Search Results

Racing continues to be the singular, preeminent source of powertrain development for automakers worldwide. Engineering teams rely on motorsports for the latest prototype testing and research. Endurance racing provides the harshest and most illuminating stage for system design validation of any motorsport competition. While advancements throughout the 20th Century brought about dramatic increases in engine power output, the latest developments from endurance racing may be more impactful for fuel efficiency improvements. Hybrid powertrains are a critical area of research for automakers and are being tested on the toughest of scales. Prototype Powertrain in Motorsport Endurance Racing brings together ten vital SAE technical papers and SAE Automotive Engineering magazine articles surrounding the advancements of hybrid powertrains in motorsports.

This paper presents 3D finite element analysis performed for a composite cylindrical tank made of 6061-aluminum liner overwrapped with carbon fibers subjected to a burst internal pressure of 1610 bars. As the service pressure expected in these tanks is 700 bars, a factor of safety of 2.3 is kept the same for all designs. The optimal design configuration of such high pressure storage tanks includes an inner liner used as a gas permeation barrier, geometrically optimized domes, inlet/outlet valves with minimum stress concentrations, and directionally tailored exterior reinforcement for high strength and stiffness. Filament winding of pressure vessels made of fiber composite materials is the most efficient manufacturing method for such high pressure hydrogen storage tanks. The complexity of the filament winding process in the dome region is characterized by continually changing the fiber orientation angle and the local thickness of the wall.

Industries related to automotive manufacturing and its supply chain play a key role in leaving a carbon footprint during an automobile's life cycle. Per the report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in March, 2008 [1], “motor vehicle industry in the U.S. spends about $3.6 billion on energy annually.” The proposed research will focus on energy savings opportunities in automotive manufacturing and its supplier network. The US Department of Energy (DOE) funds 24 Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) throughout the U.S. that conduct energy assessments at many of these facilities. The results of these assessments are summarized in a database maintained by Rutgers University which acts as the central management body for all the IACs. This research will present key concepts summarized from this database.

The hydrogen economy envisioned in the future requires safe and efficient means of storing hydrogen fuel for either use on-board vehicles, delivery on mobile transportation systems or high-volume storage in stationary systems. The main emphasis of this work is placed on the high -pressure storing of gaseous hydrogen on-board vehicles. As a result of its very low density, hydrogen gas has to be stored under very high pressure, ranging from 350 to 700 bars for current systems, in order to achieve practical levels of energy density in terms of the amount of energy that can be stored in a tank of a given volume. This paper presents 3D finite element analysis performed for a composite cylindrical tank made of 6061-aluminum liner overwrapped with carbon fibers subjected to a burst internal pressure of 1610 bars. As the service pressure expected in these tanks is 700 bars, a factor of safety of 2.3 is kept the same for all designs.

Automotive industries in the US and around the world have enormous impact on the economy of each country. Not just the major vehicle manufacturer, but all the other companies in the supply chain are equally important. This was evident with the earthquake and Tsunami that happened in March 2011. Because of the massive destruction at suppliers' facilities, the automakers in the US and other countries struggled to get the necessary parts and supplies. This created a ripple effect throughout the world and led to the closure of several automakers' facilities for a long time. Thus, the automotive supply chains are as important as the main automotive manufacturing facilities. Since these suppliers produce a lot of parts and supplies, the corresponding energy usage is also significant. The current research is focused on compressed air and process heating system analysis at one of the automotive parts manufacturer in Mexico.

This research attempts to investigate the effect of change in system curve on the energy intensity method of measurement and verification of energy savings. With recent push from US government on energy efficiency through EPACT 2007 and upturn in performance contracted energy efficiency project implementations the effective and accurate evaluation of energy savings as compared to the baseline is of paramount importance. The authors have studied different methods of Measurement and Verification (M&V) of energy savings from literature to compare and contrast and clearly bring out merits and de-merits of each. Finally, the role of production level variable plays in establishing the baseline energy usage is discussed. Though modern models proposed in the literature of determining baseline energy usage consider production level, this variable is compounded from two variables viz., time of usage of a system and fraction of total capacity usage.

