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The current global chassis control (GCC) frequently makes use of decoupled control methods which depend on driving condition partition and simple rule-based vertical force distribution, and are insufficient to obtain optimal vehicle dynamics performance. Therefore, a novel hierarchical global chassis control system for a distributed electric vehicle (DEV), which is equipped with four wheel driving/steering and active suspension systems, is developed in this paper. The control system consists of three layers: in the upper layer, the desired forces/moments based on vehicular driving demands are determined; in the middle layer, a coordinated control method of longitudinal/lateral/vertical tire forces are proposed; in the lower layer, the driving/steering/suspension control is conducted to realize each distributed tire force.

Intellectual property rights and their protection is a cornerstone of the automotive value chain. The automotive industry is composed by a meshwork of tightly integrated organizations that cooperate and compete in a hierarchical marketplace. Trading know-how and other virtual assets between participants is an essential part of this business. Thereby, software as a medium to transport ideas, innovations, and technologies plays a particular role. Protection of virtual goods and their associated rights is a current issue whose solution will determine how business will be done in the future automotive market. Automotive experts and researchers agree that ICT security technologies are a vital part to implement such a market. In this paper we examine the software life cycle of an automotive Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and discuss potential threats and countermeasures for each stage.

In this paper, we propose algorithms for cost minimization of physical wires that are used to connect electronic devices in the vehicle. The wiring cost is one of the most important drivers of electrical architecture selection. Our algorithms perform wire routing from a source device to a destination device through harnesses, by selecting the optimized wire size. In addition, we provide optimized splice allocation with limited constraints. Based on the algorithms, we develop a tool which is integrated into an off-the-shelf optimization and workflow system-level design tool. The algorithms and the tool provide an efficient, flexible, scalable, and maintainable approach for cost analysis and architecture selection.

Vehicle hood styling has significant influence on headform kinematics in assessment tests of pedestrian impact protection performance. Pedestrian headform kinematics on vehicle front-end models with different hood styling characteristics is analyzed based on finite element modeling. More elevated feature lines near hood boundary and the following continuous hood surface towards fender will result in a different headform motion. It can lead to larger deformation space, more rotation and earlier rebound of the headform impactor, which will benefit the head impact protection performance. In addition, hood geometry characteristics such as hood angle and curvature have effects on structural stiffness. Therefore, inclusion of considerations on pedestrian head protection into the vehicle hood styling design stage may lead to a more effective and efficient engineering design process on headform impact analysis.

To provide a feasible transitional solution from all-by-human driving style to fully autonomous driving style, this paper proposed concept and its control algorithm of a robust lane-keeping ‘co-pilot’ system. In this a semi-autonomous system, Learning based Model Predictive Control (LBMPC) theory is employed to improve system's performance in target state tracking accuracy and controller's robustness. Firstly, an approximate LTI model which describes driver-vehicle-road closed-loop system is set up and real system's deviations from the LTI system resulted by uncertainties in the model are regarded as bounded disturbance. The LTI model and bounded disturbances make up a nominal model. Secondly, a time-varying model which is composed of LTI model and an ‘oracle’ component is designed to observe the possible disturbances numerically and it is online updated using Extended Kalman Filter (EKF).

An investigation into two new control strategies for the vehicle Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) are made for a possible replacement of current non-optimal slip control methods. This paper applies two techniques in order to maximize the braking force without any wheel locking. The first considers the power dissipated by the brake actuator. This power method does not use slip to construct its reference signal for control. A heuristic approach is taken with this algorithm where one searches for the maximum power dissipated. This can open up easier implementation of regenerative braking concurrently with ABS on an electro-hydraulic braking system. Parameter scheduling is explored in this algorithm. The second algorithm employs the use of perturbation based Extremum Seeking Control (ESC) to provide a reference slip and a Youla controller in a negative feedback loop.

Optimizing/maximizing regen braking in a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is one of the key features for increasing fuel economy. However, it is known [1] that maximizing regen braking by braking the rear axle on a low friction surface results in compromising vehicle stability even in a vehicle which is equipped with an ESP (Enhanced Stability Program). In this paper, we develop a strategy to maximize regen braking without compromising vehicle stability. A yaw rate stability control system is designed for a hybrid electric vehicle with electric rear axle drive (ERAD) and a “hang on” center coupling device which can couple the front and rear axles for AWD capabilities. Nonlinear models of the ERAD drivetrain and vehicle are presented using bond graphs while a high fidelity model of the center coupling device is used for simulation.

