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This paper discusses the methodology setup for grill opening area prediction at the early development phase of the product development lifecycle, using a commercially available 1D simulation tool- AMESIM. Representative under hood has been modeled using Grill, Condenser, Radiator, intercooler, fan, and engine components. Vehicle velocity is used as an input to derive the airflow passing through the grill and other under-hood components based on ram air coefficient, pressure drop through different components (Grill, Heat exchanger, Fan & Engine). This airflow is used to predict the top tank temperature of the radiator. Derived airflow is correlated with airflow obtained from CFD simulation. A balance has been achieved between cooling drag & fan power consumption at different grill opening areas for target top tank temperature. Top tank temperature has been predicted at two different extreme engine heat rejection operating points.

This paper discusses the development of an all speed governed diesel-natural gas dual fuel engine for agricultural farm tractor. A 45 hp, 2.9 liters diesel-natural gas dual fuel engine with a novel closed loop secondary fuel injection system was developed. A frugal approach without any modification of the base mechanical diesel fuel injection system was followed. This approach helped to minimize the cost impact, while meeting performance and emissions at par with neat diesel operation. Additional cost on gas injection system is redeemed by cost savings on diesel fuel. The dual fuel technology developed by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., substitutes on an average approximately 40% of diesel with compressed natural gas, meeting the TREM III A emission norms for dual fuel while meeting all application requirements. The governing performance of the tractor was found to be superior than base diesel tractor.

Rotavator is an active tillage implement for breaking the Soil and for the preparation of seed bed for cultivation. The Farmers are currently facing problem due to usage of sub optimal speed of Rotavator which results in more fuel consumption, takes more time for completion of operation. Also, the Current Rental models work on Tractor + Implement as rental combination and customer not able to rent Rotavator as a standalone implement due to non-availability of Tracking information such as hours of utilization on Rotavator. Farmers not able to maintain the service periodicity, if oil change not done in prescribed duration then it may result in improper maintenance and breakdown of the Rotavator. To overcome these problems a smart Rotavator developed consists of an electronic unit fitted on the Rotavator shaft to measure the speed of the shaft rotation and in turn convert to Rotavator speed and also able to convert into Hours of usage based on the starting and stopping of the rotavator.

In today’s automobile industry where BS6 emission is posing a high challenge for aggregate development, cost control and with limited timeline. The main target is to provide the cooling system to have less impact on the in terms of cost, weight and to meet the challenging engineering requirement. Thus, the frugal engineering comes into the picture. This paper shows the application of thermosyphon principle for UDM injector cooling thereby reducing the rotation parts and power consumption such as an electric pump. Thermosyphon is a method of passive heat exchange and is based on natural convection, which circulates a fluid without the necessity of a mechanical or electric pump. The natural convection of the liquid commences when heat transfer to the liquid gives rise to a temperature difference from one side of the loop to the other.

Determination of vehicle specifications (for example, powertrain sizing) is one of the fundamental steps in any new vehicle development process. The vehicle system engineer needs to select an optimum combination of vehicle, engine and transmission characteristics based on the product requirements received from Product Planning (PP) and Marketing teams during concept phase of any vehicle program. This process is generally iterative and requires subject matter expertise. For example, accurate powertrain sizing is essential to meet the required fuel economy (FE), performance and emission targets for different vehicle configurations. This paper analyzes existing vehicle specifications (Passenger Cars/SUVs - Gasoline/Diesel) in different automotive markets (India, Europe, US, Japan) and aims to determine underlying trends across them.

In any industry, early detection and mitigation of a failure in component is vital for feasible design changes or development iterations or saving money. So it becomes pivotal to capture the failure mode in an accelerated way. This theory poses many challenges in devising the methodology to validate the failure mode. In real world, vehicle head lamp is exposed to all possible kinds of harsh environments such as variable daily ambient, rain, dust and engine compartment temperature …etc. This brings rapid thermal stress onto headlamp resulting into warpage cracks. At vehicle level on particular model, this failure is typically observed after 20,000-25,000 kms in a span of 3-4 months of running. Any corrective action to revalidate the design change or improvement will need similar timelines in regular way to test, which is quite high in product development cycle.

Poor clutch life is a major issue for some light commercial vehicle models. Clutch overheating is the primary cause for clutch failure. Some of the reasons include inappropriate gear selection by the driver, poor low-end dynamic torque availability from an engine, heavy stop and go traffic, vehicle overloading resulting in excessive clutch slippage especially in gradients, riding of the clutch pedal by the customer etc. These situations lead to a high thermal energy dissipation at the clutch, increasing clutch wear and in extreme conditions leading to not only poor shift quality but also eventual clutch failure. Unfortunately, it is not practical to monitor clutch temperature in a production vehicle due to high costs or technical challenges involved. This paper describes 1-D thermal modeling of single plate dry clutch typically used in passenger car/truck and bus applications. The objective of simulation is to estimate the temperature rise on the clutch facing and clutch housing.

