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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.

An aerodynamic analysis methodology which makes efficient use of ANSA and FLUENT software's in the aerodynamic design of tractor-trailer class heavy commercial road vehicles is presented. The aerodynamic drag coefficient of the truck is used as the main control parameter to evaluate the performance of the methodology. Analysis methodology development activities include determining optimal FLUENT software analysis parameters for the defined problem (RANS based turbulence models, wall boundary layer models, solution schemes) and the necessary ANSA mesh generation parameters (boundary layer number and growth rate, wall surface mesh resolution, total mesh resolution). Proposed methodology is first constructed based on CFD simulations for the zero-degree yaw angle case of the 1/8 sized GCM geometry. The present results are within 1% of the experimental data.

Vehicle analytical models are often favorable due to describing the physical phenomena associated with vehicle operation following from the principles of physics, with explainable mathematical trends and with extendable modeling to other types of vehicle. However, no experimentally validated analytical model has been developed as yet of diesel engine fuel consumption rate. The present paper demonstrates and validates for trucks and light commercial vehicles an analytical model of supercharged diesel engine fuel consumption rate. The study points out with 99.6% coefficient of determination that the average percentage of deviation of the steady speed-based simulated results from the corresponding field data is 3.7% for all Freeway cycles. The paper also shows with 98% coefficient of determination that the average percentage of deviation of the acceleration-based simulated results from the corresponding field data under negative acceleration is 0.12 %.

Nowadays, E- commerce and logistics business model is booming in India with road transport as a major mode of delivery system using containers. As competition in such business are on rise, different ways of improving profit margins are being continuously evolved. One such scenario is to look at reducing transportation cost while reducing fuel consumption. Traditionally, aero dynamics of commercial vehicles have never been in focus during their product development although literature shows major part of total fuel energy is consumed in overcoming aerodynamic drag at and above 60 kmph in case of large commercial vehicle. Hence improving vehicle exterior aerodynamic performance gives opportunity to reduce fuel consumption and thereby business profitability. Also byproduct of this improvement is reduced emissions and meeting regulatory requirements.

Butanol, a four-carbon alcohol, is considered in the last years as an interesting alternative fuel, both for Diesel and for gasoline application. Its advantages for engine operation are: good miscibility with gasoline and diesel fuels, higher calorific value than ethanol, lower hygroscopicity, lower corrosivity and possibility of replacing aviation fuels. Like ethanol, butanol can be produced as a biomass-based renewable fuel or from fossil sources. In the research project, DiBut (Diesel and butanol) addition of butanol to Diesel fuel was investigated from the points of view of engine combustion and of influences on exhaust aftertreatment systems and emissions. One investigated engine (E1) was with emission class “EU Stage 3A” for construction machines, another one, engine (E2) was HD Euro VI. The most important findings are: with higher butanol content, there is a lower heat value of the fuel and there is lower torque at full load.

Commercial vehicle operators have many options available to them for managing their assets. Whether in an on-highway fleet, agricultural / off-road, construction, or military, available real-time vehicle information is growing. While accessing this data via applicable Wide Area Networks (WANs) is commonplace, new technologies are just beginning to develop to take advantage of all of the connectivity possibilities to further aid in delivery of goods and services. As an enabler to expanding these fleet management applications, vehicle on-board networks (commonly referred to as “in-vehicle” or simply “vehicle networks”) are expected to support a growing number of vehicle related technological solutions. This paper provides background on vehicle networks, including key terminology, an introduction to standards based protocols, and critical SAE vehicle network related standards.

Beam-type structural elements are generally utilized in construction of majority of the automotive structures, e.g. the buses, trailers, and solid axles. These components are usually subjected to spatially-random or uncertain load conditions during their service lives. Moreover, material properties of the beams-type structural elements may vary from a sample to another in a random manner. The situation will be more complex when both material properties and load conditions exhibit random natures in the spatial domain. In the present paper, an algorithm is presented to assess the probabilistic behavior of the beam-type vehicle's components in relation with the strength and deflection requirements. A consistent finite element reliability model that may be employed for beams with arbitrary inclinations under simultaneous spatially-random loading conditions and random material properties is introduced.

