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Quasicrystalline (QC) coatings were evaluated as leading-edge protection materials for rotor craft blades. The QC coatings were deposited using high velocity oxy-fuel thermal spray and predominantly Al-based compositions. Ice adhesion, interfacial toughness with ice, wettability, topography, and durability were assessed. QC-coated sand-blasted carbon steel exhibited better performance in terms of low surface roughness (Sa ~ 0.2 μm), liquid repellency (water contact angles: θadv ~85°, θrec ~23°), and better substrate adhesion compared to stainless steel substrates. To enhance coating performance, QC-coated sand-blasted carbon steel was further exposed to grinding and polishing, followed by measuring surface roughness, wettability, and ice adhesion strength. This reduced the surface roughness of the QC coating by 75%, resulting in lower ice adhesion strengths similar to previously reported values (~400 kPa).

The present paper aims at developing an innovative procedure to create a one-dimensional (1D) real-time capable simulation model for a heavy-duty diesel engine. The novelty of this approach is the use of the top-level engine configuration, test cell measurement data, and manufacturer maps as opposite to common practice of utilizing a detailed 1D engine model. The objective is to facilitate effective model adjustments and hence further increase the application of Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) simulations in powertrain development. This work describes the development of Fast Running Model (FRM) in GT-SUITE simulation software. The cylinder and gas-path modeling and calibration are described in detail. The results for engine performance and exhaust emissions produced satisfactory agreement with both steady-state and transient experimental data.

In order to meet emissions and power requirements, modern engine design has evolved in complexity and control. The cost and time restraints of calibration and testing of various control strategies have made virtual testing environments increasingly popular. Using Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL), Volvo Penta has built a virtual test rig named VIRTEC for efficient engine testing, using a model simulating a fully instrumented engine. This paper presents an innovative Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based model for engine simulations in HiL environment. The engine model, herein called Artificial Neural Network Engine (ANN-E), was built for D8-600 hp Volvo Penta engine, and directly implemented in the VIRTEC system. ANN-E uses a combination of feedforward and recursive ANNs, processing 7 actuator signals from the engine management system (EMS) to provide 30 output signals.

Particulate matter emissions from gasoline direct injection engines are a concern due to the health effects associated with ultrafine particles. This experimental study investigated sources of particulate matter emissions variability observed in previous tests and also examined the effect of ethanol content in gasoline on particle number (PN) concentrations and particle mass (PM) emissions. FTIR measurements of gas phase hydrocarbon emissions provided evidence that changes in fuel composition were responsible for the variability. Exhaust emissions of toluene and ethanol correlated positively with emitted PN concentrations, while emissions of isobutylene correlated negatively. Exhaust emissions of toluene and isobutylene were interpreted as markers of gasoline aromatic content and gasoline volatility respectively.

Metallic open-cell foams have proven to be valuable for many engineering applications. Their success is mainly related to mechanical strength, low density, high specific surface, good thermal exchange, low flow resistance and sound absorption properties. The present work aims to investigate three principal aspects of real foams: the geometrical characterization, the flow regime characterization, the effects of the pore size and the porosity on the pressure drop. The first aspect is very important, since the geometrical properties depend on other parameters, such as porosity, cell/pore size and specific surface. A statistical evaluation of the cell size of a foam sample is necessary to define both its geometrical characteristics and the flow pattern at a given input velocity. To this purpose, a procedure which statistically computes the number of cells and pores with a given size has been implemented in order to obtain the diameter distribution.

Large-scale emergency or off-grid power generation is typically achieved through diesel or natural gas generators. To meet governmental emission requirements, emission control systems (ECS) are required. In operation, effective control over the generator’s acoustic emission is also necessary, and can be accomplished within the ECS system. Plug flow mufflers are commonly used, as they provide a sufficient level of noise attenuation in a compact structure. The key design parameter is the transmission loss of the muffler, as this dictates the level of attenuation at a given frequency. This work implements an analytically decoupled solution, using multiple perforate impedance models, through the transfer matrix method (TMM) to predict the transmission loss based on the muffler geometry. An equivalent finite element model is implemented for numerical simulation. The analytical results and numerical results are then evaluated against experimental data from literature.

