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A recent trend in high-pressure gasoline pumps is increasing the outlet pressure. One of the most important topics for increasing this pressure is improving volumetric efficiency. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to quantify the breakdown of efficiency loss factors and to suggest a new design for improving volumetric efficiency. Authors developed a method of quantifying the efficiency loss breakdown of high-pressure gasoline pumps by using 1D fluid pressure simulation results and conducting evaluation experiments regarding sensitivity. Authors separated pump movement into three phases; suction, compression, and delivery. Authors then investigated the loss factors in each phase. As a result, authors obtained an equation for predicting the final output volume. The equation consists of a limit output volume and other types of leakage volumes.

Predicting the vibration of a motor gearbox assembly driven by a PWM inverter in the early stages of development is demanding because the assembly is one of the dominant noise sources of electric vehicles (EVs). In this paper, we propose a simulation model that can predict the transient vibration excited by gear meshing, reaction force from the mount, and electromagnetic forces including the carrier frequency component of the inverter up to 10 kHz. By utilizing the techniques of structural model reduction and state space modeling, the proposed model can predict the vibration of assembly in the operating condition with a system level EV simulator. A verification test was conducted to compare the simulation results with the running test results of the EV.

We investigated the size of fuel spray droplets from nozzles for direct injection gasoline (DIG) engines. Our findings showed that the droplet size can be predicted by referencing the geometry of the nozzle. In a DIG engine, which is used as part of a system to reduce fuel consumption, the injector nozzle causes the fuel to spray directly into the combustion chamber. It is important that this fuel spray avoid adhesion to the chamber wall, so multi-hole injection nozzles are used to obtain spray shape adaptability. It is also important that spray droplets be finely atomized to achieve fast vaporization. We have developed a method to predict the atomization level of nozzles for fine atomization nozzle design. The multi-hole nozzle used in a typical DIG injector has a thin fuel passage upstream of the orifice hole. This thin passage affects the droplet size, and predicting the droplet size is quite difficult if using only the orifice diameter.

An automatic transmission without a one-way clutch for a small sized, light weight automatic transmission is presented. The factor of torque fluctuation occurrence during shifting of the transmission increases so that the shifting is executed by controlling two wet clutches electronically in place of the one-way clutch and the wet clutch. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new smooth gear shift control technology for clutch-to-clutch shifting on an automatic transmission without a one-way clutch. The control technology has desirable clutch-to-clutch shift control, learning control and robust control which apply to accurate signals obtained by an observation method. Smooth shifts during clutch-to-clutch shifting can be realized by recognizing clutch change-over time using a calculated acceleration and an input/output speed ratio of the transmission.

Suspension is an important chassis part which is vital to ride comfort [1]. However, it is difficult to achieve our targeted comfortability level in a short time. Therefore, improving efficiency of damper development is our primary challenge. We have launched a project which aims to reduce the workload on developing dampers by introducing analytical approaches to the improvement of ride comfort. To be more specific, we have been putting effort into developing the damping force prediction, the vehicle dynamics prediction and subjective rating prediction. This paper describes subjective rating prediction method which output a subjective rating corresponding to the physical value of the vehicle dynamics with deep learning. As a result of verification using objective data which was not used for learning process, DNN (Deep Neural Network) prediction method could fairly precisely predict subjective rating of the expert driver.

A new numerical simulation system has been developed which predicts flow behavior of fuel film formed on intake port and combustion chamber walls of gasoline engines. The system consists of a film flow model employing film thickness as a dependent variable, an air flow model, and a fuel spray model. The system can analyze fuel film flow formed on any arbitrary three-dimensional configuration. Fuel film flow formed under a condition of continuous intermittent fuel injection and steady-state air flow was calculated, and comparison with experimental data showed the system possessing ability of qualitative prediction.

The authors developed a multi-swirl type injector characterized by a short spray penetration length and fine atomization to improve exhaust emissions and fuel consumption for port fuel injection (PFI) gasoline engines. In PFI gasoline engines, fuel adhesion to an intake manifold causes exhaust emission. In addition, good mixing of fuel and air causes high combustion efficiency, and as a result the fuel consumption improves. Injectors therefore require two improvements: first, a short spray penetration to avoid fuel adhesion to the intake manifold, and second, a fine atomization spray to generate a good mixture formation of fuel and air. In this study, the authors developed a multi-swirl type injector equipped with multiple orifice holes featuring swirl chambers upstream of each orifice. The key feature of the proposed injector is “involute curve-formed swirl chambers” for generating a uniform thin liquid-film in the orifices.

