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“Spotlight on Design: Insight” features an in-depth look at the latest technology breakthroughs impacting mobility. Viewers are virtually taken to labs and research centers to learn how design engineers are enhancing product performance/reliability, reducing cost, improving quality, safety or environmental impact, and achieving regulatory compliance. As global concerns about the negative consequences of greenhouse gases on the environment increase, regulatory agencies around the world are taking serious steps to address the issue of tailpipe emissions In the episode “Fuel Efficiency: Fuel Economy Testing” (12:05), engineers at the EPA’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory demonstrate how different vehicles are tested for emissions, and AVL’s technical team shows how accurate tailpipe emissions can be measured and reported.

“Spotlight on Design: Insight” features an in-depth look at the latest technology breakthroughs impacting mobility. Viewers are virtually taken to labs and research centers to learn how design engineers are enhancing product performance/reliability, reducing cost, improving quality, safety or environmental impact, and achieving regulatory compliance. When automotive and aerospace manufacturers look for a material with superior lightweight and strength characteristics, they often look no further than composite materials. In the episode “Composite Materials: New Trends in Automotive Design” (10:20), an engineer from Molded Fiber Glass Research Company demonstrates how they develop and test the properties of composite materials, and an engineer at MirTEQ Incorporated discusses designing molds for an aftermarket composite part.

“Spotlight on Design” features video interviews and case study segments, focusing on the latest technology breakthroughs. Viewers are virtually taken to labs and research centers to learn how design engineers are enhancing product performance/reliability, reducing cost, improving quality, safety or environmental impact, and achieving regulatory compliance. In the episode “Diagnostics and Prognostics: Proactive Maintenance and Failure Prevention” (21:04), Delphi engineers explain how they leverage the growing number of sensors and computing power in vehicles to diagnose and proactively solve emerging mechanical or electronic problems, before a breakdown occurs. This video also looks at the next generation of automotive telematics, with HEM Data demonstrating how in-vehicle data acquisition is used to monitor the inner workings of vehicles.

“Spotlight on Design” features video interviews and case study segments, focusing on the latest technology breakthroughs. Viewers are virtually taken to labs and research centers to learn how design engineers are enhancing product performance/reliability, reducing cost, improving quality, safety or environmental impact, and achieving regulatory compliance. Fuel efficiency, or simply put, how to get more mileage out of the same amount of fuel has become one of the main goals to be achieved by new automotive technologies in the future, thanks in part to new government regulations. In the episode “Fuel Efficiency: Racing toward CAFE 2025” (21:24) AVL engineers show simulation and testing being used to design more fuel efficient vehicles, including the equipment that actually analyzes fuel economy.

Finding ways to reduce the amount of fuel burned per flight takes top priority in aircraft operations and design. Three experts show how the smallest on-board components can make a huge difference.

There are many macro drivers that are creating opportunities for transportation electrification. They include the environment, dependence on foreign oil, national security, battery technology and government incentives to name a few. In light of this growing momentum consumers will have choices to where they can charge ? at home, workplace or publicly. Electrical vehicle supply equipment will drive value throughout the supply chain ? installer, building owner, automaker, suppliers, utilities and consumers. Market acceptance will occur when consumer?s needs and wants are met. To meet these needs access to products through multiple channels will be required. Presenter Manoj Karwa, Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contracted with FEV, Inc. to estimate the per-vehicle cost of employing selected advanced efficiency-improving technologies in light-duty motor vehicles. The development of transparent, reliable cost analyses that are accessible to all interested stakeholders has played a crucial role in establishing feasible and cost effective standards to improve fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The FEV team, together with engineering staff from EPA's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory, and FEV's subcontractor, Munro & Associates, developed a robust costing methodology based on tearing down, to the piece part level, relevant systems, sub-systems, and assemblies from vehicles ?with and without? the technologies being evaluated.

