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Gasoline turbocharged direct injection (GTDI) engines, such as EcoBoost™ from Ford, are becoming established as a high value technology solution to improve passenger car and light truck fuel economy. Due to their high specific performance and excellent low-speed torque, improved fuel economy can be realized due to downsizing and downspeeding without sacrificing performance and driveability while meeting the most stringent future emissions standards with an inexpensive three-way catalyst. A logical and synergistic extension of the EcoBoost™ strategy is the use of E85 (approximately 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) for knock mitigation. Direct injection of E85 is very effective in suppressing knock due to ethanol's high heat of vaporization - which increases the charge cooling benefit of direct injection - and inherently high octane rating. As a result, higher boost levels can be achieved while maintaining optimal combustion phasing giving high thermal efficiency.

This paper describes a method for optimization of engine settings in view of best total cost of operation fluids. Under specific legal NOX tailpipe emissions requirements the engine out NOX can be matched to the current achievable SCR NOX conversion efficiency. In view of a heavy duty long haul truck application various specific engine operation modes are defined. A heavy duty diesel engine was calibrated for all operation modes in an engine test cell. The characteristics of engine operation are demonstrated in different transient test cycles. Optimum engine operation mode (EOM) selection strategies between individual engine operation modes are discussed in view of legal test cycles and real world driving cycles which have been derived from on-road tests.

Current developments in automotive industry such as hybrid powertrains and the continuously increasing demands on emission control systems, are pushing complexity still further. Validation of such systems lead to a huge amount of test cases and hence extreme testing efforts on the road. At the same time the pressure to reduce costs and minimize development time is creating challenging boundaries on development teams. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to utilize testing and validation prototypes in the most efficient way. It is necessary to apply high levels of instrumentation and collect as much data as possible. And a streamlined data pipeline allows the fleet managers to get new insights from the raw data and control the validation vehicles as well as the development team in the most efficient way. In this paper we will demonstrate a data-driven approach for validation testing.

Electric power steering systems (EPS) are characterized by high inertia and therefore by a considerably damped transmission behaviour. While this is desirable for comfort-oriented designs, EPS do not provide enough feedback of the driving conditions, especially for drivers with a sporty driving style. The systematic actuation of the electric motor of an EPS makes it possible to specifically increment the intensity of the response. In this context, the road-sided induced forces of the tie rod and the steering rack force provide all the information for the steering system’s response. Former concepts differentiate between use and disturbance information by defining frequency ranges. Since these ranges overlap strongly, this differentiation does not segment distinctively. The presented article describes a method to identify useful information in the feedback path of the steering system depending on the driving situation.

Fuel injection is a key process influencing the performance of Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) Engines. Injecting fuel at elevated temperature can initiate flash boiling which can lead to faster breakup, reduced penetration, and increased spray-cone angle. Thus, it impacts engine efficiency in terms of combustion quality, CO2, NOx and soot emission levels. This research deals with modelling of flash boiling processes occurring in gasoline fuel injectors. The flashing mass transfer rate is modelled by the advanced Hertz-Knudsen model considering the deviation from the thermodynamic-equilibrium conditions. The effect of nucleation-site density and its variation with degree of superheat is studied. The model is validated against benchmark test cases and a substantiated comparison with experiment is achieved.

The world of automotive engineering shows a clear direction for upcoming development trends. Stringent fleet average fuel consumption targets and CO2 penalties as well as rising fuel prices and the consumer demand to lower operating costs increases the engineering efforts to optimize fuel economy. Passenger car engines have the benefit of higher degree of technology which can be utilized to reach the challenging targets. Variable valve timing, downsizing and turbo charging, direct gasoline injection, highly sophisticated operating strategies and even more electrification are already common technologies in the automotive industry but can not be directly carried over into a motorcycle application. The major differences like very small packaging space, higher rated speeds, higher power density in combination with lower production numbers and product costs do not allow implementation such high of degree of advanced technology into small-engine applications.