Automotive fuel can be efficiently combusted by injecting it into the cylinders at high pressure to atomize it to pass the regulations for exhaust gas and fuel economy. For this reason, automotive companies have developed direct injection engines, which can inject gasoline into the cylinders directly. Furthermore, the demand for lower-noise high pressure pumps is also increasing from the viewpoint of automotive comfort. Since the valve velocity and noise level will increase as the pressure in fuel pumps increases, noise problems need to be solved under the high pressure conditions. Accordingly, the valve motion should be predicted with high accuracy under operating conditions to evaluate the noise caused by valve impingement. In addition, the squeeze film effect phenomenon will occur in the physical fuel pumps affect the prediction of the noise level caused by valve impingement.

We have developed a model-based control for the air intake system in a variable valve engine, employing total engine simulation, the response surface method and multi-objective optimization scheme. In our technique, we performed the simulation model tuning and validation, followed by the creation of a dataset for the polynomial regression analysis of the charging efficiency. A D-optimal design, robust least squares method, and likelihood-ratio test were demonstrated to yield a robust and accurate control model. Coupling the total engine simulator with a genetic algorithm, model based calibration for optimal valve timing stored in lookup table was carried out under multiple objectives and restrictions. The reliability of the implementation control model, which considers the effect of gas dynamics in the intake system, was confirmed using a model-in-the-loop simulation.

The purpose of this study is to develop model-based methodologies which employ thermo-fluid dynamic engine simulation and multiple-objective optimization schemes for engine control and calibration, and to validate the reliability of the method using a dynamometer test. In our technique, creating a total engine system model begins by first entirely capturing the characteristics of the components affecting the engine system's behavior, then using experimental data to strictly adjust the tuning parameters in physical models. Engine outputs over the full range of engine operation conditions as determined by design of experiment (DOE) are simulated, followed by fitting the provided dataset using a nonlinear response surface model (RSM) to express the causal relationship among engine operational parameters, environmental factors and engine output. The RSM is applied to an L-jetronic® air-intake system control logic for a turbocharged engine.

We developed a thermal calculation 1D simulator for an electric valve timing control system (VTC). A VTC can optimize the open and close timing of the intake and exhaust valves depending on the driving situation. Since a conventional VTC is driven hydraulically, the challenges are response speed and operation limit at low temperature. Our company has been developing an electric VTC for quick response and expansion of operating conditions. Currently, it is necessary to optimize the motor and reduction gear design to balance quicker response with downsizing. Therefore, a coupled simulator that can calculate electricity, mechanics, control, and thermo characteristics is required. In 1D simulation, a thermal network method is commonly used for thermal calculation. However, an electric VTC is attached to the end of a camshaft; therefore, determining thermal resistances is difficult. We propose a method of determining thermal resistances, using both theoretical and experimental approaches.

We have achieved injection quantity range enhancement by using the current waveform control technique for direct injection (DI) gasoline injectors. In this study, we developed an injection quantity simulator to find out the mechanism of non-linear characteristics. We clarified the non-linear production mechanism by using the simulator. This simulator is a one-dimensional simulator that incorporates calculation results from both unsteady electromagnetic field analysis and hydraulic flow analysis into the motion equation of this simulation code. We investigated the relation between armature and the injection quantity by using the simulator. As a result, we clarified that the non-linearity was produced by the bounce of the armature in the opening action. Thus, we found that it is effective to reduce the armature bounce to improve the linearity of the injection quantity characteristics.

Plastic optical fiber has been widely used in the field of short distance optical transmission. However heat resistance of commercial plastic fiber is so low that its applications are limited. Then, a plastic fiber of thermosetting acrylate resin core has been developed. This fiber shows 80%/m retention of light transmittance at 1m after 1,000 hours at 150°C. It resists heat deformation and withstands up to 200 °C for a short time period. Tests show this fiber has desirable mechanical characteristics, along with good environmental resistance. In addition, a fiber which has a silicon resin as a core material was developed which has even better heat resistance.

We have developed a cooperative simulation environment for multiple electronic control units (ECUs) including a parallel executions mechanism to improve the test efficiency of a system, which was designed with multiple ECUs for autonomous driving. And we have applied it to a power window system for multiple ECUs with a controller area network (CAN). The power window model consists of an electronic-mechanical model and a CPU model. Each simulator with a different executions speed operates in parallel using a synchronization mechanism that exchanges data outputted from each simulator at a constant cycle. A virtual ECU simulated microcontroller hardware operations and executed its control program step-by-step in binary code to test software for the product version. As co-simulation technology, a mechanism that synchronously executes heterogeneous simulators and a model of an in-vehicle communication CAN connecting each ECU were developed.