The sustainable use of energy and the reduction of pollutant emissions are main concerns of the automotive industry. In this context, Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) offer significant improvements in the efficiency of the propulsion system and allow advanced strategies to reduce pollutant and noise emissions. The paper presents the results of a simulation study that addresses the minimization of fuel consumption, NOx emissions and combustion noise of a medium size passenger car. Such a vehicle has a parallel-hybrid diesel powertrain with a high-voltage belt alternator starter. The simulation reproduces real-driver behavior through a dynamic modeling approach and actuates an automatic power split between the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and the Electric Machine (EM). Typical characteristics of parallel hybrid technologies, such as Stop&Start, regenerative braking and electric power assistance, are implemented via an operating strategy that is based on the reduction of total losses.

This paper presents the first results of an experimental study into a hybrid combustion concept for next-generation heavy-duty diesel engines. In this hybrid concept, at low load operating conditions, the engine is run in Pre-mixed Charge Compression Ignition (PCCI) mode, whereas at high load conventional CI combustion is applied. This study was done with standard diesel fuel on a flexible multi-cylinder heavy-duty test platform. This platform is based on a 12.9 liter, 390 kW heavy-duty diesel engine that is equipped with a combination of a supercharger, a two-stage turbocharging system and low-pressure and high-pressure EGR circuitry. Furthermore, Variable Valve Actuation (VVA) hardware is installed to have sufficient control authority. Dedicated pistons, injector nozzles and VVA cam were selected to enable PCCI combustion for a late DI injection strategy, free of wall-wetting problems.

In support of the U.S Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Program, numerous vehicle technology combinations have been simulated using Autonomie. Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) designed and wrote the Autonomie modeling software to serve as a single tool that could be used to meet the requirements of automotive engineering throughout the development process, from modeling to control, offering the ability to quickly compare the performance and fuel efficiency of numerous powertrain configurations. For this study, a multitude of vehicle technology combinations were simulated for many different vehicles classes and configurations, which included conventional, power split hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), power split plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), extended-range EV (E-REV)-capability PHEV, series fuel cell, and battery electric vehicle.

Software products in the automotive industry are by nature widely distributed and costly to update (recall), so high reliability is clearly of utmost importance. Just as clearly, the increasing reliance on remote access to such systems, for diagnostic and other purposes, has made security an essential requirement, and traditional techniques for software development are proving to be inadequate in dealing with these issues. Correctness by Construction is a software design and development methodology that builds reliability and security into the system from the start. It can be used to demonstrate, with mathematical rigor, a program's correctness properties while reducing the time spent during testing and debugging. This paper will discuss the use of Correctness by Construction, and its accompanying SPARK language technology, to improve automotive systems' security and reliability. (The approach can also account for safely issues, although that is not the focus of this paper.)

The first commercially available plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), the General Motors (GM) Volt, was introduced into the market in mid-December 2010. The Volt uses a series-split powertrain architecture, which provides benefits over the series architecture that typically has been considered for use in electric-range extended vehicles (EREVs). A specialized EREV powertrain, called the Voltec, drives the Volt through its entire range of speed and acceleration with battery power alone and within the limit of battery energy, thereby displacing more fuel with electricity than a PHEV, which characteristically blends electric and engine power together during driving. This paper assesses the benefits and drawbacks of these two different plug-in hybrid electric architectures (series versus series-split) by comparing component sizes, system efficiency, and fuel consumption over urban and highway drive cycles.

This study undertakes an investigation of the effect of battery charge balance in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) on EPA fuel economy label values. EPA's updated method was fully implemented in 2011 and uses equations which weight the contributions of fuel consumption results from multiple dynamometer tests to synthesize city and highway estimates that reflect average U.S. driving patterns. For the US06 and UDDS cycles, the test results used in the computation come from individual phases within the overall certification driving cycles. This methodology causes additional complexities for hybrid vehicles, because although they are required to be charge-balanced over the course of a full drive cycle, they may have net charge or discharge within the individual phases. As a result, the fuel consumption value used in the label value calculation can be skewed.

One promising solution for increasing vehicle fuel economy, while still maintaining long-range driving capability, is the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). A PHEV is a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) whose rechargeable energy source can be recharged from an external power source, making it a combination of an electric vehicle and a traditional hybrid vehicle. A PHEV is capable of operating as an electric vehicle until the battery is almost depleted, at which point the on-board internal combustion engine turns on, and generates power to meet the vehicle demands. When the vehicle is not in use, the battery can be recharged from an external energy source, once again allowing electric driving. A series of models is presented which simulate various powertrain architectures of PHEVs. To objectively evaluate the effect of powertrain architecture on fuel economy, the models were run according to the latest test procedures and all fuel economy values were utility factor weighted.

