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High-voltage battery system plays a critical role in eco-friendly vehicles due to its effect on the cost and the electric driving range of eco-friendly vehicles. In order to secure the customer pool and the competitiveness of eco-vehicle technology, vehicle electrification requires lowering the battery cost and satisfying the customer needs when driving the vehicles in the real roads, for example, maximizing powers for fun drive, increasing battery capacities for achieving appropriate trip distances, etc. Because these vehicle specifications have a critical effect on the high-voltage battery specification, the key technology of the vehicle electrification is the appropriate decision on the specification of the high-voltage battery system, such as battery capacity and power. These factors affect the size of battery system and vehicle under floor design and also the profitability of the eco-friendly vehicles.

As fuel injection strategies in spark-ignition (SI) engines have been diversified, inhomogeneous mixing of the fuel-air mixture can occur to varying extents during mixture preparation. In this study, we analyzed the effect of inhomogeneous mixing on the knocking characteristics of iso-octane and air mixture under a standardized fuel testing condition for research octane number (RON), based on ASTM D2699. For this purpose, we assumed that both lean spots and rich spots existed in unburned gas during compression stroke and flame propagation and calculated the thermodynamic state of the spots by using an in-house multi-zone, zero-dimensional SI engine model. Then, the ignition delay was measured over the derived thermodynamic profiles by using rapid compression machine (RCM), and we calculated ξ, the ratio of sound speed to auto-ignition propagation speed, based on Zel’dovich and Bradley’s ξ − ε theory to estimate knock intensity.

In order to understand the automotive PEM fuel cell system, mathematical system modeling is conducted and the model is implemented and simulated by using the Matlab®/Simulink®. The components such as fuel cell stack, air supplier, and radiator are modeled individually and integrated into a system level. The PEM fuel cell system operation control includes thermal management, air supply control, hydrogen supply control, fuel cell stack protection control, and load following control. In the thermal management, the inlet and outlet temperature of coolant are controlled to operate the fuel cell stack in desired temperature range and to prevent flooding inside the fuel cell stack. In air supply control and hydrogen supply control, the flow rates of air and hydrogen are controlled not to starve the fuel cell stack according to the output current. A control structure for the system is developed and confirmed by using the developed simulation model.

A gasoline homogeneous charged compression ignition (HCCI) called the controlled auto ignition (CAI) engine is an alternative to conventional gasoline engines with higher efficiency and lower emission levels. However, noise and vibration are currently major problems in the CAI engine. The problems result from fast burning speeds during combustion, because in the CAI engine combustion is controlled by auto-ignition rather than the flame. Thus, the ignition delay of the local mixture has to vary according to the location in the combustion chamber to avoid noise and vibration. For making different ignition delays, stratification of temperature or mixing ratio was tested in this study. In charge stratification, which determines the difference between the start of combustion among charges with different properties, two kinds of mixtures with different properties flow into two intake ports.

CAI engine is well known to be advantageous over conventional SI engines because it facilitates higher engine efficiency and lower emission (NOx and smoke). However, its limited operation range, large cyclic variation, and difficulty in heat release control are still unresolved obstacles. Previous studies showed that a high load range of the CAI engine is limited mainly by the combustion noise caused by a stiff pressure rise (knock), and that a low load range is also limited by the combustion instability caused by the high dilution of residual gas. In this study, the characteristics of each cycle were analyzed to find the cause of the cycle variation at the high load limit of CAI operation. Moreover, to improve combustion stability, we tested the in-cylinder fuel stratification by applying nonsymmetrical fuel injection to the intake port. Experiments were performed on a PFI single cylinder research engine equipped with dual CVVT and low lift (2 mm) cam shaft with NVO strategy.

The role of 1D simulation tool is growing as the engine system is becoming more complex with the adoption of a variety of new technologies. For the reliability of the 1D simulation results, it is necessary to improve the accuracy and applicability of the combustion model implemented in the 1D simulation tool. Since the combustion process in SI engine is mainly determined by the turbulence, many models have been concentrating on the prediction of the evolution of in-cylinder turbulence intensity. In this study, two turbulence models which can resemble the turbulence intensity close to that of 3D CFD tool were utilized. The first model is dedicated to predicting the evolution of turbulence intensity during intake and compression strokes so that the turbulence intensity at the spark timing can be estimated properly. The second model is responsible for predicting the turbulence intensity of burned and unburned zone during the combustion process.

Livengood-Wu integration model is acknowledged as a relatively simple but fairly accurate autoignition prediction method which has been widely recognized as a methodology predicting knock occurrence of a spark-ignition (SI) engine over years. Fundamental idea of the model is that the chemical reactivity of fuel under a certain thermodynamic test condition can be represented by inverse of the acquired ignition delay. However, recent studies show that the predictability of the model seems to deteriorate if the tested fuel exhibits negative temperature coefficient (NTC) behavior which is primarily caused by two-stage ignition characteristics. It is convincing that the cool flame exothermicity during the first ignition stage is a major cause that limits the prediction capability of the integration model, therefore a new ignition delay concept based on cool flame elimination is introduced in order to minimize the thermal effect of the cool flame.

