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The running direction of a vehicle can be controlled by not only wheel steer but also torque steer. This paper introduces the tractive torque steer effect produced by a newly developed electropneumatic control system, the limited-slip differential for large-sized vehicles. This system enhances the vehicle's running stability and controllability by controlling the tractive force of the drive axle. The tractive force maintains a stable running course against disturbances such as road roughness and wind gusts, thereby enhancing the steering response and providing a better feeling of handling to the driver. The system also improves mobility. especially on low-μ roads. It is expected that a single axle equipped with this system will exhibit good performance comparable to that of tandem axle.

The superior fuel economy of diesel engines compared to gasoline engines is favorable in reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. On the other hand, the reductions in nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions are technically difficult, thus the improvement in the emission reduction technologies is important. Although the cooled exhaust gas recirculation (cooled-EGR) is the effective method to reduce NOx emissions, it is known to have durability and reliability problems, especially of the increased wear of piston rings and cylinder liners. Therefore, the degree of cooling and amount of EGR are both limited. To apply the cooled-EGR more effectively, the wear reduction technology for such components are indispensable. In this study, the negative effects of cooled-EGR on the wear are quantified by using a heavy-duty diesel engine, and its wear mechanism is identified.

This paper introduces the details of a low noise design realized by fully utilizing the theoretical methods for the prediction of noise and vibration, applied to Hino's new “H07D” engine. In the development of this engine, the reduction of the vehicle interior noise was one of the highest priority aims. For this purpose, the influence of the engine noise on the vehicle noise was firstly investigated to identify the major noise sources. Then, making best use of noise prediction techniques (FEM, etc.), the noise radiation mechanisms were clarified and the components identified as major noise sources were re-designed. In these improvements, the theoretical techniques also predicted carefully the effect of design changes on the related components, including their installation in an engine as required. These procedures achieved a remarkable noise reduction of the engine by cost effective methods.

Ultra-low energy consumption and ultra-low emission vehicle technologies have been developed by combining petroleum-alternative clean energy with a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) system. Their component technologies cover a wide range of vehicle types, such as passenger cars, delivery trucks, and city buses, adsorbed natural gas (ANG), compressed natural gas (CNG), and dimethyl ether (DME) as fuels, series (S-HEV) and series/parallel (SP-HEV) for hybrid types, and as energy storage systems (ESSs), flywheel batteries (FWBs), capacitors, and lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. Evaluation tests confirmed that the energy consumption of the developed vehicles is 1/2 of that of conventional diesel vehicles, and the exhaust emission levels are comparable to Japan's ultra-low emission vehicle (J-ULEV) level.

The correlation between newly approved EN 15751 and the internal diesel injector deposits (IDID) due to fuel oxidative deterioration has not been made clear. In the present research, the Rancimat method was slightly modified to research the relationship between fuel oxidative deterioration and the deterioration products generated from the fuel. After heating fuel at 120 to 150°C for a set period, insoluble deterioration products (IDID-like substances) were generated and their weights were measured. At the same time, the shifts of the conductivity in trap water were analyzed from a new perspective, and its relationship with the deterioration products was investigated. At 120°C and 130°C, conductivity rising rates after the inflection point (this set of data represents the rate of organic acid generation in the fuel, and we named “Oxidation rate”) exhibited a strong correlation with the quantity of deterioration products.

In order to reduce particulate and NOx emission from the direct injection diesel engine, most researchers have been expecting the utilization of higher injection pressure and injection rate for improvement of diesel combustion. In the case of pump-line-nozzle system, the injection pipe line is very important with regard to the high injection pressure. Namely, the pipe line must be able to resist not only high pressure but also cavitation erosion. In this paper, the effect of high injection pressure, injection rate and sharp cutting at the end of fuel injection are discussed along with cavitation phenomena on the injection pipe line. And durability tests on the pipe line system under high injection pressure using a test rig are also described. Regarding durability tests, several measures have been taken for the injection pipe. As a result, the authors have found that the best solution for the injection pipe is a composite pipe made with SUS and steel.

