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Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are equipped with Mobile Air Conditioning systems (MACs) to ensure a comfortable cabin temperature in all climates and ambient conditions as well as the optional conditioning of the traction battery. An assessment of the global electrical energy consumption of various MACs has been derived, where the basis of the assessment procedure is the climate data GREEN-MAC-LCCP 2007 (Global Refrigerants Energy & Environmental - Mobile Air Condition - Life Cycle Climate Performance) and the improved LCCP2013 (Life Cycle Climate Performance. The percentage driving time during 6 AM and 24 PM is divided into six different temperature bins with the solar radiation and relative humidity for 211 cities distributed over Europe, North, Central, and South America, Asia, South West Pacific, and Africa. The energy consumption of the MACs is determined by a thermal vehicle simulation. In this work, four different MACs are simulated and compared.

This paper summarizes the validation of prototype vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) safety applications based on Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) in the United States under a cooperative agreement between the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partners LLC (CAMP) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). After consideration of a number of V2I safety applications, Red Light Violation Warning (RLVW), Curve Speed Warning (CSW) and Reduced Speed Zone Warning with Lane Closure Warning (RSZW/LC) were developed, validated and demonstrated using seven different vehicles (six passenger vehicles and one Class 8 truck) leveraging DSRC-based messages from a Road Side Unit (RSU). The developed V2I safety applications were validated for more than 20 distinct scenarios and over 100 test runs using both light- and heavy-duty vehicles over a period of seven months. Subsequently, additional on-road testing of CSW on public roads and RSZW/LC in live work zones were conducted in Southeast Michigan.

In this paper the emissions of regulated and unregulated exhaust gas components of a fleet of diesel passenger cars measured at Volkswagen in the eighties are compared with the results of a new investigation on modern direct-injection diesel vehicles. The potential of improved diesel fuels to reduce emissions is also examined. The emissions of regulated exhaust gas components as well as fuel consumption have been reduced significantly in the last years as a result of the systematic further development of conventional swirl chamber engines and exhaust gas after-treatment as well as the introduction of SDI/TDI engines. As was to be expected, this has also had a positive effect on the emissions of unregulated exhaust gas components. It has been possible, for example, to reduce the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons adsorbed on diesel particulates by more than 95%.

An investigation was conducted to elucidate, how the latest turbocharged, direct injection Volkswagen diesel engine generation with cylinder pressure based closed loop control, to be launched in the US in 2008, reacts to fuel variability. A de-correlated fuels matrix was designed to bracket the range of US market fuel properties, which allowed a clear correlation of individual fuel properties with engine response. The test program consisting of steady state operating points showed that cylinder pressure based closed loop control successfully levels out the influence of fuel ignition quality, showing the effectiveness of this new technology for markets with a wide range of fuel qualities. However, it also showed that within the cetane range tested (39 to 55), despite the constant combustion mid-point, cetane number still has an influence on particulate and gaseous emissions. Volatility and energy density also influence the engine's behavior, but less strongly.

Looking for car weight reduction related to the use of High Strength Steels (HSS) for manufacturing body-in-white components, an innovative application of the high velocity forming techniques has been developed: the Electro Magnetic (EM) calibration and elimination of the spring-back effect (sidewall curl) of High Strength Steel U-channels. Within this paper the initial tests on L and U-shaped parts will be presented. Being the mechanical stiffness the main parameter for improving the coil endurance, the prediction of the coil strains under EM forces is a basic issue, which has been addressed within this study.

The use of a newly developed approach results in a highly accurate three dimensional analysis of the occupant movement. The central point of the new method is the calculation of precise body-trajectories by fitting standard sensor-measurements to video analysis data. With the new method the accuracy of the calculated trajectories is better than 5 to 10 millimeters. These body trajectories then form the basis for a new multi-body based numerical method, which allows the three dimensional reconstruction of the dummy kinematics. In addition, forces and moments acting on every single body are determined. In principle, the body movement is reconstructed by prescribing external forces and moments to every single body requiring that it follows the measured trajectory. The newly developed approach provides additional accurate information for the development engineers. For example the motion of dummy body parts not tracked by video analysis can be determined.

The improvement of vehicle soiling behavior has increasing interest over the past few years not only to satisfy customer requirements and ensure a good visibility of the surrounding traffic but also for autonomous vehicles, for which soiling investigation and improvement are even more important due to the demands of the cleanliness and induced functionality of the corresponding sensors. The main task is the improvement of the soiling behavior, i.e., reduction or even prevention of soiling of specific surfaces, for example, windows, mirrors, and sensors. This is mostly done in late stages of vehicle development and performed by experiments, e.g., wind tunnel tests, which are supplemented by simulation at an early development stage. Among other sources, the foreign soiling on the side mirror and the side window depend on the droplet detaching from the side mirror housing.

