Search Results

Hole expansion of a dual phase steel, DP600, was numerically investigated using a damage-based constitutive law to predict failure. The parameters governing void nucleation and coalescence were identified from an extensive review of the x-ray micro-tomography data available in the literature to ensure physically-sound predictions of damage evolution. A recently proposed technique to experimentally quantify work-hardening and damage in the shear-affected zone is incorporated into the damage model to enable fracture predictions of holes with sheared edges. Finite-element simulations of a hole expansion test with a conical punch were performed for both a punched and milled hole edge condition and the predicted hole expansion ratios are in very good agreement with the experiment values reported by several researchers.

Small crack growth from notches under variable amplitude loading requires that crack opening stress be followed on a cycle by cycle basis and taken into account in making fatigue life predictions. The use of constant amplitude fatigue life data that ignores changes in crack opening stress due to high stress overloads in variable amplitude fatigue leads to non-conservative fatigue life predictions. Similarly fatigue life predictions based on small crack growth calculations for cracks growing from flaws in notches are non-conservative when constant amplitude crack growth data are used. These non-conservative predictions have, in both cases, been shown to be due to severe reductions in fatigue crack closure arising from large (overload or underload) cycles in a typical service load history.

The analysis of nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) battery performance is very important for automotive researchers and manufacturers. The performance of a battery can be described as a direct consequence of various chemical and physical phenomena taking place inside the container. In this paper, a physics-based model of a Ni-MH battery will be presented. To analyze its performance, the efficiency of the battery is chosen as the performance measure, which is defined as the ratio of the energy output from the battery and the energy input to the battery while charging. Parametric sensitivity analysis will be used to generate sensitivity information for the state variables of the model. The generated information will be used to showcase how sensitivity information can be used to identify unique model behavior and how it can be used to optimize the capacity of the battery. The results will be validated using a finite difference formulation.

The performance, life cycle cost, and safety of electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EVs and HEVs) depend strongly on their energy storage system. Advanced batteries such as lithium-ion (Li-ion) polymer batteries are quite viable options for storing energy in EVs and HEVs. In addition, thermal management is essential for achieving the desired performance and life cycle from a particular battery. Therefore, to design a thermal management system, a designer must study the thermal characteristics of batteries. The thermal characteristics that are needed include the surface temperature distribution, heat flux, and the heat generation from batteries under various charge/discharge profiles. Therefore, in the first part of the research, surface temperature distribution from a lithium-ion pouch cell (20Ah capacity) is studied under different discharge rates of 1C, 2C, 3C, and 4C.

This paper presents the numerical validation of the impact response of a hot formed B-pillar component with tailored properties. A laboratory-scale B-pillar tool is considered with integral heating and cooling sections in an effort to locally control the cooling rate of an austenitized blank, thereby producing a part with tailored microstructures to potentially improve the impact response of these components. An instrumented falling-weight drop tower was used to impact the lab-scale B-pillars in a modified 3-point bend configuration to assess the difference between a component in the fully hardened (martensitic) state and a component with a tailored region (consisting of bainite and ferrite). Numerical models were developed using LS-DYNA to simulate the forming and thermal history of the part to estimate the final thickness and strain distributions as well as the predicted microstructures.

A serpentine flow channel is one of the most common and practical channel layouts for a PEM fuel cell since it ensures the removal of water produced in a cell. While the reactant flows along the flow channel, it can also leak or cross to neighboring channels via the porous gas diffusion layer due to a high pressure gradient. Such a cross flow leads to effective water removal in a gas diffusion layer thus enlarging the active area for reaction although this cross flow has largely been ignored in previous studies. In this study, neutron radiography is applied to investigate the liquid water accumulation and its effect on the performance of a PEM fuel cell. Liquid water tends to accumulate in the gas diffusion layer adjacent to the flow channel area while the liquid water formed in the gas diffusion layer next to the channel land area seems to be effectively removed by the cross leakage flow between the adjacent flow channels.

A fuel cell hybrid powertrain design is implemented and optimized by the University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team for the ChallengeX competition. A comprehensive set of bench-top and in-vehicle validation results are used to generate accurate fuel cell vehicle models for SIL/HIL control strategy testing and tuning. The vehicle is brought to a “99% buy-off” level of production readiness, and a detailed crashworthiness analysis is performed. The vehicle performance is compared to Vehicle Technical Specifications (VTS).

