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Induction machines (IM) are considered work horse for industrial applications due to their rugged, reliable and inexpensive nature; however, their low power density restricts their use in volume and weight limited environments such as an aerospace, traction and propulsion applications. Given recent advancements in additive manufacturing technologies, this paper presents opportunity to improve power density of induction machines by taking advantage of higher slot fill factor (SFF) (defined as ratio of bare copper area to slot area) is explored. Increase in SFF is achieved by deposition of copper in much more compact way than conventional manufacturing methods of winding in electrical machines. Thus a design tradeoff study for an induction motor with improved SFF is essential to identify and highlight the potentials of IM for high power density applications and is elaborated in this paper.

Four of these Particulate Reduction Systems (PMS) were tested on a passenger car and one of them on a HDV. Expectation of the research team was that they would reach at least a PM-reduction of 30% under all realistic operating conditions. The standard German filter test procedure for PMS was performed but moreover, the response to various operating conditions was tested including worst case situations. Besides the legislated CO, NOx and PM exhaust-gas emissions, also the particle count and NO2 were measured. The best filtration efficiency with one PMS was indeed 63%. However, under critical but realistic conditions filtration of 3 of 4 PMS was measured substantially lower than the expected 30 %, depending on operating conditions and prior history, and could even completely fail. Scatter between repeated cycles was very large and results were not reproducible. Even worse, with all 4 PMS deposited soot, stored in these systems during light load operation was intermittently blown-off.

Automotive engines are regularly utilized in the material handling market where LPG is often the primary fuel used. When compared to gasoline, the use of gaseous fuels (LPG and CNG) as well as alcohol based fuels, often result in significant increases in valve seat insert (VSI) and valve face wear. This phenomenon is widely recognized and the engine manufacturer is tasked to identify and incorporate appropriate valvetrain material and design features that can meet the ever increasing life expectations of the end-user. Alternate materials are often developed based on laboratory testing – testing that may not represent real world usage. The ultimate goal of the product engineer is to utilize accelerated lab test procedures that can be correlated to field life and field failure mechanisms, and then select appropriate materials/design features that meet the targeted life requirements.

The challenges of flex-fuel vehicle (FFV) emissions measurements have recently come to the forefront for the emissions testing community. The proliferation of ethanol blended gasoline in fractions as high as 85% has placed a new challenge in the path of accurate measures of NMHC and NMOG emissions. Test methods need modification to cope with excess amounts of water in the exhaust, assure transfer and capture of oxygenated compounds to integrated measurement systems (impinger and cartridge measurements) and provide modal emission rates of oxygenated species. Current test methods fall short of addressing these challenges. This presentation will discuss the challenges to FFV testing, modifications made to Ford Motor Company’s Vehicle Emissions Research Laboratory test cells, and demonstrate the improvements in recovery of oxygenated species from the vehicle exhaust system for both regulatory measurements and development measurements.

The high cost and competitive nature of automotive product development necessitates the search for less expensive and faster methods of predicting vehicle performance. Continual improvements in High Performance Computing (HPC) and new computational schemes allow for the digital evaluation of vehicle comfort parameters including wind noise. Recently, the commercially available Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code PowerFlow, was evaluated for its accuracy in predicting wind noise generated by an external automotive tow mirror. This was accomplished by running simulations of several mirror configurations, choosing the quietest mirror based on the predicted performance, prototyping it, and finally, confirming the prediction with noise measurements taken in an aeroacoustic wind tunnel. Two testing methods, beam-forming and direct noise measurements, were employed to correlate the physical data with itself before correlating with simulation.

Beginning in 2007, heavy-duty engine manufacturers in the U.S. have been responsible for verifying the compliance on in-use vehicles with Not-to-Exceed (NTE) standards under the Heavy-Duty In-Use Testing Program (HDIUT). This in-use testing is conducted using Portable Emission Measurement Systems (PEMS) which are installed on the vehicles to measure emissions during real-world operation. A key component of the HDIUT program is the generation of measurement allowances which account for the relative accuracy of PEMS as compared to more conventional, laboratory based measurement techniques. A program to determine these measurement allowances for gaseous emissions was jointly funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and various member companies of the Engine Manufacturer's Association (EMA).

An experimental investigation has been carried out to quantify the performance enhancements with a suction line heat exchanger (SLHX) in an AC system. An off-the shelf double pipe cross fluted SLHX is used for this investigation. System level bench tests are conducted with an AC system from a 2008 MY mid-sized sedan. The cabin interior condition is held constant at 25°C and 50% RH. The dry bulb temperature for the engine compartment is varied from 25 to 45°C. The compressor speed is varied from 800 to 3000 rpm and the air velocity over the condenser is varied from 2 to 10 m/s. Based on the tests conducted on the AC system without and with SLHX, system performance (COP) has been improved by 7%. Additional tests have been planned with modified SLHX.

