engines. In such a scenario, the use of another zero-carbon and highly reactive fuel, hydrogen, becomes necessary to enhance the combustion of ammonia. Furthermore, jet ignition, a method known for improving engine combustion performance, may also hold potential for enhancing the combustion performance of ammonia engines. To explore the applicability of jet ignition in engines, this study conducted experimental research on a single-cylinder engine. Two ignition methods were employed: passive jet ignition of premixed ammonia-hydrogen at a compression ratio of 11.5, and active jet ignition of pure ammonia using hydrogen jet flame at a compression ratio of 17.3.

Ammonia (NH3), a zero-carbon fuel, has great potential for internal combustion engine development. However, its high ignition energy, low laminar burning velocity, narrow range of flammability limits, and high latent heat of vaporization are not conducive for engine application. This paper numerically investigates the feasibility of utilizing ammonia in a heavy-duty diesel engine, specifically through low-pressure direct injection (LP-DI) of hydrogen to ignite ammonia combustion. Due to the lack of a well-corresponding mechanism for the operating conditions of ammonia-hydrogen engines, this study serves only as a trend-oriented prediction. The paper compares the engine's combustion and emission performance by optimizing four critical parameters: excess air ratio, hydrogen energy ratio, ignition timing, and hydrogen injection timing. The results reveal that excessively high hydrogen energy ratios lead to an advanced combustion phase, reducing indicated thermal efficiency.

This paper defines a control method for shift torque exchange stage and a torque distribution control method for speed regulation stage. In the torque exchange stage, the torque distribution problem of active and passive clutches considers the injection of sine curve for local correction, which can solve the fish belly problem of hydraulic response (i.e. the hydraulic response is slow at the beginning and the hydraulic response is fast at the end). In the speed regulation stage, the target speed gradient profile is determined according to different shift types. The determination of the target speed gradient profile integrates different driving modes, throttle, P2 energy and clutch temperature.

Turbulent jet ignition (TJI) combustion using pre-chamber ignition can accelerate the combustion speed in the cylinder and has garnered growing interest in recent years. However, it is complicated for the optimization of the pre-chamber structure and combustion system. This study investigated the effects of the pre-chamber structure and the intake ports on the combustion characteristics of a gasoline engine through CFD simulation. Spark ignition (SI) combustion simulation was also conducted for comparison. The results showed that the design of the pre-chamber that causes the jet flame colliding with walls severely worsen the combustion, increasing the knocking intendency, and decrease the thermal efficiency. Compared with SI combustion mode, the TJI combustion mode has the higher heat transfer loss and lower unburned loss. The well-optimized pre-chamber can accelerate the flame propagation with knock suppression.

The vehicle stability assessment system is an indispensable component to ensure driving safety and enhance vehicle motion control, whether for automated or human-driven vehicles, especially in extreme operating conditions. However, the existing stability assessment methods tend to be conservative and often ignore the coupled longitudinal and lateral dynamics, as well as the nonlinear characteristics of tires. To evaluate the vehicle stability accurately and quickly, an 8-degree-of-freedom (DOF) vehicle dynamic model is constructed first, considering the nonlinear characteristics of tires through a physics-based approach. Subsequently, the vehicle and environment parameters are auto-tuned using Bayesian optimization with field test data. Based on the adjusted vehicle model, a Lyapunov exponent (LE) based vehicle stability analysis method is proposed to quantitatively assess the stability of the vehicle state and determine the corresponding stability boundary.

The target of the upcoming automotive emission regulations is to promote a fast transition to near-zero emission vehicles. As such, the range of ambient and operating conditions tested in the homologation cycles is broadening. In this context, the proposed work aims to thoroughly investigate the potential of post-oxidation phenomena in reducing the light-off time of a conventional three-way catalyst. The study is carried out on a turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine by means of experimental and numerical activities. Post oxidation is achieved through the oxidation of unburned fuel in the exhaust line, exploiting a rich combustion and a secondary air injection dedicated strategy. The CFD methodology consists of two different approaches: the former relies on a full-engine mesh, the latter on a detailed analysis of the chemical reactions occurring in the exhaust line.

Lean-burn hydrogen internal combustion engines are a good option for future transportation solutions since they do not emit carbon-dioxide and unburned hydro-carbons, and the emissions of nitric-oxides (NOx) can be kept low. However, under lean-burn conditions the combustion duration increases, and the combustion stability decreases, leading to a reduced thermal efficiency. Turbulent jet ignition (TJI) can be used to extend the lean-burn limit, while decreasing the combustion duration and improving combustion stability. The objective of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of a passive pre-chamber TJI system on a heavy-duty hydrogen engine under lean-burn conditions using CFD modelling. The studied concept is mono-fuel, port-fuel injected, and spark ignited in the pre-chamber. The overall design of the pre-chamber is discussed and the effect of design parameters on the engine performance are studied.

The driving risk field model offers a feasible approach for assessing driving risks and planning safe trajectory in complex traffic scenarios. However, the conventional risk field fails to account for the vehicle size and acceleration, results in the same trajectories are generated when facing different vehicle types and unable to make safe decisions in emergency situations. Therefore, this paper firstly introduces the acceleration and vehicle size of surrounding vehicles for improving the driving risk model. Then, an integrated decision-making and planning model is proposed based on the combination of the novelty risk field and model predictive control (MPC), in which driving risk and vehicle dynamics constraints are taken into consideration. Finally, the multiple driving scenarios are designed and analyzed for validate the proposed model.