The particulate emissions of two brake systems were characterized in a dilution tunnel optimized for PM10 measurements. The larger of them employed a fixed caliper (FXC) and the smaller one a floating caliper (FLC). Both used ECE brake pads of the same lining formulation. Measured properties included gravimetric PM2.5 and PM10, Particle Number (PN) concentrations of both untreated and thermally treated (according to exhaust PN regulation) particles using Condensation Particle Counters (CPCs) having 23 and 10 nm cut-off sizes, and an Optical Particle Sizer (OPS). The brakes were tested over a section (trip-10) novel test cycle developed from the database of the Worldwide harmonized Light-Duty vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP). A series of trip-10 tests were performed starting from unconditioned pads, to characterize the evolution of emissions until their stabilization. Selected tests were also performed over a short version of the Los Angeles City Cycle.

The OBD II and EOBD legislation have significantly increased the number of system components that have to be monitored in order to avoid emissions degradation. Consequently, the algorithm design and the related calibration effort is becoming more and more challenging. Because of decreasing OBD thresholds, the monitoring strategy accuracy, which is tightly related with the components tolerances and the calibration quality, has to be improved. A model-based offline simulation of the monitoring strategies allows consideration of component and sensor tolerances as well as a first calibration optimization in the early development phase. AVL applied and improved a methodology that takes into account this information, which would require a big effort using testbed or vehicle measurements. In many cases a component influence analysis is possible before hardware is available for testbed measurements.

Fuel Cells (FC) are promising candidates to reduce energy consumption and, hence, to improve the global climate situation due to significant gains in the process efficiencies. Whereas the development of fuel cells for passenger car applications has intensified during the last years, commercial vehicle applications have not been in the focus of developers so far. A reason for that is the limited availability of fuels such as hydrogen. Commercial vehicles are in the most cases operated with diesel fuel. AVL has developed three fuel cell applications for commercial vehicles operated with diesel fuel.

In this paper, the experimental and numerical simulation of the flow field in the simplified front wheel arch of a scaled-down VW Phaeton half-model (scale 1:2,5) is presented. For wind tunnel experiments a realistic, rotating wheel model with plexiglass treads (PMMA) was designed. The construction allowed for detailed measurements of the flow field directly at the brake disk by means of the stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique. The formation of the flow structures and the resulting three-dimensional boundary layers on the brake disk are analyzed. Furthermore, the oncoming air flow towards the brake disk and the flow field near the wheel rim openings were investigated. The experimental data is compared with results of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations using the Lattice-Boltzmann based solver Powerflow. The validation shows the potential and the limitations of the numerical approach and indicates areas of further improvement.

Beside performance, handling and styling the sound characteristic of a motorcycle is a very important feature for the acceptance of the product by the customers and therefore the commercial success of a new product. Creating a special brand sound becomes more and more important to create a product that can be easily distinguished from competitor products and is therefore considered to be something special. On the other hand the legal limits in terms of pass - by noise allow for a very little margin for the creation of a special sound. During the product sound design phase the different perceptions of the rider wearing a helmet and pedestrians have to be considered. In passenger cars sound design has been known for a long time and the creation of a special sound for the driver inside the passenger compartment can be achieved with little influence on the exterior noise and therefore on the noise which is limited by legislation.

In addition to the price factor, the success of an electric vehicle primarily depends on its performance characteristics and operating range. Advances both in vehicle design and better technology help to improve these characteristics, thus providing the customer with a convincing vehicle concept. Three vehicle generations will be examined and the development advances between 1993 and 2003 will be listed by way of comparison. Improvement potential and technical limits will be analyzed from cost aspects. Since the limits of battery technology cannot be extended at will, it is necessary to develop both battery-driven electric vehicles and vehicles fitted with hybrid drive units. Based on the drive technology of purely electric-powered vehicles, concepts of range extender hybrid and fuel-cell hybrid vehicles will be presented.

The reduction of nitrous oxides in the exhaust gases of internal combustion engines using a urea water solution is gaining more and more importance. While maintaining the future exhaust gas emission regulations, like the Euro 6 for passenger cars and the Euro 5 for commercial vehicles, urea dosing allows the engine management to be modified to improve fuel economy as well. The system manufacturer Robert Bosch has started early to develop the necessary dosing systems for the urea water solution. More than 300.000 Units have been delivered in 2007 for heavy duty applications. Typical dosing quantities for those systems are in the range of 0.01 l/h for passenger car systems and up to 10 l/h for commercial vehicles. During the first years of development and application of urea dosing systems, instantaneous flow measuring devices were used, which were not operating fully satisfactory.

