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With the extension of intelligent vehicles from individual intelligence to group intelligence, intelligent vehicle platoons on intercity highways are important for saving transportation costs, improving transportation efficiency and road utilization, ensuring traffic safety, and utilizing local traffic intelligence [1]. However, there are several problems associated with vehicle platoons including complicated vehicle driving conditions in or between platoon columns, a high degree of mutual influence, dynamic optimization of the platoon, and difficulty in the cooperative control of lane change. Aiming at the dual-column intelligent vehicle platoon control (where “dual-column” refers to the vehicle platoon driving mode formed by multiple vehicles traveling in parallel on two adjacent lanes), a multi-agent model as well as a cooperative control method for lane change based on null space behavior (NSB) for unmanned platoon vehicles are established in this paper.

The driving conditions of commercial logistics vehicles have the characteristics of combined urban and suburban roads with relatively fixed mileage and cargo load alteration, which affect the vehicular fuel economy. To this end, an adaptive equivalent consumption minimization strategy (A-ECMS) with vehicle speed and weight recognition is proposed to improve the fuel economy for a range-extender electric van for logistics in this work. The driving conditions are divided into nine representative groups with different vehicle speed and weight statuses, and the driving patterns are recognized with the use of the bagged trees algorithm through vehicle simulations. In order to generate the reference SOC near the optimal values, the optimal SOC trajectories under the typical driving cycles with different loads are solved by the shooting method and the optimal slopes for these nine patterns are obtained.

This study investigated the plastic deformation behavior of 304 stainless steel thin-walled tubes under axial compression by means of numerical calculation and theoretical analysis. It was found that the plastic deformation length of thin-walled tube determined the formability of folds and the work done in the whole axial compression process. To reveal the relation between the range of plastic deformation length and tube geometry parameters, regression equations were established using the quadratic regression orthogonal design method. Experiments were conducted to validate the equations. The process windows for forming a single fold and tube joining at ends had been printed ultimately. The results showed that the regression equations can accurately predict the range of plastic deformation length for forming a single fold.

To overcome some drawbacks of using UHSS (Ultra High Strength Steel) in vehicle weight reduction, like spot weld HAZ (Heat Affected Zone) softening, hard machining and brittleness, a new solution of ultra-high stress strengthening was proposed and applied to the ridgelines of thin-walled structures in this paper. Firstly, stress distribution characteristics, the laws of stress variation and the compressed plate buckling process of the rectangular thin-walled beam under compressive and bending load were analyzed in elastic plastic stage by theory and Finite Element (FE) simulation. Secondly, based on elastic plastic buckling theory of the compressed plate and stress distribution similarity of the buckling process of the thin-walled box structure, three factors influencing the ultimate resistance enhancement of thin-walled hat section beam were found, and the rationality and accuracy of cross section ultimate resistance prediction formulas were also verified by FE simulation.

For the DCC (Dynamic Chassis Control) system, in addition to the requirement of ride and comfort, it is also necessary to consider the requirement of handling and stability, and these two requirements are often not met at the same time. This poses a great challenge to the design of the controller, especially in the face of complex working conditions. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a comprehensive DCC controller that considers road roughness class recognition. Firstly, a quarter vehicle model is established, the road surface roughness is calculated from the vertical acceleration of the wheels measured by the sensors. Then we calculate the autocorrelation function and the Fourier transform to estimate the PSD (Power Spectral Density) to get the road roughness class. Then control algorithms are designed for the vertical motion control, roll control and pitch control.

The vehicle permanent magnet synchronous motor has the advantages of high power density, compact structure and small size, which makes it generate heat obviously in the process of energy conversion, which seriously affects the service life of the motor and the performance of permanent magnet. Predicting magnet temperature is a challenging task, in lab and various specialized applications, infrared sensors or thermocouples are used to measure the temperature, but it cost a lot. In order to predict the temperature field of the motor, the hysteresis characteristic test of the core material of the motor is carried out in this paper. The hysteresis characteristic and loss of electrical steel under different temperature, magnetic field intensity and magnetic field frequency are tested. It is found that the loss of electrical steel increases with the increase of magnetic induction intensity and magnetic field frequency.

The influence of heat flow and cooling water characteristics on motor temperature cannot be accurately reflected by the traditional motor temperature analysis method. In order to study the motor and its key components’ temperature characteristics under different temperatures and flow rates of cooling water, this paper establishes the lumped parameter transient thermal model which includes cooling water module, based on a 50kW permanent magnet synchronous motor. The transient and steady temperature is calculated through this model together with the motor loss calculation module in the electric drive system model. The influence of different temperature and flow rate of cooling water on motor and its key components’ temperature characteristics is compared. During the modeling process, the motor body is divided into 14 parts, based on the internal heat flow path of the motor. The thermal resistance of each key component and cooling water is calculated.

