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In a previous study by the authors, austenite (γ phase) formed on the topmost of pulleys after long term operation of continuously variable transmission (CVT) [1]. In general, martensite arising from heat treatment forms on the surface of pulleys and gears. Therefore, the sliding surface has a body-centered cubic (BCC) metal structure, and transformation into and existence of austenite (γ phase) is difficult unless there is a thermal history exceeding the eutectoid point. For the verification of that possibility, it was crucial to obtain temperature variation on the sliding surface. The major problem for such measurements was rotation of parts inside an operating CVT. In this study, uniquely developed measurement system enabled non-contact temperature measurement near the contact portion. Results were substituted to heat conduction equation to predict the temperature at the exact contact portion.

We have developed a bench test method to assess driver distraction caused by the load of using infotainment systems. In a previous study, we found that this method can be used to assess the task loads of both visual-manual tasks and auditory-vocal tasks. The task loads are assessed using the performances of both pedal tracking task (PT) and detection response task (DRT) while performing secondary tasks. We can perform this method using simple equipment such as game pedals and a PC. The aim of this study is to verify the reproducibility of the PT-DRT. Experiments were conducted in three test environments in which test regions, experimenters and participants differed from each other in the US, and the test procedures were almost the same. We set two types of visual-manual tasks and two types of auditory-vocal tasks as secondary tasks and set two difficulties for each task type to vary the level of task load.

The use of electric vehicles (EV) is becoming more widespread as a response to global warming. The major issues associated with EV are the annoyance represented by charging the vehicles and their limited cruising range. In an attempt to remove the restrictions on the cruising range of EV, the research discussed in this paper developed a dynamic charging EV and low-cost infrastructure that would make it possible for the vehicles to charge by receiving power directly from infrastructure while in motion. Based on considerations of the effect of electromagnetic waves, charging power, and the amount of power able to be supplied by the system, this development focused on a contact-type charging system. The use of a wireless charging system would produce concerns over danger due to the infiltration of foreign matter into the primary and secondary coils and the health effects of leakage flux.

1 A new surface modification heat treatment technology called Wonder Process Craft which is different from plating and coating, was applied to the skirt section, which is the sliding surface of the piston in an internal combustion engine. This was intended to improve fuel economy and mechanical characteristics by reducing sliding resistance. In the application of solid lubrication, this treatment does not require the usage of binder, which was necessary for conventional coating, leading to the highest level achievable for the low sliding resistance effect inherent of solid lubrication. Since this treatment does not involve any change in significant dimensions, shapes, surface roughness, and so on, applying this treatment is easy. The persistence of the effect, productivity and recyclability of waste and emissions during treatment were also taken into account.

The International Lubricant Standardization and Approval Committee (ILSAC) ATF subcommittee members have compared the two oxidation bench test methods, Aluminum Beaker Oxidation Test (ABOT) and Indiana Stirring Oxidation Stability Test (ISOT), using a number of factory-fill and service-fill ATFs obtained in Japan and in the US. In many cases, the ATFs were more severely oxidized after the ABOT procedure than after the same duration of the ISOT procedure. The relative severity of these two tests was influenced by the composition of the ATFs. The bench test oxidation data were compared with the transmission and the vehicle oxidation test data.

When using aluminum for vehicle body parts to reduce weight, the high pressure die casting (HPDC) is widely applied due to its adaptability to thin-wall products, near-net-shape castability, and short casting cycle time. Since a hollow construction is advantageous to increase stiffness of body parts, there has been a need of development of techniques for casting of hollow parts by HPDC. So far, hollow casting by HPDC has been realized for small parts using sand cores. When applying that method to large parts, however, it is necessary to increase filling speed. When the filling speed is increased, the core tends to break. In this project, we have developed a method to estimate changes of pressure distribution when filling molten metal by the casting simulation in order to analyze damages to the core. Through the analysis, we discovered occurrence of impulsive pressure waves.

