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A methodology is presented to do accelerated vibration durability test, on Electro Dynamic Shaker (EDS) by using Power Spectral Density (PSD) profile based on typical customer usage pattern. A generalized iterative procedure is developed to optimize input excitation PSD profile on EDS for simulating the exact customer usage conditions. The procedure minimizes the error between the target channels measured on road and the response channels measured on EDS. Also, response of accelerometers and strain gauges at multiple locations on the test component are arrived at based on a single input excitation using this procedure. The same is verified experimentally as well. Different parameters like strain, acceleration, etc. are simulated simultaneously. This methodology has enabled successful simulation of road conditions in lab, thereby arriving at a correlation between rig and road. The correlation obtained is based on the simulation of the same failure mode as that of the road on the rig.

Scooters are becoming increasingly popular in India. Competition in this segment has forced the product developers to put focus on development time reduction and quality improvement. Any physical failure of critical parts in the actual customer usage conditions can delay the product launch. The present study is about simulation of failure of crankcase during field trials. This involved creation of Finite Element model, evolution of proper loading and boundary conditions which capture the failure area, development of a static and an accelerated dynamic test in laboratory to reproduce the field failure, the optimization of the crankcase design through FEM to achieve acceptable stress values at critical areas and validation of these results through newly developed laboratory tests. Simultaneously, field trials, which initially produced this failure were conducted and no failures were observed. Thus, the current study has saved time of actual field trials (3∼4 weeks) after the redesign.

Fatigue life prediction is the most promising technique for drastic reduction of durability evaluation time, which is a critical element in the product development cycle. By using this technique, it is possible to reduce development time and cost, identify failure modes early in the development cycle, and design the component for optimum life. This paper discusses the optimisation of an important two-wheeler component namely, the center stand, using fatigue life prediction techniques. Also, it aims at establishing correlation among various customer usage patterns, accelerated endurance tests, and fatigue life prediction results using both experimental data and finite element (FE) models.

Thermal management is of vital importance in the development of a scooter type motorcycle (two-wheeler). Traditionally the thermal management development of a two-wheeler is done through experimental methods, or using sub-system level CFD models. In current work, a comprehensive, complete vehicle, three-dimensional CFD model has been developed to assess thermal performance of the scooter and its sub-systems. The model can predict thermal performance in different operating conditions, such as, wide open throttle, idling and key-off. A typical thermal interaction in engine happens through metal contact conduction, air cooling and oil flow path in the engine. The model can capture the sub system interaction, such as, an interaction between the cooling system and engine cabin. Modeling oil is computationally expensive, as it involves complex physics modeling such as multiphase flow.

Automobiles are incorporated with advanced technologies to improve riding experience, safety, and vehicle management. Considering riding experience, major concern prevails in starting and charging system. For quick start and stop, implemented Integrated Starter Generator (ISG) in two wheelers. The ISG system consists of an ISG machine and ISG controller. ISG machine acts as motor during cranking and generator during charging, controlled by ISG controller. Automation kit is made with the help of real sensors, actuators, and microcontroller to monitor and log the performance characteristics of ISG system during te sting in rig level. Sensors continuously monitor the performance parameters and once the parameters are not meeting the specification, actuators stop the testing and raise the indication. All tested data are stored in cloud and taken for analysis. This automation kit served two purposes. One is eliminated test running on the failure sample for full long testing duration.