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Gasoline engines employ various mechanisms for improvement of fuel consumption and reduction of exhaust emissions to deal with environmental problems. Direct fuel injection is one such technology. This paper presents a new quasi-dimensional combustion model applicable to direct injection gasoline engine. The Model consists of author's original in-cylinder turbulence and mixture homogeneity sub model suitable for direct fuel injection conditions. Model validation results exhibit good agreement with experimental and 3D CFD data at steady state and transient operating conditions.

Technologies for improving the fuel economy of gasoline engines have been vigorously developed in recent years for the purpose of reducing CO2 emissions. Increasing the compression ratio is an example of a technology for improving the thermal efficiency of gasoline engines. A significant issue of a high compression ratio engine for improving fuel economy and low-end torque is prevention of knocking under a low engine speed. Knocking is caused by autoignition of the air-fuel mixture in the cylinder and seems to be largely affected by heat transfer from the intake port and combustion chamber walls. In this study, the influence of heat transfer from the walls of each part was analyzed by the following three approaches using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and experiments conducted with a multi-cooling engine system. First, the temperature rise of the air-fuel mixture by heat transfer from each part was analyzed.

This paper describes a study of drag reduction devices for production pick-up trucks with a body-on-frame structure using full-scale wind tunnel testing and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. First, the flow structure around a pick-up truck was investigated and studied, focusing in particular on the flow structure between the cabin and tailgate. It was found that the flow structure around the tailgate was closely related to aerodynamic drag. A low drag flow structure was found by flow analysis, and the separation angle at the roof end was identified as being important to achieve the flow structure. While proceeding with the development of a new production model, a technical issue of the flow structure involving sensitivity to the vehicle velocity was identified in connection with optimization of the roof end shape. (1)A tailgate spoiler was examined for solving this issue.

There have been strong demands recently for reductions in the fuel consumption and exhaust emissions of diesel engines from the standpoints of conserving energy and curbing global warming. A great deal of research is being done on new emission control technologies using direct-injection (DI) diesel engines that provide high thermal efficiency. This work includes dramatic improvements in the combustion process. The authors have developed a new combustion concept called Modulated Kinetics (MK), which reduces smoke and NOx levels simultaneously by reconciling low-temperature combustion with pre-mixed combustion [1, 2]. At present, research is under way on the second generation of MK combustion with the aim of improving emission performance further and achieving higher thermal efficiency [3]. Reducing heat rejection in the combustion chamber is effective in improving the thermal efficiency of DI diesel engines as well as that of MK combustion.

Various radar systems have been proposed as collision avoidance sensors for automatic braking and warning applications. Practical use of laser radar systems is near with the introduction of high power, high reliability laser diodes. Utilizing these new devices, a laser radar system has been adapted for measuring the distance to objects in its path. It was first shown that reflectors on the rear of the automobile possess high reflectivity and sharp directivity. Given these characteristics, a compact laser radar system was tested that employed 12W laser diodes and PIN photodiodes. The maximum range of approximately 100 m was obtained. Furthermore, the ability to discriminate other vehicles from roadside objects was achieved by detecting discontinuity in measured distance data through a microprocessor. These results show that the performance of laser radar is comparable to that of microwave radar.

Technologies for improving the fuel economy of gasoline engines have been vigorously developed in recent years for the purpose of reducing CO2 emissions. Increasing the compression ratio for improving thermal efficiency and downsizing the engine based on fuel-efficient operating conditions are good examples of technologies for enhancing gasoline engine fuel economy. A direct-injection system is adopted for most of these engines. Direct injection can prevent knocking by lowering the in-cylinder temperature through fuel evaporation in the cylinder. Therefore, direct injection is highly compatible with downsized engines that frequently operate under severe supercharging conditions for improving fuel economy as well as with high compression ratio engines for which susceptibility to knocking is a disadvantage.

The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the mechanism of knocking with respect to flame propagation behavior based on 3D simulations conducted with the Universal Coherent Flamelet Model. Flame propagation behavior under the influence of in-cylinder flow was analyzed on the basis of the calculated results and experimental visualizations. Tumble and swirl flows were produced in the cylinder by inserting various baffle plates in the middle of the intake port. A comparison of the measured and calculated flame propagation behavior showed good agreement for various in-cylinder flow conditions. The results indicate that in-cylinder flow conditions vary the flame propagation shape from the initial combustion period and strongly influence the occurrence of knocking.

