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All around the world, steps are being taken to improve the quality of our environment. Prominent among these are the definition, implementation, and attainment of increasingly stringent emissions regulations for all types of engines, including off-highway diesels. These rigorous regulations have driven use of technologies like after-treatment, advanced air systems, and advanced fuel systems. Fuel dispensed off-highway is routinely and significantly dirtier than fuel from on-highway outlets. Furthermore, fuels used in developing countries can be up to 30 times dirtier than the average fuels in North America. Poor fuel cleanliness, coupled with the higher pressures and performance demands of modern fuel systems, create life challenges greater than encountered with cleaner fuels. This can result in costly disruption of operations, loss of productivity, and customer dissatisfaction in the off-highway market.

Fundamental understanding of the sources of fuel-derived Unburned Hydrocarbon (UHC) emissions in heavy duty diesel engines is a key piece of knowledge that impacts engine combustion system development. Current emissions regulations for hydrocarbons can be difficult to meet in-cylinder and thus after treatment technologies such as oxidation catalysts are typically used, which can be costly. In this work, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are combined with engine experiments in an effort to build an understanding of hydrocarbon sources. In the experiments, the combustion system design was varied through injector style, injector rate shape, combustion chamber geometry, and calibration, to study the impact on UHC emissions from mixing-controlled diesel combustion.

This paper presents a response to the question: Simulation - mathematical manipulation or useful design tool? A mathematical model of a modulating valve in a transmission control system was developed to predict clutch pressure modulation characteristics. The transmission control system was previously reported in SAE Paper 850783 - “Electronic/Hydraulic Transmission Control System for Off-Highway Vehicles”. The comparison of simulation predictions with test data illustrates the effectiveness of simulation as a design tool. THE EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER hardware and simulation software has resulted in increased interest and usage of simulation for dynamic analysis of hydraulic systems. Most commercially available software is relatively easy to learn to use. The application of such software and the modeling techniques involved require a longer learning curve.

This paper reports on a comprehensive, crank-angle transient, three dimensional, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the complete lubrication system of a multi-cylinder engine using the CFD software Simerics-Sys / PumpLinx. This work represents an advance in system-level modeling of the engine lubrication system over the current state of the art of one-dimensional models. The model was applied to a 16 cylinder, reciprocating internal combustion engine lubrication system. The computational domain includes the positive displacement gear pump, the pressure regulation valve, bearings, piston pins, piston cooling jets, the oil cooler, the oil filter etc… The motion of the regulation valve was predicted by strongly coupling a rigorous force balance on the valve to the flow.

Boundary element analysis (BEA) is an effective computer simulation program for certain applications in design engineering. The BEA technique has been used extensively at Caterpillar for structural analysis of engine and vehicle components. The time savings and modeling ease of BEA are illustrated with specific examples of engine component models. These examples represent a variety of modeling techniques, and include comparisons with measured test data.

The demand for high-efficiency engines has never been greater as energy consumption and emission reductions are key ingredients for continued competitiveness in today’s transportation industry. A main contributor to recent and future improvement of the internal combustion engine is the gas exchange process. By utilizing the exhaust energy in the turbine stage of an exhaust turbocharger, the pumping work can be improved resulting in significant gains of engine system efficiency. Two main aspects can be identified with regards to the turbine design that are crucial: The level of exhaust pulse separation and turbine efficiency at high pressure ratios. For a pulse-turbocharged engine both aspects need to be considered in order to gain full benefit of the exhaust energy utilization process. In this study, a novel axial turbine stage concept with divided inlets is presented.

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) has been proposed for natural gas engines in heavy duty stationary power generation applications. A number of researchers have demonstrated, through simulation and experiment, the feasibility of obtaining high gross indicated thermal efficiencies and very low NOx emissions at reasonable load levels. With a goal of eventual commercialization of these engines, this paper sets forth some of the primary challenges in obtaining high brake thermal efficiency from production feasible engines. Experimental results, in conjunction with simulation and analysis, are used to compare HCCI operation with traditional lean burn spark ignition performance. Current HCCI technology is characterized by low power density, very dilute mixtures, and low combustion efficiency. The quantitative adverse effect of each of these traits is demonstrated with respect to the brake thermal efficiency that can be expected in real world applications.

