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Appropriate emergency response information is required for first responder before hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will become widespread. This paper investigates experimentally the hydrogen dispersion in the vicinity of a vehicle which accidentally releases hydrogen horizontally with a single volumetric flow of 2000 NL/min in the under-floor section while varying cross and frontal wind effects. This hydrogen flow rate represents normally a full throttle power condition. Forced wind was about maximum 2 m/s. The results indicated that the windward side of the vehicle was safe but that there were chiefly two areas posing risks of fire by hydrogen ignition. One was the leeward side of the vehicle's underbody where a larger region of flammable hydrogen dispersion existed in light wind than in windless conditions. The other was the area around the hydrogen leakage point where most of the leaked hydrogen remained undiffused in an environment with a wind of no stronger than 2 m/s.

The localized fire test provided in the Global Technical Regulation for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles gives two separate test methods: the ‘generic installation test - Method 1′ and the ‘specific vehicle installation test - Method 2′. Vehicle manufacturers are required to apply either of the two methods. Focused on Method 2, the present study was conducted to determine the characteristics and validity of Method 2. Test results under identical burner flame temperature conditions and the effects of cylinder protection covers made of different materials were compared between Method 1 and Method 2.

In order to clarify future automobile technologies and fuel qualities to improve air quality, second phase of Japan Clean Air Program (JCAPII) had been conducted from 2002 to 2007. Predicting improvement in air quality that might be attained by introducing new emission control technologies and determining fuel qualities required for the technologies is one of the main issues of this program. Unregulated material WG of JCAPII had studied unregulated emissions from gasoline and diesel engines. Eight gaseous hydrocarbons (HC), four Aldehydes and three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were evaluated as unregulated emissions. Specifically, emissions of the following components were measured: 1,3-Butadiene, Benzene, Toluene, Xylene, Ethylbenzene, 1,3,5-Trimethyl-benzene, n-Hexane, Styrene as gaseous HCs, Formaldehyde, Acetaldehyde, Acrolein, Benzaldehyde as Aldehydes, and Benzo(a)pyrene, Benzo(b)fluoranthene, Benzo(k)fluoranthene as PAHs.

This study investigates if particulates from a GDI engine can be significantly suppressed by use of ultra-high injection pressures under 2 different engine conditions known to be associated with high particulate numbers (PN): warm-up and transients. Experiments were carried out in a single-cylinder GDI engine equipped with an endoscope connected to a high-speed camera to enable combustion visualization. To mimic the warming-up, the coolant temperature was varied between 20 °C and 90 °C. A Diesel injector with modified nozzle was used and the injection pressures were varied between 400 and 1500 bar. The results revealed that increasing the fuel injection pressure decreased engine out HC and PN under warming-up conditions. However, the coolant water temperature was the most dominant factor affecting the emissions. For coolant temperature of 20 °C, the use of 1500 bar fuel injection pressure in comparison to lower fuel pressures resulted in significantly lower PN.

An investigation based on human visual search functions was conducted into the causative factors of traffic accidents at clear intersections in rural areas. The results indicated that it is difficult for drivers to detect a vehicle traveling on a collision course because the vehicle remains in the same position in the driver's visual field. Two systems are introduced to assist drivers' visual searches. One system uses an image processing technique, and the other utilizes DGPS and IVC techniques. This paper presents the development of the assistance system.

In hot climate regions, there is demand for improved thermal comfort for rear occupants in vehicles not equipped with a rear air conditioner. One solution to this challenge is a circulator mounted on the ceiling. The circulator is a product designed to enhance thermal comfort for occupants by circulating the air in the cabin. The conventional circulator design, which employs a cross flow fan with a large cross section, juts into the cabin space, because it is difficult to package. Consequently, the challenge for the circulator is to provide thermal comfort for rear occupants while taking up the minimum cabin space under the ceiling. To solve this challenge, that is, to enable a substantially thinner structure, while retaining the same level of air flow delivered as before for the same thermal comfort as the conventional circulator, we divided the structure into an air outlet and an air blower.

If a compressed hydrogen tank for vehicles is filled with hydrogen gas more quickly, the gas temperature in the tank will increase. In this study, we conducted hydrogen gas filling tests using the TYPE 3 and TYPE 4 tanks. During the tests, we measured the temperature of the internal liner surface and investigated its relationship with the gas temperature in the tank. We found that the gas temperature in the upper portion of the TYPE 4 tank rose locally during filling and that the temperature of the internal liner surface near that area also rose, resulting in a temperature higher than the gas temperature at the center of the tank. To keep the maximum temperature in the tank below the designed temperature (85°C) during filling and examine the representative tank internal temperatures, it is important to examine filling methods that can suppress local rises of tank internal temperature.

