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Career development is no longer something you focus on in your twenties and are set for life, it is ongoing and constant. New technologies, globalization and the world-wide competition for jobs demand that we continue to grow our skills and knowledge throughout our life. This session will provide you with tools to help you meet this demand as an engineering professional. Participants will create a personal mission statement and set career goals, identify the best way to research new opportunities and build their network while also crafting a personal brand with consistent messaging. Organizer Martha Schanno, SAE International Panelist Caryn Mateer, Transformational Leaders Intl. Kathleen Riley, Transformational Leaders Intl.

Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalysts are used to reduce NOx emissions from internal combustion engines in a variety of applications [1,2,3,4]. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) performed an Internal Research & Development project to study SCR catalyst thermal deactivation. The study included a V/W/TiO2 formulation, a Cu-zeolite formulation and a Fe-zeolite formulation. This work describes NH3 storage capacity measurement data as a function of aging time and temperature. Addressing one objective of the work, these data can be used in model-based control algorithms to calculate the current NH3 storage capacity of an SCR catalyst operating in the field, based on time and temperature history. The model-based control then uses the calculated value for effective DEF control and prevention of excessive NH3 slip. Addressing a second objective of the work, accelerated thermal aging of SCR catalysts may be achieved by elevating temperatures above normal operating temperatures.

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team of Virginia Tech participated in the three-year EcoCAR Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition organized by Argonne National Laboratory, and sponsored by General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy. The team established goals for the design of a plug-in, range-extended hybrid electric vehicle that meets or exceeds the competition requirements for EcoCAR. The challenge involved designing a crossover SUV powertrain to reduce fuel consumption, petroleum energy use, regulated tailpipe emissions, and well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions. To interface with and control the hybrid powertrain, the team added a Hybrid Vehicle Supervisory Controller, which enacts a torque split control strategy. This paper builds on an earlier paper [1] that evaluated the petroleum energy use, criteria tailpipe emissions, and greenhouse gas emissions of the Virginia Tech EcoCAR vehicle and control strategy from the 2nd year of the competition.

Currently, two consolidated aftertreatment technologies are available for the reduction of NOx emissions from diesel engines: Urea SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) systems and LNT (Lean NOx Trap) systems. Urea SCR technology, which has been widely used for many years at stationary sources, is becoming nowadays an attractive alternative also for light-duty diesel applications. However, SCR systems are much more effective in NOx reduction efficiency at high load operating conditions than light load condition, characterized by lower exhaust gas temperatures.

A dual piston Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) engine has been newly developed. This compact VCR system uses the inertia force and hydraulic pressure accompanying the reciprocating motion of the piston to raise and lower the outer piston and switches the compression ratio in two stages. For the torque characteristic enhancement and the knocking prevention when the compression ratio is being switched, it is necessary to carry out engine controls based on accurate compression ratio judgment. In order to accurately judge compression ratio switching timing, a control system employing the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) was used to analyze vibration generated during the compression ratio switching. Also, in order to realize smooth torque characteristics, an ignition timing control system that separately controls each cylinder and simultaneously performs knocking control was constructed.

For a series plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), it is critical that batteries be sized to maximize vehicle performance variables, such as fuel efficiency, gasoline savings, and zero emission capability. The wide range of design choices and the cost of prototype vehicles calls for a development process to quickly and systematically determine the design characteristics of the battery pack, including its size, and vehicle-level control parameters that maximize the net present value (NPV) of a vehicle during the planning stage. Argonne National Laboratory has developed Autonomie, a modeling and simulation framework. With support from The MathWorks, Argonne has integrated an optimization algorithm and parallel computing tools to enable the aforementioned development process. This paper presents a study that utilized the development process, where the NPV is the present value of all the future expenses and savings associated with the vehicle.

Prediction of drowsiness based on an objective measure is demanded in machine and vehicle operations, in which human error may cause fatal accidents. Recently, we focused on the pupil which is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, easily and non-invasively observable from the outside of the body. Prior to the large low frequency pupil-diameter fluctuation, which is known to associate with drowsiness, a Gradual Miosis was observed in most subjects. During this miosis period, the subjects were not yet aware of their drowsiness. We have developed a software system which automatically detects the Gradual Miosis in real time.