This study investigates the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a set of vehicles using two real-world gliders (vehicles without powertrains or batteries); a steel-intensive 2013 Ford Fusion glider and a multi material lightweight vehicle (MMLV) glider that utilizes significantly more aluminum and carbon fiber. These gliders are used to develop lightweight and conventional models of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICV), hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), and battery electric vehicles (BEV). Our results show that the MMLV glider can reduce life cycle GHG emissions despite its use of lightweight materials, which can be carbon intensive to produce, because the glider enables a decrease in fuel (production and use) cycle emissions. However, the fuel savings, and thus life cycle GHG emission reductions, differ substantially depending on powertrain type. Compared to ICVs, the high efficiency of HEVs decreases the potential fuel savings.

Biodiesel and other renewable fuels are of interest due to their impact on energy supplies as well as their potential for carbon emissions reductions. Waste animal fats from meat processing facilities, which would otherwise be sent to landfill, have been proposed as a feedstock for biodiesel production. Emissions from biodiesel fuels derived from vegetable oils have undergone intense study, but there remains a lack of data describing the emissions implications of using animal fats as a biodiesel feedstock. In this study, emissions of NOx, unburned hydrocarbons and particulate matter from a compression ignition engine were examined. The particulate matter emissions were characterized using gravimetric analysis, elemental carbon analysis and transmission electron microscopy. The emissions from an animal fat derived B20 blend were compared to those from petroleum diesel and a soy derived B20 blend.

A novel processing method for fabricating high porosity microcellular ceramic foams for sound absorption applications has been developed. The strategy for fabricating the ceramic foams involves: (i) forming some shapes using a mixture of preceramic polymer and expandable microspheres by a conventional ceramic forming method, (ii) foaming the compact by heating, (iii) cross-linking the foamed body, and (iv) transforming the foamed body into ceramic foams by pyrolysis. By controlling the microsphere content and that of the base elastomer, it was possible to adjust the porosity with a very high open-cell content (ranging between 43 - 95%), high microcellular cell densities (9 × 108 - 1.6 × 109 cells/cm3) and desired expansion ratios (3 - 6 folds). Sound absorption testing has been performed using ASTM C-384 standard test. The preliminary results show that ceramic foams are candidate sound absorption materials.

Polymers are often blended to create compounds with new or enhanced properties in order to compensate for an individual polymer's weakness or lack of inherent properties. In the field of polymer foaming, polymer blends are also used to generate fine-cell structures via heterogeneous nucleation. Recently, an interest in physical blowing agents, such CO2 and N2, has increased because of their low impact on the environment. It has thus become additionally important to pursue research on the foaming of polymer blends employing these particular physical blowing agents in an effort to keep up with the demand for environmentally friendly products. In this study, thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) blends were prepared with polypropylene (PP) and a metallocene-based polyolefin elastomer (POE) using twin-screw extruders and a batch mixer.

One of the key challenges of the wood polymer composites (WPC) is the inadequate toughness partly due to the incompatibility of the natural fibres and PP matrix. In this work, we performed the surface modification of the natural fibre by either in-situ grafting polymerization of butyl acrylate (PBA) or adsorbing matrix-compatible cationic PBA latex on the fibre surfaces. The results indicated that the mechanical properties of the polypropylene (PP) composites containing the modified fibres, unnotched Izod impact strength in particular, have been improved significantly. The influencing factors and the mechanism of toughening process have also been preliminarily investigated.

We have studied the effects of water droplets presence in the PEM Fuel cell channel and the way they influence dynamics of the two-phase flow in the channel numerically. Dynamic behavior of a droplet on the surface of a channel has been modeled under the influence of surrounding fluid. Optimal conditions for the displacement of water droplet in the channel flow sought. For this purpose, the yield conditions for the displacement of liquid droplet on the surface of the channel under the influence of channel fluid are determined. The numerical solution is based on solving Navier-Stokes equations for Newtonian liquids. The study includes the effect of interfacial forces with constant surface tension, also effect of adhesion between the wall and droplet accounted by implementing contact angle at the wall. The Volume-Of-Fluid method is used to numerically determine the deformation of free surface.

Thermoplastic Vulcanizate (TPV) is a special class of Thermoplastic Elastomers (TPEs) made of a rubber/plastic polymer mixture in which the rubber phase is highly vulcanized. It is prepared by melt mixing a thermoplastic with an elastomer and by in-situ crosslinking of the rubber phase. Currently, TPV is replacing EPDM rubber dramatically because of the impressive advantages for automotive sealing applications. Some of the advantages of TPV compared to that of EPDM rubber are good gloss, recyclability, improved colorability, shorter cycle time and design flexibility. The development of TPV foaming technology is to fulfill the requirement of achieving lower cost, lighter weight and better fuel economy. Foaming of TPV has not been investigated extensively.