Constantly lowering emissions legislation and the fact that fuel prices have increased tremendously over recent years, have forced vehicle manufacturers to develop more and more energy-efficient vehicles. The aerodynamic drag is responsible for a substantial part of the total driving resistance for a vehicle, especially at higher velocities; thus it is important to reduce this factor as much as possible for vehicles commonly operating in these conditions. In an attempt to improve transport efficiency, longer vehicle combinations are becoming more common. By replacing some of the shorter vehicle combinations with longer combinations, the same amount of cargo can be transported with fewer vehicles; hence there is large potential for fuel savings. The knowledge of the aerodynamic properties of such vehicles is somewhat limited, and therefore interesting to study.

With the increasing adoption of electric vehicles in India, autos are also getting in the electrification race with lighter lithium-ion batteries and motor replacing the bulkier engine and transmission. This trend has led to a lighter vehicle which in-turn gives better mileage figures but at the loss of dynamic stability of the vehicle making them very unsafe. The current auto-rickshaws are using delta configuration that is more prone to the rollover while cornering. The three-wheeled configuration vehicle is less dynamically stable than the normal four-wheeled configurations. While working on prototype vehicle for Shell Eco-Marathon Asia [7] pro and cons for both configurations for a three-wheeled vehicle were considered and tadpole configuration was found to be more stable and better than current delta configuration.

A computational procedure is presented for evaluating the analytic sensitivity derivatives of the tire response with respect to material and geometrical properties of the tire. The tire is modeled by using a two-dimensional laminated anisotropic shell theory with the effects of variation in material and geometric parameters included. The computational procedure is applied to the case of the Space Shuttle orbiter nose-gear tire subjected to uniform inflation pressure. Numerical results are presented which show the sensitivity of the different tire response quantities to variations in the material characteristics of both the cord and rubber.

The capability of a runway pavement to rapidly drain water buildup during periods of precipitation is crucial to minimize tire hydroplaning potential and maintain adequate aircraft ground operational safety. Test results from instrumented aircraft, ground friction measuring vehicles, and NASA Langley's Aircraft Landing Dynamics Facility (ALDF) track have been summarized to indicate the adverse effects of pavement wetness conditions on tire friction performance. Water drainage measurements under a range of rainfall rates have been evaluated for several different runway surface treatments including the transversely grooved and longitudinally grinded concrete surfaces at the Space Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) runway at NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The major parameters influencing drainage rates and extent of flooding/drying conditions are identified.

The effectiveness of an aerodynamic boattail on a tractor/trailer road vehicle was measured in the NASA Ames Research Center 80- by 120- Foot Wind Tunnel. Results are examined for the tractor/trailer with and without the drag reduction device. Pressure measurements and flow visualization show that the aerodynamic boattail traps a vortex or eddy in the corner formed between the device and the rear corner of the trailer. This recirculating flow turns the flow inward as it separates from the edges of the base of the trailer. This modified flow behavior increases the pressure acting over the base area of the truck, thereby reducing the net aerodynamic drag of the vehicle. Drag measurements and pressure distributions in the region of the boattail device are presented for selected configurations. The optimum configuration reduces the overall drag of the tractor/trailer combination by about 10 % at a zero yaw angle.

The larger chassis space requirements of hybrid vehicles necessitates considerations of the suspension synthesis with limited lateral space, which may involve complex compromises among performance measures related to vehicle ride and handling. This study investigates the influences of suspension linkage geometry on the kinematic and dynamic responses of the vehicle including the wheel load in order to facilitate synthesis of suspension with constrained lateral space. A kineto-dynamic half-car model is formulated incorporating double wishbone suspensions with tire compliance, although the results are limited to kinematic responses alone. An optimal synthesis of the suspension is presented to attain a compromise among the different kinematic performance measures with considerations of lateral space constraints. In the kineto-dynamic model, the struts comprising linear springs and viscous dampers are introduced as force elements.

Targets for reducing emissions and improving energy efficiency present the automotive industry with many challenges. Passenger cars are by far the most common means of personal transport in the developed part of the world, and energy consumption related to personal transportation is predicted to increase significantly in the coming decades. Improved aerodynamic performance of passenger cars will be one of many important areas which will occupy engineers and researchers for the foreseeable future. The significance of wheels and wheel housings is well known today, but the relative importance of the different components has still not been fully investigated. A number of investigations highlighting the importance of proper ground simulation have been published, and recently a number of studies on improved aerodynamic design of the wheel have been presented as well. This study is an investigation of aerodynamic influences of different tires.

