Electromechanical actuators (EMAs) play a crucial role in aircraft electrification, offering advantages in terms of aircraft-level weight, rigging and reliability compared to hydraulic actuators. To prevent backdriving, skewed roller braking devices called "no-backs" are employed to provide braking torque. These technology components are continuing to be improved with analysis driven design innovations eg. U.S. Pat. No. 8,393,568. The no-back mechanism has the rollers skewed around their own transverse axis that allow for a combination of rolling and sliding against the stator surfaces. This friction provides the necessary braking torque that prevents the backdriving. By controlling the friction radius and analyzing the Hertzian contact stresses, the brake can be sized for the desired duty cycle. No-backs can be configured to provide braking torque for both tensile and compressive backdriving loads.
A typical high-pressure hose assembly consists of hose made with synthetic polymer braids and Teflon tube crimped with metallic fittings. These hose assemblies are mainly used for aircraft landing gear application considering its high-pressure sustenance and better flexibility. The proposed study investigates the effect of thermo-mechanical stress generated due to cyclic soaking and flexibility testing at thermostatic subzero (-65°F) and high temperature (+275°F) on performance of high-pressure hose assembly. This effect is further studied through hose tear-down which was envisioned to investigate the hose layer degradation and focused on changes in inner PTFE tube, which ultimately leads to product performance issues. Keywords: braids, tear down analysis, thermo-mechanical, inter-layer abrasion.
In today's industrial sphere, machines are the key supporting various sectors and their operations. Over time, due to extensive usage, these machines undergo wear and tear, introducing subtle yet consequential faults that may go unnoticed. Given the pervasive dependence on machinery, the early and precise detection of these faults becomes a critical necessity. Detecting faults at an early stage not only prevents expensive downtimes but also significantly improves operational efficiency and safety standards. This research focuses on addressing this crucial need by proposing an effective system for condition monitoring and fault detection, leveraging the capabilities of advanced deep learning techniques. The study delves into the application of five diverse deep learning models—LSTM, Deep LSTM, Bi LSTM, GRU, and 1DCNN—in the context of fault detection in bearings using accelerometer data. Accelerometer data is instrumental in capturing vital vibrations within the machinery.
In this paper, water droplet dynamics in FC channels were investigated by applying numerical and experimental methodologies. Specifically, digital imaging with high-spatial resolution was applied for characterising the micro-channel surface and defining the texture of the Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) of a Membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The optical results allowed the definition of a 3D geometry of the GDL to use in CFD simulations. Moreover, a custom procedure of image processing permitted the estimation of the contact angles of droplets deposited on the GDL (123°) and channel walls (50°-60°) for a wide range of droplet size (0.3-1.2mm). The determined specifications were used as boundary conditions for a 3D CFD two phase simulation employing the Volume of Fluid (VOF) model. Droplets were initialized on the walls and their dynamics were studied under increasing air flow, up to 20 m/s.
Hydrogen has recently become a primary focus as a future carbon-free fuel for transportation, especially for heavy duty commercial vehicles. The hydrogen internal combustion engine (H2 ICE) shows promise, as current manufacturing facilities and vehicle architectures can be largely maintained while keeping the initial purchase price of the vehicle relatively low. However, hydrogen combustions engines have challenges to overcome. One of the main challenges is to provide transient response on par with current diesel engines while maintaining low NOx emissions from the engine. Previously, simulations were performed by AVL List GmbH and SuperTurbo Technologies of a mechanically driven turbocharger, the SuperTurbo, on a 13L H2 ICE. This paper covers follow on work of actual engine testing of the H2 ICE with the SuperTurbo in an effort to reproduce the simulation results with engine test data.