Thai Hino Industries, one of Hino Motors Ltd.'s major overseas joint ventures, has been manufacturing trucks since it was founded over 20 years ago. During that time, Hino Motors, in cooperation with the Government of Thailand, has increasingly localized the production of vehicle component parts. Today, calculated by item, 45% of all such parts are produced by Thai Hino Industries and its local suppliers. As a result, Thai Hino Industries has grown into a company which makes significant contributions not only to the automotive industry but to Thailand's industrial sector as a whole. Localization of Thai Hino progressed from the transfer of vehicle assembly know-how, to the establishment of feasible guidelines for parts production localization, then on to the transfer of production engineering know-how for flexible manufacturing systems, and finally to the transfer of production engineering know-how for press dies.

We have developed a new test method in which temperature of cavity lip of a piston alone during engine rotation is reproduced, cavity lip strain is measured. As the results of strain measurement using the test method in a condition that simulates of conventional engines, a strain behavior was out-of-phase. And in a condition that simulates of high-load engines in future, strain behavior was clockwise-diamond cycle. It was found from the result of the test method developed that strain increased on the cavity lip. The fatigue life of the cavity lip was evaluated using the strain measured and isothermal fatigue curves which obtained by the strain controlled isothermal fatigue test. The result of engine durability test has revealed that the developed method was valid for thermal fatigue evaluation of the cavity lip.

An integrated engine subsystem incorporating Internal Exhaust Gas Recirculation (IEGR) or alternatively referred to as Pulse EGR™ and Compression Release Retarding (CRR) functions has been developed and introduced to production with the new E13C engine from Hino Motors Ltd. This new system provides the nitrous oxide (NOX) reduction benefit of IEGR and the vehicle control and brake saving benefits of CRR in a single integrated package, without the need for increased vehicle cooling capacity or additional components external to the engine. The product is a result of a close cooperation between two companies, Hino Motors Ltd. of Japan and Jacobs Vehicle Systems, Inc. of the U.S.A.

Technical impacts on engine oil performance by the use of waste cooking oil as bio-diesel fuel (BDF) are not well understood while the industry has made significant progress in studies on quality specifications and infrastructure. The authors, who consist of a consortium organized by Japan Lubricating Oil Society (JALOS), examined technical effects of waste cooking oil as BDF on engine oil performance such as wear and high temperature corrosion using vehicle fleets and bench tests to identify technical issues of engine oil meeting the use of BDF. The study brings fundamental information about technical impacts of BDF on engine oils.

Tooth contact marking of gears is an important quality characteristic that affects tooth strength and gear noise. Tooth contact marking measurement is generally done by painting the tooth surfaces of two meshed gears, rotating the gears and visually observing contact marks. Since it requires much working hours and experience to judge such a measurement, a method of measuring contact tooth markers by image processing has been developed. In this measurement method, the tooth surfaces of rotating gears are continuously observed by a TV camera, and the images are stored in an image memory device. Such quantities as the tooth surface size and tooth surface brightness level are set as initial settings, and the set values are compared with the observed images by a microcomputer to give the results of the measurement.

Recently, as one of the effective measures for engine noise reduction, vibration damping steel sheets (VDSS) have been increasingly applied to engine oil sumps. This paper describes the formability of VDSS. Various factors closely related to drawability are considered. This study has been carried out in a production engineering process of manufacturing exceedingly deep, single blank sheet, oil sump for heavy-duty truck diesel engines. Some treatment of the surface of the VDSS was found to be a principal factor influencing deep drawability.

A newly developed OHC (Over-Head Camshaft) prototype of a six-cylinder in-line diesel engine (with bore size: 114mm, stroke size: 130mm) was studied, comparing with the previous version of OHV (Over-Head Valve) type engine (with bore size: 110mm, stroke size: 130mm). It was found that the new type of cylinder block (with 130.8 kg of mass) has significantly lower natural frequencies than those for the previous type of cylinder block (with 133.2 kg of mass). Furthermore, slightly more predominant engine noise and vibration were induced in the new engine. The vibration behavior and the excitation force transmission characteristics were investigated by EMA (Experimental Modal Analysis). We performed a series of impact tests for (1) free-free cylinder block, (2) free-free crankshaft substructure with torsional damper and flywheel attached, and (3) the case where (1) and (2) are assembled together.