This paper evaluates the impact of energy management strategy on the cost benefits of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) by taking into account the impact of PHEV energy management on battery life and petroleum displacement over the life of the vehicle. Using Battery in the Loop (BIL), a real battery is subjected to transient power demands by a virtual vehicle. The vehicle energy management strategy is varied, resulting in different battery utilization scenarios. Battery life, which varies with battery utilization, is estimated for the different energy management scenarios. The same representative drive cycle is used over the different energy management strategies to isolate the impact of energy management on battery utilization. PHEV gasoline savings, in comparison to a charge sustaining hybrid, are calculated for each of the energy management strategies, for a fixed distance of 40 miles.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) technologies have the potential for considerable petroleum consumption reductions, possibly at the expense of increased tailpipe emissions due to multiple “cold” start events and improper use of the engine for PHEV specific operation. PHEVs operate predominantly as electric vehicles (EVs) with intermittent assist from the engine during high power demands. As a consequence, the engine can be subjected to multiple cold start events. These cold start events may have a significant impact on the tailpipe emissions due to degraded catalyst performance and starting the engine under less than ideal conditions. On current hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), the first cold start of the engine dictates whether or not the vehicle will pass federal emissions tests. PHEV operation compounds this problem due to infrequent, multiple engine cold starts.

Research has been conducted on Controlled Auto-Ignition (CAI) engine with natural gas. CAI engine has the potential to be highly efficient and to produce low emissions. CAI engine is potentially applicable to automobile engine. However due to narrow operating range, CAI engine for automobile engine which require various speed and load in real world operation is still remaining at research level. In comparison some natural gas engines for electricity generation only require continuous operation at constant load. There is possibility of efficiency enhancement by CAI combustion which is running same speed at constant load. Since natural gas is primary consisting of methane (CH4), high auto-ignition temperature is required to occur stable auto-ignition. Usually additional intake heat required to keep stable auto-ignition. To keep high compression temperature, single cylinder natural gas engine with high compression ratio (CR=26) was constructed.

In this research, a simulation method was developed in which it was able to estimate, in the early stage of design, the strains that potentially lead to damages to motorcycle engine parts when tipped over from a stationary state. Splitting a series of phenomena from the start of tilting of motorcycle from the upright position up to the end of collision of engine parts after the contact on the ground to two groups by before and after the contact of engine parts on the ground, we applied the multi body dynamics analysis to the first group, and the elastro-plastic FEM analysis to the latter one. In the computer simulation of collision using the elastro-plastic FEM analysis, we minimized the FEM models from the entire motorcycle models and treated others as a solid model to shorten the computation period. It is also realized that the strains occurring in the engine parts can be simulated by considering only the mass of the parts which are rigidly mounted on the engine.

HCCI combustion can realize low NOx and particulate emissions and high thermal efficiency. Therefore, HCCI combustion has a possibility of many kinds of applications, such as an automotive powertrain, general-purpose engine, motorcycle engine and electric generator. However, the operational range using HCCI combustion in terms of speed and load is restricted because the onset of ignition and the heat release rate cannot be controlled directly. For the extension of the operational range using either an external supercharger or a turbocharger is promising. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of the intake pressure on the HCCI high load limit and HCCI combustion characteristics with blowdown supercharging (BDSC) system. The intake pressure (Pin) and temperature (Tin) were varied as experimental parameters. The intake pressure was swept from 100 kPa (naturally aspirated) to 200 kPa using an external mechanical supercharger.

In the automobile industries, weight reduction has been investigated to improve fuel efficiency together with reduction of CO2 emission. In such circumstance, it becomes necessity to make an electric power steering (EPS) more compact and lightweight. In this study, we aimed to have a smaller and lighter EPS gear size by focusing on an impact load caused at steering end. In order to increase the shock absorption energy without increase of stopper bush size, we propose new theory of impact energy absorption by not only spring function but also friction, and a new stopper bush was designed on the basis of the theory. The profile of the new stopper bush is cylinder form with wedge-shaped grooves, and when the new stopper bush is compressed by the end of rack and the gear housing at steering end, it enables to expand the external diameter and produce friction. In this study, we considered the durability in the proposed profile.

This paper includes analysis results for the control strategy of the Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4, a diesel-electric hybrid vehicle, under different thermal conditions. The analysis was based on testing results obtained under the different thermal conditions in the Advanced Powertrain Research Facility (APRF) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The objectives were to determine the principal concepts of the control strategy for the vehicle at a supervisory level, and to understand the overall system behavior based on the concepts. Control principles for complex systems are generally designed to maximize the performance, and it is a serious challenge to determine these principles without detailed information about the systems. By analyzing the test results obtained in various driving conditions with the Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4, we tried to figure out the supervisory control strategy.