In-cylinder flow pattern has been examined experimentally in a heavy duty optical diesel engine and simulated with CFD code during the combustion and the post-oxidation phase. Mean swirling velocity field and its evolution were extracted from optical tests with combustion image velocimetry (CIV). It is known that the post-oxidation period has great impact on the soot emissions. Lately it has been shown in swirling combustion systems with high injection pressures, that the remaining swirling vortex in the post-oxidation phase deviates strongly from solid body rotation. Solid body rotation can only be assumed to be the case before fuel injection. In the studied cases the tangential velocity is higher in the centre of the piston bowl compared to the outer region of the bowl. The used CIV method is closely related to the PIV technique, but makes it possible to extract flow pattern during combustion at full load in an optical diesel engine.

Improving turbocharger performance to increase engine efficiency has the potential to help meet current and upcoming exhaust legislation. One limiting factor is compressor surge, an air flow instability phenomenon capable of causing severe vibration and noise. To avoid surge, the turbocharger is operated with a safety margin (surge margin) which, as well as avoiding surge in steady state operation, unfortunately also lowers engine performance. This paper investigates the possibility of detecting compressor surge with a conventional engine knock sensor. It further recommends a surge detection algorithm based on their signals during transient engine operation. Three knock sensors were mounted on the turbocharger and placed along the axes of three dimensions of movement. The engine was operated in load steps starting from steady state. The steady state points of operation covered the vital parts of the engine speed and load range.

There has been an ongoing interest in replacing mineral oil with more biodegradable and/or fire-resistant hydraulic fluids in many mobile equipment applications. Although many alternative fluids may be more biodegradable, or fire-resistant, or both than mineral oil, they often suffer from other limitations such as poorer wear, oxidative stability, and yellow metal corrosion which inhibit their performance in high-pressure hydraulic systems, particularly high pressure piston pump applications. From the fluid supplier's viewpoint, the development of a definitive test, or series of tests, that provides sufficient information to determine how a given fluid would perform with various hydraulic components would be of interest because it would minimize extensive testing. This is often too slow or prohibitively expensive. Furthermore, from OEM's (original equipment manufacturer's) point of view, it would be advantageous to develop a more effective, industry accepted fluid analysis screening.

The constrained indicated efficiency optimization of the set-point reference for in-cycle closed-loop combustion regulators is investigated in this article. Closed-loop combustion control is able to reduce the stochastic cyclic variations of the combustion by the adjustment of multiple-injections, a pilot and main injection in this work. The set-point is determined by the demand on engine load, burned pilot mass reference and combustion timing. Two strategies were investigated, the regulation of the start of combustion (SOC) and the center of combustion (CA50). The novel approach taken in this investigation consists of including the effect of the controlled variables on the combustion dispersion, instead of using mean-value models, and solve the stochastic optimization problem. A stochastic heat release model is developed for simulation and calibrated with extensive data from a Scania D13 six-cylinder engine. A Monte Carlo approach is taken for the simulations.

An experimental and computational study of the near-wall combustion in a Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine has been conducted by applying laser based diagnostic techniques in combination with numerical modeling. Our major intent was to characterize the combustion in the velocity- and thermal boundary layers. The progress of the combustion was studied by using fuel tracer LIF, the result of which was compared with LDA measurements of the velocity boundary layer along with numerical simulations of the reacting boundary layer. Time resolved images of the PLIF signal were taken and ensemble averaged images were calculated. In the fuel tracer LIF experiments, acetone was seeded into the fuel as a tracer. It is clear from the experiments that a proper set of backgrounds and laser profiles are necessary to resolve the near-wall concentration profiles, even at a qualitative level.

As both the number and complexity of electronic control system applications on earthmoving equipment and on-highway trucks increase, so does the effort associated with developing and maintaining control strategies implemented in embedded systems. A new tool was recently introduced by Sigma Technology of Ann Arbor, Michigan, that provides the capability to perform rapid prototyping of production embedded systems. The rapid prototyping process includes system modeling, control algorithm synthesis, simulation analysis, source code generation and vehicle implementation. The results of incorporating this tool in the control system design process include improved control performance, improved system reliability/robustness, and significantly reduced development/maintenance costs.