Clarifying the impact of ETBE 8% blended fuel on current Japanese gasoline vehicles, under the Japan Clean Air Program II (JCAPII) we conducted exhaust emission tests, evaporative emission tests, durability tests on the exhaust after-treatment system, cold starting tests, and material immersion tests. ETBE 17% blended fuel was also investigated as a reference. The regulated exhaust emissions (CO, HC, and NOx) didn't increase with any increase of ETBE content in the fuel. In durability tests, no noticeable increase of exhaust emission after 40,000km was observed. In evaporative emissions tests, HSL (Hot Soak Loss) and DBL (Diurnal Breathing Loss) didn't increase. In cold starting tests, duration of cranking using ETBE 8% fuel was similar to that of ETBE 0%. In the material immersion tests, no influence of ETBE on these material properties was observed.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has developed moving deformable barriers for vehicle crash test procedures to assess vehicle and occupant response in partial overlap vehicle crashes. For this paper, based on the NHTSA Oblique Test procedure, a mid-size sedan was tested. The intent of this research was to provide insight into possible design changes to enhance the oblique collision performance of vehicles. The test results predicted high injury risk for BrIC, chest deflection, and the lower extremities. In this particular study, reducing lower extremity injuries has been focused on. Traditionally, lower extremity injuries have been reduced by limiting the intrusion of the lower region of the cabin's toe-board. In this study, it is assumed that increasing the energy absorbed within the engine compartment is more efficient than reinforcing the passenger compartment as a method to reduce lower extremity injuries.

A new type of lean NOx catalyst has been developed with improved thermal resistance. This lean NOx catalyst contains precious metals and NO2 adsorbents. The precious metals are used mainly for the oxidation reaction of NO, and the NO2 adsorbents are for the adsorption removal of generated NO2. The thermal resistance of the catalyst was raised by paying attention to the following points. 1) Improvement of thermal resistance for the NO oxidation activity by addition of a different precious metal element. 2) Prevention of thermal degradation of the NO2 adsorbent by addition of a new metal oxide. For item 1, Pd was added to the catalyst which had already included Pt. By having Pd coexist with Pt, the precious metal dispersion was kept high even after heat treatment, so the NO oxidizing ability was improved. For item 2, thermal degradation of NO2 adsorbent was prevented by addition of the new metal oxide (B) to the adsorbent.

When the alkali metal-supported catalyst was treated at 830°C, the NOx conversion decreased because the alkali metals in the catalyst layer gradually moved to the cordierite honeycomb layer and reacted with the cordierite elements. This phenomena decreased to be added the basic metal oxide (α) in the catalyst layer. The improved catalyst with α 2 showed higher performance than the conventional catalyst in the model gas test. Moreover, the emission values of NOx, HC, and CO were 50% or less than Japanese domestic regulation values even after 830°C×60h heat treatment in a vehicle test.

Honda has been taking measures since the late 1990s to address three issues raised by the automobile, from air pollution, which was already a matter of regulation, to the additional issues of global warming and energy. With observation of recent trends in society, what had been our concern about these three matters appears to have gradually been turning into certainty instead. Meanwhile, the demand for automobiles is expected to increase with the population growth in newly emerging countries, economic growth, and other such factors. At present, with automobiles dependent on oil for the greater part of their energy, it has become a challenge to secure a stable supply of reasonably priced oil while the global warming perspective requires reduction of CO2 emissions. This article will review the history of development of the fuel cell vehicle (FCV) equipped with the next-generation power plant capable of simultaneously providing the solutions demanded for all three automobile issues.

This paper investigates test procedures for vehicle frontal crash compatibility. Both Full Width Deformable Barrier (FWDB) tests and Moving Deformable Barrier (MDB) tests were studied to assess relevant factors of compatibility issues. The FWDB test with load cells was examined to evaluate the stiffness and interaction areas of vehicles (sometimes referred to as the “aggressivity” of vehicles). Compatibility metrics were computed using barrier load cell data and the output from the FWDB test was compared with that from the Full Width Rigid Barrier (FWRB) test. Since the results obtained from these two full width tests were considerably different, a full frontal vehicle-to-vehicle test was carried out to identify structural deformation modes. The results indicated that similar deformation modes were observed between the vehicle-to-vehicle test and the FWDB test.

A fuel-cell-vehicle has been provided with an electric-double-layer-capacitor system (capacitor) to act as a back-up power source. The fuel cells and the capacitor have different voltages when the system is started, and for this reason the system could not be reconnected by relays. A VCU (Voltage and current Control Unit) has been positioned in the path of electrical connection between the fuel cells and the capacitor as a method of dealing with this issue. The VCU enables the charging of the capacitor to be controlled in order to equalize the voltage of the two power sources and allow a connection.