It is well known that the wheels and tires account for approximately 25% of the overall aerodynamic drag of a vehicle. This is because the contribution of the tires to aerodynamic drag stems from not only aerodynamic drag itself directly caused by exposure to the main flow (tire CD), but also from aerodynamic drag indirectly caused by the interference between tire wakes and the upper body flow (body CD). In the literature, as far as the authors are aware, there have been no reports that have included the following all four aspects at once: (1) CD sensitivity to detailed tire shape factors; (2) CD sensitivity differences due to different vehicle body types; (3) CD sensitivity for each aerodynamic drag component, i.e., tire CD and body CD; (4) Flow structure and mechanism contributing to each aerodynamic drag component. The purpose of this study was to clarify CD sensitivity to tire shape factors for tire CD and body CD considering two different vehicle body types, sedan and SUV.

A two-channel LDV system is used to obtain accurate airflow measurements around scale models of passenger cars in wind tunnel tests at the Nissan Research Center. A 2-watt argon-ion laser is employed as the light source. The main optical unit and probe head are connected by optical fibers. The probe head consists of a compact LDV probe with a beam expander and focusing lens with a long focal length can be easily traversed. A new type of signal processor, performing a digital autocorrelation function, is employed to process the Doppler signals. Mean airflow velocities and turbulence intensities are calculated by a micro computer to evaluate the flow fields. The results of preliminary experiments conducted with this system indicate that the system is not only capable of measuring the mean velocity components, including reverse flow, it can also provide accurate estimation of turbulence components.

This paper deals with a vehicle detection method for realizing a blind spot warning function, under various environmental conditions. We introduced a method that is capable of discriminating the target object vehicles, under poor lighting conditions and in cases where the lens may be exposed to splashes in wet, snow and dirt roads. The image sensing of the vehicle detection consists of four functional components: obstacle detection, velocity estimation, vertical edge detection, and final classification. Such componets allow robust performances resembling geometry based approaches, with low calculation power as an apperance based approach. This paper describes the functional components, and furthermore methods to enhance the performances under low contrast conditions and also suppress false detections caused by residue on the lens, which becomes essential for installation on vehicles driven in actual road conditions.

In making driver workload assessments, it is important to evaluate the driver's level of brain activity because the operation of a motor vehicle presumably involves higher-order brain functions. Driving on narrow roads in particular probably imposes a load on the driver's brain functions because of the need to be cognizant of the tight space and to pay close attention to the surroundings. Test vehicles were fitted with a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) system for measuring bloodstream concentrations at 32 locations in the frontal lobe of the participating drivers in order to evaluate their levels of mental activity while driving on narrow roads. The results revealed significant increases in cerebral blood flow corresponding to the perceived workload. This suggests that increases in cerebral blood flow can be used as an effective index for estimating mental workloads.

This paper deals with the development of plastics recycling technology, which is one key to resolving environmental and natural resource problems and encouraging recycling activities. Bumpers are among the heaviest plastic auto parts, so the technology for recycling bumpers is strongly required. Paint remaining on bumpers causes the strength of the recycled material to decline and degrades its surface quality. Therefore, unless the paint is removed, it is impossible to use recycled material to manufacture new bumpers. This hampers recycling efforts and results in low-value recycled material. Consequently, it is essential to develop a simple paint removing without chemical substances for practical plastics recycling at low cost. Two topics are discussed in this paper. The first concerns the mechanism of paint removal and the development of a technique for utilizing that mechanism.

An active vision system equipped with a high-speed pulsed light-emitting projector and a high-speed image sensor is proposed and applied to lane marker detection in this paper. The proposed system has the capability to suppress image information obtained from the background light and provides only the image information from the signal light emitted by the projector. This is accomplished by synchronizing image capture with the time of signal light emission. To reduce the power consumption and cost of the system, a relatively low intensity projector is used as the light source. The background illuminance on a bright day can be much higher than that of the signal. To improve the signal-to-background ratio, the signal light is modulated using a pulse width modulation technique. Then, the image is captured using a high-speed camera operating in synchronization with the time the signal light is emitted.

The use of CAE software in developing plastic components has advanced rapidly in recent years. This progress has been supported by the development of practical analytical tools, based on the finite element and boundary element methods, and on the dramatic improvements seen in computer performance. Following the introduction of a flow analysis program in 1982, Nissan has developed and implemented advanced programs for use in developing plastic components and has integrated the programs into a unified in-house system. This system is being utilized at the design and manufacturing stages of interior and exterior trim parts and has produced concrete results in different phases of component development. Work is now proceeding on the development of a system that can simultaneously analyze both the component performance and the factors that need to be considered in the manufacturing process.

