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The transportation sector still depends on conventional engines in many countries as the alternative technologies are not mature enough to reduce carbon footprints in society. The four-stroke diesel engines, primarily used for heavy-duty applications, need either high intake boosting or a large bore to produce higher torque and power output. There is an alternative where a four-stroke engine operated in two-stroke mode with the help of a fully flexible variable valve actuation (VVA) system can achieve similar power density without raising the intake boosting or engine size. A fully flexible VVA is required to control the valve events (lift, timing, and durations) independently so that the four-stroke events can be completed in one cycle. In this study, 1D-3D CFD coupled simulations were performed to develop a gas exchange process for better air entrapment in the cylinder and evacuate the exhaust products simultaneously.

This paper investigates the tire-road interaction for tires equipped with two different solid rubber material definitions within a Finite Element Analysis virtual environment, ESI PAMCRASH. A Mixed Service Drive truck tire sized 315/80R22.5 is designed with two different solid rubber material definitions: a legacy hyperelastic solid Mooney-Rivlin material definition and an Ogden hyperelastic solid material definition. The popular Mooney-Rivlin is a material definition for solid rubber simulation that is not built with element elimination and is not easily applicable to thermal applications. The Ogden hyperelastic material definition for rubber simulations allows for element destruction. Therefore, it is of interest and more suited for designing a tire model with wear and thermal capabilities.

This study explores the potential benefits of combining a wave-shaped piston geometry with post injection strategy in diesel engines. The wave piston design features evenly spaced protrusions around the piston bowl, which improve fuel-air mixing and combustion efficiency. The 'waves' direct the flames towards the bowl center, recirculating them and utilizing the momentum in the flame jets for more complete combustion. Post injection strategy, which involves a short injection after the main injection, is commonly used to reduce emissions and improve fuel efficiency. By combining post injections with the wave piston design, additional fuel injection can increase the momentum utilized by the flame jets, potentially further improving combustion efficiency. To understand the effects and potential of the wave piston design with post injection strategy, a single-cylinder heavy-duty compression-ignition optical engine with a quartz piston is used.

The novel wave-shaped bowl piston geometry design with protrusions has been proved in previous studies to enhance late-cycle mixing and therefore significantly reduce soot emissions and increase engine thermodynamic efficiency. The wave-shaped piston is characterized by the introduction of evenly spaced protrusions around the inner wall of the bowl, with a matching number with the number of injection holes, i.e., flames. The interactions between adjacent flames strongly affect the in-cylinder flow and the wave shape is designed to guide the near-wall flow. The flow re-circulation produces a radial mixing zone (RMZ) that extends towards the center of the piston bowl, where unused air is available for oxidation promotion. The waves enhance the flow re-circulation and thus increase the mixing intensity of the RMZ.

The commercial vehicle development process needs to consider the vehicle aerodynamics not only in ideal flow conditions, but also in the turbulent real world environment. The turbulent real world environment includes not only atmospheric turbulence, but also the vehicle to vehicle interactions that happen when driving around other vehicles or into and out of the wake of in/on coming vehicles. A vehicle driving into the wake of an oncoming vehicle not only experiences an increase in the total aerodynamic forces, it also experiences unsteady transient loads over the vehicle components such as windshield, mirror, sunvisor, door and side fairing. To properly design specific components, designers need to understand the magnitude of unsteady forces on various vehicle components, otherwise these components may fail which imposes warranty and safety risks. In this paper, we attempt to understand the various forces acting on the primary vehicle during a passing maneuver.

Executable Digital Twins (xDT) are starting a revolution in the industry, where high fidelity simulation models extend their usage from the design and validation phases to in-operation and service phase. Two critical technology blocks in this revolution are Model Order Reduction and Smart Virtual Sensing. The former allows the high-fidelity models to be represented in compact forms and the latter allows to extend the limits of physical sensors and provide full field data combining simulation models and test data in a real-time estimator framework. The smart virtual sensing technology leverages a state-of-the-art Kalman filtering approach to combine the simulation and physical testing. This allows to virtually measure locations that are not accessible with physical sensors due to e.g. physical constrains or high temperatures.

Automobile industry is facing challenges in the field of technological innovation and achieving minimum Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) despite rise in fuel prices. To overcome these challenges is certainly a challenging task. In doing so, automobile sector is mainly focused on passenger safety, comfort, reliability, meeting stringent emission norms, and above all reducing the vehicle fuel consumption. Referring to the Paris climate agreement, and India’s commitment to reduce the CO2 intensity by 33% - 35% by 2030 below the 2005 levels [1], it is imperative to lay down strong policies and procedure to curb the fuel consumption to contribute for reduction in carbon foot print and oil imports. Transportation sector is majorly responsible for the GHG Emission of which the CO2 emission from commercial vehicles is nearly 73% [2], although the total sales of commercial vehicles are around 4% of cumulative vehicle sales.

