Search Results

Accurate evaluation of vehicles' transient total power requirement helps achieving further improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency. When operated, the air-conditioning (A/C) system is the largest auxiliary load on a vehicle, therefore accurate evaluation of the load it places on the vehicle's engine and/or energy storage system is especially important. Vehicle simulation models, such as "Autonomie," have been used by OEMs to evaluate vehicles' energy performance. However, the load from the A/C system on the engine or on the energy storage system has not always been modeled in sufficient detail. A transient A/C simulation tool incorporated into vehicle simulation models would also provide a tool for developing more efficient A/C systems through a thorough consideration of the transient A/C system performance. The dynamic system simulation software MATLAB/Simulink® is frequently used by vehicle controls engineers to develop new and more efficient vehicle energy system controls.

As global automobile manufacturers prepare for the phase-out of R134a in Europe, they must address the issue of using the new refrigerant for European sales only or launching the product worldwide. Several factors play into this decision, including cost, service, risk, customer satisfaction, capacity, efficiency, etc. This research effort addresses the minimal vehicle-level hardware differences necessary to provide a European solution of R1234yf while continuing to install R134a into vehicles for the rest of the world. It is anticipated that the same compressor, lubricant and condenser; most fluid transport lines; and in most cases the evaporator can be common between the two systems.

This paper focuses on the numerical investigation of the mixing and combustion of ethanol and gasoline in a single-cylinder 3-valve direct-injection spark-ignition engine. The numerical simulations are conducted with the KIVA code with global reaction models. However, an ignition delay model mitigates some of the deficiencies of the global one-step reaction model and is implemented via a two-dimensional look-up table, which was created using available detailed kinetics models. Simulations demonstrate the problems faced by ethanol operated engines and indicate that some of the strategies used for emission control and downsizing of gasoline engines can be employed for enhancing the combustion efficiency of ethanol operated engines.

Because combustion engine equipped vehicles must conform to stringent hydrocarbon (HC) emission requirements, many of them on the road today are equipped with an engine air intake system that utilizes a hydrocarbon adsorber. Also known as HC traps, these devices capture environmentally dangerous gasoline vapors before they can enter the atmosphere. A majority of these adsorbers use activated carbon as it is cost effective and has excellent adsorption characteristics. Many of the procedures for evaluating the adsorbtive performance of these emissions devices use mass gain as the measurand. It is well known that activated carbon also has an affinity for water vapor; therefore it is useful to understand how well humidity must be controlled in a laboratory environment. This paper outlines investigations that were conducted to study how relative humidity levels affect an activated carbon hydrocarbon adsorber.

To obtain the maximum output power and fuel economy from an internal combustion engine, it is often necessary to detect engine knock and operate the engine at its knock limit. This paper presents the ability to detect knock using in-cylinder ionization signals on a large displacement, air-cooled, “V” twin motorcycle engine over the engine operational map. The knock detection ability of three different sensors is compared: production knock (accelerometer) sensor, in-cylinder pressure sensor, and ionization sensor. The test data shows that the ionization sensor is able to detect knock better than the production knock sensor when there is high mechanical noise present in the engine.

The requirement of reduced emissions and improved fuel economy led the introduction of direct-injection (DI) spark-ignited (SI) engines. Dual-fuel injection system (direct-injection and port-fuel-injection (PFI)) was also used to improve engine performance at high load and speed. Ethanol is one of the several alternative transportation fuels considered for replacing fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel. Ethanol offers high octane quality but with lower energy density than fossil fuels. This paper presents the combustion characteristics of a single cylinder dual-fuel injection SI engine with the following fueling cases: a) gasoline for PFI and DI, b) PFI gasoline and DI ethanol, and c) PFI ethanol and DI gasoline. For this study, the DI fueling portion varied from 0 to 100 percentage of the total fueling over different engine operational conditions while the engine air-to-fuel ratio remained at a constant level.