A serpentine flow channel can be considered as neighboring channels connected in series, and is one of the most common and practical channel layouts for PEM fuel cells since it ensures the removal of liquid water produced in a cell with excellent performance and acceptable parasitic load. During the reactant flows along the flow channel, it can also leak or cross directly to the neighboring channel via the porous gas diffusion layer due to the high pressure gradient caused by the short distance. Such a cross flow leads to a larger effective flow area resulting in a substantially lower amount of pressure drop in an actual PEM fuel cell compared to the case without cross flow. In this work, an analytical solution is obtained for the cross flow in a PEM fuel cell with a serpentine flow channel based on the assumption that the velocity of cross flow is linearly distributed in the gas diffusion layer between two successive U-turns.

This paper examines the application of damage models in tube bending and subsequent hydroforming of AlMg3.5Mn aluminum alloy tubes. An in-house Gurson-based damage model, incorporated within LS-DYNA, has been used for the simulations. The applied damage model contains several void nucleation and growth parameters that must be determined for each material. A simpler straight tube hydroforming process was considered first to check the damage parameters and predicted ductility. Then the model was applied to a sequence of bending and hydroforming. The damage history from pre-bending was mapped to the hydroforming stage, to allow prediction of the overall ductility. The applied forming parameters in the simulation were based on data extracted during the experimental tests. Finally, the numerical results were compared to the experimental data.

A so-called damage percolation model is coupled with Gurson-based finite element (FE) approach in order to accommodate the high strain gradients and localized ductile damage. In doing so, void coalescence and final failure are suppressed in Gurson-based FE modeling while a measured second phase particle field is mapped onto the most damaged mesh area so that percolation modeling can be performed to capture ductile fracture in real sheet forming operations. It is revealed that void nucleation within particle clusters dominates ductile fracture in aluminum alloy sheet forming. Coalescence among several particle clusters triggered final failure of materials. A stretch flange forming is simulated with the coupled modeling.

The automobile industry has been undergoing a transition from fossil fuels to a low emission platform due to stricter environmental policies and energy security considerations. Electric vehicles, powered by lithium-ion batteries, have started to attain a noticeable market share recently due to their stable performance and maturity as a technology. However, electric vehicles continue to suffer from two disadvantages that have limited widespread adoption: charging time and energy density. To mitigate these challenges, vehicle Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have developed different vehicle architectures to extend the vehicle range. This work seeks to compare various powertrains, including: combined power battery electric vehicles (BEV) (zinc-air and lithium-ion battery), zero emission fuel cell vehicles (FCV)), conventional gasoline powered vehicles (baseline internal combustion vehicle), and ICE engine extended range hybrid electric vehicle.

Lithium-ion batteries, which are nowadays common in laptops, cell phones, toys, and other portable electronic devices, are also viewed as a most promising advanced technology for electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EVs and HEVs), but battery manufacturers and automakers must understand the performance of these batteries when they are scaled up to the large sizes needed for the propulsion of the vehicle. In addition, accurate thermo-physical property input is crucial to thermal modeling. Therefore, a designer must study the thermal characteristics of batteries for improvement in the design of a thermal management system and also for thermal modeling. This work presents a purely experimental thermal characterization in terms of measurement of the temperature gradient and temperature response of a lithium-ion battery utilizing a promising electrode material, LiFePO4, in a prismatic pouch configuration.

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is considered to be one of the best clean power sources for transportation application. Water management is a critical issue, conventionally achieved by coating the cell components with the hydrophobic materials. In this work, the effects of one surface-coated cathode gas diffusion layer (GDL) on water removal rate, droplet dynamics, and the cell performance have been studied. The coated GDL is fabricated by coating one side of raw GDL (SpectraCarb 2050-A) with 15 wt. % of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) solution but the other side remains uncoated. The raw GDL is commercial one and made of carbon fiber. The contact angles (θ) on both sides of the coated and raw GDL are measured. The pore size distribution, and capillary pressure are measured for the GDL, studied using the method of standard porosimetry (MSP). Water removal rate is measured by using a 20 ml syringe barrel, wherein a 13 mm diameter GDL token is stuck on the barrel opening.