The need for light-weighting of automotive structures has spurred on a tremendous amount of interest in and development of low cost carbon fiber composite materials and manufacturing. This presentation provides a description of the commercial carbon fiber concept compared to traditional aerospace and specialty carbon fiber products. A specific update is presented on the development and commercialization of new low cost carbon fiber based on lignin / PAN precursor technology. The second focus of the presentation is on carbon fiber composite manufacturing processes, including carbon SMC, RTM, prepregs, and thermoplastic processes. Advantages and disadvantages of these processes are discussed, especially related to low cost manufacturing. Presenter George Husman, Zoltek Companies Inc.

Exatec� PC glazing technology team, has developed advanced weathering and abrasion resistant coatings technology that can be applied to protect polycarbonate. It is of particular interest to quantify and understand the factors that determine the surface abrasion performance of coated PC in rear window and backlight applications that have a wiper system. In the present study we describe Exatec's lab scale wiper testing equipment and test protocols. We also describe adaptation of optical imaging system to measure contrast and nano-profiling using nano-indenter, as post wiper surface characterization methods. These methods are more sensitive to fine scratches on glazing surface than standard haze measurement and mechanical profilometry. Three coating systems were investigated; Siloxane wetcoat (A), Siloxane wetcoat (B), and Siloxane wetcoat (B) plus plasma coat (Exatec� E900 coating). The performance comparisons were made using all these surface characterization methods.

For internal combustion engines and industrial machinery, it is well recognized that the most cost-effective way of reducing energy consumption and extending service life is through lubricant development. This presentation summarizes our recent R&D achievements on developing a new class of candidate lubricants or oil additives ionic liquids (ILs). Features of ILs making them attractive for lubrication include high thermal stability, low vapor pressure, non-flammability, and intrinsic high polarity. When used as neat lubricants, selected ILs demonstrated lower friction under elastohydrodynamic lubrication and less wear at boundary lubrication benchmarked against fully-formulated engine oils in our bench tests. More encouragingly, a group of non-corrosive, oil-miscible ILs has recently been developed and demonstrated multiple additive functionalities including anti-wear and friction modifier when blended into hydrocarbon base oils.

Historically, the opposed-piston, two-stroke (OP2S) diesel engine set combined records for fuel efficiency and power density that have yet to be met by any other engine type. However, with modern emissions standards, wide-spread development of this engine for on-highway use stopped. At Achates Power, state-of-the-art analytical tools and engineering methods have produced an OP2S engine that, when compared to a leading medium-duty engine, has demonstrated a 21% fuel efficiency gain and engine-out emissions levels meeting U.S. EPA10 with conventional after-treatment. Among the presentation topics covered are thermodynamic efficiency, demonstrated engine results, cost and weight advantages, and overcoming two-stroke engine challenges. Presenter David Johnson, Achates Power Inc.

Ford's EcoBoost GTDI engine technology (Gasoline Direct Injection, Turbo-charging and Downsizing) is being successfully implemented in the market place with the EcoBoost option accounting for significant volumes in vehicle lines as diverse as the F150 pickup truck, Edge CUV and the Lincoln MKS luxury sedan. A logical question would be what comes after GTDI? This presentation will review some of the technologies that will be required for further improvements in CO2, efficiency and performance building on the EcoBoost foundation as well as some of the challenges inherent in the new technologies and approaches. Presenter Eric W. Curtis, Ford Motor Co.

In this presentation, we will explain how the traditional Miller Cycle - which has its limitations in the traditional four-stroke, Otto Cycle engine provides new opportunities for greater fuel efficiency gains and engine downsizing when incorporated in a split-cycle combustion process. Results will also be shared from studies showing how these implementations can provide both significant drops in fuel consumption and increases in power when incorporated into some of today's most economic vehicles. Presenter Stephen Scuderi, Scuderi Group LLC