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Vehicle incab booming perception, a low frequency response of the structure to the various excitations presents a challenging task for the NVH engineers. The excitation to the structure causing boom can either be power train induced, depending upon the number of cylinders or the road inputs, while transfer paths for the excitation is mainly through the power train mounts or the suspension attachments to the body. The body responds to those input excitations by virtue of the dynamic behavior mainly governed by its modal characteristics. This paper explains in detail an integrated approach, of both experimental and numerical techniques devised to investigate the mechanism for boom noise generation. It is therefore important, to understand the modal behavior of the structure. The modal characteristics from the structural modal test enable to locate the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the body, which are likely to get excited due to the operating excitations.

The use of Wheel Force Transducers (WFTs) to acquire data for laboratory simulation is becoming standard industry practice. However, in test rigs where we have only the suspension module and not the complete vehicle, does the reproduction of the orthogonal forces and moments at the wheel centre guarantee an accurate replication of the fatigue damage in the suspension components? The objective of this paper is to review the simulation methodology for a highly non-linear suspension in a 3 DOF (degree-of-freedom) suspension test rig in which the simulation was carried out using only the three orthogonal loads and vertical displacement. The damage at critical locations in the suspension is compared with that on the road and an assessment of the simulation using the WFT is made based on a comparison of the damage on the road vs. the rig.

Design of a Cabin Tilting System of heavy trucks, a multi degree of freedom mechanism, is a challenge. Factors like adequate tilting angle, cabin styling, packaging, non interference of tilting system with ride comfort, forces in the system, specifications of the hydraulic system, are all very important for designing the system. Numerous considerations make the design process highly iterative hence longer design time. This paper primarily focuses on Kinematics and Dynamic analysis of the system in ADAMS and validation of system with real time testing results. Intention of this work is to make a parametric ADAMS model and link it to a Knowledge Based Engineering application to facilitate designer to quickly carry out design iterations for reducing development time. The Knowledge Based Engineering software is made using object oriented language called ‘Object Definition Language’ which has been developed using C and C++ software languages.

During every clutch engagement energy is dissipated in clutch assembly because of relative slippage of clutch disc w.r.t. flywheel and pressure plate. Energy dissipated in clutch is governed by many design parameters like driveline configuration of the vehicle vis-a-vis vehicle mass, and operational parameters like road conditions, traffic conditions. Clutch burning failure, which is the major failure mode of clutch assembly, is governed by energy dissipation phenomenon during clutch engagement. Clutch undergoes different duty cycles during usage in city traffic, highways or hilly regions during its lifetime. A test schedule was derived using energy dissipated during every clutch engagement event as a base and using road load data collected on the vehicle. Road load data was collected in different road mix conditions comprised of city traffic, highway, hilly region, rough road for few hundred kilometers.

Spot welding is the primary joining method used in automobiles. Spot-weld plays a major role to maintain vehicle structural integrity during impact tests. Robust spot weld failure definitions is critical for accurate predictions of structural performance in safety simulations. Spot welds have a complex metallurgical structure, mainly consisting of fusion and heat affected zones. For accurate material property definitions in simulation models, huge number of inputs from test data is required. Multiple tests, using different spot weld joinery configurations, have to be conducted. In order to accurately represent the spot-weld behavior in CAE, detailed modeling is required using fine mesh. The current challenge in spot-weld failure assessment is developing a methodology having a better trade-off between prediction accuracy, testing efforts and computation time. In view of the above, cohesive zone models have been found to be very effective and accurate.

The objective of the work presented in this paper is to provide an overall CFD evaluation and optimization study of cabin climate control of air-conditioned (AC) city buses. Providing passengers with a comfortable experience is one of the focal point of any bus manufacturer. However, detailed evaluation through testing alone is difficult and not possible during vehicle development. With increasing travel needs and continuous focus on improving passenger experience, CFD supplemented by testing plays an important role in assessing the cabin comfort. The focus of the study is to evaluate the effect of size, shape and number of free-flow and overhead vents on flow distribution inside the cabin. Numerical simulations were carried out using a commercially available CFD code, Fluent®. Realizable k - ε RANS turbulence model was used to model turbulence. Airflow results from numerical simulation were compared with the testing results to evaluate the reliability.

The traditional method of collecting the Road Torque Data of a vehicle is by instrumenting and running the vehicle on different road terrains. Every time, physical testing becomes tedious & most challenging task due to unavailability of unit under tests, kind of resource required and so on. However, in view of response to the fast emerging technology & limit less competition, it has become mandatory to develop & launch products in market within no time. In recent times, there is increased demand for physical road torque data measurements for a vehicle program based on its application and different powertrain configurations, which clearly shows that unless we front load the data to design it is practically impossible to meet the deadlines. Each of these measurements cost and consumes valuable resources of the company in collecting and analyzing the data.

Prime concern for electric vehicle where the application of the vehicle is public transport, is the charging of vehicle and operation of its infrastructure. Such an example of operating the EV buses is under the GCC (gross cost contract) model, with high operation time and comparatively lesser time for charging. It is challenging to meet these requirements. To counter this situation in fleet operated busses it is proposed to adapt an automated charging method which involves minimum man power intervention and automated mechanism to connect & disconnect the charging connectors. This paper proposes an automated pantograph mechanism based method of charging EV buses, meeting requirements as per SAE J3105 & ISO 15118 standards, which would be an ideal way to resolve the current situation.

With the revolutionary advancements in modern transportation, offering advanced connectivity, automation, and data-driven decision-making has put the intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to a high risk from being exposed to cyber threats. Development of modern transportation infrastructure, connected vehicle technology and its dependency over the cloud with an aim to enhance safety, efficiency, reliability and sustainability of ITS comes with a lot more opportunities to protect the system from black hats. This paper explores the landscape of cyber threats targeting ITS, focusing on their potential impacts, vulnerabilities, and mitigation strategies. The cyber-attacks in ITS are not just limited to Unauthorized Access, Malware and Ransomware Attacks, Data Breaches, Denial of Service but also to Physical Infrastructure Attacks.

A bus is integral part of public transportation in both rural and urban areas. It is also used for scheduled transport, tourism, and school transport. Buses are the common mode of transport all over the world. The growth in economy, the electrification of public transport, demand in shared transport, etc., is leading to a surge in the demand for buses and accelerating the overall growth of the bus industry. With the increased number of buses, the issue of safety of passengers and the crew assumes special importance. The comfort of driver and passenger in the vehicle involves the vibration performance and therefore, the structural integrity of buses is critically important. Bus safety act depicts the safety and comfort of bus operations, management of safety risks, continuous improvement in bus safety management, public confidence in the safety of bus transport, appropriate stakeholder involvement and the existence of a safety culture among bus service providers.