With increasingly stringent emissions regulations and concurrent requirements for enhanced engine thermal efficiency, a comprehensive characterization of the automotive gasoline fuel spray has become essential. The acquisition of accurate and repeatable spray data is even more critical when a combustion strategy such as gasoline direct injection is to be utilized. Without industry-wide standardization of testing procedures, large variablilities have been experienced in attempts to verify the claimed spray performance values for the Sauter mean diameter, Dv90, tip penetration and cone angle of many types of fuel sprays. A new SAE Recommended Practice document, J2715, has been developed by the SAE Gasoline Fuel Injection Standards Committee (GFISC) and is now available for the measurement and characterization of the fuel sprays from both gasoline direct injection and port fuel injection injectors.

The traditional method of engine knock detection is to compare the knock intensity with a predetermined threshold. The calibration of this threshold is complex and difficult. A statistical knock detection method is proposed in this paper to reduce the effort of calibration. This method dynamically calculates the knock threshold to determine the knock event. Theoretically, this method will not only adapt to different fuels but also cope with engine aging and engine-to-engine variation without re-calibration. This method is demonstrated by modeling and evaluation using real-time engine dynamometer test data.

Knock correction is the spark angle retard applied to the optimum ignition timing to eliminate knock. In adaptive knock control, this amount of spark retard at an operating point (i.e. Speed, load) is stored in a speed/load characteristic map. It will be reused when the engine is operated in this range once more. In this paper, a method to learn the knock correction values into a speed/load characteristic map is described. This method proportionally distributes the knock correction into the characteristic map according to the distance between the speed/load of these nodes and the current operating point. The distributed knock correction value is filtered and accumulated in its adjacent nodes. Simulation examples demonstrate that the retrieved values from the map by the proposed method are smoother than those produced by the method of [2][3]. The mathematical basis for this method is developed. The one and two independent variable cases are illustrated.

In an effort to understand steering systems performance and properties at the microscopic level, we developed Multibody simulations that include multiple three-dimensional gear surfaces that are in a dynamic state of contact and separation. These validated simulations capture the dynamics of high-speed impact of gears traveling small distances of 50 microns in less than 10 milliseconds. We exploited newly developed analytic, numeric, and computer tools to gain insight into steering gear forces, specifically, the mechanism behind the inception of mechanical knock in steering gear. The results provided a three dimensional geometric view of the sequence of events, in terms of gear surfaces in motion, their sudden contact, and subsequent force generation that lead to steering gear mechanical knock. First we briefly present results that show the sequence of events that lead to knock.

In today's search for a better fuel economy and lower emissions, it is essential to precisely control the injected fuel quantity, as demanded by the engine load, into each of the engine cylinders. In fuel injection systems, the pressure pulsations due to the rapid opening and closing of the injectors can cause uneven injected fuel amounts between cylinders. In order to develop effective techniques to reduce these pressure pulsations, it is crucial to have a good understanding of the dynamic characteristics of such fuel injection systems. This paper presents the benefits of using simulation as a tool to analyze the dynamic behaviors of a V8 gasoline injection system. The fuel system modeling, based on a one-dimensional (1D) lumped parameter approach, has been developed in the AMESim® environment. The comparison between the simulation results and the experimental data shows good agreement in fluid transient characteristics for both time and frequency domains.

Spark timing of an Internal Combustion (IC) engine is often limited by engine knock in the advanced direction. The ability to operate the engine at its advanced (borderline knock) spark limit is the key for improving output power and fuel economy. Due to combustion cycle-to-cycle variations, IC engine combustion behaves similar to a random process and so does the engine performance criteria, such as IMEP (Indicated Mean Effective Pressure), and knock intensity. The combustion stability measure COVariance of IMEP assumes the IMEP is a random process. Presently, the spark limit control of IC engines is deterministic in nature. The controller does not utilize any stochastic information associated with control parameters such as knock intensity for borderline spark limit control. This paper proposes a stochastic limit control strategy for borderline knock control. It also develops a simple stochastic model for evaluating the proposed stochastic controller.

