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This paper compares the material consumption and fire patterns which developed on four nearly identical compact sedans when each was burned for exactly the same amount of time, but with different wind speed and direction during the burns. This paper will also compare the effects of environmental exposure to the fire patterns on the vehicles. The burn demonstrations were completed at an outdoor facility in southeast Michigan on four late model compact sedans. The wind direction was controlled by placing the subject vehicle with either the front facing into the wind, or rear facing into the wind. Two of the burns were conducted when the average observed wind speed was 5-6kph and two of the burns were conducted at an average observed wind speed of 19kph.

Impact toughness (or resistance to fracture) is a key material property for press hardened steel used in construction of the safety-critical elements of automotive body structures. Prior austenite grain size, as primarily controlled by the incoming microstructure and austenitization process, is a key microstructural feature that influences the impact toughness of press hardened steel. In this paper, a special Charpy V-notch impact test is developed to quantify the impact toughness of press hardened steel sheets with various prior austenite grain sizes, by stacking a number of thin sheets via mechanical riveting. Both the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature and upper shelf energy are analyzed in an effort to establish a correlation between impact toughness and prior austenite grain size. Within tested conditions, impact performance shows only a slight decrease as the prior austenitic grain size increases from 18 to 38 microns.

Aerodynamic vehicle design improvements require flow simulation driven iterative shape changes. The 3-D flow field simulations (CFD analysis) are not explicitly descriptive in providing the direction for aerodynamic shape changes (reducing drag force or increasing the down-force). In recent times, aerodynamic shape optimization using the adjoint method has been gaining more attention in the automotive industry. The traditional DOE (Design of Experiment) optimization method based on the shape parameters requires a large number of CFD flow simulations for obtaining design sensitivities of these shape parameters. The large number of CFD flow simulations can be significantly reduced if the adjoint method is applied. The main purpose of the present study is to demonstrate and validate the adjoint method for vehicle aerodynamic shape improvements.

Development of the next generation internal combustion engines and automatic transmissions for automotive applications is a mandatory powertrain engineering activity required now and in the coming years to meet forthcoming global emissions regulations. This paper details a preliminary investigation into possible synergies for fuel consumption reduction considering emerging automotive technologies integrated into the next generation combustion engine and automatic transmission architectures. A range of hypothetical gasoline engines were created and paired with a generalized set of step gear automatic transmissions designed to meet the performance requirements of high volume longitudinal full size truck application. These designs were then run through a design of experiments orthogonal array for prediction of fuel consumption on the WLTP test schedule and stand still acceleration to 100 kph.

Partially automated driving involves the relinquishment of longitudinal and/or latitudinal control to the vehicle. Partially automated systems, however, are fallible and require driver oversight to avoid all road hazards. Researchers have expressed concern that automation promotes extended eyes-off-road (EOR) behavior that may lead to a loss of situational awareness (SA), degrading a driver’s ability to detect hazards and make necessary overrides. A potential countermeasure to visual inattention is the orientation of the driver’s glances towards potential hazards via cuing. This method is based on the assumption that drivers are able to rapidly identify hazards once their attention is drawn to the area of interest regardless of preceding EOR duration. This work examined this assumption in a simulated automated driving context by projecting hazardous and nonhazardous road scenes to a participant while sitting in a stationary vehicle.

The electric vehicle on-board charger (OBC) is responsible for converting AC grid energy to DC energy to charge the battery pack. This paper describes the development of GM’s second generation OBC used in the 2016 Chevrolet Volt. The second generation OBC provides significant improvements in efficiency, size, and mass compared to the first generation. Reduced component count supports goals of improved reliability and lower cost. Complexity reduction of the hardware and diagnostic software was undertaken to eliminate potential failures.

Mahalanobis Distance (MD) is gaining momentum in many fields where classification, statistical pattern recognition, and forecasting are primary focus. It is a multivariate method and considers correlation relationships among parameters for computing generalized distance measure to separate groups or populations. MD is a useful statistic in multivariate analysis to test that an observed random sample is from a multivariate normal distribution. This capability alone enables engineers to determine if an observed sample is an outlier (defect) that falls outside the constructed (good) multivariate normal distribution. In Mahalanobis-Taguchi System (MTS), MD is suitably scaled and used as a measure of severity in abnormality assessment. It is obvious that computed MD depends on values of parameters observed on a random sample. All parameters may not equally impact MD. MD could be highly sensitive with respect to some parameters and less sensitive to some other parameters.

