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Fatigue behavior of aluminum alloys under multiaxial loading was investigated with both cast aluminum A356-T6 and wrought alloy 6063-T6. The dominant multiaxial fatigue crack preferentially nucleates from flaws like porosity and oxide films located near the free surface of the material. In the absence of the flaws, the cracking/debonding of the second phase particles dominates the crack initiation and propagation. The number of cracked/debonded particles increases with the number of cycles, but the damage rate depends on loading paths. Among various loading paths studied, the circle loading path shows the shortest fatigue life due to the development of complex dislocation substructures and severe stress concentration near grain/cell boundaries and second phase particles.

The noise and vibration of electric vacuum pump (EVP) become a major problem for electric vehicles when the vehicle is stationary. This paper aims at the EVP’s abnormal noise of an electric vehicle when stationary. Driver’s right ear (DRE) noise was tested and spectrogram analysis was carried out to identify the noise sources. In order to attenuate this kind of abnormal noise, a new EVP rubber mount with a segmented structure was introduced, which optimized the transfer path of vibration. Then dynamic stiffness and fatigue life of the EVP mount with different rubber hardness were calculated through finite element analysis (FEA) approach. Bench tests of fatigue life and DRE noise were performed to validate the FEA results. Test data of the sample mount shows that sound pressure level of DRE was dramatically attenuated and thus passengers’ ride comfort was enhanced.

A compiled method of the programmed load spectrum, which can simplify and accelerate the fatigue bench test of a car body, is proposed and its effectiveness is checked by the fatigue simulation. By using the multi-body dynamics model with a satisfactory accuracy, the virtual iteration is applied to cascade body loads from the wheel hubs. Based on the rain-flow counting method and statistics theory, the distributions of the body loads are analyzed, and then the programmed load spectrum is compiled and simplified. Through comparative study, the simulation results of random and programmed load spectrum are found to agree well with each other in terms of the damage distribution and fatigue life, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the presented method.

There are a large number of uncertainties in engineering design, and the accumulated uncertainties will enlarge the overall failure probability of the structure system. Therefore, structural design considering uncertainties has good guiding significance for improving the reliability of engineering structures. To address this issue, the dynamic-static structural topology optimization is established and reliability-based topology optimization with decoupling format is conducted in this study. The design point which satisfying the constraint of the target reliability indicator is obtained according to the reliability indicators of the first-order reliability method, and the uncertain design variables are modified into a deterministic variable according to the sensitivity information.

The action of load on the component is crucial to evaluate the performance of durability. Another factor that affects fatigue life is the boundary conditions of the test specimen being tested by introducing unrealistic loads on the component of interest. The physical test is widely conducted in the laboratory. The fixture provides additional constraints on the test specimen as well as reaction forces to balance the test system [1]. The characteristics of the fixture involved in the test is important to analyze and assess the test results [2]. The impact of the reaction force of the fixture on the spindle-coupled axle road simulation test is presented in this article. A simplified 7-DoF (degrees of freedom) model is introduced to demonstrate the dynamic behavior of the vehicle. The influence on the internal load by the fixture has been analyzed. Followed by a more detailed MBS (multibodysystem) model to give a thorough understanding of the phenomenon.

The frame of a low-speed electric vehicle was treated as the research object in the paper. The fatigue load of the frame was analyzed with multi-body dynamics method and the fatigue life of frame was analyzed with the nominal stress method. Firstly, the multi-body dynamics model of the vehicle was established and the multi-body dynamics simulation was carried out to simulate the condition where the vehicle used to travel. The fatigue load history of the frame was obtained from the simulation. Secondly, the amplitude-frequency characteristic of the fatigue load was analyzed. The frequency of the fatigue load mainly focused on 0~20HZ from the analysis. Thirdly, the modal of frame was analyzed. As the frequency of the fatigue load was less than the natural frequency of the frame, the quasi-static method was selected to calculate the stress history of the frame. Next, the fatigue life of the frame was analyzed based on S-N curve.

The multi-body dynamics simulation and physical iteration were carried out based on the 4-channel road simulation bench, the solution of fatigue test bench which was suitable for cab with frame and suspension was designed. Large load and displacement above the suspension can be loaded on the test bench, and the same weak position of cab exposed on the road test can be assessed well on the fatigue test bench. The effectiveness of the bench test solution was verified though comparative study. And it has important reference for the same type of cab assembly with suspension in the fatigue bench test. According to the durability specifications of cab assembly, a multi-body dynamics model with a satisfactory accuracy was built. And the fixture check and virtual iteration analysis were used to verify the effectiveness of the solution. According to the road load signal analysis and multi-body dynamics analysis results, the test bench with linear guide and spherical joint was built.