This study experimentally investigates the combustion stability in RCCI engines along with the gaseous (regulated and unregulated) and particle emissions. Multifractal analysis is used to characterize the cyclic combustion variations in the combustion parameters (such as IMEP, CA50, Pmax) of the RCCI engine. The investigation is carried out on a modified single-cylinder diesel engine to operate in RCCI combustion mode. The RCCI combustion mode is tested for different fuel premixing ratio (r_p) and diesel injection timing (SOI) at fixed engine speed (1500rpm) and load (1.5 bar BMEP). The particle number characteristics and gaseous emissions are measured using a differential mobility spectrometer (DMS500) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) along with Flame Ionizing Detector (FID), respectively. The results indicate that the NOx emissions decrease with advanced SOI while the methane (CH4) emission increases.
To mitigate the NOx emissions from diesel engines, the adoption of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) has gained widespread acceptance as a technology. Nonetheless, employing EGR has the drawback of elevating soot emissions. The use of hydrogen-enriched air with EGR in a diesel engine (dual-fuel operation), offers the potential to decrease in-cylinder soot formation while simultaneously reducing NOx emissions. The present study numerically investigates the effect of hydrogen energy share and engine load on the formation and emission of soot and NOx emission from hydrogen-diesel dual-fuel engine. The numerical investigation is performed using an n-heptane/H2 reduced reaction mechanism with a two-step soot model in ANSYS FORTE. To enhance the accuracy of predicting dual-fuel combustion in a hydrogen-diesel dual-fuel engine, a reduced n-heptane reaction mechanism is integrated with a hydrogen reaction mechanism using CHEMKIN.
Ammonia (NH3), a zero-carbon fuel, has great potential for internal combustion engine development. However, its high ignition energy, low laminar burning velocity, a narrow range of flammability limits, and high latent heat of vaporization are not conducive for engine application. This paper numerically investigates the feasibility of utilizing ammonia in a heavy-duty diesel engine, specifically through the method of low-pressure direct injection (LP-DI) of hydrogen to ignite ammonia combustion. The study compares the engine's combustion and emission performance by optimizing four critical parameters: excess air ratio, hydrogen blending ratio, ignition timing, and hydrogen injection timing. The results reveal that excessively high hydrogen blending ratios lead to an advanced combustion phase, resulting in a reduction in indicated thermal efficiency.
To satisfy recent stringent exhaust gas regulations, large amounts of Rh and Pd have been often employed in three-way catalysts (TWCs) as main active components. However, application of Pt-based TWCs are limited due to their lower thermal stability than Pd. Previously, we found that Pt-based TWCs with a small amount of CeO2 showed high catalytic performance in gasoline vehicles test. Especially, calcined CeO2 at high temperature before Pt loading (cal-CeO2) showed higher catalytic activity than untreated CeO2 after endurance at 1000 degree centigrade. This result could be attributed to higher redox performance and Pt dispersion derived from strong interaction between Ce and Pt. Even though cal-CeO2 has low specific surface area (SSA) given by preliminary calcination, it shows strong effects on catalytic performance. In other word, improvement of its SSA could be the most powerful way to prepare highly active Pt catalysts.
Since Non-Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM) China stage IV legislation has been implemented from 2023, some engines within maximum rated power between 37 to 560 kW are required for gaseous emissions, particulate matter(PM) and particulate number (PN) limitation, evaluated over testing cycle of Non-Road Transient Cycle (NRTC) and Non-Road Steady Cycle (NRSC). The pollutants from diesel engines, widely used in NRMM applications, can be controlled using aftertreatment systems which are comprise of a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and a diesel particulate filter (DPF), or optionally a selective catalytic reduction (SCR). In this presentation, a compact D-DPF design is introduced and discussed on application in harvesters, tractors, and forklifts. Because harvesters have higher exhaust gas temperature than other applications, more passive regeneration behaviors were occurred during working conditions.
The hood closing characteristic in gas strut condition is different than in the stay rod condition. In stay rod condition, the hood closes once it is dropped from a minimum closing height and opening the hood requires effort. The gas strut in turn aids in hood opening but for hood closing it requires effort. In sports utility vehicles, due to bigger sizes of hood and architectural requirements dual latches and gas strut are employed on hood. In this condition, the hood can be closed either by dynamic single stroke or by quasi static two stroke conditions. In dynamic case, the hood is closed at higher velocity whereas in quasi static case force is applied first for secondary latching position and then for primary latching position. In this study, both the dynamic and quasi static closing conditions are compared in terms of closing force and velocity and hood over travel.
