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Driver assistance systems (e.g. the emergency brake assist Active Brake Assist2, or ABA2 for short, in the Mercedes-Benz Actros) are becoming increasingly common in heavy-duty commercial vehicles. Due to the close interconnection with drivetrain and suspension control systems, the integration and validation of the functions make the most exacting demands on processes and tools involved in mechatronics development. Presenter Thomas Bardelang, Daimler AG

An overview of Daimler?s progression to advance powertrain technology in a growth industry shows many different solutions to improvement in transportation. Daimler continues to make breakthroughs in technology development and application building on 125 years of automotive development. Optimization of current powertrains will enable a significant gain in CO2/mi reductions, that dependent on product mix can be augmented with additional technologies. There is however no bypass to some form of electrification, enabling efficiency gains and alternative forms of power supply. Development of hybrid powertrains continues in an established manner and enhanced development of further electrified powertrains are in development. Organizationally and technically, significant skills and adjustments need to continue to be undertaken enabling OEMs and in particular the supply base to develop optimized solutions efficiently. The outlook is bright for novel component development and innovation.

The present production General Motors 2-Mode Hybrid system for full-size SUVs and pickup trucks integrates truck utility functions with a full hybrid system. The 2-mode hybrid system incorporates two electro-mechanical power-split operating modes with four fixed-gear ratios. The combination provides fuel savings from electric assist, regenerative braking and low-speed electric vehicle operation. The combination of two power-split modes reduces the amount of mechanical power that is converted to electric power for continuously variable transmission operation, meeting the utility required for SUVs and trucks. This paper describes how fuel economy functionality was blended with full-size truck utility functions. Truck functions described include: Manual Range Select, Cruise Control, 4WD-Low and continuous high load operation.

Air spring systems gain more and more popularity in the automotive industry and with the ever growing demand for comfort nowadays they are almost inevitable. Some significant advantages over conventional steel springs are appealing for commercial vehicles as well as for the modern passenger vehicles in the luxury class. Current production air spring systems exist in combination with hydraulic shock absorbers (integrated or resolved). An alternative is to use the medium air not only as a spring but also as a damper: a so-called air spring air damper. Air spring air dampers are force elements which could be a great step for the chassis technology due to their functionality (frequency selectivity, load levelling, load independent vibration behaviour, load dependent damping). Some of their design which avoid dynamic seals by the using of rubber bellows contribute to a better ride comfort.

Due to the diversity of Heavy Duty Vehicles (HDV), the European CO2 and fuel consumption monitoring methodology for HDVs will be based on a combination of component testing and vehicle simulation. In this context, one of the key input parameters that need to be accurately defined for achieving a representative and accurate fuel consumption simulation is the vehicle's aerodynamic drag. A highly repeatable, accurate and sensitive measurement methodology was needed, in order to capture small differences in the aerodynamic characteristics of different vehicle bodies. A measurement methodology is proposed which is based on constant speed measurements on a test track, the use of torque measurement systems and wind speed measurement. In order to support the development and evaluation of the proposed approach, a series of experiments were conducted on 2 different trucks, a Daimler 40 ton truck with a semi-trailer and a DAF 18 ton rigid truck.

As the automotive industry prepares to roll out an unprecedented range of fully electric propulsion vehicle models over the next few years - it really brings to a head for folks responsible for brakes what used to be the subject of hypothetical musings and are now pivotal questions for system design. How do we really go about designing brakes for electric vehicles, in particular, for the well-known limit condition of descending a steep grade? What is really an “optimal’ design for brakes considering the imperatives for the entire vehicle? What are the real “limit conditions” for usage that drive the fundamental design? Are there really electric charging stations planned for or even already existing in high elevations that can affect regenerative brake capacity on the way down? What should be communicated to drivers (if anything) about driving habits for electric vehicles in routes with significant elevation change?

The reliability of electronic components is of increasing importance for further progress towards automated driving. Thermal aging processes such as electromigration is one factor that can negatively affect the reliability of electronics. The resulting failures depend on the thermal load of the components within the vehicle lifetime - called temperature collective - which is described by the temperature frequency distribution of the components. At present, endurance testing data are used to examine the temperature collective for electronic components in the late development stage. The use of numerical simulation tools within Vehicle Thermal Management (VTM) enables lifetime thermal prediction in the early development stage, but also represents challenges for the current VTM processes [1, 2]. Due to the changing focus from the underhood to numerous electronic compartments in vehicles, the number of simulation models has steadily increased.

