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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.

Heavy duty tractor-trailers under freeway operations consume about 65% of the total engine shaft energy to overcome aerodynamic drag force. Vehicles are exposed to on-road crosswinds which cause change in pressure distribution with a relative wind speed and yaw angle. The objective of this study was to analyze the drag losses as a function of on-road wind conditions, on-road vehicle position and trajectory. Using coefficient of drag (CD) data available from a study conducted at NASA Ames, Geographical Information Systems model, time-varying weather data and road data, a generic model was built to identify the yaw angles and the relative magnitude of wind speed on a given route over a given time period. A region-based analysis was conducted for a study on interstate trucking operation by employing I-79 running through West Virginia as a case study by initiating a run starting at 12am, 03/03/2012 out to 12am, 03/05/2012.

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.

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.

Currently, the chassis assembly contributes about 73 percent of the overall weight of a 14.63 m long haul trailer. This paper presents alternative design concepts for the structural floor of a van trailer utilizing sandwich panels with various material and geometric characteristics of the core layer in order to reduce its weight significantly below that of the current design configuration. The main objective of the new designs is to achieve optimal tradeoffs between the overall structural weight and the flexural stiffness of the floor. Various preliminary design concepts of the core designs were compared on the basis of a single section of the core structure. Six different designs were analyzed by weight, maximum displacement and maximum stress under bending and torsion loads. Each concept was kept uniform by length, thickness, loading and boundary conditions. Each design concept was examined through testing of scaled model for floor assemblies.

Recent advances in Metal Matrix Composites have made them ready for transition to large-volume production and commercialization. Such new materials seem to allow the fabrication of higher quality parts at less than 50 percent of the weight as compared to steel. The increasing requirements of weight savings and extended durability motivated the potential application of MMC technology into the heavy vehicle market. However, significant technical barriers such as joining are likely to hinder the broad applications of MMC materials in heavy vehicles. The focus of this paper is to examine the feasibility of manufacturing and the behavior of bolted joint connections made from aluminum matrix reinforced with Silicon Carbide (SiC) particles. Two reinforcement ratios: 20% and 45% were considered in this study. The first part of the paper concentrates on experimental evaluation of bolted MMC joints.

Incidents in which a piece of construction equipment backed into a worker resulted in an average of 17 deaths per year at road construction sites and 15 deaths per year at building construction sites from 1997 through 2001. This trend continues and researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health are evaluating methods to decrease these incidents. A new technology based on the detection of electronic identification tags worn by workers has been developed and evaluated at a road construction site. The tag-based proximity warning system consists of a magnetic field generator and communications system that mounts on the back of a piece of construction equipment such as a dump truck, road grader, or loader. Workers at a construction site wear a small tag that detects the magnetic marker field.

Collision warning systems (CWS) are a relatively new technology to reduce or mitigate motor vehicle rear-end and side impact collisions. This study compared available police-reported crash experiences of 6,143 CWS-equipped heavy trucks with the experiences of 383,058 heavy trucks without CWS. Data were from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (2000-2002). Results suggest that CWS-equipped trucks had a significantly lower proportion of crashes involving other moving vehicles and a significantly lower proportion of multiple vehicle crashes compared to trucks without CWS, (40% vs. 49%, p<0.0001; 62% vs. 67%, p<0.004 respectively). These changes are the first crash-data based evidence that supports the design effect of CWS. However, more studies are needed to determine the specific impacts of CWS on heavy truck crashes.

Further growth of diesel engines in the light-duty and heavy-duty vehicular market is closely linked to the potential health risks of diesel exhaust. The California Air Resources Board and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment have identified diesel exhaust as a toxic air contaminant. The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that diesel particulate is a probable human carcinogen [1]. Cleaner burning liquid fuels, such as those derived from natural gas via the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process, offer a potentially economically viable alternative to standard diesel fuel while providing reduced particulate emissions. Further understanding of FT operation may be realized by investigating the differences in toxicity and potential health effects between particulate matter(PM) derived from FT fuel and that derived from standard Federal diesel No. 2 (DF).

Chassis based emissions characterization of heavy-duty vehicles has advanced over the last decade, but the understanding of the effect of test schedule on measured emissions is still poor. However, this is an important issue because the test schedule should closely mimic actual vehicle operation or vocation. A wide variety of test schedules was reviewed and these cycles were classified as cycles or routes and as geometric or realistic. With support from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Transportation Technologies (DOE/OTT), a GMC box truck with a Caterpillar 3116 engine and a Peterbilt over the road tractor-trailer with a Caterpillar 3406 engine were exercised through a large number of cycles and routes. Test weight for the GMC was 9,980 kg and for the Peterbilt was 19,050 kg. Emissions characterization was performed using a heavy-duty chassis dynamometer, with a full-scale dilution tunnel, analyzers for gaseous emissions, and filters for PM emissions.

Specific aspects of a study aimed at developing a microwave assisted regeneration system for diesel particulate traps are discussed. Results from thermal and microwave characteristic studies carried out in the initial phase of the study are reported. The critical parameters that need to be optimized, for achieving controlled regeneration, are microwave preheating time period, regenerative air supply, regenerative air temperature, and soot deposition. Using a 1000 W magnetron, power measurements were made to select the best waveguide configuration for optimized transmission. A six cylinder naturally aspirated, indirect injection diesel engine was retrofitted with a customized exhaust system that included a Corning EX80 (5.66″ × 6.00″) type ceramic particulate trap. An automated exhaust bypass system enabled trap loading and subsequent regeneration with a customized microwave regeneration system. The paper discusses the salient details of both on-line and off-line regeneration setups.