The demands for light jets have been increasing and new developments are rising to supply this market. The major concern in the development of a new aircraft is the customer satisfaction. The satisfaction is linked with safety and comfort even if the aircraft is flying or running on the ground. This paper presents simulations of ground maneuvers to estimate pilot effort at steering pedals and aircraft turning capability, to evaluate comfort level and compliance with applicable requirements. These simulations consider aerodynamic effects, tire to ground interactions, engine thrust, brakes control and shock absorber behavior. To control the aircraft during the maneuvers a PID controller was implemented to simulate pilot inputs. Tires elastic properties were modeled and their influence on steering comfort was considered as well. The aircraft behavior when subjected to critical engine failure at take-off was evaluated to comply with trajectory deviation requirements.

This paper presents an application of Bayesian Belief Networks for modeling the uncertainty in aircraft safety diagnostics. Belief networks or influence diagrams represent possible means to efficiently model uncertain causal relationships among components of a system. HUGIN is a software for the construction of knowledge based systems based on Bayesian networks. A HUGIN prototype is dicussed to illustrate how a Bayesian approach could be used to support the decision search routine of aircraft safety inspectors when diagnosing equipment of subsystem malfunctions. The example focuses on diagnostic procedures for assessing aircraft tire condition.

This paper studies the design and selection of the reduction ratio to be used in the transmission of a solar powered vehicle. A single degree of freedom vehicle model is presented in which the equation of motion for the longitudinal direction is obtained. The equation may be expressed in the form given below: Where PTractive is the tractive force produced at the tire ground contact; ma is the inertial acceleration force; FR is the sum of all forces, of first order magnitude, contributing to rolling resistance and Fa is the aerodynamic resistance force. The equation may be expressed as a function of the reduction ratio, characteristics of the motor (rpm), available acceleration, wheel and tire used. This problem was solved by iterative methods using a spreadsheet. When the acceleration is zero the maximum velocity may be obtained. When the the velocity tends to zero the maximum torque is determined. This however, is constrained by the power characteristics of the motor.

An aircraft tire durability study is underway to investigate the deformation and fracture behavior of cord-rubber composites. This study will identify the important parameters responsible for the structural failure of aircraft tires by the use of analytical and laboratory prediction methods. These methods will also identify the interaction between material property degradation and damage accumulation in cord-rubber composites. Preliminary results using coupon specimens of tire carcass have revealed that prolonged static and cyclic loading sequences produce extensive interply shear deformation at the free edges resulting in cord-matrix debonding followed by delamination type failure. These loading sequences represent the circumferential tension in the footprint region of aircraft tires. It was also determined experimentally that a fatigue endurance limit can be established for cord-rubber composites.

Aircraft tire and runway surface conditions can be crucial in meeting aircraft ground operational performance requirements, particularly under adverse weather conditions. Gaining a better understanding of the many factors influencing the tire/runway friction interface is the aim of several ongoing NASA Langley research programs which are described in this paper. Results from studies conducted at the Langley Aircraft Landing Dynamics Facility (ALDF) and tests with instrumented ground vehicles are summarized to indicate effects of different tire and runway properties. Several joint NASA/FAA/Industry programs are described together with current test plans. The scope of future NASA Langley research directed towards solving aircraft ground operational problems related to the tire/runway friction interface is given.

The reproductive ontogeny of ‘Super-Dwarf’ wheat grown on the space station Mir is chronicled from the vegetative phase through flower' development. Changes in the apical meristem associated with transition from the vegetative plhase to floral initiation and development of the reproductive spike were all typical of ‘Super Dwarf’ wheat up to the point of anthesis. Filament elongation, which characteristically occurs just prior to anthesis (during floral development stage 4) and moves the anthers through the stigmatic branches thus facilitating pollination, did not occur in the flowers of spikes grown on Mir. While pollen did form in the anthers, no evidence of pollination or fertilization was observed. Analysis of pollen idlentified abnormalities; the presence of only one nucleus in the pollen as opposed to the normal trinucleate condition is likely an important factor in the sterility observed in wheat grown on Mir.