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The effects of charge motion and laminar flame speeds on combustion and exhaust temperature have been studied by using an air jet in the intake flow to produce an adjustable swirl or tumble motion, and by replacing the nitrogen in the intake air by argon or CO₂, thereby increasing or decreasing the laminar flame speed. The objective is to examine the "Late Robust Combustion" concept: whether there are opportunities for producing a high exhaust temperature using retarded combustion to facilitate catalyst warm-up, while at the same time, keeping an acceptable cycle-to-cycle torque variation as measured by the coefficient of variation (COV) of the net indicated mean effective pressure (NIMEP). The operating condition of interest is at the fast idle period of a cold start with engine speed at 1400 RPM and NIMEP at 2.6 bar. A fast burn could be produced by appropriate charge motion. The combustion phasing is primarily a function of the spark timing.

As mechanical damage induced thermal runaway of lithium-ion batteries has become one of the research hotspots, it is quite crucial to understand the mechanical behavior of component materials of lithium battery. This study focuses on the mechanical performance of separators and electrodes under different loading conditions and the error sources analysis for test results. Uniaxial tensile tests were conducted under both quasi-static and dynamic loading conditions. The strain was acquired through the combination of high speed camera and digital image correlation (DIC) method while the force was obtained with a customized load cell. Noticeable anisotropy and strain rate effect were observed for separators. The fracture mode of separators is highly correlated to the microscopic fiber orientation. To demonstrate the correlation microscopic images of separator material were obtained through SEM to match the facture edges of tensile tests at different loading directions.

Metal foil is a widely used material in the automobile industry, which not only is the honeycomb barrier material but is also used as current collectors in Li-ion batteries. Plenty of studies proved that the mechanical property of the metal foil is quite different from that of the metal sheet because of the size effect on microscopic scale, as the metal foil shows a larger fracture stress and a lower ductility than the metal sheet. Meanwhile, the fracture behavior and accurate constitutive model of the metal foil with the consideration of the strain rate effect are widely concerned in further studies of battery safety and the honeycomb. This article conducted experiments on 8011H18 aluminum foil, aiming to explore the quasi-static and dynamic tension testing method and the anisotropic mechanical behavior of the very thin foil. Two metal foil dog-bone specimens and three types of notched specimens were tested with a strain rate ranging from 2 × 10−4/s to 40/s and various stress states.

Plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV) has a promising prospect to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and optimize engine operating in high-efficiency region. According to the maximum electric power and all-electric range, PHEVs are divided into two categories, including “all-electric PHEV” and “blended PHEV” and the latter provides a potential for more rational energy distribution because engine participates in vehicle driving during aggressive acceleration not just by motor. However, the frequent use of engine may result in severe emissions especially in low state of charge (SOC) and ahead of catalyst light-off. This study quantitatively investigates the impact of oil viscosity and driving mode (hybrid/conventional) on oil dilution and emissions including particle number (PN).

Rare earths are a group of elements whose availability has been of concern due to monopolistic supply conditions and environmentally unsustainable mining practices. To evaluate the risks of rare earths availability to automakers, a first step is to determine raw material content and value in vehicles. This task is challenging because rare earth elements are used in small quantities, in a large number of components, and by suppliers far upstream in the supply chain. For this work, data on rare earth content reported by vehicle parts suppliers was assessed to estimate the rare earth usage of a typical conventional gasoline engine midsize sedan and a full hybrid sedan. Parts were selected from a large set of reported parts to build a hypothetical typical mid-size sedan. Estimates of rare earth content for vehicles with alternative powertrain and battery technologies were made based on the available parts' data.

The first several cycles determine the quality of an engine start. Low temperatures and air/fuel ratio cause incomplete combustion of the fuel. This can lead to dramatic increases in HC and PM emissions. In order to meet Euro V legislation requirements which have stricter cold start emission levels, it is critical to study the characteristics of cold and warm starting of engines in order to develop an optimized operation. The NO and THC emissions were measured by fast CLD and Fast FID gas analyzers respectively and PM in both nucleation and accumulation modes were measured by DMS500. The coolant temperature was controlled in order to guarantee the experiment repeatability. The results show that at cold start using RME60 produced higher NO and lower THC than the other tested fuels while combustion of HVO60 produced a similar level of NO but lower THC compared with mineral diesel. Meanwhile, the nucleation mode of mineral diesel was similar to RME60 but higher than HVO60.