The distribution of concentrations of hydrogen leaking into the front compartment and the dispersion after the leak was stopped were investigated to obtain basic data for specifying the mounting positions of hydrogen leak detecting sensors and the threshold values of alarms for compressed hydrogen vehicles. Ignition tests were also conducted to investigate the flammability and the environmental impact (i.e. the impact on human bodies). These tests were also conducted with methane to evaluate the protection against hydrogen leaks in vehicles in comparison with natural gas (methane). We found that the concentration of hydrogen in the front compartment reached 23.7 vol% maximum when hydrogen gas was allowed to leak for 600 sec from the center of the bottom of the wheelbase at a rate of 131 NL/min, which is the allowable limit for a fuel leak at the time of collision of compressed hydrogen vehicles in Japan.

Instantaneous temperature of in-cylinder gas provides a lot of useful and local information for analyzing the combustion process in an internal combustion engine. From the standpoint of applicability to a practical engine, the infrared monochromatic radiation pyrometry required only a single optical window is considered to be more suitable comparing with the conventional infrared absorption-emission pyrometry with two optical windows. Then, the former pyrometer is used to measure the mean gas temperatures averaged on an optical path (or cylinder diameter) of a spark ignition engine connected to a prechamber with a torch nozzle of various area sizes. These measured temperature-crankangle diagrams not only clarify the influences of torch jet flow on the combustion processes, but also correspond well to the heat release rates calculated from the pressure diagrams.

Electronics has greatly contributed to the operation of internal combustion engines. This is especially evident in the benefits that it has brought to drivers, such as enhancing the “Fun to Drive” experience and in reducing the cost of fuel. Moreover, this progress has resulted in minimizing environmental degradation, and yet continuing to support improvements in performance. In the diesel engine, which has superb fuel economy, the innovative progress has been achieved by the common rail technology. The common rail system has the features of high injection pressure control in all engine speed range, highly precise injection control and multiple injections per combustion cycle. The latest 2nd generation of the DENSO common rail system features 1800 bar injection pressure, and five times multiple injection with fully electronic control to ensure precise small injection quantities. This technology has been commercialized into passenger car products in the European market.

Diesel emissions are significant issue worldwide, and emissions requirements have become so tough that. the application of after-treatment systems is now indispensable in many countries To meet even more stringent future emissions requirements, it has become apparent that the improvement of market fuel quality is essential as well as the development in engine and exhaust after-treatment technology. Japan Clean Air Program II (JCAP II) is being conducted to assess the direction of future technologies through the evaluation of current automobile and fuel technologies and consequently to realize near zero emissions and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction. In this program, effects of fuel properties on the performance of diesel engines and a vehicle equipped with two types of diesel NOx emission after-treatment devices, a Urea-SCR system and a NOx storage reduction (NSR) catalyst system, were examined.

This study proposes a method for presenting maneuver request information of accelerator pedal to a driver via the accelerator pedal itself. By applying periodic force like vibration on an accelerator pedal, information is transferred to the driver without displacing the accelerator pedal. In this study, the authors focus on a saw-tooth wave as the periodic force. When the saw-tooth-waved force is applied on the accelerator pedal, a human driver feels as if the accelerator pedal is knocked by someone periodically. In addition, information about the quantity of requested maneuver can be transferred by the amplitude of the saw-tooth wave. Based on these facts, the saw-tooth wave is modified and optimized empirically with ten human drivers so that the information of direction is transferred most reliably. In addition, the relationship between the amplitude of the saw-tooth wave and requested quantity of the pedal maneuver that the drivers feel is formulated.

In Biodiesel Fuel Research Working Group(WG) of Japan Auto-Oil Program(JATOP), some impacts of high biodiesel blends have been investigated from the viewpoints of fuel properties, stability, emissions, exhaust aftertreatment systems, cold driveability, mixing in engine oils, durability/reliability and so on. This report is designed to determine how high biodiesel blends affect oil quality through testing on 2005 regulations engines with DPFs. When blends of 10-20% rapeseed methyl ester (RME) with diesel fuel are employed with 10W-30 engine oil, the oil change interval is reduced to about a half due to a drop in oil pressure. The oil pressure drop occurs because of the reduced kinematic viscosity of engine oil, which resulting from dilution of poorly evaporated RME with engine oil and its accumulation, however, leading to increased wear of piston top rings and cylinder liners.

