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The use of accurate tire material properties is a major requirement for conducting a successful tire analysis using finite element method (FEM). Obtaining these material properties however poses a major challenge for tire modelers and researchers due to the complex nature of tire material and associated proprietary protections of constituent material properties by tire manufactures. In view of this limitation, a simple and effective procedure for generating tire materials data used in tire finite element analysis (FEA) is presented in this paper. All the tire test specimens were extracted from a tire product based on special considerations such as specimen dimension and shape, test standard, precondition of specimen and test condition for cords. The required material properties of tire rubber component, including hyperelasticity and viscoelasticity were obtained using simple uni-axial tension test.

In the development of a more accurate laboratory scale method, the ability to replicate the thermal oxidative degradation mechanisms seen in gas turbine lubricants, is an essential requirement. This work describes an investigation into the influence of key reaction parameters and the equipment set up upon extent and mechanism of oil degradation. The air flow rate through the equipment was found to be critical to both degradation rate and extent of volatilization loss from the system. As these volatile species can participate in further reactions, it is important that the extent to which they are allowed to leave the test system is matched, where possible, to the conditions in the gas turbine. The presence of metal specimens was shown to have a small influence on the rate of degradation of the lubricant. Loss of metal from the copper and silver specimens due to the mild corrosive effect of the lubricant was seen.

Polyvinyl Butyral (PVB) laminated glass has been widely used in automotive industry as windshield material. Cracks on the PVB laminated glass contain large amount of impact information, which can contribute to accident reconstruction investigation. In this study, the impact-induced in-plane dynamic cracking of the PVB laminated glass is investigated. Firstly, a drop-weight combined with high-speed photography experiment device is set up to investigate the radial cracks propagation on the PVB laminated glass sheet. Both the morphology and the velocity time history curve of the radial cracks are recorded and analyzed to investigate the basic mechanism of the crack propagation process. Afterwards, a three-dimensional laminated plate finite element (FE) model is set up and dynamic cracking process is simulated based on the extended finite element method (XFEM).

Detailed chemical kinetics is essential for accurate prediction of combustion performance as well as emissions in practical combustion engines. However, implementation of that is challenging. In this work, dynamic adaptive chemistry (DAC) is integrated into large eddy simulations (LES) of an n-heptane spray flame in a constant volume chamber (CVC) with realistic application conditions. DAC accelerates the time integration of the governing ordinary differential equations (ODEs) for chemical kinetics through the use of locally (spatially and temporally) valid skeletal mechanisms. Instantaneous flame structures and global combustion characteristics such as ignition delay time, flame lift-off length (LOL) and emissions are investigated to assess the effect of DAC on LES-DAC results. The study reveals that in LES-DAC simulations, the auto-ignition time and LOL obtain a well agreement with experiment data under different oxygen concentrations.

Conventional viscous shock absorbers, in parallel with suspension springs, passively dissipate the excitation energy from road irregularity into heat waste, to reduce the transferred vibration which causes the discomfort of passengers. Energy-harvesting shock absorbers, which have the potential of conversion of kinetic energy into electric power, have been proposed as semi-active suspension to achieve better balance between the energy consumption and suspension performance. Because of the high energy density of the rotary shock absorber, a rotational energy-harvesting shock absorber with mechanical motion rectifier (MMR) is used in this paper. This paper presents the assessment of vehicle dynamic performance with the proposed energy-harvesting shock absorber in braking process. Moreover, a PI controller is proposed to attenuate the negative effect due to the pitch motion.

Modelling of disc in brake squeal analysis is complicated because of the rotation of disc and the sliding contact between disc and pads. Many analytical or analytical numerical combined modeling methods have been developed considering the disc brake vibration and squeal as a moving load problem. Yet in the most common used complex eigenvalue analysis method, the moving load nature normally has been ignored. In this paper, a new modelling method for rotating disc from the point of view of modal is presented. First finite element model of stationary disc is built and modal parameters are calculated. Then the dynamic response of rotating disc which is excited and observed at spatial fixed positions is studied. The frequency response function is derived through space and time transformations. The equivalent modal parameter is extracted and expressed as the function of rotation speed and original stationary status modal parameters.

The study and prevention of unstable vibration is a challenging task for vehicle industry. Improving predicting accuracy of braking squeal model is of great concern. Closed-loop coupling disc brake model is widely used in complex eigenvalue analysis and further analysis. The coupling stiffness of disc rotor and pads is one of the most important parameters in the model. But in most studies the stiffness is calculated by simple static force-deformation simulation. In this paper, a closed-loop coupling disc brake model is built. Initial values of coupling stiffness are estimated from static calculation. Experiment modal analysis of stationary disc brake system with brake line pressure and brake torques applied is conducted. Then an optimization process is initiated to minimize the differences between modal frequencies predicted by the stationary model and those from test. Thus model parameters more close to reality are found.