Electron beam (EB) welding process is characterized by an extremely high power density that is capable of producing weld seams which are considerably deeper than width. Unlike other welding process, heat of EB welding is provided by the kinetic energy of electrons. This paper presents a computational model for the numerical prediction of microstructure and residual stress resulting from EB welding process. Energy input is modeled as a step function within the fusion zone. The predicted values from finite element simulation of the EB welding process agree well with the experimentally measured values. The present model is used to study an axial weld failure problem.

In this work, constant volume combustion is studied using a zero-dimensional FORTRAN code, which is a wide-ranging chemical kinetic simulation that allows a closed system of gases to be described on the basis of a set of initial conditions. The model provides an engine- or reactor-like environment in which the engine simulations allow for a variable system volume and heat transfer both to and from the system. The combustion chamber is divided into two zones as burned and unburned ones, which are separated by an assumed thin flame front in the combustion model used for this work. Equilibrium assumptions have been adopted for the modeling of the thermal ionization, where Saha's equation was derived for singly ionized molecules. The investigation is focused on the thermal ionization of NO as well as for other species. The outputs generated by the model are temperature profiles, species concentration profiles, ionization degree and an electron density for each zone.

Maintenance planning of trucks at Scania have previously been done using static cyclic plans with fixed sets of maintenance tasks, determined by mileage, calendar time, and some data driven physical models. Flexible maintenance have improved the maintenance program with the addition of general data driven expert rules and the ability to move sub-sets of maintenance tasks between maintenance occasions. Meanwhile, successful modelling with machine learning on big data, automatic planning using constraint programming, and route optimization are hinting on the ability to achieve even higher fleet utilization by further improvements of the flexible maintenance. The maintenance program have therefore been partitioned into its smallest parts and formulated as individual constraint rules. The overall goal is to maximize the utilization of a fleet, i.e. maximize the ability to perform transport assignments, with respect to maintenance.

The design of a pressure compensated hydraulic valve is optimized using CFD analysis. The valve is used in a hydraulic system to control implement movement. High flow rates through the valve resulted in unacceptably high pressure drops, leading to an effort to optimize the valve design. Redesign of the valve had to be achieved under the constraint of minimal manufacturing cost. The flow path of hydraulic oil through the valve, the spool design, and various components of the valve that caused the high pressure drops were targeted in this analysis. A commercially available CFD package was used for the 3D analysis. The hydraulic oil flow was assumed to be turbulent, isothermal and incompressible. The steady-state results were validated by comparison with experimental data.

Noise encapsulations are widely used in automotive industry to enclose noise sources, such as e.g. the engine or the gearbox, to reduce externally radiated noise. The sound absorption factor of the material on the inside of the noise encapsulation is obviously vital for the sound attenuation. This parameter is in most cases determined experimentally for which there are several methods. The results received from the various methods may vary as different acoustic states are examined and thus influence the choice of method. The absorption factor is crucial since it is used in specifications to material manufacturers as well as being an input parameter in modeling the performance of the noise shield e.g. during a pass-by noise test. In this paper, two standardized measurement methods along with a third, non-standardized method, are applied to determine the properties of an absorbing material used in a commercial noise encapsulation.

Determining quality levels of analyses process is important in terms of being able to estimate the quality levels. This paper presents an approach based on 6 sigma methodology to estimate the quality levels of engineering analyses. The analyses types covered here are structural and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) types. Three examples covering the analyses types are presented here that show the way quality levels are reported. With the aim of continuous improvement of the analysis process, there is a need to build quality metrics specific to different product types. Future work is aimed to address this need for specific quality metrics.

Structure-borne inputs to hybrid FEA/SEA models could have significant effects on the model prediction accuracy. The purpose of this work was to obtain the structure-borne noise (SBN) inputs using a simplified transfer path analysis (TPA) and identify the significance of the structure-borne and airborne contributions to the spectator sound power of an engine with enclosure for future modeling references. Force inputs to the enclosure from the engine were obtained and used as inputs to a hybrid engine enclosure model for sound prediction.