Biomechanics and biodynamics are increasingly focused on the automotive industry to provide comfortable driving environment, reduce driver fatigue, and improve passenger safety. Man-centered conception is a growing emphasis on the open design of automobile. During the long-term driving, occupational drivers are easily exposed to the neck pain, so it is important to reduce the muscle force load and its fatigue, which are not usually considered quantitatively during traditional ergonomics design, so standards related are not well developed to guide the vehicle design; On the other hand, the head-neck models are always built based on the statics theory, these are not sufficient to predict the instantaneous variation of the muscle force. In this paper, a head-neck model with multi DOFs is created based on multibody dynamics. Firstly, a driver-vehicle-road model considering driver multi-rigid body model, vehicle subsystems, and different ranks of pavement is built.

For an innovative opposed-piston diesel engine (OPE) with two-stroke operation mode, it attracted even more attentions than ever in some developed countries all around the world, attributed to the unique advantages of higher power density that conducive to downsize IC engine, as well as the potential of further reducing fuel consumption for outstanding thermal efficiency. To achieve fast practical application and ensure the feasibility in concept design stage, the performance characteristic of OPE crankshaft system was investigated, and thus a theoretical analytic model of crankshaft system in an OP2S (Opposed-piston two stroke) engine was established. The effects of all structural design variables on averaged output torque of OPE crankshaft were analyzed, respectively. It was found that the initial crank angle difference between inner crank web and outer crank web was considered as a most critical contributor to boost the averaged torque output than other design variables.

This paper constructs the Accident Crash Scenarios(ACSs) classification system based on the traffic accident data collected by the traffic management department in a Chinses city from 2013 to 2015. The classification system selects four influenced variables on the basis of Critical Driving Scenarios(CDSs) in Naturalistic Driving Data. The proportions of each variable are analyzed, and all ACSs are divided into 48 scenarios. The highest proportion of nine ACSs are extracted from all 10596 ACSs, and the result shows the ACSs involved Car-Pedalcyclist occupy the top four scenarios, and the scenarios involved intersection situations are worth attention. Pedalcyclists include bicyclists, motorcyclists, tri-cyclists and electric bicyclists. Multivariate Logistic Regression(MLR) analysis is then used to study the ACSs involved the type of Car-Pedalcyclist.

Fatigue defect and failure of rubber element widely used in mechanical systems could seriously affect the safety and reliability of systems in practical operation. Because rubber element is considered as hyperelastic material, traditional σ - N curve which is usually used in metal material for fatigue life analysis can not be used here. The fatigue life of rubber bushing in automobile engine cradle was analyzed by using the energy method. The Yeoh model coefficients were given by tensile test of natural rubber, and the estimating formula for fatigue life of natural rubber was obtained by finite element calculation and fatigue test. Maximum strain energy density was treated as the parameter of fatigue damage, then the rubber bushing fatigue life was calculated by the estimating formula. The results were verified by test of rubber bushing, which indicated that the model mentioned in this paper is accuracy enough.

Durability performance prediction is a critical issue in fuel cell research. During the demonstration operation of fuel cell commercial vehicles in China, this issue has attracted more attention. In this article, the long short-term memory neural network (LSTMNN), which is an improved recurrent neural network (RNN), and the demonstration operation data are used to establish the prediction model to predict the durability performance of the fuel cell stack. Then, a model based on a back-propagation neural network (BPNN) is established to be a control group. The demonstration operation data is divided into training group and validation group. The former is used to train the prediction model, and the latter is used to verify the validity and accuracy of the prediction model. The outputs of the prediction model, as the durability performance evaluation indexes of the fuel cell, are the polarization curve (current-voltage curve) and the voltage decay curve (time-voltage curve).

As the international community strengthens the control of carbon dioxide emissions, electric vehicles have gradually become a substitute for internal combustion engine vehicles. The battery pack is one of the most important components of electric vehicles. The strength and fatigue performance of the battery support plate not only affect the performance of the vehicle but also concern the safety of the driver. In the present study, the finite element model of a battery pack for fatigue analysis is completely established. The random vibration stress response analysis and acceleration power spectral density response analysis of the support plate for the battery pack are carried out, and the accuracy of the finite element model is verified by a random vibration test.