Development of the software using fixed-point arithmetic is known to be tedious and error-prone. Difficulty of selecting the correct data type can outwear software developers. The common retreats often sought after include manual calculation of the approximate ranges, exhaustive simulations with extreme input values and conservative development approach by using excessive word length. The first two retreats - manual calculation and exhaustive simulations - increase the software development time, and the third retreat - conservative development - leads to the excessive memory (RAM and ROM) utilization by the software. The model-based development environment such as the Simulink has graphical nature to the software with flow of data defined by connecting signal lines. The model-based software therefore gives an opportunity to trace signal flow in the software. Input-tracing method is presented to trace the flow of the input signals of the user selected block in the software model.

A GT-Power Fast Run Model simplified from detail model for HIL is verified with a bench test using the dSPACE Simulator. Firstly, the conversion process from a detailed model to FRM model is briefly described. Then, the spark timing, fuel pulse with control for FAR, and torque level control are developed for proof of concept. Moreover a series of FRM/Simulink co-simulation and HIL tests are conducted. In the summary, the test results are presented and compared with GT detailed model simulations. The test results show that the FRM/dSPACE HIL stays consistent in most variables of interest under 0.7-0.9 real-time factor condition between 1000 - 5000 RPM. The same steady-state can be reached by RCP controllers or with GT-Power internal controllers. The transient states are close using different control algorithm. The main purpose of HIL application is achieved, despite inconsistencies in performance data like fuel consumption.

Vehicle occupants, unlike building occupants, are exposed to continuously varying, non-uniform solar heat load. Automotive manufacturers use photovoltaic cells based solar sensor to measure intensity and direction of the direct-beam solar radiation. Use of the time of the day and the position - latitude and longitude - of a vehicle is also common to calculate direction of the direct-beam solar radiation. Two angles - azimuth and elevation - are used to completely define the direction of solar radiation with respect to the vehicle coordinate system. Although the use of solar sensor is common in today’s vehicles, the solar heat load on the occupants, because of their exposure to the direct-beam solar radiation remains the area of in-car subjective evaluation and tuning. Since the solar rays travel in parallel paths, application of the ray tracing method to determine solar insolation of the vehicle occupants is possible.

An aspect of high performance brake design that has remained strikingly empirical is that of determining the correct sizing of the brake pad - in terms of both area and volume - to match well with a high performance vehicle application. Too small of a pad risks issues with fade and wear life on the track, and too large has significant penalties in cost, mass, and packaging space of the caliper, along with difficulties in maintaining adequate caliper stiffness and its impact on pedal feel and response time. As most who have spent time around high performance brakes can attest to, there methods for determining minimum brake pad area, usually related in some form or another to the peak power the brake must absorb (functions of vehicle mass and top speed are common). However, the basis for these metrics are often lost (or closely guarded), and provide very little guidance for the effects of the final design (pad area) deviating from the recommended value.

Previously published research [1] covering the role of piston material properties in brake torque variation sensitivity and roughness concluded that phenolic pistons have significantly higher low-pressure range compliance than steel pistons, which promotes lower roughness propensity. It also determined that this property could be successfully characterized using a modern generation of direct-acting servo hydraulically actuated brake component compression test stands. This paper covers a subsequent block of research into the role of the caliper piston in brake torque variation sensitivity (BTV sensitivity) and thermal roughness of a brake corner. It includes measurements of hydraulic stiffness of pistons in a “wet” fixture, both with and without a brake pad and multi-layer bonded noise shim.

In automotive noise control, the hood liner is an important acoustic part for mitigating engine noise. The random incidence absorption coefficient is used to quantify the component level acoustic performance. Generally, air gaps, type of substrate materials, density of the substrate materials and Air Flow Resistivity (AFR) of the cover scrim are the dominant control factors in the sound absorption performance. This paper describes a systematic experimental investigation of how these control factors affect flat sample performance. The first stage of this study is full factorial measurement based on current available solutions from sound absorber suppliers. The acoustic absorption of different hood liner constructions, with variations in materials, density, air gaps, and scrims was measured.