The driving comfort is an important factor for buying decisions. For the interior noise of battery electric vehicles (BEV) high frequency tonal orders are characteristic. They can for example be caused by the gearbox or the electric drive and strongly influence the perception and rating of the interior noise by the customer. In this contribution methods for measuring, analyzing and predicting the excitation by the dynamic torque of the electric drive are presented. The dynamic torque of the electric drive up to 3.5 kHz is measured on a component test bench with the help of high frequency, high precision torque transducer. The analysis of the results for the order of interest shows a good correlation with the acoustic measurements inside the corresponding vehicle. In addition an experimental and numerical modal analysis of the rotor of the electric drive are performed.

In this paper a rule-based energy management for parallel hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) is presented, which is based on the principles describing the optimal control behavior. Therefore we first show the general relations that can be used to describe the optimal limit of electric driving as well as the optimal torque split among the two propulsion systems. Subsequently these relations are employed to derive maps, which represent the optimal behavior depending on several input parameters. These maps are then used as inputs for the rules in the proposed energy management. This not only makes it possible to automatically calibrate the rule-based controller but also gives the optimal control in every driving situation. Given it is not fuel-efficient to turn the internal combustion engine (ICE) on or off for short intervals, it is further shown how this approach allows to adjust the established limit for electric driving by additional rules.

The human-robot interaction (HRI) is involved in a lift assistant system of manufacturing assembly line. The admittance model is applied to control the end effector motion by sensing intention from force of applied by a human operator. The variable admittance including virtual damping and virtual mass can improve the performance of the systems. But the tuning process of variable admittance is un-convenient and challenging part during the real test for designers, while the offline simulation is lack of learning process and interaction with human operator. In this paper, the Iterative learning algorithm is proposed to emulate the human learning process and facilitate the variable admittance control design. The relationship between manipulate force and object moving speed is demonstrated from simulation data. The effectiveness of the approach is verified by comparing the simulation results between two admittance control strategies.

The Lockheed Martin Low-Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT) is a closed-return wind tunnel with two solid-wall test sections. This facility originally entered into service in 1967 for aerodynamic research of aircraft in low-speed and vertical/short take-off and landing (V/STOL) flight. Since this time, the client base has evolved to include a significant level of automotive aerodynamic testing, and the needs of the automotive clientele have progressed to include acoustic testing capability. The LSWT was therefore acoustically upgraded in 2016 to reduce background noise levels and to minimize acoustic reflections within the low-speed test section (LSTS). The acoustic upgrade involved detailed analysis, design, specification, and installation of acoustically treated wall surfaces and turning vanes in the circuit as well as low self-noise acoustic wall and ceiling treatment in the solid-wall LSTS.

This paper makes a contribution toward a more efficient chassis durability process for the development of passenger cars, in which the simulation of relevant load data is a time-consuming part. This is especially due to the full vehicle model complexity which is usually determined by the demands of rough road simulations. However, for the load calculation on a racetrack, time saving model approaches that are more simplified might be sufficient. Our investigation comprises two levels of vehicle model complexity: one with all chassis parts modeled in a multibody system environment and one characteristic curve based model in an internal simulation environment. Both approaches consider an original chassis control system as a Software-in-the-Loop model. By the evaluation of real-world experiments the main influence factors in terms of durability are demonstrated. With the help of those highly sensitive durability criteria the measurement and simulation results are then compared.

As material cleanliness and bearing lubrication have improved, wheel bearings are experiencing less raceway spalling failures from rotating fatigue. Warranty part reviews have shown that two of the larger failure modes for wheel bearings are contaminant ingress and Brinell damage from curb and pothole impacts. Warranty has also shown that larger wheels have higher rates of Brinell warranty. This paper discusses the Brinell failure mode for bearings. It reviews a vehicle test used to evaluate Brinell performance for wheel bearings. The paper also discusses a design of experiments to study the effects of factors such as wheel size, vehicle loading and vehicle position versus the bearing load from a vehicle side impact to the wheel. As the trend in vehicle styling is moving to larger wheels and low profile tires, understanding the impact load can help properly size wheel bearings.