TPO is being used to make automotive parts for its number of advantages: i) low temperature flexibility and ductility, ii) excellent impact/stiffness/flow balance, iii) excellent weatherability, and iv) free-flowing pellet form for easy processing, storage, and handling. However, by foaming TPO, due to its higher rigidity-to-weigh ratio, it would offer additional advantages over the solid counterparts in terms of reduced weight, reduced material cost, and decreased fuel usage without compromising their performance. Since a major component in TPO is polypropylene (PP), understanding PP foaming behaviours is an important step towards understanding TPO foaming. For foam materials, cell density and cell size are two significant parameters that affect their material properties. In this research, we observed the cell nucleation and initial growth behaviours of PP foams blown with CO2 under various experimental conditions in a batch foaming simulation system.

Foaming of a thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) is gaining interests because of its superior mechanical properties of foamed automotive parts, such as lightweight and high performance to weight ratio, etc. In this context, understanding of the thermophysical properties of PP/gas and TPO/gas mixtures is critically important. This paper will present the newly developed experimental technique to accurately measure the swelling of PP and TPO due to gas dissolution at elevated temperatures and pressures. Our technique measures the geometry of the pendent drop accurately from the captured images to obtain the volume swelling data. It determines the boundary location of the polymer/gas sample accurately by magnifying the sample drop locally along its edge before capturing the image. The automated high-precision XY stage is chosen as the platform to control the motion of the CCD camera.

This work is based on a process to develop novel cellulose microfibre reinforced composite materials, and to understand fundamental mechanical properties of these composites. Cellulose microfibres having diameters <1 μm were generated from bleached kraft pulp by a combination of high shear refining and subsequent cryocrushing under liquid nitrogen, followed by filtration through a 60 mesh screen. Through film casting in polyvinyl alcohol, theoretical stiffness of the microfibres was calculated as 69 GPa. Subsequently, these microfibres were successfully dispersed in the bioplastics thermoplastic starch and polylactic acid (PLA), using conventional processing equipments. The high aspect ratio of these microfibres coupled with their high tensile properties imparted superior mechanical strength and stiffness to the composites. These indicated that by suitably choosing the polymer, excellent reinforcement can be achieved for high end applications like automotive parts.

This paper presents an experimental study on the foaming behavior of recyclable high-melt-strength (HMS) branched polypropylene (PP) with CO2 as a blowing agent. The foamability of branched HMS PP has been evaluated using a tandem foaming extruder system. The effects of CO2 and nucleating agent contents on the final foam morphology have been thoroughly investigated. The low density (i.e., 12~14 fold), fine-celled (i.e., 107–109 cells/cm3) PP foams were successfully produced using a small amount of talc (i.e., 0.8 wt%) and 5 wt% CO2.

Determination of the solubility of a blowing agent, i.e. supercritical N2, in polypropylene (PP) and elastomer material is crucial for achieving high-quality thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) foams in automotive industry. A magnetic suspension balance (MSB) was employed in the experiments to measure the apparent solubility, while the swollen volume predicted by the Sanchez-Lacombe (SL) equation of state (EOS) was used to account for the buoyancy effect. The volume swelling of the polymer/gas mixture and the gas solubilities for both PP and polyolefin elastomer were discussed.

The use of natural fibers for polymer composite materials has increased tremendously in the last few years. This type of reinforcements offers many advantages such as low density, low cost, high specific strength and low environmental impacts. The performance of the natural fiber composites are affected by the fiber loading, the individual mechanical properties of each component (fiber and matrix), and the fiber and matrix adhesion. Concerning the interfacial interaction, natural fibers present a major drawback because of poor compatibility of fibers with most hydrophobic thermoplastic and thermoset matrix. Hemp fiber/acrylic composites were manufactured with sheet molding technique recently. Although mechanical tests give promising results, they exhibit low tensile strength resulting from a poor fiber/matrix adhesion. The moisture resistance property of the sheet molded composites also needs further improvement.

Natural fiber reinforced polymer composites are beginning to find their way into the commercial automotive market. But, inadequate adhesion between hydrophilic natural fibers and hydrophobic matrix materials affects the performance of the resulting composites. In this study the effect of an environmental friendly fungal treatment on the adhesion characteristics of natural fibers is investigated. Firstly, changes in acid-base characteristics of the modified hemp fibers were studied using Inverse Gas Chromatography (IGC). Afterwards, composites were prepared using Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) process and the effect of modification on performance and durability of the composites was investigated.