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This work is based on a process to develop novel cellulose microfibre reinforced composite materials, and to understand fundamental mechanical properties of these composites. Cellulose microfibres having diameters <1 μm were generated from bleached kraft pulp by a combination of high shear refining and subsequent cryocrushing under liquid nitrogen, followed by filtration through a 60 mesh screen. Through film casting in polyvinyl alcohol, theoretical stiffness of the microfibres was calculated as 69 GPa. Subsequently, these microfibres were successfully dispersed in the bioplastics thermoplastic starch and polylactic acid (PLA), using conventional processing equipments. The high aspect ratio of these microfibres coupled with their high tensile properties imparted superior mechanical strength and stiffness to the composites. These indicated that by suitably choosing the polymer, excellent reinforcement can be achieved for high end applications like automotive parts.

The air/fuel ratio (AFR) is a key contributor to both the performance and emissions of an automotive engine. Its variation between cylinders - and between engine cycles - is of particular importance, especially during throttle transients. This paper explores the use of a fast flame ionisation detector (FFID) to quantify these rapid changes of in-cylinder composition in the vicinity of the spark gap. While this instrument actually measures fuel concentration, its results can be indicative of the AFR behaviour. Others have used the FFID for this purpose, but the planned test conditions placed special demands on the instrument. These made it prudent to explore the limits of its operating envelope and to validate the experimental technique. For in-cylinder sampling, the instrument must always be insensitive to the large pressure changes over the engine cycle. With the wide range of engine loads of interest here, this constraint becomes even more crucial.

This paper demonstrates the effects of nano-clay on the microcellular foam processing of nylon. First, Nylon 6 nanocomposites with 1 wt% clay were prepared by a twin screw extruder. The nanocomposite structures were characterized by XRD and TEM. Nylon and its nanocomposites were foamed in extrusion using CO2. The cell morphologies of nylon and its nanocomposite foams were investigated. It appeared that the nano-clay not only enhanced cell nucleation, but also suppressed cell deterioration in the microcellular foaming of nylon.

In this work hemp fibers were chemically treated in order to improve the fiber/matrix interaction in hemp fiber/unsaturated polyester composites prepared by a Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) process. Chemicals used for paper sizing (AKD, ASA, Rosin Acid and SMA) as well as a silane compound and sodium hydroxide were used to modify the fibers' surface. The tensile, flexural and impact properties of the resulting materials were measured. A slight improvement in mechanical properties was observed for the SMA, silane and alkali treated specimens. However close analysis of these tests and of the fracture surface of the samples showed that there was no amelioration of the fiber/matrix adhesion. It was found that predicted tensile strengths using the rule of mixture were very close to the experimental values obtained in this work. Finally the properties of an hybrid glass fiber/hemp fiber composite were found to be very promising

The use of natural fibers for polymer composite materials has increased tremendously in the last few years. This type of reinforcements offers many advantages such as low density, low cost, high specific strength and low environmental impacts. The performance of the natural fiber composites are affected by the fiber loading, the individual mechanical properties of each component (fiber and matrix), and the fiber and matrix adhesion. Concerning the interfacial interaction, natural fibers present a major drawback because of poor compatibility of fibers with most hydrophobic thermoplastic and thermoset matrix. Hemp fiber/acrylic composites were manufactured with sheet molding technique recently. Although mechanical tests give promising results, they exhibit low tensile strength resulting from a poor fiber/matrix adhesion. The moisture resistance property of the sheet molded composites also needs further improvement.

The selection of parameters during friction stir spot welding of Al-alloys and Mg-alloys is discussed. The role of tool rotation speed, plunge rate, and dwell time is examined in relation to the tool heating rate,temperature, force, and torque that occur during spot welding. In order to reduce the cycle time and tool force during Al- alloy spot welding, it is necessary to increase the tool rotation speed >1500 RPM. The measured peak temperature in the stir zone is determined by the rotation speed and dwell time, and is ultimately limited by the solidus of the alloy. When tool rotation speeds >1500 RPM are employed during AZ91 Mg-alloy spot welding, the tendency for melted film formation and cracking are greatly increased.

One of the key challenges of the wood polymer composites (WPC) is the inadequate toughness partly due to the incompatibility of the natural fibres and PP matrix. In this work, we performed the surface modification of the natural fibre by either in-situ grafting polymerization of butyl acrylate (PBA) or adsorbing matrix-compatible cationic PBA latex on the fibre surfaces. The results indicated that the mechanical properties of the polypropylene (PP) composites containing the modified fibres, unnotched Izod impact strength in particular, have been improved significantly. The influencing factors and the mechanism of toughening process have also been preliminarily investigated.

