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Transient and steady-state kinetic data are herein presented to analyze the inhibiting effect of ammonia on the NH₃-SCR of NO at low temperatures over a Fe-zeolite commercial catalyst for vehicles. It is shown that in SCR converter models a rate expression accounting for NH₃ inhibition of the Standard SCR reaction is needed in order to predict the specific dynamics observed both in lab-scale and in engine test bench runs upon switching on and off the ammonia feed. Two redox, dual site kinetic models are developed which ascribe such inhibition to the spill-over of ammonia from its adsorption sites, associated with the zeolite, to the redox sites, associated with the Fe promoter. Better agreement both with lab-scale intrinsic kinetic runs and with engine test-bench data, particularly during transients associated with dosing of ammonia to the SCR catalyst, is obtained assuming slow migration of NH₃ between the two sites.

In the paper some methods are presented, with the corresponding practical examples, related to MonteCarlo (MC) techniques for thermal model/test correlation purposes. The MonteCarlo techniques applied to model correlation are intended to be used as an alternative to empirical ‘manual’ correlation techniques, gradients methods, matrix methods based on least square fit minimization. First of all, Design Of Experiments (DoE) tools are used to determine the model response to uncertain parameters and the confidence level of such a response. A sensitivity map is built, allowing the design of the test to maximize the response of the system to the uncertain parameters. Techniques derived from the extreme statistics are used to extrapolate data beyond test limits, with a sufficient confidence in the queue behaviour.

An experimental campaign is presented aiming at the characterization of thermal dissipation of batteries to be used on board of small satellites. A suitably designed device allows to manage automatically the orbital cycling simulation between battery cell charge and discharge. The cell thermal performance is characterized in various combinations of temperature, discharge current and Depth of Discharge. The gathered data are used for providing guidelines in the design of a family of Italian Small Satellites.

In the paper several application techniques of MonteCarlo (MC) method applied to thermal analysis of space vehicles are presented. Although these methods are widely used in other engineering domains, their introduction to the thermal one is quite recent and not fully developed in the industrial practice. This paper aims at showing that, even without demanding computation resources (all what presented has been obtained with a single processor PC) MonteCarlo analysis techniques, in a preliminary design phase, can support and integrate engineering judgment of the thermal designer. In particular, it is exploited the applicability of the method to reduced thermal models, with a clear advantage in terms of computation time. An original approach is proposed, and results are shown. The papers shows the applicability of the MC method to the case when experimental data of the uncertain parameters are available, using the bootstrap re-sampling techniques.

1Restraints constitute the unique and necessary aids for living and working in microgravity conditions in which crewmembers need facilities as support to move around and as restraints while they work. In environments with microgravity, disturbance to the vestibular sense, when it occurs together with conflicting visual and perceptive stimuli, can cause disorientation, vertigo and illusions regarding posture and movement. Therefore, the design of restraints is a critical ingredient of success for crewmembers performance in space during both IVA and EVA activities. Standard restraints and mobility aids are provided on ISS such that all installation, operation, and maintenance can be performed: Foot Restraint, Adjustable Length Tether, Handrails, Adjustable Length Tether and Torso Restraint Assembly. Crewmembers use Standard Foot Restraints and Handrails to improve the movement capacities and the postural stability.

Very little is currently known of the aerodynamic interaction between neighboring cycloidal rotors. Such knowledge is, however, of crucial importance to tune the controller and rotor disposition of a cyclogiro aircraft. Thus, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed, validated, and used to analyze the D-Dalus L1 four-rotor unmanned aircraft operating under several configurations. The model solves the Euler equations using the OpenFOAM toolbox in order to provide fast results on a desktop computer. Validation is performed against thrust forces and flow streamlines obtained during wind tunnel experiments at various flight velocities. Numerical results from CFD match the trends of the experimental data. Flow behavior matches the video footage of the wind tunnel tests. Although boundary layer effects are neglected, satisfactory results are obtained both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Electric vehicles offer cleaner transportation with lower emissions, thus their increased popularity. Although, electric powertrains contribute to quieter vehicles, the shift from internal combustion engines to electric powertrains presents new Noise, Vibration, and Harshness challenges. Unlike traditional engines, electric powertrains produce distinctive tonal noise, notably from motor whistles and gear whine. These tonal components have frequency content, sometimes above 10 kHz. Furthermore, the housing of the powertrain is the interface between the excitation from the driveline via the bearings and the radiated noise (NVH). Acoustic features of the radiated noise can be predicted by utilising the transmitted forces from the bearings. Due to tonal components at higher frequencies and dense modal content, full flexible multibody dynamics simulations are computationally expensive.