During engine durability testing, the piston and piston ring are used in harsh contact environments, causing the piston ring groove to experience significant wear, leading to significant development costs for countermeasures. To ensure functional feasibility due to wear on the piston top ring groove (hereinafter referred to as the ring groove), traditional methods of evaluating function through practical engine durability tests were the only option, presenting challenges in determining the wear limit value itself. Therefore, the judgment criteria had to have a margin for functional assurance purposes, although the mechanism of ring groove wear has been revealed in past research. To establish judgment criteria for optimal design, it was necessary to understand the effects and mechanism of ring groove wear. This study clarified the functional impact and occurrence mechanism of upper-surface wear on the ring groove through two experiments.
The wear of the piston ring-cylinder liner system in gasoline engines is inevitable and significantly impacts fuel economy. Utilizing a custom-built linear reciprocating tribometer, this study assesses the wear resistance of newly developed engine cylinder coatings. The custom device offers a cost-effective means for tribological evaluation, optimizing coating process parameters with precise control over critical operational factors such as normal load and sliding frequency. Unlike conventional commercial tribometers, it ensures a more accurate simulation of the engine cylinder system. However, existing research lacks a comprehensive comparative analysis and procedure to establish precision limits for such modified devices. This study evaluates the custom tribometer's repeatability compared to a commercial wear-testing instrument, confirming its potential as a valuable tool for advanced wear testing on engine cylinder samples.
In recent years, with the development of computing infrastructure and methods, the potential of numerical methods to reasonably predict aerodynamic noise in compressors has increased. However, aerodynamic acoustic modeling of complex geometries and flow systems is currently immature, mainly due to the greater challenges in accurately characterizing turbulent viscous flows. Therefore, recent advances in aerodynamic noise calculations for automotive turbocharger compressors were reviewed and a quantitative study of the effects for turbulence modeling (Shear-Stress Transport (SST) and Detached Eddy Simulation (DES)) and time-steps (2°and 4°) in numerical simulations on the performance and acoustic prediction of a compressor under full operating conditions was investigated. The results showed that for the compressor performance, the turbulence models and time-step parameters selection were within 1.5% error of the simulated and measured values for pressure ratio and efficiency.
In the perspective of a reduction of emissions and a rapid decarbonization, especially for compression ignition engines, hydrogen plays a decisive role. The dual fuel technology is perfectly suited to the use of hydrogen, a fuel characterized by great energy potential. In fact, replacing, at the same energy content, the fossil fuel with a totally carbon free one, a significant reduction of the greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and total hydrocarbon, as well as of the particulate matter can be obtained. The dual fuel with indirect injection of gaseous fuel in the intake manifold, involves the problem of hydrogen autoignition. In order to avoid this difficulty, the optimal conditions for the injection of the incoming mixture into the cylinder were experimentally investigated. All combustion processes have been carried out on a research engine with optical access. The engine speed has been set at 1500 rpm, while the EGR valve has been deactivated.
Tanks play a pivotal role in swiftly deploying firepower across dynamic battlefields. The core of tank mobility lies within their powertrains, driven by diesel engines or gas turbines. To better understand the benefits of each power system, this study uses geo-location data from the National Training Center (NTC) to understand the power and energy requirements from a main battle tank over an 18-day rotation. This paper details the extraction, cleaning, and analysis of the geo-location data to produce a series of representative drive cycles for an NTC rotation. These drive-cycles serve as a basis for evaluating powertrain demands, chiefly focusing on fuel efficiency. Notably, findings reveal that substantial idling periods in tank operations contribute to diesel engines exhibiting notably lower fuel consumption compared to gas turbines. Nonetheless, gas turbines present several merits over diesel engines, notably an enhanced power-to-weight ratio and superior power delivery.