Use of natural fiber and / or hybrid thermoplastic composites in the automotive industry can provide the advantages of weight reduction, cost reduction and recyclability, in addition to eco-efficiency and renewability compared to synthetic conventional materials. Besides the mechanical performance of the composites, thermal properties, durability, and recyclability of the natural fiber or hybrid composites are also to be investigated to demonstrate their potential candidacy as structural members in automotive applications. The main objective of this research work was to evaluate thermal properties, creep properties, and recyclability of the natural fiber and natural fiber hybrid composites in comparison with 30-40wt% long glass fiber filled thermoplastic composites. Composites were prepared by melt blending the thermoplastic, fiber and compatibilizer followed by granulation and injection molding of the compound into test specimens.

Widely used in automotive industry, lightweight metallic structures are a key contributor to fuel efficiency and reduced emissions of vehicles. Lightweight structures are traditionally designed through employing the material distribution techniques sequentially. This approach often leads to non-optimal designs due to constricting the design space in each step of the design procedure. The current study presents a novel Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) framework developed to address this issue. Topology, topography, and gauge optimization techniques are employed in the development of design modules and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is linked to the MDO framework to ensure efficient searching in large design spaces often encountered in automotive applications. The developed framework is then further tailored to the design of an automotive Cross-Car Beam (CCB) assembly.

A hydrostatic actuation system referred to as the Electro Hydraulic Actuator (EHA) has been designed and prototyped. In this paper, a mathematical model of the EHA is reviewed and analyzed. This theoretical analysis is supported by open-loop experimental results that indicate the presence of nonlinearities but at a degree that is considerably less than that of conventional hydraulic systems with servo-valves. The behavior of the system can be approximated as piece-wise linear with the damping ratio and natural frequency changing according to a piece-wise operating region. The EHA model is used in conjunction with experimentation and numerical optimization for quantifying the influence of unknown parameters in this system. A parametric model for the EHA is subsequently proposed and validated.

A novel processing method for fabricating high porosity microcellular ceramic foams for sound absorption applications has been developed. The strategy for fabricating the ceramic foams involves: (i) forming some shapes using a mixture of preceramic polymer and expandable microspheres by a conventional ceramic forming method, (ii) foaming the compact by heating, (iii) cross-linking the foamed body, and (iv) transforming the foamed body into ceramic foams by pyrolysis. By controlling the microsphere content and that of the base elastomer, it was possible to adjust the porosity with a very high open-cell content (ranging between 43 - 95%), high microcellular cell densities (9 × 108 - 1.6 × 109 cells/cm3) and desired expansion ratios (3 - 6 folds). Sound absorption testing has been performed using ASTM C-384 standard test. The preliminary results show that ceramic foams are candidate sound absorption materials.

The performance of low-adhesion surfaces in a realistic, in-flight icing environment with supercooled liquid droplets is evaluated using a NACA 0018 airfoil in the National Research Council of Canada Altitude Icing Wind Tunnel. This project was completed in collaboration with McGill University, the University of Toronto and the NRC Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies Centre in March 2022. Each collaborator used significantly different methods to produce low-adhesion surface treatments. The goal of the research program was to demonstrate if the low-adhesion surfaces reduced the energy required to de-ice or anti-ice an airfoil in an in-flight icing environment. Each collaborator had been developing their own low-adhesion surfaces, using bench tests in cold rooms and a spin rig in the wind tunnel to evaluate their performance. The most promising surface treatments were selected for testing on the airfoil.

Eco-efficient and cost effective natural fibre - thermoplastic composites have gained attention to a great extent in the automotive industry. Most of the OEM specifications for automotive interior parts, for example, instrument panels, recommend the composite should have a minimum flexural modulus of 1900 MPa, a notched Impact strength greater than 150 J/m at room temperature and a melt flow index of 5 g/10min and above [1, 2 and 3]. The objective of this work was to develop a high performance hybrid composite by injection molding process of the composites made from natural fibre in combination with glass fibre or calcium carbonate in a thermoplastic matrix to meet the specifications required for automotive interior parts applications. Mechanical properties, such as tensile and flexural strengths and moduli of the composites prepared, were found to be highly promising.