Significant progress has been made at NASA Ames Research Center in the development of a heat melt compaction device called the Plastic Melt Waste Compactor (PMWC). The PMWC was designed to process wet and dry wastes generated on human space exploration missions. The wastes have a plastic content typically greater than twenty percent. The PMWC removes the water from the waste, reduces the volume, and encapsulates it by melting the plastic constituent of the waste. The PMWC is capable of large volume reductions. The final product is compacted waste disk that is easy to manage and requires minimal crew handling. This paper describes the results of tests conducted using the PMWC with a wet and dry waste composite that was representative of the waste types expected to be encountered on long duration human space exploration missions.

Hybrid drivetrain systems are becoming increasingly prevalent in Automotive and Commercial Vehicle applications and have also been introduced for the 2009 Formula1 motorsport season. The F1 development has the clear intent of directing technical development in motorsport to impact the key issue of fuel efficiency in mainstream vehicles. In order to promote all technical developments, the type of system (electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, etc) for the F1 application has not been specified. A significant outcome of this action is renewed interest and development of mechanical hybrid systems comprising a high speed composite flywheel and a full-toroidal traction drive Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). A flywheel based mechanical hybrid has few system components, low system costs, low weight and dispenses with the energy state changes of electrical systems producing a highly efficient and power dense hybrid system.

The objective of the project was to conduct controlled test-track studies of solutions for achieving higher fuel efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions in the trucking industry. Using vehicles from five Canadian fleets, technologies from 12 suppliers were chosen for testing, including aerodynamic devices and low rolling resistance tires. The participating fleets also decided to conduct tests for evaluating the impact on fuel consumption of vehicle speed, close-following between vehicles, and lifting trailer axles on unloaded B-trains. Other tests targeted comparisons between trans-container road-trains and van semi-trailers road-trains, between curtain-sided semi-trailers, trans-containers and van semi-trailers, and between tractors pulling logging semi-trailers loaded with tree-length wood and short wood. The impact of a heavy-duty bumper on fuel consumption and the influence of B5 biodiesel blend on fuel consumption were also assessed.

The last decades have shown extensive efforts on the investigation of automotive disk brake squeal. The origin of brake squeal is seen in self-excited vibrations, caused by the friction forces transferring energy from the rotating disk into the brake system. Based on a very simple model, Popp et al. described in 2002 the conditions for positive work of the friction forces (i.e. excitation of squeal), which depends on the phase shift between the in-plane motion (with respect to the disk) of the brake pad and the friction forces. Experiments on active manipulation of this phase shift using pads with integrated piezoceramic actuators, performed by von Wagner et al. in 2004, resulted in successful suppression of disk brake squeal. The authors of the present paper used a variety of models for the investigation of the origin of the excitation mechanism by observing phase relations between the friction forces and the vibrations of the pads.

Compliance with tighter emission regulations has increased the proportion of parasitic weight in commercial vehicles. In turn, the amount of payload must be reduced to comply with transportation weight requirements. A re-design of commercial vehicle components is necessary to decrease the vehicle weight and improve payload capacity. Side rails have traditionally been manufactured from high strength steels, but significant weight reductions can be achieved by substituting steel side rails with 6013 high strength aluminum alloy side rails. Material and stress analyses are presented in this paper in order to understand the effect of manufacturing process on the material's mechanical behavior. Metallographic and tensile test experiments for the 6013-T4 alloy were performed in preparation for residual stress measurements of a punching operation. Punched holes are critical to the function of the side rail and can lead to high stress levels and cracking.

The paper presents linear and non-linear driveline models for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) in order to evaluate the main parameters for optimal tuning, when considering the drivability. The implemented models consider the linear and non-linear driveline dynamics, including the effect of the engine inertia, the clutch damper, the driveshaft, the half-shafts and the tires. Sensitivity analyses are carried out for each driveline component during tip-in maneuvers. The paper also analyses the overall frequency response using Bode diagrams and natural frequencies. It is demonstrated that the most basic model capable of taking into account the first order dynamics of the driveline must consider the moments of inertia of the engine, the transmission and the wheels, the stiffness and the damping properties of the clutch damper, driveshaft and half-shafts, and the tires (which link the wheel to the equivalent inertia of the vehicle).