In this paper, an equivalent conversion method is proposed to apply the six-dimensional force road spectrum of the four-axle vehicle on the same platform to the three-axle through the axle load comparison. Further, the feasibility of the devolved equivalent conversion method is verified, and the fatigue performance improvement of the wishbone support structure of a commercial vehicle is finally achieved. Specifically, firstly, the load spectrum at each attachment point of the suspension for the three-axle vehicle is obtained through the iteration of the multi-body dynamic model. Furthermore, the finite element model of the suspension for the three-axle vehicle is established; the analysis of fatigue life for the suspension structure is performed by extracting stress amplitude through the multi-axis cyclic counting method and calculating equivalent force amplitude through McDiarmid’s criterion, combined with the SN curve of the material.

The displacement of the shaft head fails to be accurately measured while the three-axle heavy-duty truck is driving on the reinforced pavement. In order to obtain accurate fatigue load spectrum of the suspension bracket, the acceleration signals of the shaft heads of the suspension obtained by the reinforced pavement test measurement are virtually iterated as responses. A more accurate model of the rigid-flexible coupled multi-body dynamics (MBD) of the whole vehicle is established by introducing a flexible frame based on the comprehensive modal theory. Furthermore, the vertical displacements of the shaft heads are obtained by the reverse solution of the virtual iterative method with well-pleasing precision. The accuracy of the virtual iteration is verified by comparing the simulation results with the vertical acceleration of the shaft head under the reinforced pavement in the time domain and damage domain.

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system is considered as one of the most popular power sources because of its high energy density, fast dynamic response and zero pollution. However, the start-up at low temperature (e.g. - 30 °C) is still a major challenge for its wide application due to water freezing in Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA). In this paper, a cold start test process in an environment cabin with auxiliary heat was carried out for a full power automotive PEMFC system, including normal operation, shutdown purge and cold start processes analysis from -30°C. Rated power of this stack is 100kW at the current density of 1.4A/cm2 and relevant maximum output power can reach to 120kW. In order to reduce the damage of high potential to MEA, on-load purge with a current of 30A is conducted to removing extra water in stack for improving cold start ability. Based on corresponding control strategy, cold start was realized successfully within 110s.

With the growing prosperity of the long-distance freight and urban logistics industry, the demand for cargo trucks is gradually increasing. The connecting bracket is the critical connecting part of the truck chassis, which bears the load transmitted by the road excitation and reduces the damage to the frame caused by the load. However, the occurrence of rough road conditions is inevitable in heavy-duty transportation. In this paper, road durability tests and fatigue life analysis are carried out on the original structure to ensure the safety of the vehicle. Based on the known boundary and load constraints, a lightweight and high-performance structure is obtained through size optimization, as the original structure cannot meet the performance requirements. Firstly, the road test was conducted on the truck where the original bracket structure is located.

The foundation of both advanced driving assistance system(ADAS) and automated driving (AD) is an accurate environment perception system(EPS). However, evaluation and test method of EPS are seldom studied. In this paper, naturalistic driving environment was studied and test scenarios for EPS under rear-end collision risk were proposed accordingly. To describe driving environment, a new concept named environment perception element(EPE) was first proposed in this paper, which refers to all the objects that the EPS must perceive during driving. Typical environment perception elements include weather and light conditions, road features, road markings, traffic signs, traffic lights, other vehicles, pedal cyclists and pedestrians and others. Driving behaviors collected in Shanghai, China were classified and rear-end collision risk scenarios were obtained and described using EPEs. Probability distribution of EPEs was therefore obtained.

On account of environmental friendliness, high energy conversion efficiency and high power density, the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has been used for automotive application for years. However, its durability in powertrain system is one of technical challenges, which restricts the large-scale commercialization of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV). In addition to the complex aging mechanism of PEMFC, the durability and energy relationship of key components in powertrain system, including battery and DC/DC converter, have a crucial impact on the vehicle performance, which have not been thoroughly analyzed. Nowadays, most researchers have explored the causes of components degradation from models or experiments and tried to carry out the life expectancy. Nevertheless, it is in need of system-level researches on durability against the actual automotive application.

In order to satisfy design requirements of Lane Keeping Assistance System (LKAS), a Driver Steering Override (DSO) strategy is necessary for driver’s interaction with the assistance system. The assistance system can be overridden by the strategy in case of lane change, obstacle avoidance and other emergency situations. However, evaluation and optimization of the DSO strategy for LKAS cannot easily be completed quantitatively considering driver’s acceptability. In this research, firstly subjective and objective evaluation experiment is designed. Secondly, correlations between the subjective and the objective evaluation results are established by using regression analysis. Finally, based on the correlations established previously, the optimal performance of DSO strategy is obtained by setting the desired comprehensive evaluation ratings as the optimized goal.