This paper describes the development of a semi-automated end-of-line driveline system balance tester for an automotive assembly plant. The overall objective was to provide final quality assurance for acceptable driveline noise and vibration refinement in a rear wheel drive vehicle. The problem to be solved was how to measure the driveline system unbalance within assembly plant constraints including cycle time, operator capability, and integration with a pre-existing vehicle roll test machine. Several challenging aspects of the tester design and development are presented and solutions to these challenges are addressed. Major design aspects addressed included non-contacting vibration sensing, data acquisition/processing system and vehicle position feedback. Development challenges addressed included interaction of engine and driveline vibration orders, flexible driveline coupling effects, tachometer positional reference error, and vehicle-to-vehicle variation of influence coefficients.

Finite element dummy models have been more and more widely applied in virtual development of occupant protection systems across the automotive industry due to their predictive capabilities. H350 dyna dummy model [1] is a finite element representation of the Hybrid III male dummy [2], which is designed to represent the average of the United States adult male population. Lower extremity injuries continue to occur in front crash accidents despite increasing improvement of vehicle crashworthiness and occupant restraint system. It is therefore desirable to predict lower tibia injury numbers in front occupant simulations. Though lower tibia loading/index predictions are not studied as much as the FMVSS 208 regulated injury numbers, the tibia indices are injury criteria that need to be assessed during IIHS and Euro NCAP frontal offset occupant simulations. However during front crash simulations, it is very difficult to achieve good correlations or predictions of lower tibia loadings.

Evaluation of one year of in-use operating data from first generation Chevrolet Volt Extended-Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV) retail customers determined trip initial Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) starts were reduced by 70% relative to conventional vehicles under the same driving conditions. These Volt drivers were able to travel 74% of their total miles in EV without requiring the ICE's support. Using this first generation Volt data, performance of the second generation Volt is projected. The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Regional Travel Survey (RTS) data set was also processed to make comparisons between realistic PHEV constraints and E-REV configurations. A Volt characteristic E-REV was found to provide up to 40 times more all-electric trips than a PHEV over the same data set.

The goal of this paper is to discuss the critical aspects of damper tuning for production vehicles. These aspects include ride and handling performance attributes, damper basics, conflicts in achieving desirable results, tuning philosophies, and the influence of the damper design. The marketplace has become increasingly competitive. Customer preference, cost, mass and regulatory pressures often conflict. Yet each year more vehicles are required to do all these things well. Damper tuning can play a significant role in resolving these conflicts. Although many papers have been written on the theory behind damper design and capabilities, there has been very little written about the techniques of tuning dampers for production vehicles. This paper attempts to discuss the critical aspects of damper tuning for production vehicles in four sections. The first section discusses the performance attributes of ride and handling. The second section provides a basic understanding of dampers.

For the conventional 6 speed automatic transmission with engine stop-start powertrain, an electrically-driven auxiliary pump is implemented to maintain the transmission line pressure as required to lock-up the CB1234 clutch during engine auto-stop conditions. Upon releasing the brake pedal, the transmission engages into first gear with the objective to accelerate the vehicle in a responsive manner. In this study, a novel normally-engaged dual-piston clutch concept is designed to keep the CB1234 clutch locked-up during engine auto-stop conditions with the intention to eliminate the auxiliary pump without compromising vehicle performance. This dual piston clutch concept requires a relatively low line pressure to release the normally-engaged clutch when needed, thus, minimizing the hydraulic pumping work. To explore the functionality of this concept under a wide-open-throttle (WOT) auto-start transition, modeling and simulation of the normally-engaged dual-piston clutch is completed.

Rapidly increasing customer, financial, and regulatory pressures are creating clear changes in the calculus of vehicle design for modern automotive OEM's (Original Equipment Manufacturers). Customers continue to demand shorter product lifecycles; the increasingly competitive global market exerts pressure to reduce costs in all stages of development; and environmental regulations drive a continuous need to reduce mass and energy consumption. OEM's must confront these challenges while continuing to satisfy the customer. The foundation to meeting these challenges includes: (1) Continued development of objective metrics to quantify performance; (2) Frontloading vehicle design content and performance synthesis; (3) A precise understanding of the customer and their performance preferences under diverse usage conditions. These combined elements will enable products better optimized amongst competing (and often contradictory) imperatives.

Passenger vehicle engine cooling systems typically fall into surge tank or recovery type systems. Recovery systems rely on an expansion/recovery volume, which operates at atmospheric pressure. Over long periods of time and with elevated temperatures, coolant evaporates from this atmospheric recovery bottle. An experimental study determined the evaporation rate as a function of temperature for one bottle geometry. A 1-D model then projected the total coolant loss to evaporation over several different hypothetical customer duty cycles to evaluate robustness of recommended service intervals.