This paper presents a study of mixture formation in the combustion chamber of a direct-injection SI engine. In-cylinder flow measurement was conducted using laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) and particle image velocimetry (PIV), and visualization of fuel vapor behavior was done using laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). Further, fast response flame ionization detector (FID) was used to measure the hydrocarbon (HC) concentrations in the vicinity of the spark plug. Thereby mixture concentrations in the vicinity of the spark plug, within the mixture distribution observed using LIF, were quantified. Results revealed that an upward flow forms near the center of the cylinder in the latter half of the compression stroke and goes from the piston crown toward the cylinder head. This upward flow is caused by the synergistic effect of the swirl motion generated in the cylinder and the cylindrical bowl provided in the piston crown eccentrically to the central axis of the cylinder.

Experimental investigations were previously conducted with a direct-injection diesel engine with the aim of reducing exhaust emissions, especially nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). As a result of that work, a combustion concept, called Modulated Kinetics (MK) combustion, was developed that reduces NOx and smoke simultaneously through low-temperature combustion and premixed combustion to achieve a cleaner diesel engine. In subsequent work, it was found that applying a low compression ratio was effective in expanding the MK combustion region on the high-load side. The MK concept was then combined with an exhaust after-treatment system and applied to a test vehicle. The results indicated the attainment of ULEV emission levels, albeit in laboratory evaluations. In the present work, the combination of the MK combustion concept and certain fuel properties has been experimentally investigated with the aim of reducing exhaust emissions further.

Because of rising demands to improve aerodynamic performance owing to its impact on vehicle dynamics, efforts were previously made to reduce aerodynamic lift and yawing moment based on steady-state measurements of aerodynamic forces. In recent years, increased research on dynamic aerodynamics has partially explained the impact of aerodynamic forces on vehicle dynamics. However, it is difficult to measure aerodynamic forces while a vehicle is in motion, and also analyzing the effect on vehicle dynamics requires measurement of vehicle behavior, amount of steering and other quantities noiselessly, as well as an explanation of the mutual influence with aerodynamic forces. Consequently, the related phenomena occurring in the real world are still not fully understood.

Simultaneous crank-angle-resolved measurements of gasoline vapor concentration, gas temperature, and liquid fuel droplet scattering were made with three-color infrared absorption in a direct-injection spark-ignition engine with premium gasoline. The infrared light was coupled into and out of the cylinder using fiber optics incorporated into a modified spark plug, allowing measurement at a location adjacent to the spark plug electrode. Two mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser wavelengths were simultaneously produced by difference-frequency-generation in periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) using one signal and two pump lasers operating in the near-infrared (near-IR). A portion of the near-IR signal laser residual provided a simultaneous third, non-resonant, wavelength for liquid droplet detection. This non-resonant signal was used to subtract the influence of droplet scattering from the resonant mid-IR signals to obtain vapor absorption signals in the presence of droplet extinction.

Nissan Motor has put on the European SUV market a 2.2-L direct-injection diesel engine with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) system that complies with the EURO IV emission regulations. This paper describes the DPF system, cooperative control of a variable geometry turbo (VGT) and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), and a high-accuracy lambda control adopted for this engine. In order to achieve a compact DPF, the high-accuracy lambda control was developed to reduce variation in engine-out particulate matter (PM) emissions. Moreover, the accuracy of the technique for predicting the quantity of PM accumulation was improved for reliable detection of the DPF regeneration. Prediction error for PM accumulation increases during transient operation. Control logic was adopted to correct the PM prediction according to lambda fluctuation detected by an observer for lambda at cylinder under transient operating conditions. The observer is corrected lambda sensor output.

Surface roughness of steel sheet for automotive use is one of the most important control items, because the surface roughness influences image clarity of painted surface, press formability and easiness in handling during manufacturing and processing of steel sheets. Laser texturing technology is introduced into a roll finishing process of cold rolling, and new type of regular surface roughness profile can be processed on the surface of steel sheets. Effective application method of this technology is investigated at the present day. In Japan, Laser-textured dull steel sheets are used for outer-panels of automotive body as the first application. And image clarity after painting of outer panels has been successful in improving. Nowadays, Laser texturing technology is actually used for manufacturing the high image clarity steel sheets, and they are manufactured in large quantities. Another application of Laser texturing technology is for the inner parts which require pressformability.