Because of the high frequency and serious consequences of traffic accidents in the intersection area, it is of great significance to study the vehicle conflict and collision scenarios of the intersection area. Due to few actual crash accidents occurring in naturalistic driving studies data or field operational tests data, the data of traffic accident database should be also used to analyze the intersection conflict and collision. According to the China Field Operation Test (China-FOT) database and the China in Depth Accident Study (CIDAS) database, the distribution feature of the respective intersection scenario type is obtained from the data analysis. Based on the intersection scenario type, two characters of intersection conflict and collision, the environmental character and the vehicle dynamic character, are used to analyze for the integration process of intersection conflict and collision.

Wheel Aerodynamics is an important part of vehicle aerodynamics. The wheels can notably influence the total aerodynamic drag, lift and ventilation drag of vehicles. In order to simulate the real on-road condition of driving cars, the moving ground and wheel rotation is of major importance in CFD. However, the wheel rotation condition is difficult to be represented exactly, so this is still a critical topic which needs to be worked on. In this paper, a study, which focuses on two types of cars: a fastback sedan and a notchback DrivAer, is conducted. Comparing three different wheel rotating simulation methods: steady Moving wall, MRF and unsteady Sliding Mesh, the effects of different methods for the numerical simulation of vehicle aerodynamics are revealed. Discrepancies of aerodynamic forces between the methods are discussed as well as the flow field, and the simulation results are also compared with published experimental data for validation.

In order to research the effect of process parameters (laser power, welding speed, wire-feed speed, spot diameter) on mechanical properties of Zn-coated Steel Laser Brazing Lap Joint for vehicle, the influence of welding parameters on energy input of brazing seam cross section was theoretically analyzed, and then a great number of laser brazing experiments of 0.7mm galvanized steel was carried out. After that, the tensile strength and micro-hardness tests were also done for well-formed joints of galvanized steel formed in the laser brazing. The results show that joints with good mechanical properties and surface morphology can be formed when laser power is in the range of 2500-3200W and the other parameters keep in a specified range. Joint performance significantly reduces when the value of wire-feed speed exceeds 3.0m/min for that a wider brazing seam cross section can’t be formed.

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) tube is an important material for the lightweight design of automotive structures. Simulation method of CFRP thin-walled tubes subjected to axial compression using MAT54 in LS-DYNA was investigated. Based on the two-layer shell model combined with MAT54, failure strategy and the parameters sensitivity of the model were discussed in detail. Then the simulation model was verified by using duplicate specimens comprised of carbon fiber/epoxy unidirectional prepreg tape. Furthermore, the modeling methods of crush trigger and different types of loading speed were analyzed. In addition, based on the method of equal energy absorption, energy absorption performance of thin-walled circular and square tubes made from four materials including mild steel, high strength steel, aluminum alloy and CFRP were also compared.

X-in-the-loop (XiL) framework is a validation concept for vehicle product development, which integrates different virtual and physical components to improve the development efficiency. In order to develop and validate an extended validation method based on XiL, Tongji University in Shanghai, China and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Karlsruhe, Germany co- performed a feasibility study about an X-in-the-distance-loop demonstration platform. The X-in-the-distance-loop demonstration platform includes a MATLAB/Simulink software platform and geographically distributed equipment (driver simulator, driving electric motor and dynamometer test stand), which are used to conduct bidirectional experiments to test communication of powertrain data between China and Germany.

With the development of automotive HMI and mobile internet, many interactive modes are available for drivers to fulfill the in-vehicle secondary tasks, e.g. dialing, volume adjustment, music playing. For driving safety and drivers’ high expectation for HMI, it is urgent to effectively evaluate interactive mode with good efficiency, safety and good user experience for each secondary tasks, e.g. steering wheel buttons, voice control. This study uses a static driving simulation cockpit to provide driving environment, and sets up a high-fidelity driving cockpit based on OKTAL SacnerStudio and three-dimensional modeling technology. The secondary tasks supported by HMI platform are designed by customer demands research. The secondary task test is carried out based on usability test theory, and the influence on driving safety by different interactive modes is analyzed.