Although energy harvesting systems are extensively used in different fields, studies on the application of energy harvesters embedded in tires for vehicle control are rare and mostly focus on solving power supply problems of tire pressure sensors. Sensors are traditionally powered by an embedded battery, which must be replaced periodically because of its limited energy storage. Heightened interest in vehicle safety is expected to drive increased design and manufacture of in-tire sensors, which in turn, translates to rising demand for power generation in tires. These challenges emphasize the need to investigate the substitution of batteries and in-tire energy harvesting systems. Current in-tire energy harvesting methods involve piezoelectric, electromagnetic, and electrostatic power generation, whose energy sources include tire vibrations, deformations, and rotations. Piezoelectric harvesters are generally compact but operate for short durations.

This paper developed a control system for the auxiliary power unit (APU) in off-road series hybrid electric special vehicle. A control system configuration was designed according to the requirements of the high voltage system in series hybrid electric special vehicle. Then optimal engine operating areas were defined. A gain scheduling engine speed PI controller was designed based on these areas. A closed loop voltage regulator was designed for the synchronous generator. The proposed control system was first validated on an APU control test bench. The test results showed the control system guaranteed the diesel APU good dynamic response characteristics while remaining stable output voltage. Finally, the APU control system was implemented on a diesel APU in an off-road series hybrid electric vehicle and a road test was conducted. The road test results showed the APU control system promised good performance in both vehicle dynamics and vehicle high voltage system.

The primary objective of design is to achieve the target value of its function. While principles and techniques of Robust Design address the issue of achieving target values in the presence of different types of variations and disturbances, there exists a unique challenge in achieving design targets when multiple response functions are interrelated. In order to overcome the challenge, we must avoid functional couplings and obtain the interrelationship structure as flexible as possible. In the Axiomatic Design process, such interrelationships are represented by coupling terms in a design matrix. From the targeting aspect of design, it is important to achieve a desirable design matrix structure to, first, avoid any functional coupling in a design matrix and, secondly, maximize allowable sequences of adjusting DPs.

Introduction of an array of new electrical and electronic features into future vehicles is generating vehicle electrical power requirements that exceed the capabilities of today's 14 volt electrical systems. In the near term (5 to 10 years), the existing 14V system will be marginally capable of supporting the expected additional loads with escalating costs for the associated charging system. However, significant increases in vehicle functional content are expected as future requirements to meet longer-term (beyond 10 years) needs in the areas of emission control, fuel economy, safety, and passenger comfort. A higher voltage electrical system will be required to meet these future requirements. This paper explores the functional needs that will mandate a higher voltage system and the benefits derivable from its implementation.

A conventional vehicle with gasoline engine was tested on a chassis dynamometer over the new European drive-cycle (NEDC). The distributions of the engine speed and power, the throttle positions during the drive cycle are analyzed. Engine idling, acceleration and deceleration take an important proportion in the drive cycle. If engine idling is instead by engine stop, the fuel consumption will be improved by 2.27%. In an Integrated Starter Generator (ISG) system, with the assist of the starter/generator, transient operation of the engine will decrease, which reduces fuel consumption by 6%. Fuel economy will be also improved by braking regeneration and restricting operating points to an optimized region, the details are not discussed in this paper. To reduce fuel consumption further, the region where engine usually runs in urban traffic, should be paid more attention to while engine calibration.

Battery packs for Hybrids, Plug-in Hybrids, and Electric Vehicles are assembled from a system of modules (sheets) with a tight sheet metal casing around them. Each module consists of an array of individual cells which vary in the composition of electrodes and separator from one manufacturer to another. In this paper a general procedure is outlined on the development of a constitutive and computational model of a cylindrical cell. Particular emphasis is placed on correct prediction of initiation and propagation of a tearing fracture of the steel can. The computational model correctly predicts rupture of the steel can which could release aggressive chemicals, fumes, or spread the ignited fire to the neighboring cells. The initiation site of skin fracture depends on many factors such as the ductility of the casing material, constitutive behavior of the system of electrodes, and type of loading.

Vehicle automation is a fundamental approach to reduce traffic accidents and driver workload. However, there is a notable risk of pushing human drivers out of the control loop before automation technology fully matures. Cooperative driving (or vehicle co-piloting) is a novel paradigm which is defined as the vehicle being jointly navigated by a human driver and an automatic controller through shared control technology. Indirect shared control is an emerging shared control method, which is able to realize cooperative driving through input complementation instead of haptic guidance. In this paper we first establish an indirect shared control method, in which the driver’s commanded input and the controller’s desired input are balanced with a weighted summation. Thereafter, we propose a predictive model to capture driver adaptation and trust in indirect shared control.