In today’s automotive scenario, noise vibration and harshness (NVH) has become a synonym for quality perception. This paper evaluates the problem of vibration and noise experienced in M2 category 40 seat bus and suggests the counter measures. Severe vibration is experienced on the bus floor, predominantly towards rear part of the bus. Vibration along with acoustic boom occurs prominently in 4th gear wide open throttle operating condition between 1300-1600 rpm of the engine. This paper focuses on reducing NVH levels by working on the transfer path with little modifications on power-train. Preliminary torsional measurements conducted on powertrain indicated high torsional excitation in the driveline during the problematic rpm zone. Further, Operational Deflection Shape (ODS) analysis revealed that the transfer path to the cabin is rear differential unit and suspension links. The dominant frequencies were identified along the transfer path and suitable modifications were done.

Lubrication system is a critical factor for engine health. But it creates parasitic load and increased fuel consumption of the engine. The oil demand of an engine depends on engine speed, load, bearing clearances, operating temperature and engine's state of wear. Ideally, the oil pump should adapt the delivery volume flow to actual engine oil demand and should avoid unnecessary pumping of oil which causes increased power and fuel consumption. However in a conventional mechanical oil pump, there is no control on the oil flow and it is purely a function of operating speed. A variable discharge oil pump (VDOP) is an approach to reduce the parasitic losses wherein the oil flow is regulated based on the mechanical needs of the engine. This study is based on the results of a two stage VDOP installed on a 1.2 litre, 3 cylinder MPFI engine. The oil supply is regulated by a solenoid control which receives command from Engine Control Unit (ECU). The study was done in two stages.

Suspension plays a crucial role in stabilizing, comfort and performance of a vehicle. During vehicle braking operation, load transfer happens from rear axle to front axle resulting in shifting of vehicle’s center of gravity towards vehicle front for a momentarily duration which is called diving. This phenomenon leads to dropping of traction at rear wheel end resulting in lifting of rear axle with front wheel as pivot. This causes increase in front to rear weight ratio of vehicle system and compromising driver safety due to skidding and locking of rear wheel-end. To minimize this phenomenon’s affect, optimum anti-dive suspension geometry is used to have better rear wheel end traction resulting in improved braking stability.

E-mobility is creating more challenges and great opportunities for automotive textile industries to bring out new textiles for light weight, more aesthetic, better feel, sustainable and biomaterial to meet the customer perception. Textiles allows a more design freedom to in terms of construction, weaving and wrapping solutions. A hard rough plastic surface could be transferred into a more pleasant soft touch surface by a simple wrapping with textiles. The introduction of electric vehicle will convert the car as more silent as it replaces the engine by motor and battery mechanism. The more silent is the car, the more silent is the BSR behavior of the material. This work discloses of a polyester textile developed to meet automotive lightweight to strength requirements with its new nonwoven construction for seat insert and bolster application which demands for high breaking strength, abrasion resistance, stretch and set and soiling resistance.

In an off-road vehicle, Vehicle Structure plays a major role in passenger safety, Aesthetics, Durability, through a validated construction of canopy structure. This structure is to maintain the shape of the vehicle and to support various loads acting on the vehicle. In present market a safe, Durable, Robust, Waterproof, Noise less, Light weight and cost-effective off-road vehicle will always be a delight for any customer. However, the current conventional way of Soft top vehicle structure use metal brackets and formed sheet parts to create a structure to retain the canopy shape in place. These conventional structures are often heavier and would have many demerits such as heavy weight, Corrosion, Risk of canopy tear due to metallic structure edges and inappropriate draining, water management. Considering this we replaced the heavy metal brackets in to blow molded plastic parts.

Serious efforts have been put in space to focus on lowering the fuel consumption and CO2 discharge to the environment from Automotive Diesel Engines. Though more focus is put on material up gradation approach on weight perspective, it is accompanied by undesirable cost increase and manufacturing complexity. As a part of development of a single cylinder engine for a light commercial vehicle application, a unique approach of integrated split type crankcase design is designed and developed. This design have addressed all the key factors on Weight, Cost and Manufacturing perspectives. The split type crankcase configuration, particularly middle-split configuration, integrates the oil sump, front cover and flywheel housing in a single unit beneficial from the point of view of reducing engine weight and thus reducing the manufacturing costs. This crankcase is also excellent from the serviceability point of view.