Strategic Materials at Reaction Temperatures (SMART) is an approach used to design washcoat systems for passive 4-way emission control catalysts. Light duty diesel vehicles need to meet the European Motor Vehicle Emissions Group (MVEG) cycle or U. S. Federal test procedure (FTP 75). Emissions that are monitored include hydrocarbon (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and total particulate matter (TPM). Low engine-exhaust temperatures (< 200°C during city driving) and high temperatures (> 500-800°C under full load and wide-open throttle) make emission control a formidable task for the catalyst designer Gas phase HC, CO and NOx reactions must be balanced with the removal of the soluble organic fraction for the vehicle to be in compliance with regulations. The SMART approach uses model gases under typical operating conditions in the laboratory to better understand the function of individual washcoat components.

In a consortium of European industrial partners and research institutes, a combination of industrial development and scientific research was organised. The objective was to improve the catalytic NOx conversion for lean burn cars and heavy-duty trucks, taking into account boundary conditions for the fuel consumption. The project lasted for three years. During this period parallel research was conducted in research areas ranging from basic research based on a theoretical approach to full scale emission system development. NOx storage catalysts became a central part of the project. Catalysts were evaluated with respect to resistance towards sulphur poisoning. It was concluded that very low sulphur fuel is a necessity for efficient use of NOx trap technology. Additionally, attempts were made to develop methods for reactivating poisoned catalysts. Methods for short distance mixing were developed for the addition of reducing agent.

Compatibility has been a passive safety research issue for many years. Great advancements in secondary (passive) safety have been achieved in the last decades through focussing on the self-protection level provided by passenger cars. The next step is to consider the other vehicle involved in the collision as well. Compatibility relates to the simultaneous improvement of both self- and partner- protection. Several tests procedures have been proposed around the world to assess the compatibility of passenger cars. None are considered ready to be implemented. This paper shows that controlling vehicle front-end geometry is the most feasible step to improve both self- and partner-protection. Through this, an increase in the structural interaction potential offered by passenger cars would result. To improve structural interaction, a convergence of front-end structures, to within certain vertical limits, is necessary.

Quantitative 1-D spatially-resolved NO LIF measurements in the combustion chamber of a mass-production SI engine with port-fuel injection using a tunable KrF excimer laser are presented. One of the main advantages of this approach is that KrF laser radiation at 248 nm is only slightly absorbed by the in-cylinder gases during engine combustion and therefore it allows measurements at all crank angles. Multispecies detection turned out to be crucial for this approach since it is possible to calculate the in-cylinder temperature from the detected Rayleigh scattering and the simultaneously acquired pressure traces. Additionally, it allows the monitoring of interfering emissions and spectroscopic effects like fluorescence trapping which turned out to take place. Excitation with 248 nm yields LIF emissions at shorter wavelengths than the laser wavelength (at 237 and 226 nm).

Precise three-dimensional dummy head trajectories during crash tests are very important for vehicle safety development. To determine precise trajectories with a standard deviation of approximately 5 millimeters, three-dimensional video analysis is an approved method. Therefore the tracked body is to be seen on at least two cameras during the whole crash term, which is often not given (e.g. head dips into the airbag). This non-continuity problem of video analysis is surmounted by numerical integration of differential un-interrupted electrical rotation and acceleration sensor signals mounted into the tracked body. Problems of this approach are unknown sensor calibration errors and unknown initial conditions, which result in trajectory deviations above 10 centimeters.

The measurement of 3D coordinates using optical techniques is well known for more than 50 years. Today, modern photogrammetric systems are based on handheld digital cameras and are used to identify the location of any circular marker or feature on the object's surface. The ease of use and the accurate and automated derivation of 3D coordinates from 2D digital images helped to establish a powerful tool for position control, assembly checks and reverse engineering. A new application is the analysis of real vehicle crashes. The location of hundreds of markers on the damaged vehicle can easily be determined in vehicle body position. These coordinates are being compared to the undeformed geometry and provide herby 3D information on any displacement. Using reverse engineering techniques, surfaces are created from the 3D points and thus a 3D model of the crashed vehicle is available for an easy visualization of the deformation.