Turbulent Jet Ignition (TJI) represents one of the most effective solution to improve engine efficiency and to reduce fuel consumption and pollutants emission. Even if active prechambers allow a precise control of the air-fuel ratio close to the spark plug and the ignition of ultra-lean mixtures in the main chamber, passive prechambers represent a more attractive solution especially for passenger cars thanks to their simpler and cheaper configuration, which is easier to integrate into existing engines. The main challenge of passive prechambers is to find a geometry that allows to use TJI in the whole engine map, especially in the low load/speed region, without the use of a second sparkplug in the main chamber. To this end, this works reports a CFD study coupled with an experimental investigation to overcome this limitation.

The rising environmental awareness has led to a growing interest in electric and lightweight vehicles. Four-wheeled Ultra-Efficient Lightweight Vehicles (UELVs) have the potential to improve the quality of urban life, reduce environmental impact and make efficient use of land. However, the safety of these vehicles in terms of dynamic behaviour needs to be better understood. This paper aims to provide a quantitative assessment of the handling behaviour of UELVs. An analytical single-track model and a numerical simulation by VI-CarRealTime are analysed to evaluate the dynamic performance of a UELV compared to a city car. This analysis shows that the lightweight vehicle has a higher readiness (i.e. lower reaction time to yaw rate) for step steering and lower steering effort (i.e. higher steady-state value). Experimental analysis through real-time driving sessions on the Dynamic Driving Simulator assesses vehicle responses and subjective perception for different manoeuvres.

SI engines fueled with hydrogen represent a promising powertrain solution to meet the ambitious target of carbon-free emissions at the tailpipe. Therefore, fast and reliable numerical tools can significantly support the automotive industry in the optimization of such technology. In this work, a 1D-3D methodology is presented to simulate in detail the combustion process with minimal computational effort. First, a 1D analysis of the complete engine cycle is carried out on the user-defined powertrain configuration. The purpose is to achieve reliable boundary conditions for the combustion chamber, based on realistic engine parameters. Then, a 3D simulation of the power-cycle is performed to mimic the combustion process. The flow velocity and turbulence distributions are initialized without the need of simulating the gas exchange process, according to a validated technique.

This study examines the impact of slip in aero-thermal conditions of supercooled large droplets (SLD) produced in an Icing Wind Tunnel (IWT) on the ice accretion characteristics. The study identifies potential biases in the SLD model development based on IWT data and numerical predictions that assume the SLD to be in aerothermal equilibrium with the IWT airflow. To obtain realistic temperature and velocity data for each droplet size class in the test section of the Braunschweig Icing Wind Tunnel (BIWT), a Lagrangian droplet tracking solver was used within a Monte Carlo framework. Results showed that SLDs experience considerable slips in velocity and temperature due to their higher inertia and short residence time in the Braunschweig IWT. Large droplets were found to be warmer and slower than the flow in the test section, with larger droplets experiencing larger aerothermal slips.

We present a framework for the robust optimization of the heat flux distribution for an anti-ice electro-thermal ice protection system (AI-ETIPS) and iced airfoil performance analysis under uncertain conditions. The considered uncertainty regards a lack of knowledge concerning the characteristics of the cloud i.e. the liquid water content and the median volume diameter of water droplets, and the accuracy of measuring devices i.e., the static temperature probe, uncertain parameters are modeled as uniform random variables. A forward uncertainty propagation analysis is carried out using a Monte Carlo approach. The optimization framework relies on a gradient-free algorithm (Mesh Adaptive Direct Search) and three different problem formulations are considered in this work. Two bi-objective deterministic optimizations aim to minimize power consumption and either minimize ice formations or the iced airfoil drag coefficient.

In recent years, the tractor-semitrailer combination has become the primary vehicle of China's long-distance freight system. In this paper, with the aim of optimizing the path tracking control and following control of the tractor-semitrailer combination, a kinematics-based path tracking control scheme is proposed. Firstly, a kinematic model of the tractor-semitrailer combination has been constructed. The control of the tractor-semitrailer combination is simplified to focus on three control points based on the kinematics model. Secondly, the path tracking control algorithm and the following control algorithm of the tractor-semitrailer combination are proposed in this paper. The improved MPC is used for path-tracking control of tractor-semitrailer combinations. The cost function of rolling optimization steps is intended, and the optimal line is determined with the lateral deviation, the variation of lateral error, and the deviation of heading angle as the input.

Multi-purpose agricultural tractors are vehicles that are usually used in rough paths and on off-road situations characterized by strong slope variations. The main feature of this kind of vehicles is the stability in working conditions to avoid overturning while it is on duty. This characteristic is given by the interaction between the suspension system and the vehicle frame. Due to the limited size of this kind of vehicle, the stability feature could be given by chassis deformation or using a two-piece frame connected by a spherical joint. This paper presents the validation of a numerical lumped-parameters model able to reproduce the vertical dynamics of a multi-purpose tractor featured by a yielding chassis. The unknown model parameters have been estimated firstly with static tests to study the vertical tire and suspension stiffnesses. The dynamic tests using a four-post-test rig have been performed to tune the unknown dynamic parameters.

In order to improve the ignition capacity and burning rate for spark-ignited engines, pre-chamber jet ignition is a promising technique to achieve fast premixed combustion and low pollutant emissions. However, few studies focus on the interaction between multiple reacting (i.e. flamelet) or reacted (i.e. radical) jets, its effect on ignition, exotherm and flow behaviors also remain to be revealed. This paper investigated two types of jet interaction under different pre-chamber structures, including the jet-crossing and unequal nozzle designs. Optical experiments under different conditions were conducted in a constant volume combustion chamber with CH4 as fuel, using simultaneous high speed schlieren and OH* chemiluminescence method. Meanwhile, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with CH4 and NH3/CH4 blend fuels were carried out using Converge software to provide further insights of turbulent flow and ignition process.