Polyvinyl butyral (PVB) film and SentryGlas® Plus (SGP) film have been widely used in automotive windshield and architecture curtain serving as protective interlayer materials. Viscoelasticity is the unique property of such film materials, which can contribute to improving impact resistance and energy absorbing characteristics of laminated glass. In this study, the uniaxial tensile creep and stress relaxation tests are conducted to investigate the viscoelasticity of PVB and SGP films used in laminated glass. Firstly, tensile creep and stress relaxation tests of PVB film (0.76mm) and SGP film with three thickness (0.89mm, 1.14mm and 1.52mm) are conducted using Instron universal testing machine to obtain creep and stress relaxation curves. Afterwards, both viscoelastic models (Burgers model, Maxwell-Weichert model) and empirical equations (Findley power law, Kohlrausch equation) are applied to simulate the creep and stress relaxation results.

Combustion behaviour and emissions characteristics of different blending ratios of diesel and gasoline fuels (Dieseline) were investigated in a light-duty 4-cylinder compression-ignition (CI) engine operating on partially premixed compression ignition (PPCI) mode. Experiments show that increasing volatility and reducing cetane number of fuels can help promote PPCI and consequently reduce particulate matter (PM) emissions while oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions reduction depends on the engine load. Three different blends, 0% (G0), 20% (G20) and 50% (G50) of gasoline mixed with diesel by volume, were studied and results were compared to the diesel-baseline with the same combustion phasing for all experiments. Engine speed was fixed at 1800rpm, while the engine load was varied from 1.38 to 7.85 bar BMEP with the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) application.

This study investigates the potential of using a partial flow filter (PFF) to assist a wall flow diesel particulate filter (DPF) and reduce the need for active regeneration phases that increase engine fuel consumption. First, the filtration efficiency of the PFF was studied at several engine operating conditions, varying the filter space velocity (SV), through modification of the exhaust gas flow rate, and engine-out particulate matter (PM) concentration. The effects of these parameters were studied for the filtration of different particle size ranges (10-30 nm, 30-200 nm and 200-400 nm). For the various engine operating conditions, the PFF showed filtration efficiency over 25% in terms of PM number and mass. The PFF filtration behaviour was also investigated at idle engine operation producing a high concentration of nuclei particulates for which the filter was able to maintain 60% filtration efficiency.

Fuel quality has a significant influence on the combustion engine operation. In recent years the increasing concerns about environmental protection, energy saving, energy security and the requirements of protecting fuel injection and aftertreatment systems have been major driving forces for the Chinese fuel specification evolution. The major property changes in the evolution of Chinese national gasoline and diesel standards are introduced and the reasons behind these changes are analyzed in this paper. The gasoline fuel development from State I to State VI-B involved a decrease of sulfur, manganese, olefins, aromatics and benzene content. The diesel fuel quality improvement from State I to State VI included achieving low sulfur fuels and a cetane number (CN) increase. Provincial fuel standards, stricter than corresponding national standards, were implemented in economically developed areas in the past.

The definition of the energy management strategy for a hybrid electric vehicle is a key element to ensure maximum energy efficiency. The ability to optimally manage the on-board energy sources, i.e., fuel and electricity, greatly affects the final energy consumption of hybrid powertrains. In the case of plug-in series-hybrid architectures, such as Range-Extender Electric Vehicles (REEVs), fuel efficiency optimization alone can result in a stressful operation of the range-extender engine with an excessively high number of start/stops. Nonetheless, reducing the number of start/stops can lead to long periods in which the engine is off, resulting in the after-treatment system temperature to drop and higher emissions to be produced at the next engine start.

Due to the rapid development of road infrastructure and vehicle population in China, the fuel consumption and emission of on-road vehicles tested in China World Transient Vehicle Cycle (C-WTVC) cannot indicate the real driving results. But the test results in China Heavy-duty Commercial Vehicle Test Cycle-Coach (CHTC-C) based on the road driving conditions in China are closer to the actual driving data. In this paper, the model for predicting the performance of heavy-duty vehicles is established and validated. The fuel consumption and NOx emission of a Euro VI heavy-duty coach under C-WTVC and CHTC-C tests are calculated by employing the developed model. Furthermore, the fuel consumption of the test coach is optimized and its sensitivity to the driving factors is analyzed.