The need to assess the effect of exhaust gas emissions from heavy duty vehicles (buses and trucks) on emission inventories is urgent. Exhaust gas emissions measured during the fuel economy measurement test procedures that are used in different countries sometimes do not represent the in-use vehicle emissions. Since both local and imported vehicles are running on the roads, it is thought that studying the testing cycles of the major vehicle manufacturer countries is worthy. Standard vehicle testing cycles on chassis dynamometer from the United States, Canada, European Community Market, and Japan1 are considered in this study. Each of the tested cycles is categorized as either actual or synthesized cycle and its representativness of the observed driving patterns is investigated. A total of fourteen parameters are chosen to characterize any given driving cycle and the cycles under investigation were compared using these parameters.

In the case of advanced light weight material applications, the design of such components, in many cases, are based on applied surface tractions These surface loads can be caused by various means. When wind effects are present these tractions can be due to pressure, suction or drag. In the case of underwater applications, hydrostatic pressure and friction caused by moving against water current needs to be considered in the design. These are some of the traction load applications, a design engineer has to deal with in his advanced material applications. In contrast to the conventional materials, the modern structures made of highly directional dependent material properties, respond the applied loads and environment in an unpredicted way, so that, a detail analysis and design is always necessary. Hence in the present study a higher-order shear deformation formulation is developed to calculate the distribution of stresses accurately in angle-ply laminated shells of revolution.

In this paper an approach is presented for the system parameterization and synthesis of a Rand-Cam® Engine configuration based on an axial-cylindrical cam driven mechanism. This engine consists of a stationary axial-cylindrical cam on which axially moving pistons (vanes) sweep around the cam as they are driven by the rotor, providing the volume displacement as the rotor delivers the rotary output torque directly to the shaft. It has been documented that this engine configuration has some unique features that make it particularly suitable for high power to weight ratio applications. The modeling strategy makes use of higher order curve and surface modeling techniques and object modeling approaches based on profile extruding, blending operations and constructive solid geometry. Some of the resulting models are further used for finite element engineering analysis through a programmatic logic built into the parameterized general model.

Results of a research effort directed towards identifying and measuring the genotoxic properties of respirable particulate matter involved in mining exposures, especially those which may synergistically affect genotoxic hazard, are presented. Particulate matter emissions from a direct injection diesel engine have been sampled and assayed to determine the genotoxic potential as a function of engine operating conditions. Diesel exhaust from a Caterpillar 3304 diesel engine, representative of the ones found in underground mines, rated 100 hp at 2200 rpm is diluted in a multi-tube mini-dilution tunnel and the particulate matter is collected on 70 mm fluorocarbon coated glass fiber filters as well as on 8″ x 10″ hi-volume filters. A six mode steady state duty cycle was used to relate engine operating conditions to the genotoxic potential.

The Stiller-Smith Engine employs a non-standard gear train and as such requires a closer examination of the design and sizing of the gears. To accomplish this the motion of the Stiller-Smith gear train -will be compared to more familiar arrangements. The results of a kinematic and dynamic analysis will introduce the irregular forces that the gears are subjected to. The “floating” or “trammel” gear will be examined more closely, first stochastically and then with finite element analysis. This will pinpoint high stress concentrations on the gear and where they occur during the engine cycle, The configuration considered will be one with: an output shaft, negligible idler gear forces, and floating gear pins that are part of the connecting rods rather than the floating gear. Various loading techniques will be discussed with possible ramifications of each.

New high-tech materials which are anticipated to revolutionize the internal combustion engine are being created everyday. However, their actual utilization in existing engines has encountered numerous stumbling blocks. High piston sidewall forces and thermal stresses are some of the problems of primary concern. The Stiller-Smith Engine should provide an environment more conducive to the use of some of these materials. Absent from the Stiller-Smith Engine is a crankshaft, and thus a very different motion is observed. Since all parts in the Stiller-Smith Engine move in either linear or rotary fashion it is simple to balance. Additionally the use of linear connecting rod bearings changes the location of the sidewall forces thus providing an isolated combustion chamber more tolerant to brittle materials and potential adiabatic designs. Presented herein is the development of this new engine environment, from conceptualization to an outline of present and future research.

The Stiller-Smith Mechanism provides a unique approach in the use of the rotational characteristics of the cross-slider link of the elliptic trammel. Establishment of the research need and a historical development of the design concept are presented complete with a detailed kinematic analysis. Successful incorporation of the new mechanism is pictorially presented.