Exhaust aftertreatment systems are essential components in modern powertrains, needed to reach the low legislated levels of NOx and soot emissions. A well designed diesel engine exhaust aftertreatment system can have NOx conversion rates above 95%. However, to achieve high conversion the aftertreatment system must be warm. Because of this, large parts of the total NOx emissions come from cold starts where the engine has been turned off long enough for the aftertreatment system to cool down and loose its capacity to reduce NOx. It is therefore important to understand how the aftertreatment cools down when the engine in turned off. Experimental data for a catalyst cool-down process is presented and analyzed. The analysis shows that it is important to capture the spatial distribution of temperatures both in axial and radial directions. The data and analysis are used to design a catalyst thermal model that can be used for model based catalyst temperature monitoring and control.

One promising method for reducing fuel consumption and emissions, particularly in heavy duty trucks, is platooning. As the distance between vehicles decreases, the following vehicles will experience less aerodynamic drag on the front of the vehicle. However, reducing the velocity of the air contacting the front of the vehicle could have adverse effects on the temperature of the engine. To compensate for this effect, the energy consumption of the engine cooling system might increase, ultimately limiting the overall improvements obtained with platooning. Understanding the coupling between drag reduction and engine cooling load requirement is key for successfully implementing platooning strategies. Additionally, in a Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) environment, where information of the future engine load becomes available, the operation of the cooling system can be optimized in order to achieve the maximum fuel consumption reduction.

Side mirrors are a known source of aerodynamically generated noise in vehicles. In this work we focus on mirrors for heavy duty trucks, they are large, often not designed with main focus on aero-acoustics and are located in a cumbersome position on the up-right A-pillar of European trucks. First the test method itself is discussed. To allow fast and cost effective design loops a bespoke vehicle, where the powertrain is separated from the cab, is developed. This vehicle can be run on a standard test track. While running the tests the wind speed is monitored, any variations are then compensated for in the post processing allowing averaging over longer time periods. For the mirror tests the door of the vehicle was especially trimmed to reduce other transmission paths into the cab than the side window. Additionally other possible aeroacoustic sources were reduced as much as practically possible.

In this paper, computation fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are employed to describe the effect of flow parameters on the formation of soot and NOx in a heavy duty engine under low load and high load. The complexity of diesel combustion, specially when soot, NOx and other emissions are of interest, requires using a detailed chemical mechanism to have a correct estimation of temperature and species distribution. In this work, Multiple Representative Interactive Flamelets (MRIF) method is employed to describe the chemical reactions, ignition, flame propagation and emissions in the engine. A phenomenological model for soot formation, including soot nucleation, coagulation and oxidation with O2 and OH is incorporated into the flamelet combustion model. Different strategies for modelling NOx are chosen to take into account the longer time scale for NOx formation. The numerical results are compared with experimental data to show the validity of the model for the cases under study.

In this paper, the turbulent flow induced by a production side-view mirror assembled on a full-scale production truck is simulated using a compressible k-ω SST detached eddy simulation (DES) approach -- the improved delayed DES (IDDES). The truck configuration consists of a compartment and a trailer. Due to the large size and geometric complexity of the configuration, some simplifications are applied to the simulation. A purpose of this work is to investigate whether the simplifications are suitable to obtain the reasonable properties of the flow near the side-view mirror. Another objective is to study the aerodynamic performances of the mirror. The configuration is simplified regarding two treatments. The first treatment is to retain the key exterior components of the truck body while removing the small gaps and structures. Furthermore, the trailer is shaped in an apex-truncated square pyramid.

This paper focuses on predicting the rolling resistance and hydroplaning of a wide base truck tire (Size: 445/50R22.5) on dry and wet surfaces. The rolling resistance and hydroplaning are predicted at various inflation pressures, loads, velocities, and water depths. The wide base truck tire was previously modeled and validated using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) technique in virtual performance software (Pam-Crash). The water is modeled using Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method and Murnaghan equation of state. A water layer is first built on top of an FEA rigid surface to represent a wet surface. The truck tire is then inflated to the desired pressure. A vertical load is then applied to the center of the tire. For rolling resistance tests variable constant longitudinal speeds are applied to the center of the tire. The forces in the vertical and longitudinal directions are computed, and the rolling resistance is calculated.