The success of improved fuel economy is the proper integration of thermal management components which are appropriately performed to reduce friction and wasted energy. The thermal management systems of vehicle are able to balance the multiple needs such as heating, cooling, or appropriate operation within specified temperature ranges of propulsion systems. Since the propulsion systems of vehicle have changed from a single energy source based on conventional internal combustion engine to hybrid system including more electrical system such as full type of hybrid electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, a new transition associated with vehicle thermal management arises. More efficient thermal management systems are required to improve the fuel economy in the hybrid electric vehicles because of the driving of electric traction motor and the increase of engine off time. The decrease of engine operation time may not sustain the proper temperature ranges of engine and gearbox.

As environmental problems such as global warming are emerging, regulations on automobile exhaust gas are strengthened and various exhaust gas reduction technologies are being developed in various countries in order to satisfy exhaust emission regulations. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology is a very effective way to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) at high combustion temperatures by using EGR coolers to lower the combustion temperature. This EGR cooler has been mass-produced in stainless steel, but it is expensive and heavy. Recently, high efficiency and compactness are required for the EGR cooler to meet the new emission regulation. If aluminum material is applied to the EGR cooler, heat transfer efficiency and light weight can be improved due to high heat transfer coefficient of aluminum compared to conventional stainless steel, but durability is insufficient. Therefore, the aluminum EGR cooler has been developed to enhance performance and durability.

Large-eddy simulation (LES) applications for internal combustion engine (ICE) flows are constantly growing due to the increase of computing resources and the availability of suitable CFD codes, methods and practices. The LES superior capability for modeling spatial and temporal evolution of turbulent flow structures with reference to RANS makes it a promising tool for describing, and possibly motivating, ICE cycle-to-cycle variability (CCV) and cycle-resolved events such as knock and misfire. Despite the growing interest towards LES in the academic community, applications to ICE flows are still limited. One of the reasons for such discrepancy is the uncertainty in the estimation of the LES computational cost. This in turn is mainly dependent on grid density, the CFD domain extent, the time step size and the overall number of cycles to be run. Grid density is directly linked to the possibility of reducing modeling assumptions for sub-grid scales.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and reduce a knocking noise from a rear suspension. First, the characteristics of a knocking noise are analyzed experimentally in the frequency domain. It was found that the knocking noise of a passenger room and vibration at a lower arm, a subframe and a floor are strongly correlated. Second, the knocking noise sensitivity is strongly dependent on suspension dynamics characteristics. Moreover, the improvement of ride comfort and noise was achieved simultaneously based on simulation analysis, principle vehicle testing. A design parameter study shows that the trailing arm bush stiffness, shock absorber bump/rebound damping characteristics, floor stiffness and shock absorber insulator bushing are one of the most sensitive parameter to affect the suspension knocking noise. Finally, this paper shows how the suspension knocking noise and ride comfort can be improved considering handling performance.

A fractional recirculation of cabin air was proposed and studied to improve cabin air quality by reducing cabin particle concentrations. Vehicle tests were run with differing number of passengers (1, 2, 3, and 4), four fan speed settings and at 20, 40, and 70 mph. A manual control was installed for the recirculation flap door so different ratios of fresh air to recirculated air could be used. Full recirculation is the most efficient setting in terms of thermal management and particle concentration reduction, but this causes elevated CO₂ levels in the cabin. The study demonstrated cabin CO₂ concentrations could be controlled below a target level of 2000 ppm at various driving conditions and fan speeds with more than 85% of recirculation. The proposed fractional air recirculation method is a simple yet innovative way of improving cabin air quality. Some energy saving is also expected, especially with the air conditioning system.

In order to align with net-zero CO2 ambitions, automotive OEMs have been developing increasingly sophisticated strategies to minimise the impact that combustion engines have on the environment. Intelligent thermal management systems to actively control coolant flow around the engine have a positive impact on friction generated in the power cylinder by improving the warmup rate of cylinder liners and heads. This increase in temperature results in an improved frictional performance and cycle averaged fuel consumption, but also increases the piston to liner clearances due to rapid warm up of the upper part of the cylinder head. These increased clearances can introduce piston slap noise and substantially degrade the NVH quality to unacceptable levels, particularly during warmup after soak at low ambient temperatures. Using analytical techniques, it is possible to model the thermo-structural and NVH response of the power cylinder with different warm up strategies.