The dynamic properties of disc rotor play important role in the NVH performance of a disc brake system. Disc rotor in general is a centrosymmetric structure. It has many repeated-root modes within the interested frequency range and they may have significant influence on squeal occurrence. A pair of repeated-root modes is in nature one vibration mode. However, in current complex eigenvalue analysis model and relevant analysis methods, repeated-root modes are processed separately. This may lead to contradictory result. This paper presents methods to deal with repeated-root modes in substructure modal composition (SMC) analysis to avoid the contradiction. Through curve-fitting technique, the modal shape coefficients of repeated-root modes are expressed in an identical formula. This formula is used in SMC analysis to obtain an integrated SMC value to represent the total influence of two repeated-root modes.

We assessed the engine-out emissions of an ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) and a neat hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) from a light-duty diesel truck equipped with common rail direct injection. The vehicle was tested at least twice on each fuel using the LA-92 drive cycle and at steady-state conditions at 30 mph and 50 mph at different loads. Results showed reductions in the engine-out total hydrocarbon (THC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and particulate emissions with HVO. The reductions in soot mass, solid particle number, and particulate matter (PM) mass emissions with HVO were due to the absence of aromatic and polyaromatic hydrocarbon compounds, as well as sulfur species, which are known precursors of soot formation. Volumetric fuel economy, calculated based on the carbon balance method, did not show statistically significant differences between the fuels.

This paper studies a control algorithm for fuel cell/battery city buses. The output power of the fuel cell is controlled by a D.C. converter, and the output ports of the converter and the battery are connected in parallel to supply power for the electric motor. One way to prolong service life is to have the fuel cell system to deliver a steady-state power. However, because of fluctuations in the bus voltage and uncertainness in the D.C. converter, the output power of the fuel cell system changes drastically. A closed-loop control algorithm is necessary to eliminate the errors between the output and target power of the fuel cell system. The algorithm is composed of two parts, the feed forward one and the feedback one. Influences of the bus voltage and D.C. efficiency are compensated automatically in the feedback algorithm by using a PI algorithm. The stability and robustness of the algorithm is analyzed.

The study aims at analyzing the tool utilization by using a real-time machining simulation and investigating the behavior of the parameters which affect the tool wear based on the results of the analysis. In this study, the method of calculation of parameters which are necessary to predict the tool wear by using Z-map based machining simulation is developed. Furthermore, the possibility of estimating the tool wear from the results of the simulation was also examined by performing the real cutting experiments.

Quantifying Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) emissions and fuel consumption is a difficult problem for a number of different reasons: 1) HEVs can be configured in significantly different ways (e.g., series or parallel); 2) the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) can consist of a wide variety of engines, fuel types, and sizes; and 3) the APU can be operated very differently depending on the energy management system strategy and the type of driving that is performed (e.g., city vs. highway driving). With the future increase of HEV penetration in the vehicle fleet, there is an important need for government agencies and manufacturers to determine HEV emissions and fuel consumption. In this paper, several critical issues associated with HEV emissions and fuel consumption are identified and analyzed, using a sophisticated set of HEV and emission simulation modeling tools.

A life-cycle assessment (LCA) has been developed to help compare the economic, environmental and energy (EEE) impacts of converting coal to automotive fuels in China. This model was used to evaluate the total economic cost to the customer, the effect on the local and global environments, and the energy efficiencies for each fuel option. It provides a total accounting for each step in the life cycle process including the mining and transportation of coal, the conversion of coal to fuel, fuel distribution, all materials and manufacturing processes used to produce a vehicle, and vehicle operation over the life of the vehicle. The seven fuel scenarios evaluated in this study include methanol from coal, byproduct methanol from coal, methanol from methane, methanol from coke oven gas, gasoline from coal, electricity from coal, and petroleum to gasoline and diesel. The LCA results for all fuels were compared to gasoline as a baseline case.