Owing to increased interest in blended fuels for automotive applications, a great deal of understanding is sought for the behavior of multicomponent fuel sprays. This sets a new requirement on spray model since the volatility of the fuel components in a blend can vary substantially. It calls for careful solution to implement the differential evaporation process concerning thermodynamic equilibrium while maintaining a robust solution. This work presents the Volvo Stochastic Blob and Bubble (VSB2) spray model for multicomponent fuels. A direct numerical method is used to calculate the evaporation of multicomponent fuel droplets. The multicomponent fuel model is implemented into OpenFoam CFD code and the case simulated is a constant volume combustion vessel. The CFD code is used to calculate liquid penetration length for surrogate diesel (n-dodecane)-gasoline (iso-octane) blend and the result is compared with experimental data.

This paper describes a novel design and verification process for analytical methods used in the development of advanced combustion strategies in internal combustion engines (ICE). The objective was to improve brake thermal efficiency (BTE) as part of the US Department of Energy SuperTruck program. The tools and methods herein discussed consider spray formation and injection schedule along with piston bowl design to optimize combustion efficiency, air utilization, heat transfer, emission, and BTE. The methodology uses a suite of tools to optimize engine performance, including 1D engine simulation, high-fidelity CFD, and lab-scale fluid mechanic experiments. First, a wide range of engine operating conditions are analyzed using 1-D engine simulations in GT Power to thoroughly define a baseline for the chosen advanced engine concept; secondly, an optimization and down-select step is completed where further improvements in engine geometries and spray configurations are considered.

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of tire operating conditions, such as the tire inflation pressure, speed, and load on the change of the first mode of vibration. A wide base FEA tire (445/50R22.5) is virtually tested on a 2.5m diameter circular drum with a 10mm cleat using PAM-Crash code. The varying parameters are altered separately and are as follows: inflation pressure, varying from 50 psi to 165 psi, rotational speed, changing from 20 km/h to 100 km/h, and the applied load will fluctuate from 1,500 lbs. to 9000 lbs. Through a comparison of previous literature, the PAM-Crash FFT algorithmic results have been validated.

CONVENIENT is a project where prediction and integrated control are applied on several subsystems with electrified actuators. The technologies developed in this project are applied to a long-haul tractor and semi-trailer combination. A Volvo truck meeting the Eu6 emission standard is rebuilt with a number of controllable electrified actuators. An e-Horizon system collects information about future road topography and speed limits. Controllable aerodynamic wind deflectors reduce the wind drag. The tractor is also equipped with a full digital cluster for human machine interface development. A primary project goal is to develop a model-based optimal controller that uses predictive information from the e-Horizon system in order to minimize fuel consumption. Several energy buffers are controlled in an integrated and optimal way using model predictive control. Several buffers are considered, such as the cooling system, the battery, and the vehicle kinetic energy.

Lightweight solution is one of the keywords that we see every day. Developing smart, light and durable materials is one focal area that is inevitable to be done in the ground transportation sector. Another angle to look for is the protection and beautification of the substrate finish where surface treatment technology stands out. Combining both aspects is crucial in the industry for customer satisfaction. Recycled carbon fibers are used to form the reinforcement in the composite side, where they are infused or mixed with the matrix materials either in SMC (Sheet Mold Compound) or BMC (Bulk Mold Compound) format, depending upon the application. Glass fibers are usually used for their practical application, however considering further weight cut on the component, carbon fibers cannot be overlooked for their superior mechanical properties. However, due to the cost of carbon fibers many times the application may be over-designed.

The reduction of friction losses is a subject of central importance in a diesel engine. The piston frictions of low viscosity engine oil and molybdenum dialkyl dithiocarbamate (MoDTC) have been measured by floating liner method. It was found that the low viscosity engine oil lower than 5W-30 is not effective against the reduction of friction mean effective pressure (FMEP) related to the fuel consumption. MoDTC showed a good performance against the reduction of FMEP. In the friction measurement points, the reduction ratio of 10W-30 with MoDTC to 10W-30 was greater than that of 5W-30 to 10W-30.

Annual fuel use for long-haul truck rest period idling is estimated at 667 million gallons in the United States. The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory's CoolCab project aims to reduce heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) loads and resulting fuel use from rest period idling by working closely with industry to design efficient long-haul truck climate control systems while maintaining occupant comfort. Enhancing the thermal performance of cab/sleepers will enable smaller, lighter, and more cost-effective idle reduction solutions. In order for candidate idle reduction technologies to be implemented at the original equipment manufacturer and fleet level, their effectiveness must be quantified. To address this need, a number of promising candidate technologies were evaluated through experimentation and modeling to determine their effectiveness in reducing rest period HVAC loads.