This paper describes an investigation of one operating point of the transient warmup curve of a gasoline engine. Coolant liquid and oil of this engine have been cooled down to a constant low level in order to perform detailed measurements and an analysis of this particular warmup point. The influence of low coolant temperature, different pressure drop in an air assisted fuel injection system and a variation of ignition angles on specific fuel consumption, exhaust emissions, energy conversion etc. will be shown. The results show that the suggested test procedure (keeping the coolant temperature at a constant low level) provides the possibility to simulate the behaviour of an engine with air assisted fuel injection during warmup. During this warmup period it is desired to run the engine with retarded ignition timing to realize a fast catalyst warmup.

Dry dust testing of vehicles on unpaved dust roads plays a crucial role in the development process of automotive manufacturers. One of the central aspects of the test procedure is ensuring the functionality of locking systems in the case of dust ingress and keeping the dust below a certain concentration level inside the vehicle. Another aspect is the customer comfort because of dust deposited on the surface of the car body. This also poses a safety risk to customers when the dust settles on safety-critical parts such as windshields and obstructs the driver’s view. Dust deposition on sensors is also safety critical and is becoming more important because of the increasing amount of sensors for autonomous driving. Nowadays, dust tests are conducted experimentally at dust proving grounds. To gain early insights and avoid costly physical testing, numerical simulations are considered a promising approach. Simulations of vehicle contamination by dry dust have been studied in the past.

A new measurement system for dummy movement and chassis deformation in crash tests overcomes the restriction of blind areas in the existing photo camera observation. An inertial platform technique with micromechanical acceleration and rotation speed sensors is applied. Reconstruction of the original movement with tolerances of a few millimeters can be achieved. Various tests in automotive applications have demonstrated the performance and robustness of the system.

Dust testing of vehicles on unpaved roads is crucial in the development process for automotive manufacturers. These tests aim to ensure the functionality of locking systems in dusty conditions, minimize dust concentration inside the vehicle, and enhance customer comfort by preventing dust accumulation on the car body. Additionally, deposition on safety-critical parts, such as windshields and sensors, can pose threats to driver vision and autonomous driving capabilities. Currently, dust tests are primarily conducted experimentally at proving grounds. In order to gain early insights and reduce the need for costly physical tests, numerical simulations are becoming a promising alternative. Although simulations of vehicle contamination by dry dust have been studied in the past, they have often lacked detailed models for tire dust resuspension. In addition, few publications address the specifics of dust deposition on vehicles, especially in areas such as door gaps and locks.

Over the past years, the question as to what may be the powertrain of the future has become ever more apparent. Aiming to improve upon a given technology, the internal combustion engine still offers a number of development paths in order to maintain its position in public and private mobility. In this study, an innovative combustion process is investigated with the goal to further approximate the ideal Otto cycle. Thus far, similar approaches such as Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) shared the same objective yet were unable to be operated under high load conditions. Highly increased control efforts and excessive mechanical stress on the components are but a few examples of the drawbacks associated with HCCI. The approach employed in this work is the so-called Spark Assisted Compression Ignition (SACI) in combination with a pre-chamber spark plug, enabling short combustion durations even at high dilution levels.

To date, no generally valid statements can be made about the service life of brake pads, which may be due to factors such as driving style, the friction material used or the varying vehicle weight. While dynamic friction models including friction history are already established [1], the investigation of wear and wear dust behavior is currently in the focus of many research projects. One example is the investigation of calculation models for brake pad wear while neglecting the temperature development in the brake [2]. In cars, temperatures of up to 800°C occur in the brake under high loads, which leads to a significant increase in wear. Accordingly, the question arises how an estimation of brake pad wear can be applied to highly dynamic load cases. To do this, however, the processes taking place in the boundary layer between pad and disc must first be comprehensively understood and described.

Even though a number of developed countries enjoy a high level of vehicle safety, more than 1.2 million fatalities still occur each year on roadways worldwide. There remains a need to continue improving vehicle and road safety. New technologies in sensors and electronic control units, and the growing knowledge of car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure technologies have led to a fusion of the previously separated areas of accident avoidance (popularly known as active safety) and mitigation of injuries (popularly known as passive safety) into the newer concept of integrated vehicle safety. This new approach represents a further step toward lowering accident rates. This book, written by two of the foremost automotive engineering safety experts, takes a unique and comprehensive approach to describing all areas of vehicle safety: accident avoidance, pre-crash, mitigation of injuries, and post-crash technologies, providing a solutions-based perspective of integrated vehicle safety.