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Mobility in the automotive and transportation sectors has been experiencing a period of unprecedented evolution. A growing need for efficient, clean and safe mobility has increased momentum toward sustainable technologies in these sectors. Toward this end, battery electric vehicles have drawn keen interest and their market share is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, especially in light-duty applications such as passenger cars. Although the battery electric vehicles feature high performance and zero tailpipe emission characteristics, economic and technical issues such as battery cost, driving range, recharging time and infrastructure remain main hurdles that need to be fully addressed. In particular, the low power density of the battery limits its broad adoption in heavy-duty applications such as class 8 semi-trailer trucks due to the required size and weight of the battery and electric motor.

Tanker trucks are commonly used for transporting liquid material including chemical and petroleum products. On the one hand, tanker trucks are susceptible to rollover accidents due to the high center of gravity when they are loaded and due to the liquid sloshing effects when the tank is partially filled. On the other hand, tanker truck rollover accidents are among the most dangerous vehicle crashes, frequently resulting in serious to fatal driver injuries and significant property damage, because the liquid cargo is often hazardous and flammable. Therefore, effective schemes for tanker truck rollover avoidance are highly desirable and can bring a considerable amount of societal benefit. Yet, the development of such schemes is challenging, as tanker trucks can operate in various environments and be affected by manufacturing variability, aging, degradation, etc. This paper considers the use of Learning Reference Governor (LRG) for tanker truck rollover avoidance.

The performances of heavy-duty natural gas engines have been limited by combustion temperature and NOx emissions for a long time. Recently, water injection technology has been widely considered as a technical solution in reducing fuel consumption and emissions simultaneously in both gasoline and diesel engines. This paper focuses on the impacts of intake manifold water injection on characteristics of combustion and emissions in a natural gas heavy-duty engine through numerical methods. A computational model was setup and validated with experimental data of pressure traces in a CFD software coupled with detailed chemical kinetics. The simulation was mainly carried out in low-speed and full-load conditions, and knock level was also measured and calculated by maximum amplitude of pressure oscillations (MAPO).

Design of military vehicle needs to meet often conflicting requirements such as high mobility, excellent fuel efficiency and survivability, with acceptable cost. In order to reduce the development cost, time and associated risk, as many of the design questions as possible need to be addressed with advanced simulation tools. This paper describes a methodology to design a fuel efficient powerpack unit for a series hybrid electric military vehicle, with emphasis on the e-machine design. The proposed methodology builds on previously published Finite element based analysis to capture basic design features of the generator with three variables, and couples it with a model reduction technique to rapidly re-design the generator with desired fidelity. The generator is mated to an off the shelf engine to form a powerpack, which is subsequently evaluated over a representative military drive cycles.

Vital to the effectiveness of simulation-based design is having a model of known quality of the system being designed. The purpose of this paper is to validate a simplified dynamic model of an FMTV (Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles) for a range of system parameters using a previously developed technique for determining model robustness and accuracy within a design space. The literature provides an algorithm called AVASIM (Accuracy and Validity Algorithm for Simulation) for assessing model validity systematically and quantitatively. AVASIM assess the validity of a model based on a specific input and set of system parameters. The literature also defines a procedure for evaluating the robustness and accuracy of a model with respect to input and system parameter variations based on the AVASIM algorithm.

Developing a new technology requires decision-makers to understand the technology's implications on an organization's objectives, which depend on user needs targeted by the technology. If these needs are common between two organizations, collaboration could result in more efficient technology development. For hybrid truck design, both commercial manufacturers and the military have similar performance needs. As the new technology penetrates the truck market, the commercial enterprise must quantify how the hybrid's superior fuel efficiency will impact consumer purchasing and, thus, future enterprise profits. The Army is also interested in hybrid technology as it continues its transformation to a more fuel-efficient force. Despite having different objectives, maximizing profit and battlefield performance, respectively, the commercial enterprise and Army can take advantage of their mutual needs.

High-fidelity overall vehicle simulations require efficient computational routines for the various vehicle subsystems. Typically, these simulations blend theoretical dynamic system models with empirical results to produce computer models which execute efficiently. Provided that the internal combustion engine is a dominant source of vehicle vibration, knowledge of its dynamic characteristics throughout its operating envelope is essential to effectively predict vehicle response. The present experimental study was undertaken to determine the rigid body modal content of engine block vibration of a modern, heavy-duty Diesel engine. Experiments were conducted on an in-line six-cylinder Diesel engine (nominally rated at 470 BHP) which is used in both commercial Class-VIII trucks, and on/off-road military applications. The engine was mounted on multi-axis force transducers in a dynamometer test cell in the standard three-point configuration.