Improving fuel efficiency and emission characteristics are significant issues in engine research. Because the engine has complex systems and various operating parameters, the experimental research is limited by cost and time. One-dimensional (1D) simulation has attracted the attention of researchers because of its effectiveness and relatively high accuracy. In a 1D simulation, the applied model must be accurate for the reliability of the simulation results. Because in-cylinder turbulence mainly determines the combustion characteristics, and mean flow velocity affects the in-cylinder heat transfer and efficiency in a spark-ignited (SI) engine, a number of sophisticated models have been developed to predict in-cylinder turbulence and mean flow velocity. In particular, tumble is a significant factor of in-cylinder turbulence in SI engine.

High speed natural light motion picture records synchronized with head gasket ionization probe and in-cylinder pressure data have been made in the transparent engine of different combustion chamber configurations. For knocking cycles, the head gasket ionization current method simultaneously taken with pressure data was able to find the location of knocking occurrence. To investigate the effects of combustion chamber configurations, the flame propagation experiments for pent-roof combustion chamber with center ignition ( Modified Type I engine ) and modified pent-roof ( Type II engine ) combustion chamber were performed with high speed natural light photography technique. The flame propagation of Modified Type I engine represents more uniform patterns than that of Type II engine. The investigation of knocking combustion was also made possible by observing flame propagation with the measuring techniques that use head gasket ionization probe and in-cylinder pressure data.

Radiative heat transfer analysis in a finite cylindrical enclosure with non-gray media and internal heat generations have been conducted. Solutions are generated by a recently developed spherical harmonics method for a finite cylindrical configuration with the weighted sum of gray gases model. Numerical solutions are obtained for temperature and heat flux distributions with the variations of optical thickness and wall emissivity. The results show that with an increase in the absorption coefficient, the heat flux distribution along the lateral wall becomes symmetric regardless of the source distributions. The dependence of heat flux on the wall emissivity is reduced as well. The present solution technique seems to be easily extended to the coupled mode of heat transfer with convection in an engine cylinder.

Recently, automobile manufacturers are interested in the development of battery electric vehicle (BEV) having a longer mileage to satisfy customer needs. The BEV with high efficiency depends on the temperature of the electric components. Hence it is important to study the effect of the cooling system in electric vehicle in order to optimize efficiency and performance. In this study, we present a 1-D vehicle thermal management (VTM) simulation model. The individual vehicle subsystems were modeled including cooling, power electric (PE), mechanical, and control components. Each component was integrated into a single VTM model and it would be used to calculate energy transfer among electrical, thermal, and mechanical energy. As a result, this simulation model predicts a plenty of information including the state of each component such as temperature, energy consumption, and operating point about electric vehicle depending on driving cycles and environmental conditions.

Hyundai's new engine is developed which optimize the cooling efficiency for knocking improvement and friction reduction. The cooling concepts for this purpose are 1) equalizing the temperature among cylinders by flow optimization, 2) cooling the required area intensively, 3) adopting ‘active flow control’ and 4) enlarging fuel economy at high speed range. In order to realize the cooling concept, 1) cross-flow, 2) compact water jacket & exhaust cooling, 3) flow control valve and 4) cylinder head with integrated exhaust manifold are considered. Improvement of knocking and friction reduction by increased cooling water temperature makes fuel efficiency possible. On the other hand, in order to strengthen the cooling around the combustion chamber and to reduce the deviation among the combustion chamber of cylinders, it is required to design the head water jacket shape accordingly.

Regulations regarding vehicles’ CO2 emissions are continuing to become stricter due to global warming. The CO2 regulations urge automobile manufacturers to develop gasoline engines with improved efficiency; however, the main obstacle to the improvement is the knock phenomenon in spark-ignition engines. If knock is predicted, the efficiency potential can be maximized in an engine by applying modest spark timing. Several research regarding knock prediction modeling have been conducted, and typically Livengood-Wu integral model is used to predict the knock occurrence. For the prediction, knock onset should be determined on a given pressure signal of given knock cycles for establishing the 0D ignition delay model. Several methodologies for knock onset determination have been developed because checking all the knock onset position by hand is impossible considering the breadth of data sets.

When customers use a tailgate (or trunk), some systems such as power tailgate and smart tailgate have been introduced and implemented for improving convenience. However, they still have some problems in some use cases. Some people have to search for the outside button to open the tailgate, or they should take out the key and push a button. In some cases, they should move their leg or wait a few seconds which makes some people feel that it is a long time. In addition, they have to push the small button which is located on the inner trim in order to close the tailgate. This paper proposes a new tailgate control technology and systems based on acoustic patterns in order to solve some inconvenience. An acoustic user interaction (AUI) is a technology which responds to human’s rubbing and tapping on a specific part analyzing the acoustic patterns. The AUI has been recently spotlighted in the automotive industry as well as home appliances, mobile devices, musical instruments, etc.