The development of a comprehensive battery simulator is essential for future improvements in the durability, performance and service life of lithium-ion batteries. Although simulations can never replace actual experimental data, they can still be used to provide valuable insights into the performance of the battery, especially under different operating conditions. In addition, a single-cell model can be easily extended to the pack level and can be used in the optimization of a battery pack. The first step in building a simulator is to create a model that can effectively capture both the voltage response and thermal behavior of the battery. Since these effects are coupled together, creating a robust simulator requires modeling both components. This paper will develop a battery simulator, where the entire battery model will be composed of four smaller submodels: a heat generation model, a thermal model, a battery parameter model and a voltage response model.

In this paper, a degradation testing of a lithium-ion battery used for an electric vehicle (EV) is performed and the capacity fade is measured over 400 cycles. For this, a 200 Ah LiFePO4 battery cell is tested under ambient temperature conditions with charge-discharge cycles at rate of 1C (constant current). Additionally, individual cell characterization is conducted using a C/25 (0.8A) charge-discharge cycle and hybrid pulse power characterization (HPPC). Later, the Thevenin battery model was constructed in MATLAB along with an empirical degradation model and validated in terms of voltage for all cycles. It is also found that the presented model closely estimated the profiles observed in the experimental data. Data collected from the experimental results showed that a capacity fade occurred over the 400 cycles and the discharge capacity at the end of 400th cycle is found to be 137.73 Ah. The error between model/experiments is found to be less than 3.5% for all cycles.

A series plug-in hybrid electric powertrain with all-wheel drive is designed using real-world drive cycles as part of the EcoCAR 2 competition. A stock 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco is being re-engineered to reduce fuel consumption and emissions while improving consumer acceptability. Waterloo utilizes a 18.9 kWh A123 energy storage system (ESS), which powers two 105 kW TM4 traction motors. A 2.4 L LE9 General Motors coupled to a 105 kW TM4 motor provides range extending performance. Each step of the design process is discussed, including a novel approach to powertrain selection and controls requirement selection that uses real-world drive cycles. The mechanical integration and unique ESS design is also discussed.

Due to the high power and energy density and also relative safety, lithium ion batteries are receiving increasing acceptability in industrial applications especially in transportation systems with electric traction such as electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. In this regard, to ensure performance reliability, accurate modeling of calendar life of such batteries is a necessity. In fact, potential failure of Li-ion battery packs remains a barrier to commercialization. Battery pack life is a critical feature to warranty and maintenance planning for hybrid vehicles, and will require adaptive control systems to account for the loss in vehicle range, and loss in battery charge and discharge efficiency. Failure not only results in large replacement costs, but also potential safety concerns such as overheating or short circuiting which may lead to fires.

Within the last decade, the automotive industry has made major progress toward the electrification of drive trains and application of electrochemical power sources. Among available storage solutions, Li-ion batteries are considered as the most attractive and are set to be used in the next generation of hybrid and electric vehicles. This is due to their superiority in energy density, power density, and low self-discharge and high cycle life compared to other chemistries. However, there are some limitations associated with Li-ion battery; among them is the operating temperature range. Any deviation from a narrow temperature range may result in low overall performance and potential degradation of the cells. In this paper, impact of ambient temperature on the A123 Li-ion batteries performance is investigated. A123 cells have been tested under constant charge-discharge cycles, hybrid pulse power characterization (HPPC) tests and also standard drive cycle tests.

Supervisory control strategies for a hybrid fuel cell powertrain are developed and simulated using Simulink models and the Powertrain Systems Analysis Toolkit (PSAT). The control strategy selects the power splitting ratio between a 65kW Hydrogenics fuel cell power module and a 70kW Cobasys Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery pack. Simple control algorithms targeting a battery pack State of Charge (SOC), or maximizing the instantaneous powertrain efficiency are initially considered and analyzed. A comprehensive control strategy optimizing powertrain efficiency, vehicle performance, emissions, and long-term reliability is then developed and simulated. The simulated vehicle using the comprehensive control strategy with reliability considerations exhibits a 21% mileage improvement as compared to a simple rule-based control algorithm.

A fuel cell-battery hybrid powertrain SUV vehicle is designed using an optimized model-based design process. Powertrain and fuel storage components selected include a 65 kW Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) power module, two 67 kW electric traction motors, a 35 MPa compressed hydrogen storage tank, a 70 kW nickel metal hydride battery pack, and a University of Waterloo in-house DC/DC converter design. Hardware control uses two controllers, a main supervisory controller and a subsystem controller in addition to any embedded component control modules. Two key innovations of this work include the hybrid control strategy and the DC/DC converter. The final powertrain characteristics are expected to meet a set of Vehicle Technical Specifications (VTS).