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The identification of the dominant noise sources in diesel engines and the assessment of their contribution to far-field noise is a process that can involve both fired and motored testing. In the present work, the cross-spectral densities of signals from cylinder pressure transducers, accelerometers mounted on the engine surface, and microphones (in the near and far fields), were used to identify dominant noise sources and estimate the transfer paths from the various “inputs” (i.e., the cylinder pressures, the accelerometers and the near field microphones) to the far field microphones. The method is based on singular value decomposition of the input cross-spectral matrix to relate the input measurements to independent virtual sources. The frequencies at which a particular input is strongly affected by an independent source are highlighted, and with knowledge of transducer locations, inferences can be drawn as to possible noise source mechanisms.

The effect of the shape of the EOI was investigated through a pressure-modulated injection system in order to improve the understanding of the last portion of the traditional diesel diffusion combustion process. Here, the combustion recession at EOI is when the combustion of a mixing controlled diesel jet recedes backwards toward the fuel injector nozzle orifice. Combustion recession was observed using combustion luminosity imaging filtered at 309 nm to capture OH* chemiluminescence and 430 nm to capture CH* chemiluminescence, although soot Natural Luminosity (NL) will also be visible in these measurements. Experimental spray vessel results show that for relatively slow EOI decelerations below 1 ×106 to 2 ×106 m/s2, combustion strongly recesses completely back to the nozzle in both OH* and CH*/NL imaging. 1-D jet mixing calculations add support that this strong recession is indeed fuel rich.

In computational fluid dynamic (CFD) and computational aeroacoustics (CAA) simulations, the wall surface is normally treated as a purely reflective wall. However, some surface treatments are usually applied in experiments. Thus, the acoustic simulations cannot be validated by experimental results. One of the major challenges is how to define acoustically boundary conditions in a well-posed way. In aeroacoustics analysis, impedance is a quantity to characterize reflectivity and absorption of an acoustically treated surface, which may be introduced into the numerical models as a frequency-domain boundary condition. However, CFD and CAA simulations are time-domain computations, meaning the frequency-domain impedance boundary condition cannot be adopted directly. Several methods, including the three-parameter model, the z-transform method and the reflection coefficient model, were developed.

Component sound quality is an important factor in the design of competitive diesel engines. One component noise that causes complaints is the gear rattle that originates in the front-of-engine gear train which drives the fuel pump and other accessories. The rattle is caused by repeated tooth impacts resulting from fluctuations in differential torsional acceleration of the driving gears. These impacts generate a broadband, impulsive noise that is often perceived as annoying. In most previous work, the overall sound quality of diesel engines has been considered without specifically focusing on predicting the perception of gear rattle. Gear rattle level has been quantified based on angular acceleration measurements, but those measurements can be difficult to perform. Here, the emphasis was on developing a metric based on subjective testing of the perception of gear rattle.

An experiment has been developed to investigate the ignition characteristics of ultra-lean premixed H2/air mixtures by a supersonic hot jet. The hot jet is generated by combustion of a stoichiometric mixture in a small prechamber. The apparatus adopted a dual-chamber design in which a small-volume (1% of the main chamber by volume) prechamber was installed within a large-volume main chamber. A small orifice (nozzle) connects the two chambers. Spark initiated combustion inside the prechamber causes a pressure rise and pushes the gases though the nozzle, resulting in a hot jet that would ignite the lean mixture in the main chamber. Simultaneous high-speed Schlieren photography and OH* Chemiluminescence were applied to visualize the jet penetration and the ignition processes inside the main chamber. Hot Wire Pyrometry (HWP) was used to measure temperature distribution of the transient hot jet.

Nowadays, the increasing number of structural high pressure die casting (HPDC) aluminum parts need to be joined with high strength steel (HSS) parts in order to reduce the weight of vehicle for fuel-economy considerations. Self-Pierce Riveting (SPR) has become one of the strongest mechanical joining solutions used in automotive industry in the past several decades. Joining HPDC parts with HSS parts can potentially cause joint quality issues, such as joint button cracks, low corrosion resistance and low joint strength. The appropriate heat treatment will be suggested to improve SPR joint quality in terms of cracks reduction. But the heat treatment can also result in the blister issue and extra time and cost consumption for HPDC parts. The relationship between the microstructure of HPDC material before and after heat treatment with the joint quality is going to be investigated and discussed for interpretation of cracks initiation and propagation during riveting.