Ground clearance plays a vital role in an off-road vehicle during off roading. Higher the ground clearance, higher is the difficulty during ingress & egress of the vehicle. This brings in the necessity to provide entry-assist grab-handles for vehicle with more ground clearance (>200mm). Entry-assist grab handles alleviates the pain of the occupants during ingress and egress. For entry-assist grab handles’ purpose to be served, it should provide comfortable ergonomic grip & have to take the load of passengers while ingress or egress through-out the complete life cycle of the vehicle. Entry Assist grab handles can be fitted on A-Pillar zone to assist first row passengers & on B-pillar zone to assist second row passenger. Providing entry-assist grab handles on pillar trims make the grab-handles exposed to head-impact zone and hence, in most of the cases, it should pass the head impact regulations framed for respective countries.

A 4 wheeled vehicle with X-split brake configuration, in hydraulic circuit failed condition will have a behavior of induced sway due to braking force variation in the front and rear diagonally. With increasing vehicle speed, engine power & customer expectations, the situation becomes more critical and challenging in designing a brake system which caters in meeting the homologation requirement at an expense of vehicle sway within controllable limits of driver / customer. This paper proposes a novel approach & methodology to overcome the above situation by predicting the effect of brake force distribution variation on the vehicle swaying behavior during circuit failed braking condition. This study will quantify vehicle sway, caused due to imbalance in brake force distribution during a circuit failed braking event on X Split configuration vehicles.

With the increase in number of vehicles and amount of traffic, safety has come out to be a big concern in vehicle’s dynamic stability. There are certain system’s limits beyond which if a vehicle is pushed it may become unstable. One of the major areas of research in vehicle dynamics control has been lateral velocity and yaw rate control. With this, situations like vehicle spinning, oversteer, understeer etc. can be addressed. The challenge for the next generations of vehicle control is the integration of the available actuators into a unique holistic control concept. This paper presents the driver reference generator developed for the Integrated Vehicle Dynamics Control concept. The driver reference generator processes the driver inputs to determine the target vehicle behavior. The generation of reference behavior is a key factor for the integrated control design. The driver reference generation is validated on a real vehicle.

Melatonin, otherwise popularly known as the “sleep hormone” is known to govern the human circadian rhythms. Current studies indicate that the generation of melatonin is impacted by the ambient light. The natural sleep inducing behavior during night and in darkness, is also due to the same phenomenon. Studies have shown that light of particular wavelengths in the visible spectrum have a higher effect on the amount of melatonin secreted by the human body. Blue light in the wavelengths of around 468 nm is known to inhibit the melatonin secretion, the most. This branch of science known as photobiology is in its nascent stage and is a matter of research pursued by neurologists, endocrinologists and other lighting researchers. Photobiology has several potential applications in the automotive industry, the principal one being driver drowsiness prevention.

Development of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) is gaining traction across all geographies to help meet increasing fuel economy regulations and as a pathway to offset concerns due to climate change. But HEVs and EVs have so far been a nascent market for India. These technologies have primarily shifted towards Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) for energy storage due to its high energy and power densities. In order to make actual business sense of these technologies, of which, battery is a major cost driver, it is necessary for these batteries to provide similar performance and life expectancy across the operating boundary of the vehicles, as well as provide the requirements at a competitive cost. In other words, the LIBs have to sustain the normal life cycle requirements and withstand wide range of storage temperatures that the conventional gasoline/diesel vehicles have been good at and still ensure good life.

The air velocity achieved at driver and passenger aim point is one of the key parameters to evaluate the automotive air-conditioning system performance. The design of duct, vent and vanes has a major contribution in the cabin air flow directivity. However, visual appearance of vent and vane receives higher priority in design because of market demand than their performance. More iterations are carried out to finalize the HVAC duct assembly until the target velocity is achieved. The objective of this study is to develop an automated process for vane articulation study along with predicting the optimized velocity at driver and passengers. The automated simulation of vane articulation study is carried out using STAR-CCM+ and SHERPA optimization algorithm which is available in HEEDS tool. The minimum and maximum vane angle are defined as parameters and face level velocity is defined as response.

One of the critical challenges for transmission design is to predict the gear shift dynamics accurately and to ensure smooth gear shift quality for different driver behaviors while shifting. This calls for detailed understanding of the RWUPs. Through prototype testing, understanding the influence of different parameters is costly and time consuming. Also, the testing does not provide necessary visualization of exact physics and the identification of issues is difficult. One of such typical concerns is shift shock while shifting the gear. Sudden gear engagement or disengagement leads to impact torque in drivetrain during shifting of gears, which in turn results in winding and unwinding of powertrain due to vehicle Inertia. This induces noise and vibration that affects driver comfort. The paper presents, the methodology to frontload prediction of dynamics of gear shifting that leads to shift shock behavior.