In this paper, a 2-DOF experimental equipment of active suspension is developed. This system is hydro-pneumatic type and is controlled through oil flow. A control strategy based on output feedback and frequency shaping is proposed and realized on this model. Output feedback can reduce the number of system states that should be measured and thus simplify the complexity and improve the reliability of the system. Because of the different human sensitivity to different frequency ranges of vibration, it is necessary to pay effort on the suppression of vibration according to human sensitivity. Frequency shaping technology is thus applied on performance index to improve the ride quality. Several types of measurement versions are investigated and optimized. Simulation results indicate that using sprung mass velocity and suspension deflection, the system performance can approach the full-state feedback system performance.

On the basis of modular pulse converter (MPC) exhaust system the authors present a new swirl exhaust system. Structural parameters on the swirl exhaust system and MPC system for N8160ZC diesel engine were calculated by a mathematical optimum method, and the two systems were tested under the same engine operation for comparison. Experimental results show that the swirl exhaust system has a better engine performance under most of the operating conditions than MPC system, but worse under the low-speed and part-load conditions. In order to understand the mechanism of this swirl exhaust system well, a three-dimensional particle dynamic analyzer (3D-PDA) was utilized to measure the steady turbulent airflow in a swirl three-branched model. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code KIVA was modified to simulate the flows. Computational results are in good agreement with measuring ones and reveal the swirl flow behavior in the junction.

Gasoline detergency is related to deposits at various parts of the engine and therefore has impact on vehicle driveability and emission properties. The widely used engine tests such as CEC F-20 M111 and ASTM D6201 Ford 2.3L tests take tens of hours and thus are very expensive and time consuming to carry out. A new simulation test for gasoline detergency on intake valve cleanliness using lean-oxygen gum method was developed and the correlation of test results with M111 engine test was studied. Gasoline samples with different detergency levels were tested with both the lean-oxygen gum method and the M111 engine test. Test results of 24 gasoline samples show satisfactory correlation between the lean-oxygen gum method and the M111 engine test (R₂=0.7258).

The hybrid simulation method is adopted to develop engine dynamic test bed based on eddy-current dynamometer. The hybrid simulation scheme of engine dynamic test bed is designed. The principle is discussed. Finally, the CAD method is used to design main parameters of engine dynamic test bed based on simulation ECE15 and US LA4-CH Driving Schedules by Shanghai Santana 2000 car. The results are compared to the actual test results on the chassis dynamometer. The hybrid simulation method is proved to be an efficient way by simulation and comparison.

Coordinated EGR-VNT control based on the intake air mass observer is presented in this paper to deal with the transient AFR control of turbocharged diesel engine. The air mass model embedded in the observer is a Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy neural network trained with transient simulation results. It can predict the charged fresh air mass entering the cylinder. In a high load region, when EGR is not effective, the coordinated EGR-VNT control will also bring benefits to the transient air-fuel-ratio control. The simulation results of TDI engine model verify that the transient control strategy will allow a better control of the intake air mass, and thus improve air-fuel-ratio control and reduce NOx emission in transients.

A large proportion (about 33%) of the fuel energy is lost through exhaust gas in a gasoline engine. Electric turbo compounding (ETC) is a promising technology for gasoline engine exhaust energy recovery. In this paper, optimization of an ETC system for turbocharged gasoline engines is carried out. The ETC system has a turbo-generator that is in parallel with the turbocharger, the flow distribution between the turbocharger and the turbo-generator is controlled. The engine exhaust energy is recovered by the turbo-generator with fixed geometry turbine (FGT) or variable nozzle turbine (VNT). The design and control of the ETC system are optimized for best recovery of engine exhaust energy at engine full load and part load operating conditions. The system performance is studied by 1D simulation methods. The gasoline engine is modeled with the GT-POWER software and the turbochargers and turbo-generators are modeled with turbo through-flow models.

The measurement of SO2 levels in vehicle exhaust can provide important information in understanding the relative contribution of sulfur and sulfate from fuel vs. oil source to PM. For this study, a differential optical absorption spectrometer (DOAS) that can measure SO2 down to 20 ppbV in real-time was built and evaluated. The DOAS consisted of an extractive sampling train, a cylindrical sampling cell with a single-path design to minimize cell volume, a spectrometer, and a deuterium lamp light source with a UVC range of ∼200-230 nanometer (nm). Laboratory tests showed detection limits were approximately in the range of 12 to 15 ppbV and showed good linearity over SO2 concentration ranges of 20 to 953 ppbV. Interference tests showed some interference by NO and by NH3, at levels of 300 ppmV and 16.6 ppmV, respectively.