A technique of estimating particulate matter (PM) from gasoline direct injection engines is proposed that is used to compute mass density and particle number density of PM by using fuel mass in rich mixtures obtained by using non-combustion computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The CFD code that was developed by the authors employed a Cartesian coordinates system as a discretization method and large eddy simulation (LES) as a turbulence model. Fuel spray droplets were treated with the discrete droplet model (DDM). The code was verified with some experimental data such as those obtained from in-cylinder gas-flows with a laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) and in-cylinder fuel concentration with laser induced fluorescence (LIF). PM emissions from a single-cylinder gasoline direct injection engine were measured with an electrical low pressure impactor (ELPI) to determine the model constants that were required in the estimation model.

Every fuel injection system for DI gasoline engines has a DC-DC converter to provide high, stabile voltage for opening the injector valve more quickly. A current control circuit for holding the valve open is also needed, as well as a large-capacity capacitor for pilot injection. Since these components occupy considerable space, an injector drive unit separate from the ECU must be used. Thus, there has been a need for a fuel injection system that can inject a small volume of fuel without requiring high voltage. To meet that need, we have developed a dual coil injector and an opening coil current control system. An investigation was also made of all the factors related to the dynamic range of the injector, including static flow rate, fuel pressure, battery voltage and harness resistance. Both efforts have led to the adoption of a battery voltage-driven fuel injector.

A fuel injection control method is developed in which the transient air-fuel ratio is accurately controlled by an internal state estimation method with dynamic characteristics. With conventional methods the air-fuel ratio control precision is limited, because the air measurement system, the air and the fuel dynamic characteristics lack precision. In this development, the factors disturbing the air-fuel ratio under transient conditions are determined by analysis of the control mechanisms. The disturbance factors are found to be (1) the hot wire sensor has a delay time, (2) manifold air charging causes an overshoot phenomenon, (3) there is a dead time between sensing and fuel flow into the cylinder and (4) there is a delay of fuel flow into the cylinder caused by the fuel film. Compensation schemes are constructed for each of these technical problems.

In recent years, improvement of in-use fuel economy is required with tightening of exhaust emission regulation. We assume that one of the most effective solutions is ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control), which can control a powertrain accurately more than a driver. We have been developing a fuel saving ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) application named “Sailing-ACC”. Sailing-ACC system uses sailing stop technology which stops engine fuel injection, and disengages a clutch coupling a transmission when a vehicle does not need acceleration torque. This system has a potential to greatly improve fuel efficiency. In this paper, we present a predictive powertrain state switching algorithm using external information (route information, preceding vehicle information). This algorithm calculates appropriate switching timing between a sailing stop mode and an acceleration mode to generate a “pulse-and-glide” pattern.

We have developed an excitation source identification system that can distinguish excitation sources on a sub-assembly level (around 30mm) for vehicle components by combining a measurement and a timing analysis. Therefore, noise and vibration problems can be solved at an early stage of development and the development period can be shortened. This system is composed of measurement, control, modeling, and excitation source identification parts. The measurement and the excitation source identification parts are the main topics of this paper. In the measurement part, multiple physical quantities can be measured in multi-channel (noise and vibration: 48ch, general purpose: 64ch), and these time data can be analyzed by using a high-resolution signal analysis (Instantaneous Frequency Analysis (IFA)) that we developed.

We developed a high-pressure fuel pump for a direct injection gasoline engine and used a hydraulic simulator to design it. A single plunger design is the major trend for high-pressure fuel pumps because of its simple structure and small size. However, the single plunger causes large pressure pulsation and an unstable flow rate, especially at high engine speed. Therefore, a fuel-pipe layout that inhibits the pressure pulsation and a flow-rate control that stabilizes the flow are the most important challenges in pump design. Our newly developed hydraulic simulator can evaluate the dynamic characteristics of a total fuel supply system, which consists of pump, pipe, injector, and control logic. Using this simulator, we have improved fuel flow by optimizing the outlet check valve lift and the cam profile, and we reduced pressure pulsation by optimizing the layout of fuel pipes. Our simulation results agreed well with our experimental results.