Production vehicles are commonly characterized and compared using fuel consumption (FC) and electric energy consumption (EC) metrics. Chassis dynamometer testing is a tool used to establish these metrics, and to benchmark the effectiveness of a vehicle's powertrain under numerous testing conditions and environments. Whether the vehicle is undergoing EPA Five-Cycle Fuel Economy (FE), component lifecycle, thermal, or benchmark testing, it is important to identify the vehicle and testing based variations of energy consumption results from these tests to establish the accuracy of the test's results. Traditionally, the uncertainty in vehicle test results is communicated using the variation. With the increasing complexity of vehicle powertrain technology and operation, a fixed energy consumption variation may no longer be a correct assumption.

Manufacturers have been considering various technology options to improve vehicle fuel economy. Some of the most promising technologies are related to vehicle electrification. To evaluate the benefits of vehicle electrification to support the 2017-2025 CAFE regulations, a study was conducted to simulate many of the most common electric drive powertrains currently available on the market: 12V Micro Hybrid Vehicle (start/stop systems), Belt-integrated starter generator (BISG), Crank-integrated starter generator (CISG), Full Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), PHEV with 20-mile all-electric range (AER) (PHEV20), PHEV with 40-mile AER (PHEV40), Fuel-cell HEV and Battery Electric vehicle with 100-mile AER (EV100). Different vehicle classes were also analyzed in the study process: Compact, Midsize, Small SUV, Midsize SUV and Pickup. This paper will show the fuel displacement benefit of each powertrain across vehicle classes.

A full understanding and characterization of the near-field of diesel sprays is daunting because the dense spray region inhibits most diagnostics. While x-ray diagnostics permit quantification of fuel mass along a line of sight, most laboratories necessarily use simple lighting to characterize the spray spreading angle, using it as an input for CFD modeling, for example. Questions arise as to what is meant by the “boundary” of the spray since liquid fuel concentration is not easily quantified in optical imaging. In this study we seek to establish a relationship between spray boundary obtained via optical diffused backlighting and the fuel concentration derived from tomographic reconstruction of x-ray radiography. Measurements are repeated in different facilities at the same specified operating conditions on the “Spray A” fuel injector of the Engine Combustion Network, which has a nozzle diameter of 90 μm.

Cavitation plays a significant role in high pressure diesel injectors. However, cavitation is difficult to measure under realistic conditions. X-ray phase contrast imaging has been used in the past to study the internal geometry of fuel injectors and the structure of diesel sprays. In this paper we extend the technique to make in-situ measurements of cavitation inside unmodified diesel injectors at pressures of up to 1200 bar through the steel nozzle wall. A cerium contrast agent was added to a diesel surrogate, and the changes in x-ray intensity caused by changes in the fluid density due to cavitation were measured. Without the need to modify the injector for optical access, realistic injection and ambient pressures can be obtained and the effects of realistic nozzle geometries can be investigated. A range of single and multi-hole injectors were studied, both sharp-edged and hydro-ground. Cavitation was observed to increase with higher rail pressures.

Shock waves have been recently observed in high-pressure diesel sprays. In this paper, three-dimensional numerical simulations of supersonic diesel spray injection have been performed to investigate the underlying dynamics of the induced shock waves and their interactions with the spray. A Volume-of-Fluid based method in the CFD software (CONVERGE) is used to model this multiphase phenomena. An adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) scheme is employed to capture the front of the spray and the shock waves with high fidelity. Simulation results are compared to the available experimental observations to validate the numerical procedure. Parametric studies with different injection and ambient conditions are conducted to examine the effect of these factors on the generation of shock waves and their dynamics.

Low temperature combustion through in-cylinder blending of fuels with different reactivity offers the potential to improve engine efficiency while yielding low engine-out NOx and soot emissions. A Navistar MaxxForce 13 heavy-duty compression ignition engine was modified to run with two separate fuel systems, aiming to utilize fuel reactivity to demonstrate a technical path towards high engine efficiency. The dual-fuel engine has a geometric compression ratio of 14 and uses sequential, multi-port-injection of a low reactivity fuel in combination with in-cylinder direct injection of diesel. Through control of in-cylinder charge reactivity and reactivity stratification, the engine combustion process can be tailored towards high efficiency and low engine-out emissions. Engine testing was conducted at 1200 rpm over a load sweep.