This paper evaluates the lag time in a turbocharged single cylinder engine in order to determine its viability in transient applications. The overall goal of this research is to increase the power output, reduce the fuel economy, and improve emissions of single cylinder engines through turbocharging. Due to the timing mismatch between the exhaust stroke, when the turbocharger is powered, and the intake stroke, when the engine intakes air, turbocharging is not conventionally used in commercial single cylinder engines. Our previous work has shown that it is possible to turbocharge a four stroke, single cylinder, internal combustion engine using an air capacitor, a large volume intake manifold in between the turbocharger compressor and engine intake. The air capacitor stores compressed air from the turbocharger during the exhaust stroke and delivers it during the intake stroke.

Engine torque fluctuation is a great threat to vehicle comfort and durability. Former researches tried to solve this problem by introducing active damping system, which means the motor is controlled to produce torque ripple with just the opposite phase to that of the engine. By this means, the torque fluctuation produced by the motor and the engine can be reduced. In this paper, a new method is raised. An attempt is proposed by changing the traditional structure of the motor, making it produce ripple torque by itself instead of controlling the motor. In this way a special used ISG (Integrated Starter Generator) motor for HEV (Hybrid Electrical Vehicles) is made to achieve active damping. In order to study the possibility, a simulation, which focus on the motor instead of the whole system, is developed and series-parallel configuration is used in this simulation. As for the motor that used in this paper, four kinds of motors have been investigated and compared.

Electric vehicles maintain the fastest development in China and undertake the responsibility of optimizing energy consumption and carbon emission in the transportation field. However, from the entire life cycle point of view, although electric vehicles have a certain degree of energy consumption and carbon emission reduction in the use phase, they cause extra energy consumption and carbon emission in the manufacturing phase, which weakens the due environmental benefits to some extent. The recycling of electric vehicles can effectively address the issue and indirectly reduce the energy consumption and carbon emission in the manufacturing phase. China is setting up the recycling system and strengthening regulation force to achieve proper energy consumption and carbon emission reduction benefits of electric vehicles. Under the current electric vehicle recycling technologies, China can reduce about 34% of carbon emission in electric vehicle manufacturing phase.

In quasi-static tension and compression tests of thermoplastics, full-field strain distribution on the gage section of the specimen can be captured using the two-dimensional digital image correlation method. By loading the test specimens made of a talc-filled and impact-modified polypropylene up to tensile failure and large compressive strains, this study has revealed that inhomogeneous deformation within the gage section occurs quite early for both test types. This leads to the challenge of characterizing the mechanical properties - some mechanical properties such as stress-strain relationship and fracture strain could depend on the measured section length and location. To study this problem, the true stress versus true strain curves determined locally in different regions within the gage length are compared.

The objective of this work was to develop an experimental system to support development and validation of a model for the lubrication of two-piece Twin-Land-Oil-Control-Rings (hereafter mentioned as TLOCR). To do so, a floating liner engine was modified by opening the head and crankcase. Additionally, only TLOCR was installed together with a piston that has 100 micron cold clearance to minimize the contribution of the skirt to total friction. Friction traces, FMEP trend, and repeatability have been examined to guarantee the reliability of the experiment results. Then, engine speed, liner temperature, ring tension, and land widths were changed in a wide range to ensure all three lubrication regimes were covered in the experiments.

To manage the function of a vehicle's engine, transmission, and related subsystems, almost all modern vehicles make use of one or more electronic controllers running embedded software, henceforth referred to as a Powertrain Controller System or PCS. Fully validating this PCS is a necessary step of vehicle development, and the validation process requires extensive amounts of testing. Within the automotive industry, more and more of this validation testing is being performed using Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulators to automate the extensive test sequences. A HIL simulation typically mates the physical PCS to a closed-loop real time computer simulation of a powertrain. Interfacing the physical PCS hardware to a powertrain simulation requires the HIL simulator to have extensive signal input/output (I/O) electronics and simulated actuator electrical loading.

Two critical milestones that must be achieved during concept design are 1) definition of a product architecture that meets performance, producibility, and strategic objectives, and 2) estimation of the integration risk in each candidate concept. This paper addresses these issues by describing the role played by the producibility members of an Integrated Product Team (IPT) during concept design. Our focus is on the execution of the what we call the “chain method”, which illustrates the structure of function delivery in a concept in a simple pictorial way and helps the IPT to understand the advantages or disadvantages of using a modular or an integral product architecture. The producibility members play a central role in capturing and evaluating the chains for different candidate concepts and decompositions.