Shift selection devices are desired to be flexible for design and layout, in order to realize the next generation of cockpits for Lexus vehicles. In addition, refined shift operation feelings are also required to be suitable for Lexus vehicles. To meet these demands, the Lexus LC500 has been equipped with a shift-by-wire system, which replaces the mechanical linkage between the shift selector and transmission with electrical signals and an actuator. This shift-by-wire system will be installed in a wide variety of Lexus powertrain lineup, including conventional gas vehicles and hybrid vehicles. Therefore, the next generation shift-by-wire system for Lexus has been developed with high reliability and applicability. This technology will be essential when autonomous driving and autonomous parking systems are realized in the near future.

Fuel cell vehicles represent a new system, and their safety has not yet been fully proved comparing with present automobile. Thorough safety evaluation is especially needed for the fuel system, which uses hydrogen as fuel, and the electric system, which uses a lot of electricity. The fuel cell stacks that are to be loaded on fuel cell vehicles generate electricity by reacting hydrogen and oxygen through electrolytic polymer membranes which is very thin. The safety of the fuel and electric systems should also be assessed for any abnormality that may be caused by electrolytic polymer membranes for any reasons. The purpose of our tests is to collect basic data to ultimately establish safety standards for fuel cell stacks. Methanol pool flame exposure tests were conducted on stationary use fuel cell stacks of two 200W to evaluate safety in the event of a fire.

Growing trends of connected and autonomous vehicles have pushed for increased resolutions of cameras to 8Mpix and displays to 4K/8K, leading to requirements for high-speed interfaces that support 10Gbps and beyond. Unlike data center or enterprise networks which normally operates under controlled indoor environments, in-vehicle networks are required to operate in harsh temperature and interference environments. Due to cost restrictions, the use of single pair wire is prevalent for in-vehicle networks. In general, as data transmission speed increase, signal spectrum spreads across greater frequency range. Since insertion loss of a channel increases in proportion to signal frequency, it becomes more difficult to secure SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) margins as bit rate increases. This makes it increasingly difficult for a device (e.g. ECUs, sensors, and displays) with high-speed communication interface to meet EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) criteria imposed by automotive OEMs.

This paper describes the reliability of silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET. We clarified the relation between the lifetime of the gate oxide and the crystal defects. We fabricated MOS diodes using thermal oxidation and measured their lifetimes by TDDB (Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown) measurement. The wear-out lifetime is sufficient for hybrid vehicle but many MOS diodes broke in shorter time. The breakdown points were defined by Photo-emission method. Finally, we classified the defects by TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy). A TSD (Threading Screw Dislocation) plays the most important role in the lifetime degradation of the gate oxide. The lifetime of the gate oxide area, in which a TSD is included, is shorter by two orders of magnitude than a wear-out breakdown. The mechanism by which threading dislocations degrade the gate oxide lifetime was not discovered. To explain the degradation, we assumed two models, the shape effect and the oxide quality degradation.

This paper is an attempt to estimate the traffic demand of private vehicles in the Philippines and Thailand toward 2030. Estimation of road traffic volume is one of the most important elements for determining fuel consumption and emission gas levels. The level of passenger car ownership is still low, but there has been a distinct shift toward passenger cars due to the lack of mass transport. In Asian countries, inspection and maintenance and emission standards are the most important policy measures. The projections of car stock are evaluated as the emissions of PM, CO and NOx by applying these policy measures in the case of Thailand.

In this paper, we propose a high voltage brushless AC starter that contributes to improved fuel efficiency and a reduction in the cost of the one-motor two-clutch hybrid system, which we call a 1MG2CL system. We have named it the HV starter, and it is composed of an AC motor, inverter and pinion with a shift mechanism. One of the issues with the 1MG2CL system is the high electrical energy when starting an ICE as it switches over from EV drive to HEV drive. While the ICE is starting, the main motor has to crank the ICE via the clutch; the clutch slips to absorb the main motor power, so the main motor has to output a high power to overcome the loss. Therefore, to contribute to reducing the electrical power by eliminating clutch slip losses, we developed an HV starter as a dedicated ICE starting device. Thanks to the reduction in electrical power, the HV starter is able to improve fuel efficiency and reduce system costs.

The Diesel engine performance was drastically improved since the introduction of the Common Rail system in 1996. Over the years, the Common Rail technology was continuously improved to reduce the fuel consumption, engine-out emissions and enhance the drivability. However further technical improvement steps for a precise control of combustion are required to satisfy the increasing stringent worldwide emissions limits and to contribute to attractively performing Diesel powered vehicles. Common Rail injectors significantly contribute to improve the combustion. This improvement can be achieved by precisely controlling the injected fuel quantity and increasing the injection pressure. In addition to those features, a more rectangular injection rate, the capability of stable multiple injections at shorter intervals and the control of the spray shape, are required to achieve an optimized fuel mixture.