Looking for car weight reduction related to the use of High Strength Steels (HSS) for manufacturing body-in-white components, an innovative application of the high velocity forming techniques has been developed: the Electro Magnetic (EM) calibration and elimination of the spring-back effect (sidewall curl) of High Strength Steel U-channels. Within this paper the initial tests on L and U-shaped parts will be presented. Being the mechanical stiffness the main parameter for improving the coil endurance, the prediction of the coil strains under EM forces is a basic issue, which has been addressed within this study.

The use of a newly developed approach results in a highly accurate three dimensional analysis of the occupant movement. The central point of the new method is the calculation of precise body-trajectories by fitting standard sensor-measurements to video analysis data. With the new method the accuracy of the calculated trajectories is better than 5 to 10 millimeters. These body trajectories then form the basis for a new multi-body based numerical method, which allows the three dimensional reconstruction of the dummy kinematics. In addition, forces and moments acting on every single body are determined. In principle, the body movement is reconstructed by prescribing external forces and moments to every single body requiring that it follows the measured trajectory. The newly developed approach provides additional accurate information for the development engineers. For example the motion of dummy body parts not tracked by video analysis can be determined.

The demand for improved fuel economy and the request for Zero Emission within cities require complex powertrains with an increasing level of electrification already in a short-termed timeframe until 2025. According to general expectations the demand for Mild-Hybrid powertrains will increase significantly within a broad range of implementation through all vehicle classes as well as on electric vehicles with integrated Range Extender (RE) mainly for use in urban areas. Whereas Mild Hybrid Vehicles basically use downsized combustion engines at current technology level, vehicles with a high level of powertrain electrification allow significantly different internal combustion engine (ICE) concepts. At AVL, various engine concepts have been investigated and evaluated with respect to the key criteria for a Range Extender application. A Wankel rotary engine concept as well as an inline 2 cylinder gasoline engine turned out to be most promising.

The need to reduce weight of large and heavy components used by the automotive and aerospace industries such as engine block, cylinder head cover and helicopter gearbox housing has led to the development of new Mg gravity casting alloys that provide adequate properties and cost effective solution. The new Mg gravity casting alloys are designed for high stressed components that operate at a temperature up to 300°C. These new alloys exhibit excellent mechanical properties and creep resistance in T-6 conditions. The present paper aims at introducing three new Mg gravity casting alloys designated MRI 201S, MRI 202S and MRI 203S, which were recently developed by the Magnesium Research Institute of DSM and VW. Apart from the excellent high temperature performance of these alloys, they provide adequate castability and dimension stability along with good weldability and corrosion resistance.

Flow control by fluidic devices - without moving parts - offers advantages of reliability and low cost. As an example of their automobile application based on authors'' long-time experience the paper describes a fluidic valve for switching exhaust gas flow in a NOx absorber into a by-pass during regeneration phase. The unique feature here is the fluidic valve being of monostable and of axisymmetric design, integrated into the absorber body. After development in aerodynamic laboratory, the final design was tested on engine test stand and finally in a car. This proved that the performance under high temperature and pulsation existing in exhaust systems is reliable and promising. Fluidic valves require, however, close matching with aerodynamic load. To optimize the exhaust system layout for the whole load-speed range and reaching minimum counter- pressure, both the components of exhaust system and control strategy have to be properly adopted.

The paper outlines and discusses the possibilities of a new instrumentation tool for the analysis of engine and gearbox noise radiation and the prediction of pass-by noise from powertrain test cell measurements. Based on a 32 channel data acquisition board, the system is intended to be quick and easy to apply in order to support engineers during their daily work in the test cell. The pass-by prediction is a purely experimental approach with test cell recordings being weighted by measured transfer functions (from the powertrain compartment to the pass-by point).