The objective of this project, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is to provide a comprehensive comparison of heavy-duty trucks operating on alternative fuels and diesel fuel. Data collection from up to eight sites is planned. Currently, the project has four sites: Raley's in Sacramento, CA (Kenworth, Cummins L10-300G, liquefied natural gas - LNG); Pima Gro Systems, Inc. in Fontana, CA (White/GMC, Caterpillar 3176B Dual-Fuel, compressed natural gas - CNG); Waste Management in Washington, PA (Mack, Mack E7G, LNG); and United Parcel Service in Hartford, CT (Freightliner Custom Chassis, Cummins B5.9G, CNG). This paper summarizes current data collection and evaluation results from this project.

Diesel soot interacts with the engine oil and leads to wear of engine parts. Engine oil additives play a crucial role in preventing wear by forming the anti-wear film between the wearing surfaces. The current study was aimed at investigating the interactions between engine soot and oil properties in order to develop high performance oils for diesel engines equipped with exhaust gas re-circulation (EGR). The effect of soot contaminated oil on wear of engine components was examined using a statistically designed experiment. To quantitatively analyze and simulate the extent of wear a three-body wear machine was designed and developed. The qualitative wear analysis was performed by examining the wear scars on an AISI 52100 stainless steel ball worn in the presence of oil test samples on a ball-on-flat disc setup. The three oil properties studied were base stock, dispersant level and zinc dithiophosphate level.

Speed-time and video data were logged for tractor-trailers performing local deliveries in Akron, OH. and Richmond, VA. in order to develop an emissions test schedule that represented real truck use. The data bank developed using these logging techniques was used to create a Yard cycle, a Freeway cycle and a City-Suburban cycle by the concatenation of microtrips. The City-Suburban driving cycle was converted to a driving route, in which the truck under test would perform at maximum acceleration during certain portions of the test schedule. This new route was used to characterize the emissions of a 1982 Ford tractor with a Cummins 14 liter, 350 hp engine and a 1998 International tractor with a Cummins 14 liter, 435 hp engine. Emissions levels were found to be repeatable with one driver and the driver-to-driver variation of NOx was under 4%, although the driver-to-driver variations of CO and PM were higher.

This paper presents results from a study on speciation of the emission profiles and on the ozone forming potential of heavy-duty diesel exhaust under steady state engine operation. Very limited attempts have been made at determining the ozone forming potential of heavy duty diesel exhaust emissions. In this study a proportional sample of the dilute exhaust was drawn from a CFV-CVS system using a temperature controlled sampling line. The particulate matter was collected on a 70 mm Teflon coated glass fiber filter (TX40HI20WW), the semi-volatiles on XAD-2 copolymer resin and volatiles in Tedlar bags. The samples were analyzed by gas chromatography after conditioning and chemical extractions. The initial phase of the study was directed towards developing techniques and establishing protocols to determine the ozone forming potential of heavy-duty diesel exhaust. A pre-chamber naturally aspirated engine was tested on steady-state modes 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8 of the ISO 8 mode cycle.

Growing concern over ground-level ozone and its role in smog formation has resulted in extensive investigation into identifying ozone sources. Motor vehicle exhaust, specifically oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbons, have been identified as major ozone precursors in urban areas. Past research has concentrated on assessing the impact of emissions from gasoline fueled light duty vehicles. However, little work has been done on identifying ozone precursors from medium and heavy duty diesel fueled vehicles. This paper presents the results of testing performed on a Navistar T 444E 190 horsepower diesel engine which is certified as a light/heavy-duty emissions classification and is used in medium duty trucks up to 11,800 kg (26,000 lb) GVW. Regulated emissions and speciated hydrocarbon emissions were collected using a filter, bag and Tenax adsorption cartridges for both steady state and transient engine operation.

Emissions from light duty vehicles have traditionally been measured using a chassis dynamometer, while heavy duty testing has been based on engine dynamometers. However, the need for in-use vehicle emissions data has led to the development of two transportable heavy duty chassis dynamometers capable of testing buses and heavy trucks. A test cycle has been developed for Class 8 trucks, which typically have unsyncronized transmissions. This test cycle has five peaks, each consisting of an acceleration, cruise period, and deceleration, with speeds and acceleration requirements that can be met by virtually all vehicles in common service. Termed the “WVU 5 peak truck test”, this 8 km (5 mile) cycle has been used to evaluate the emissions from diesel and ethanol powered over-the-road tractors and from diesel and ethanol powered snow plows, all with Detroit Diesel 6V92 engines.

In this paper, a new method for the hydro-dynamic analysis of a sliding cylinder in a fully lubricated parallel track is presented. The method is an extension of Booker's “Mobility Method” (developed for cylindrical journal bearings) to the case of sliding cylinders, in which the clearance between the track and the cylinder, the viscosity of the lubricant, the radius and length of the pin, the sliding velocity and the applied transverse load determine the hydrodynamic behavior of the cylinder. In the Rand Cam™ Engine [1]*, the axicycloidal motion of vanes is driven by a rotor and a cylindrical cam, and one of the alternative designs to provide this function is based on a cylindrical pin sliding within a track which follows the profile of the motion of the main cams of the engine. This function is very important for the engine, since it separates the load bearing function from the sealing function left to the apex-like seals.