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) guided design optimization was conducted for the piston bowl geometry for a heavy-duty diesel engine. The optimization goal was to minimize engine-out NOx emissions without sacrificing engine peak power and thermal efficiency. The CFD model was validated with experiments and the combustion system optimization was conducted under three selected operating conditions representing low speed, maximum torque, and rated power. A hundred piston bowl shapes were generated, of which 32 shapes with 3 spray angles for each shape were numerically analyzed and one optimized design of piston bowl geometry with spray angle was selected. On average, the optimized combustion system decreased nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 17% and soot emissions by 41% without compromising maximum engine power and fuel economy.

Injection pressure oscillations are proven to determine considerable deviations from the expected mass flow rate, leading to the jet velocities non-uniformity, which in turn implies the uneven spatial distribution of A/F ratio. Furthermore, once the injector is triggered, these oscillations might lead the rail pressure to experience a decreasing stage, to the detriment of spray penetration length, radial propagation and jet break-up timing. This has urged the research community to develop models predicting injection-induced pressure fluctuations within the rail. Additionally, several devices have been designed to minimize and eliminate such fluctuations. However, despite the wide literature dealing with the injection-induced pressure oscillations, many aspects remain still unclear. Moreover, the compulsory compliance with environmental regulations has shifted focus onto alternative fuels, which represent a promising pathway for sustainable vehicle mobility.

Connectivity and autonomy in vehicles promise improved efficiency, safety and comfort. The increasing use of embedded systems and the cyber element bring with them many challenges regarding cyberattacks which can seriously compromise driver and passenger safety. Beyond penetration testing, assessment of the security vulnerabilities of a component must be done through the design phase of its life cycle. This paper describes the development of a benchtop testbed which allows for the assurance of safety and security of components with all capabilities from Model-in-loop to Software-in-loop to Hardware-in-loop testing. Environment simulation is obtained using the AV simulator, CARLA which provides realistic scenarios and sensor information such as Radar, Lidar etc. MATLAB runs the vehicle, powertrain and control models of the vehicle allowing for the implementation and testing of customized models and algorithms.

This paper presents an evaluation of two different Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) applications, namely Red Light Violation Warning (RLVW) and Green Light Optimized Speed Advisory (GLOSA). The evaluation method is to first develop and use Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulator testing, followed by extension of the HIL testing to road testing using an experimental connected vehicle. The HIL simulator used in the testing is a state-of-the-art simulator that consists of the same hardware like the road side unit and traffic cabinet as is used in real intersections and allows testing of numerous different traffic and intersection geometry and timing scenarios realistically. First, the RLVW V2I algorithm is tested in the HIL simulator and then implemented in an On-Board-Unit (OBU) in our experimental vehicle and tested at real world intersections.

The performance of electric vehicles could be enhanced by more flexible drivetrain configurations combined with advanced control methods. Based on four wheel independent driving and front and rear axle modular steering configuration, which was proposed by our research group last year, the problem of slippery under close-to-limit conditions are further discussed and simulated. A new torque vectoring method based on obtainable parameters and variables in real driving situations is introduced to reduce the sideslip when turning on low friction surfaces or with high speed. This method is developed from a comprehensive index, which reflects the stability and maneuverability, by adding additional torques when stability could not be compensated enough by basic torque vectoring. Besides, an improvement of adding a simu-Torsen differential mechanism is made to the model of the vehicle, which enables another control method with the same purpose as before.

Typically, when one thinks of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), systems such as Forward Collision Warning (FCW) and Collision Imminent Braking (CIB) come to mind. In these systems driver assistance is provided based on knowledge about the subject vehicle and surrounding objects. A new class of these systems is being implemented. These systems not only use information on the surrounding objects but also use information on the driver's response to an event, to determine if intervention is necessary. As a result of this trend, an advanced level of understanding of driver braking behavior is necessary. This paper presents an alternate method of analyzing driver braking behavior. This method uses a frequency content based approach to study driver braking and allows for the extraction of significantly more data from driver profiles than traditionally would have been done.

Improvements in highway fuel economy require clever design and novel methods to reduce the drag coefficient. The integration of active flow control devices into vehicle design shows promise for greater reductions in drag coefficient. This paper examines the use of fluidic oscillators for separation control at the rear of an Ahmed vehicle model. A fluidic oscillator is a simple device that generates a sweeping jet output, similar to some windshield wiper spray nozzles, and is increasingly recognized as an efficient means to control separation. In this study, fluidic oscillators were used to blow unsteady air jets and control flow separation on rear boat-tail flaps, achieving drag reductions greater than 70 counts. The method appears to scale favorably to a larger model, and realistic effects such as a rolling road appear to have a small impact on the oscillator's control authority.