This paper describes the development work that went into the creation of the SAE J3052 “Brake Hydraulic Component Flow Rate Measurement at High Delta Pressure”, and also shows some example applications. The SAE J3052 recommended practice is intended to measure flow characteristics through brake hydraulic components and subsystems driven by pressure differentials above 1 bar, and was anticipated by the task force to be invoked for components and subsystems for which pressure response characteristics are critical for the operation of the system (such as service brake pressure response and stopping distance, or pressure rise rate of a single hydraulic circuit in response to an Electronic Stability Control command). Data generated by this procedure may be used as a direct assessment of the flow performance of a brake hydraulic component, or they may be used to build subsystem or system-level models.

The purchase of a new automobile is unquestionably a significant investment for most customers, and with this recognition, comes a correspondingly significant expectation for quality and reliability. Amongst automotive systems -when it comes to considerations of reliability - the brakes (perhaps along with the tires) occupy a rarified position of being located in a harsh environment, subjected to continuous wear throughout their use, and are critical to the safe performance of the vehicle. Maintenance of the brake system is therefore a fact of life for most drivers - something that almost everyone must do, yet given the potentially considerable expense, it is something that of great benefit to minimize.

This study emphasizes the fact that there lies value and potential savings in harmonizing some of the inherent differences between the USA, EU, and China regulations with respect to the role of vehicle mass and lightweighting within Fuel Economy (FE) and Green House Gas (GHG) regulations. The definition and intricacies of FE and mass regulations for the three regions (USA, EU, and China) have been discussed and compared. In particular, the nuances of footprint-based, curb-mass-based, and stepped-mass-based regulations that lead to the differences have been discussed. Lightweighting is a customer benefit for fuel consumption, but in this work, we highlight cases where lightweighting, as a CO2 enabler, has incentives that do not align with rational customer values. A typical vehicle’s FE performance sensitivity to a change in mass on the standard regional certification drive cycles is simulated and compared across the three regions.

This paper examines the effect of rear effective backlight angle on vehicle contamination using contamination simulation results of a commercial vehicle. Highly-resolved time accurate computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed using a commercial Lattice-Boltzmann solver, to compare the rear end contamination with five different rear effective backlight angles. Additional aerodynamics simulations presented good correlation with published experimental data. The contamination results were compared with the aerodynamics simulation results in order to find trends between the two simulation types for different effective backlight angles.

The purge pump is used to pull evaporative gases from canister and send to engine for combustion in Turbocharged engines. The purge pump with impeller at one end and electric motor at the other end is supported by the ball bearing assembly. A bearing kinematic model to predict forcing function due to defect in ball bearing arrangement, coupled with bearing dynamic model of rotor because of rotating component, is proposed in this paper to get accumulated effect on transmitted force to the purge pump housing. Rotor dynamic of purge pump rotor components only produces certain order forcing responses which can be simulated into the multibody software environment, knowing the ball bearing geometry parameters hence providing stiffness parameter for rotor system.

This paper describes the development of the GM Allison 10-Speed Heavy Duty (HD) Transmission. The trend of increased towing capacity and engine horsepower in the automotive heavy-duty truck segment has been steadily climbing for the past 10 years. The development of 10-Speed HD Transmission is designed to be best in class in for towing performance in the 2500/3500 series segment while optimizing fuel economy. The 10-Speed HD Transmission also gives the customers the option to order an integrated power take-off (PTO) unit that benefits downstream installation of utility accessories such as hydraulic pumps, generators, etc.

In the recent decades, tremendous effort has been made in automotive industry to reduce vehicle mass and development costs for the purpose of improving fuel economy and building safer vehicles that previous generations of vehicles cannot match. An accurate modeling approach of sheet metal fracture behavior under plastic deformation is one of the key parameters affecting optimal vehicle development process. FLD (Forming Limit Diagram) approach, which plays an important role in judging forming severity, has been widely used in forming industry, and localized necking is the dominant mechanism leading to fracture in sheet metal forming and crash events. FLD is limited only to deal with the onset of localized necking and could not predict shear fracture. Therefore, it is essential to develop accurate fracture criteria beyond FLD for vehicle development.