The following computational study examines the structure of sonic hydrogen jets using inlet conditions similar to those encountered in direct-injection hydrogen engines. Cases utilizing the same mass and momentum flux while varying exit-to-chamber pressure ratios have been investigated in a constant-volume computational domain. Furthermore, subsonic versus sonic structures have been compared using both hydrogen and ethylene fuel jets. Finally, the accuracy of scaling arguments to characterize an underexpanded jet by a subsonic “equivalent jet” has been assessed. It is shown that far downstream of the expansion region, the overall jet structure conforms to expectations for self-similarity in the far-field of subsonic jets. In the near-field, variations in fuel inlet-to-chamber pressure ratios are shown to influence the mixing properties of sonic hydrogen jets. In general, higher pressure ratios result in longer shock barrel length, though numerical resolution requirements increase.

Deep-hole drilling is among the most critical precision machining processes for production of high-performance discrete components. The effects of drilling with superimposed, controlled low-frequency modulation - Modulation-Assisted Machining (MAM) - on the surface textures created in deep-hole drilling (ie, gun-drilling) are discussed. In MAM, the oscillation of the drill tool creates unique surface textures by altering the burnishing action typical in conventional drilling. The effects of modulation frequency and amplitude are investigated using a modulation device for single-flute gun-drilling on a computer-controlled lathe. The experimental results for the gun-drilling of titanium alloy with modulation are compared and contrasted with conventional gun-drilling. The chip morphology and surface textures are characterized over a range of modulation conditions, and a model for predicting the surface texture is presented. Implications for production gun-drilling are discussed.

This paper presents a simulation model for the analysis of internal gear ring pumps. The model follows a multi domain simulation approach comprising sub-models for parametric geometry generation, fluid dynamic simulation, numerical calculation of characteristic geometry data and CAD/FEM integration. The sub-models are interacting in different domains and relevant design and simulation parameters are accessible in a central, easy to handle graphical user interface. The potentials of the described tool are represented by simulation results for both steady state and transient pump operating conditions and by their correlation with measured data. Although the presented approach is suitable to all applications of gear ring pumps, a particular focus is given to hydraulic actuation systems used in automotive drivetrain applications.

Excessive vibration and poor controllability occur in many mobile fluid power applications, with negative consequences as concerns operators' health and comfort as well as machine safety and productivity. This paper addresses the problem of reducing oscillations in fluid power machines presenting a novel control technique of general applicability. Strong nonlinearities of hydraulic systems and the unpredictable operating conditions of the specific application (e.g. uneven ground, varying loads, etc.) are the main challenges to the development of satisfactory general vibration damping methods. The state of the art methods are typically designed as a function of the specific application, and in many cases they introduce energy dissipation and/or system slowdown. This paper contributes to this research by introducing an energy efficient active damping method based on feedback signals from pressure sensors mounted on the flow control valve block.

The four-microphone standing wave tube system has proven useful for measuring the absorption and transmission loss of various fibrous and non-fibrous absorbers. The system is fast, repeatable, accurate and compact. This paper discusses the advantages of the four-microphone system for measuring the transmission loss in lateral-flow absorber systems. The original four-microphone round impedance tube system and the migration to a four-microphone square tube system are discussed. The four-microphone square tube system allows effective study of filled and partially filled cavities.

This paper describes a study to demonstrate the feasibility of developing an acoustic encapsulation to reduce airborne noise from a commercial diesel engine. First, the various sources of noise from the engine were identified using Nearfield Acoustical Holography (NAH). Detailed NAH measurements were conducted on the four sides of the engine in an engine test cell. The main sources of noise from the engine were ranked and identified within the frequency ranges of interest. Experimental modal analysis was conducted on the oil pan and front cover plate of the engine to reveal correlations of structural vibration results with the data from the NAH. The second phase of the study involved the design and fabrication of the acoustical encapsulation (noise covers) for the engine in a test cell to satisfy the requirements of space, cost and performance constraints. The acoustical materials for the enclosure were selected to meet the frequency and temperature ranges of interest.