Gesture control has been increasingly applied to automotive industry to reduce the distraction caused by in-vehicle interactions to the primary task of driving. The aim of this study is to find out if gestures can reasonably be used to control in-car devices. Since there exists a big cultural difference of gesture between different countries because of its particularity, a set of gestures which support intuitive human-machine interaction in an automotive environment is searched. The results show a gesture dictionary for a variety of on-board functions, which conforms to Chinese drivers’ driving habits. Furthermore, this paper also describes a driving simulator test to evaluate the usability of gesture from different aspects including the effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction, memorability and security. Static driving simulator is considered as an excellent environment for the in-car secondary task as its high safety level, repeatability and reliability.

Crashworthiness is one of the most important performances of vehicles, and the front rails are the main crash energy absorption parts during the frontal crashing process. In this paper, the front rail was simplified to a thin-walled beam with a cross section of single-hat which was made of steel and aluminum. And the two boards of it were connected by riveting without rivets. In order to optimize its crashworthiness, the thickness (t), radius (R) and the rivet spacing (d) were selected as three design variables, and its specific energy absorption was the objective while the average impact force was the constraint. Considering the error of manufacturing and measurements, the parameters σs and Et of the steel were selected as the uncertainty variables to improve the design reliability. The algorithm IP-GA and the approximate model-RBF (Radial Basis Function) were applied in this nonlinear uncertainty optimization.

The work-hardening response of TRIP780 steel subjected to strain-path changes was investigated using two-stage tension experiments. Large specimens were prestrained and then sub-sized samples were subjected to tension along various directions. The influence of strain-path changes on flow stress and work hardening performance was discussed in detail. The specific plastic work was calculated to compare the kinematic hardening behaviour after strain-path changes. The results showed that transient hardening was observed for TRIP780 sheets subjected to orthogonal strain-path change. The strain-hardening exponent (n-value) was influenced by prestraining levels and the strain path. The n-value exhibited a greater decrease under an orthogonal strain-path change. Prestraining can delay the onset of high work hardenability of TRIP steels. It is meaningful for the safety design of vehicles.

The vehicular fuel cell stack is unavoidably impacted by the vibration in the real-world usage due to the road unevenness. However, effects of vibration on stacks have yet to be completely understood. In this work, the mechanical integrity and gas-tightness of the stack were investigated through a strengthen road vibration test with a duration of 200 h. The excitation signals applied in the vibration test were simulated by the acceleration of the stack, which were previously measured in a vehicle vibration test. The load signals of the vehicle vibration test were iterated through a road simulator from vehicle acceleration signals which were originally sampled in the proving ground. Frequency sweep test was conducted before and after the vibration test. During the vibration test, mechanical structure inspection and pressure maintaining test of the stack were conducted at regular intervals.

To overcome some drawbacks of using AHSS (Advanced High Strength Steel) in vehicle weight reduction, like brittleness, spot weld HAZ (Heat Affected Zone) softening and high cost, a new ridgeline strengthening technology was introduced and applied to the thin-walled structure in this paper. The energy absorption mechanism of thin-walled box structure with selective strengthened ridgelines under axial compressing load was discussed in first section. After this, the formulas of mean crushing force and corresponding energy absorption for square tube were theoretically discussed. To demonstrate prediction capabilities of formulas, a set of FE simulations of square tubes were conducted. Simulation results show that energy absorption capacity of square tube under quasi-static axial crushing load is dramatically improved by selectively strengthening their ridgelines.

Nowadays researches of automotive electromagnetic field mainly focus on the component level and electromagnetic compatibility, while there is a lack of relevant studies on internal electromagnetic environment of the vehicles. With the increasingly complex internal electromagnetic environment of the vehicle, people are increasingly concerned about its potential impact of human health. This article researches on a type of electric vehicle and the occupants and analyses its electromagnetic radiation effects on human health. Firstly, considering the characters of Pro/E, Hypermesh and FEKO, the “Characteristics grouping subdivision” method is used to establish the entire vehicle body FE model. According to the requirement of MOM/FEM method, the entire vehicle model is optimized to be a high quality body model with simple construction and moderate grid size.

The performance of the rear axle plays an important role in the performance of vehicle, and its fatigue durability is an integral part in the vehicle development. Taking a SUV model as the research subject, a new methodology of multi-channel spindle coupled road simulator and fatigue simulation analysis for rear axle assembly was introduced in the paper, aiming to address the fatigue design and its verification for the rear axle in the development phase. Firstly, road loads in the proving ground was collected by arranging proper sensors. Secondly, physical iteration was performed on the multichannel spindle coupled road simulator by taking six component forces at the wheel hub as the target signals. Then, after the time waveform replication of the loads the durability test was conducted. Finally, the validated simulation model was successfully implemented to improve the fatigue life of the axle.