Optical fiber probes were used to measure the soot temperature and estimate the soot concentration inside the cylinder of a DI diesel engine. The probes were mounted at various locations on the head of the test engine, and the measurements were performed under different load levels. Using the two-color method, the variations in temperature and soot mass concentration during the combustion process were examined with temporal and spatial resolution. It was observed that soot formation is rapid and is associated with heterogeneity in the early stage of combustion. Moreover, the soot formation mechanism seems to be independent of the engine load. In contrast, soot oxidation is relatively slow. Data obtained at several different load levels are presented, and the effects of various error sources on the accuracy of the measurement technique are also investigated.

Natural fiber mat (NMT) composites are ecologically and energetically beneficial because of their light-weight at high fibre content. This study demonstrated that the use of loose natural fibre in NMT process could lead to tremendous improvement in the shock absorption properties. It is also concluded that in NMT process fibre length above the critical length of fibre hardly affects the mechanical strength. The process is relatively easy one-step molding technique to provide large dimensions. The process also demonstrated promise in reducing the cost of the composite parts by minimizing/eliminating the use of natural fibre nonwoven mat and replacement of glass fibre.

Adiabatic two-phase flow experiments have been carried out in an evaporator plate assembly which has entry and exit header vestibules on one side and a U pattern flow passage with round or cross ribbed protuberance in the channel. Over the practical flow range in common installation orientations, non-uniform distributions were found in both surface wetting on the internal walls of a single channel and the flow rates in a number of parallel channels. The poor performances of the plate surface wetting in single channel and the flow distribution in the multiple channels would severely limit the heat transfer capability of the current designs.

Particulate matter emissions from gasoline direct injection engines are a concern due to the health effects associated with ultrafine particles. This experimental study investigated sources of particulate matter emissions variability observed in previous tests and also examined the effect of ethanol content in gasoline on particle number (PN) concentrations and particle mass (PM) emissions. FTIR measurements of gas phase hydrocarbon emissions provided evidence that changes in fuel composition were responsible for the variability. Exhaust emissions of toluene and ethanol correlated positively with emitted PN concentrations, while emissions of isobutylene correlated negatively. Exhaust emissions of toluene and isobutylene were interpreted as markers of gasoline aromatic content and gasoline volatility respectively.

The major disadvantage of powder metallurgy (PM) is the density gradient throughout the green powder compacts. During the compaction process, due to the existence of friction at powder-tool interfaces, the contact surfaces experience a non-uniform stress distribution having to do with variable friction coefficient and tool kinematics, consequently resulting in density gradient throughout the powder compacts. This represents a serious problem in terms of the reliability and performance of a final product, as the density gradient may contribute to a crack-defect generation during the compaction cycle, and more importantly a non-uniform compact shrinkage during the sintering process. Simulation analyses were conducted using the finite element software, MSC.Marc Mentat, and Shima and Oyane powder constitutive model, to study and suppress the causes of density gradient in the cylindrically shaped green powder compacts.

Friction stir spot welding of Mg-alloy AZ91 is investigated. The temperature cycles within the stir zone and in the TMAZ region are examined using thermocouples, which are located within the tool itself and also by locating thermocouples in drilled holes at specific locations relative to the bottom of the tool shoulder and the periphery of the rotating pin. The measured temperatures in the stir zone range from 437°C to 460°C (0.98Ts, where Ts is the solidus temperature in degrees Kelvin) in AZ91 spot welds produced using plunge rates from 2.5 and 25 mm/s. The thermal cycle within the stir zone formed during AZ91 spot welding could not be measured by locating thermocouples within the workpiece in drilled holes adjacent to the periphery of the rotating pin.

Measurements were taken of the speciated aldehyde and ketone exhaust emissions from a modern four-cylinder engine fuelled with natural gas. The effect on these emissions of varying the engine operating parameters spark timing, exhaust gas recirculation rate, engine speed, and fuel/air equivalence ratio was examined. The influence of these operating parameters on the complete reactivity-weighted emissions with natural gas fuelling is predicted. With stoichiometric fuel/air mixtures, both the total hydrocarbons and formaldehyde emissions declined with increasing exhaust gas temperature and increasing in-cylinder residence time, suggesting that formaldehyde burn-up in the exhaust process largely controls its emissions levels. Closer examination of the aldehyde emissions shows they follow trends more like those of the non-fuel, intermediate hydrocarbon species ethane and acetylene, than like the trends of the fuel components methane and ethane.