In this research, a new wire material made using surface-reforming heat treatment was developed in order to enhance the corrosion fatigue resistance of suspension springs. The aim of surface reforming is to improve hydrogen embrittlement characteristics through grain refinement and to improve crack propagation resistance by partial softening of hardness. The grain refinement method used an α'→γ reversed transformation by rapid short-term heating in repeated induction heating and quenching (R-IHQ) to refine the crystal grain size of SAE 9254 steel spring wire to 4 μm or less. In order to simultaneously improve the fatigue crack propagation characteristics, the possibility of reducing the hardness immediately below the spring surface layer was also examined. By applying contour hardening in the second IHQ cycle, a heat affected zone (HAZ) is obtained immediately below the surface.

In this study, in order to relax the pre-cooling regulations at hydrogen fueling stations, we develop a software algorithm to simulate an actual hydrogen fueling process to Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) tanks. The simulation model in the software consists of the same filling equipment found at an actual hydrogen fueling station. Additionally, the same supply conditions (pre-cooling temperature, pressure and mass flow rate) as at a hydrogen fueling station were set to the simulation model. Based on the supply conditions, the software simulates the temperature and pressure of hydrogen in each part of filling equipment. In order to verify the accuracy of the software, we compare the temperature and pressure simulated at each stage of the filling process with experimental data. We show that by using the software it is possible to accurately calculate the hydrogen temperature and pressure at each point during the fueling process.

This paper explains the new methodology for post-crash fuel leakage testing of Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCVs) and other hydrogen vehicles utilizing compressed hydrogen storage systems. This methodology was incorporated into SAE J2578 that was revised and published in January, 2009. The new methodology is based on the concept in FMVSS 303 that specifies post-crash fuel leakage test method and criteria for CNG vehicle and adopted some modifications. Specifically, the following items are addressed: (1) Allowable leakage can be accurately evaluated in test even with large size tank that obtains only small pressure drop when a given amount of leakage occurs. A new method to deal with the influence of measurement errors was devised. (2) Even though only one option of test gas and initial filling pressure is accepted in FMVSS 303, new methodology for hydrogen system allows helium and hydrogen at reduced pressure as alternatives in addition to hydrogen at service pressure.

The two liter DOHC-VTEC engine developed for the Honda S2000 produces 179kW (240HP, which is 120HP per liter). It is the highest output power among all naturally aspirated two liter engines ever mass-produced. It also achieves an exhaust emission level within National LEV standards. The new engine utilizes a redesigned VTEC cylinder head, in which MIM (metal injection molding) rocker arms are used. The new cylinder block with a ladder frame structure for its lower part, a newly developed camshaft drive chain and gear system and a metal honeycomb catalyst with an air pump start-up system are also utilized.

Honda’s purpose is to realize the joy and freedom of mobility and a sustainable society in which people can enjoy life. As such, three series of environmental vehicles-FCVs, BEVs, and PHEVs-have been developed so that users in communities around the world can select the ones best suited to their local energy circumstances and individual lifestyles. This paper discusses a structure that enhances both the motive power performance and quietness of a newly developed FCV/BEV traction motor. To enhance motive power performance, the research focused on the stator lamination technique. As for methods of affixing the stator’s layers, the practice with previous models has been adhesion lamination, using electric steel sheets that come pre-made with adhesive layers. Having adhesive layers, however, lowers the ratio (space factor) of steel sheet layers. The new motor uses electric steel sheets without an adhesive layer in order to enhance motive power performance.

This paper describes the development of non-contacting detection type torque sensor that realizes a small lost motion with light weight and low cost. Pedal-equipped electric vehicles are becoming popular in recent years. In those vehicles, torque sensors are usually necessary for measuring the pedaling force to determine the motor torque. We applied an integrated sensing structure and a non-contacting scheme utilizing inverse-magnetostrictive material to minimize the lost motions. As for the sensing material, nickel-iron alloy plating was used to obtain a wide dynamic range. In the tests using the actual structure, the output linearity deterioration occurred because of the strain distribution dispersion produced by the ratchet drive structure. Therefore, the effect of this strain distribution was examined. The inverse-magnetostrictive sensing material of nickel-iron alloy plating has an extremum on its output curve.

Nd₂Fe₁₄B sintered magnets are used in the drive motors of hybrid, electric and other vehicles. A magnet in which rare earth content is reduced by means of a localized diffusion method has been developed in order to reduce the volume of dysprosium. The distribution of the demagnetization fields in a motor is not uniform, so the necessary coercivity distribution for the magnets was quantified using Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE). Then material specifications of the localized dysprosium diffusion satisfied with this coercivity distribution was determined, and optimal manufacturing conditions including the position of dysprosium diffusion were set. The coercivity distribution in every position of the magnet using localized diffusion method was inspected. As a result, the magnet was satisfied with coercivity distribution demanded by CAE.