Austenitic stainless JIS SUS316L (16Cr–12Ni–2Mo) steel equivalent material that offers excellent hydrogen embrittlement resistance is used for the high pressure hydrogen pathways in FCEVs. However, there is a need to switch to less expensive material. This paper proposes a technique to evaluate hydrogen embrittlement simulated in high-pressure hydrogen environments based on the use of cathode charging and slow strain rate testing (SSRT) at atmospheric pressure, while also providing an analysis of the hydrogen embrittlement mechanism. At the same time, it presents an evaluation of hydrogen embrittlement resistance of ferrite material, a candidate low-cost material.

Electronically controlled systems, originally developed for passenger cars, have been applied to trucks and buses since the early 1980's. With the increase of the objects for those applications their contents have become more and more sophisticated with rapid expansion and growth. This paper has summarized the results of observations on the background situations behind the applications of electronic control systems to trucks and buses in Japan. The status of the electronic applications, in particular to the powertrain, are explained and specific examples are provided. Future trends are also discussed.

Wear resistance is the important characteristics of cast iron materials for automobile components. Because the phenomenon of wear is a highly complicated mechanism involving many factors such as surface conditions, chemical reactions with lubricants, metals, and physics, it has not been fully explained. Therefore, it will be necessary to confirm and explain the wear mechanism to develop effective improvements. The purpose of this study was to investigate the structural change behavior and effects of alloying elements when the material top surface becomes worn, in order to improve the wear resistance of cylinder liners and other cast iron materials. For this purpose, several types of prototype materials were produced, and the relationship between components and wear resistance was investigated by using a laser microscope for quantitative observation of the degree of pearlite microstructure fineness.

The Advanced Safety Vehicle (ASV) project phase 2 was organized by the Japanese ministry of lands, infrastructures and transport in 1996 as a five year project. Hino Motors participated in the project and developed an intelligent truck “HINO ASV-2”. HINO ASV-2 was equipped with safety systems for accident prevention and accident avoidance, which were most effective in reducing accidents in freight transport. These intelligent systems aimed to reduce driving fatigue, minimize the chance of driver’s mistake, and prevent the occurrence of accidents. Human-machine interface, and front underrun protection device were also studied. Through the development of the ASV systems, the feasibility and basic functions of these systems were studied. Further development is necessary to implement the ASV systems in production vehicles.

The purpose of the investigation presented here was to develop a high quality SAE 10W-30 engine lubricating oil to meet the heavy duty operating conditions of trucks. The operation of their engines is predicted to become more severe in future because of the trend toward higher power output, nore severe regulation of exhaust emissions and noise as well as the increasing demand for better fuel economy. To meet these demands, an improvement of the wear resistance of engine lubricating oil was considered to be the most important aspect for the development of high performance diesel engines in the future. The engine test developed was able to evaluate various experimental oils by observing wear resistance of the valve train which is considered to be one of the most severe tri-bological conditions. The best oils were determined by optimum selection of the amount and type of detergent, ashless dispersant and zinc dithiophosphate.

The objective of this study was to develop a test method for heavy-duty HEVs using a hardware-in-the-loop simulator (HILS) to enhance the type-approval-test method. To achieve our objective, HILS systems for series and parallel HEVs were actually constructed to verify calculation accuracy. Comparison of calculated and measured data (vehicle speed, motor/generator power, rechargeable energy storage system power/voltage/current/state of charge, and fuel economy) revealed them to be in good agreement. Calculation error for fuel economy was less than 2%.

For the purpose of reducing fuel consumption, a hybrid heavy duty truck was considered. Generally, HV (Hybrid Vehicle)'s energy is regenerated from deceleration energy in urban area. Hybrid heavy duty truck's energy is regenerated from potential energy on highway. Under this circumstance, some portion of energy may not be accumulated, because capacity of HV battery is limited. In order to maximize accumulating energy in the next descent, HV battery's energy shall be adequately reduced beforehand. This can be achieved by optimizing motor assist torque considering road's altitude and gradient. In this paper, performance of the algorithm is discussed.