Caterpillar Fuel Systems is developing a family of next generation electronic unit injectors that provide the fundamental injection characteristics necessary for emissions and performance improvements for future direct-injection diesel engines. This paper describes the development and design of the mechanically actuated version of Caterpillar's advanced electronic unit injector fuel system to meet the engine customer driven requirements for enhanced injection characteristics with reliability and durability improvements.

This paper documents an inverse visible element Rayleigh integral (VERI) approach. The VERI is a fast though approximate method for predicting sound radiation that can be used in the place of the boundary element method. This paper extends the method by applying it to the inverse problem where the VERI is used to generate the acoustic transfer matrix relating the velocity on the surface to measurement points. Given measured pressures, the inverse VERI can be used to reconstruct the vibration of a radiating surface. Results from an engine cover and diesel engine indicate that the method can be used to reliably quantify the sound power and also approximate directivity.

In long-duration, closed human habitats in space that include crop growth, one challenge that is faced while designing a candidate waste processor is the composition of solid-waste loads, which include human waste, packaging and food-processing materials, crop spoilage, and plant residues. In this work, a new modeling tool is developed to characterize crop residues and food wastes based on diet in order to support the design of solid-waste technologies for closed systems. The model predicts amounts of crop residues and food wastes due to food processing, crop harvests, and edible spoilage. To support the design of solid-waste technologies, the generation of crop residues and food wastes was characterized for a 600-day mission to Mars using integrated menu, crop, and waste models. The three sources of plant residues and food waste are identified to be food processors, crop harvests, and edible spoilage.

There has always been, from the very first UAV, a need for providing cost-effective methods of deploying unmanned aircraft systems at high altitudes. Missions for UAVs at high altitudes are used to conduct atmospheric research, perform global mapping missions, collect remote sensing data, and establish long range communications networks. The team of Gevers Aircraft, Technology Management Group, and Purdue University have designed an innovative balloon launched UAV for these near space applications. A UAV (Payload Return Vehicle) with a nested morphing wing was designed in order to meet the challenges of high altitude flight, and long range and endurance without the need for descent rate control with rockets or a feathering mode.

Helmholtz resonator has been used in industry for a long time to reduce the noise from exhaust system in vehicle or machinery. Numerous investigations have been done in the past to study the effect of a Helmholtz resonator connected to a pipeline. A general procedure for the analysis of curved or flat, thin two dimensional gas cavities such as thin compressor or engine manifolds or so-called thin shell type muffler elements, which can efficiently utilize the limited space of hermetically sealed compressors or small engine compartments, has been developed by the authors, as long as the thickness of the cavities is substantially small compared to the shortest wavelength of interest. However, to the authors' knowledge, a Helmholtz resonator attached to a rectangular thin muffler element, which is similar to a refrigeration compressor muffler, has not been analyzed.

Results of computations of flows, sprays and combustion performed in an optically- accessible Diesel engine are presented. These computed results are compared with measured values of chamber pressure, liquid penetration, and soot distribution, deduced from flame luminosity photographs obtained in the engine at Sandia National Laboratories and reported in the literature. The computations were performed for two operating conditions representing low load and high load conditions as reported in the experimental work. The computed and measured peak pressures agree within 5% for both the low load and the high load conditions. The heat release rates derived from the computations are consistent with expectations for Diesel combustion with a premixed phase of heat release and then a diffusion phase. The computed soot distribution shows noticeable differences from the measured one.

Dynamics of machine tool components play a critical role in the outcome of machining processes. This paper addresses several important issues on machine tool and machining dynamics. It illustrates the dynamic behavior of structural components under operating conditions and presents an improved technique for modeling structural non-linearity. It also describes spindle modeling capability that has been developed to predict dynamic and thermal characteristics of spindle systems. Finally, the paper discusses the impact of non-linear dynamics on machining stability.

Numerical computations of combusting transient jets are performed under diesel-like conditions. Discussions of the structure of such jets are presented from global and detailed points of view. From a global point of view, we show that the computed flame heights agree with deductions from theory and that integrated soot mass and heat release rates are consistent with expected trends. We present results of several paramaters which characterise the details of the jet structure. These are fuel mass fractions, temperature, heat release rates, soot and NO. Some of these parameters are compared with the structure of a combusting diesel spray as deduced from measurements and reported in the literature. The heat release rate contours show that the region of chemical reactions is confined to a thin sheet as expected for a diffusion flame. The soot contour plots appear to agree qualitatively with the experimental observations.