In 2006, there were approximately 23,500 rear-end crashes involving heavy trucks (i.e., gross vehicle weight greater than 4,536 kg). The Enhanced Rear Signaling (ERS) for Heavy Trucks project was developed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to investigate methods to reduce or mitigate those crashes where a heavy truck has been struck from behind by another vehicle. Visual warnings have been shown to be effective, assuming the following driver is looking directly at the warning display or has his/her eyes drawn to it. A visual warning can be placed where it is needed and it can be designed so that its meaning is nearly unambiguous. FMCSA contracted with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) to investigate potential benefit of additional rear warning-light configurations as rear-end crash countermeasures for heavy trucks.

The US Army is currently assessing the feasibility and defining the requirements of a Single Common Powertrain Lubricant (SCPL). This new lubricant would consist of an all-season (arctic to desert), fuel-efficient, multifunctional powertrain fluid with extended drain capabilities. As a developmental starting point, diesel engine testing has been conducted using the current MIL-PRF-46167D arctic engine oil at high temperature conditions representative of desert operation. Testing has been completed using three high density military engines: the General Engine Products 6.5L(T) engine, the Caterpillar C7, and the Detroit Diesel Series 60. Tests were conducted following two standard military testing cycles; the 210 hr Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Cycle, and the 400 hr NATO Hardware Endurance Cycle. Modifications were made to both testing procedures to more closely replicate the operation of the engine in desert-like conditions.

Future synthetic diesel fuels will likely involve mixtures of straight and branched alkanes, possibly with aromatic additives to improve lubricity and durability. To simulate these future fuels, this study examined the combustion characteristics of binary mixtures of 50%, 70%, and 90% isododecane in hexadecane, and of 50%, 70%, and 80% toluene in hexadecane using a single-cylinder research diesel engine with variable injection timing. These binary blends were also compared to operation with commercial petroleum diesel fuel, military petroleum jet fuel, and five current synthetic Fischer-Tropsch diesel and jet fuels. The synthetic diesel and jet fuels showed reasonable similarity with many of the combustion metrics to mid-range blends of isododecane in hexadecane. Stable diesel combustion was possible even with the 80% toluene and 90% isododecane blends; in fact, operation with 100% isododecane was achieved, although with significantly advanced injection timing.

Conventional diesel fuel has been in the market for decades and used successfully to run diesel engines of all sizes in many applications. In order to reduce emissions and to foster energy source diversity, new fuels such as alternative and renewable, as well as new fuel formulations have entered the market. These include biodiesel, gas-to-liquid, and alternative formulations by states such as California. Performance variations in fuel economy, emissions, and compatibility for these fuels have been evaluated and debated. In some cases contradictory views have surfaced. “Sustainable”, “Renewable”, and “Clean” designations have been interchanged. Adding to the confusion, results from one fuel in one type of engine such as an older heavy-duty engine, is at times compared to that of another type such as a modern light-duty. This study was an attempt to compare the performance of several fuels in an identical environment, using the same engine, for direct comparison.

Recently Michelin has been developing a new airless, integrated tire and wheel combination called the Tweel® tire. The Tweel tire aims at performance levels beyond those possible with conventional pneumatic technology because of its shear band design, added suspension, and potentially decreased rolling resistance. In this paper, we will focus on the environmental impact of the Tweel tire during its life-cycle from manufacturing, through use and disposal. Since the Tweel tire is currently still in the research phase and is not manufactured and used on a large scale, there are uncertainties with respect to end-of-life scenarios and rolling resistance estimates that will affect the LCA. Nevertheless, some preliminary conclusions of the Tweel tire's environmental performance in comparison to a conventional radial tire can be drawn.

The Michelin Tweel tire structure has recently been developed as an innovative non-pneumatic tire which has potential for improved handling, grip, comfort, low energy loss when impacting obstacles and reduced rolling resistance when compared to a traditional pneumatic tire. One of the potential sources of vibration during rolling of a non-pneumatic tire is the buckling phenomenon and snapping back of the spokes in tension when they enter and exit the contact zone. Another source of noise was hypothesized due to a flower petal ring vibration effect due to discrete spoke interaction with the ring and contact with the ground during rolling as the spokes cycle between tension and compression. Transmission of vibration between the ground force, ring and spokes to the hub was also considered to be a significant contributor to vibration and noise characteristics of the Tweel.

Intelligent tires are envisioned to be an important part of the future vehicle control systems and the three dimensional wireless MEMS accelerometers embedded inside the tire stand out as a promising candidate for the development of intelligent tires. The first part of the paper focuses on accelerometer based tire sensors for the estimation of slip angle and tire/road friction coefficient. We use a simple tire finite element model to generate lateral, tangential and radial tire accelerations for a fixed load and slip angle. The profiles are validated by using experimental data. The simulated acceleration profiles are used for the estimation of slip angle and tire/road friction coefficient. We present the estimation algorithms, promising simulative results and output sensitivities studies focused on the effects of changes in normal load, tire pressure and vehicle velocity.