Internal combustion engines are designed to maximize power subject to meeting exhaust emission requirements and minimizing fuel consumption. However, the usable range of ignition timing is often limited by knock in the advance direction and by combustion instability (partial burn and misfire) in the retard direction. This paper details a retard limit management system utilizing ionization signals in order to maintain the desired combustion quality and prevent the occurrence of misfire without using fixed limits. In-cylinder ionization signals are processed to derive a metric for combustion quality and closeness of combustion to partial burn/misfire limit, which is used to provide a limiting value for the baseline ignition timing in the retard direction. For normal operations, this assures that the combustion variability is kept within an acceptable range.

Maximum Brake Torque (MBT) timing for an internal combustion engine is the minimum advance of spark timing for best torque. Traditionally, MBT timing is an open loop feedforward control whose values are experimentally determined by conducting spark sweeps at different speed, load points and at different environmental operating conditions. Almost every calibration point needs a spark sweep to see if the engine can be operated at the MBT timing condition. If not, a certain degree of safety margin is needed to avoid pre-ignition or knock during engine operation. Open-loop spark mapping usually requires a tremendous amount of effort and time to achieve a satisfactory calibration. This paper shows that MBT timing can be achieved by regulating a composite feedback measure derived from the in-cylinder ionization signal referenced to a top dead center crank angle position. A PI (proportional and integral) controller is used to illustrate closed-loop control of MBT timing.

Internal combustion engines are designed to maximize power subject to meeting exhaust emission requirements and minimizing fuel consumption. Maximizing engine power and fuel economy is limited by engine knock for a given air-to-fuel charge. Therefore, the ability to detect engine knock and run the engine at its knock limit is a key for the best power and fuel economy. This paper shows inaudible knock detection ability using in-cylinder ionization signals over the entire engine speed and load map. This is especially important at high engine speed and high EGR rates. The knock detection ability is compared between three sensors: production knock (accelerometer) sensor, in-cylinder pressure and ionization sensors. The test data shows that the ionization signals can be used to detect inaudible engine knock while the conventional knock sensor cannot under some engine operational conditions.

Automotive gear oil development has expanded beyond the historical requirements of emphasizing wear protection to encompass modern needs for fuel economy and limited slip frictional properties. This paper describes the development process of a new generation, fuel efficient gear lubricant for use in light duty vehicles. A systematic formulation approach was used, encompassing fluid viscometrics and additive optimization. Performance testing in both laboratory and vehicle tests is described. Though standard GL-5 tests were used to confirm oxidation, wear and corrosion performance, emphasis is given to those methods used for optimizing fuel economy.

System integration is the path to successful entry of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technology into the marketplace. A modular solution capable of meeting varying customer requirements is needed. The controller must possess a flexible hierarchical architecture that insures cross-platform compatibility and provides adaptability for various engine, motor, transmission, and battery configurations. A hybrid powertrain supervisory controller (PSC) has been designed for an advanced parallel-type HEV prototype, which uses a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The controller schedules torque commands for the engine and motor and chooses the transmission ratio to meet driver demanded acceleration. The controller is organized around a state machine, which determines how best to employ powertrain components to satisfy the driver while maximizing fuel economy.

The demand for improved vehicle fuel economy drives the auto engineers to look for opportunities in weight reduction of automotive systems and components. This paper presents inventions on the design and development of a lightweight spindle. In this new product, the spindle body is made from an Al alloy for a substantial weight reduction in comparison to the tradition iron spindle body. The shaft of the spindle is made from high strength steel to meet strength requirements. The design shows the unique feature of the joining area between the spindle body and shaft. The related joining process is applied to produce a strong joint between the two parts made of different materials. The testing results will be presented and discussed.

The stand alone oil to air (OTA) transmission cooling strategy with thermostatic cold flow bypass valve has been shown to be an effective means of improving the warmup of an automatic transmission. Improving the system warmup rate of an automatic transmission significantly improves its efficiency by reducing losses resulting from extremely viscous transmission fluid and can allow for calibration changes that improve overall transmission performance. Improved transmission efficiency in turn allows for improved engine efficiency and performance. The improvements obtained from increased transmission and engine efficiency result in an overall increase in vehicle fuel economy. Fuel economy and consumption are important parameters considered by the vehicle manufacturer and the customer. Fuel economy can be considered as important as reliability and durability.