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Emission of carbon dioxide from mobile sources seriously concerned to solve greenhouse effect and high price of gasoline in some countries have resulted in the development of lean-burn concept engine. In spite of many studies on the lean deNOx catalyst, we have no clear solution to obtain high fuel economy and high efficiency of NOx conversion in lean-burn application. This paper describes applicability and problems of NOx adsorber system to partial lean-burn vehicle, the development of three-way catalyst with improvement of washcoat technology based on three-way catalyst used for gasoline application, and comparison test results of evaluations is synthesized gas activity test, Federal Test Procedure (FTP) test, etc. This study shows improved three-way catalysts in partial lean- burn vehicle have max. 89% of NOx conversion in FTP without adding rich spike and regeneration functions to engine management system.

There have been strong moves in recent years to introduce the metal matrix composites concept into higher volume applications, notably the automotive field where large volume production and lower material costs are required. The wettability between reinforcing materials and base material is one of important factors for the strength of composites and its manufacture. The main objective of this paper is to establish a basic understanding of wetting phenomena in SiC/liquid aluminum and aluminum alloy systems. In the present paper, results from the sessile drop method are reported for the effects on the wetting angle, θ, of free silicon in the silicon carbide substrate and of alloying additions of silicon, copper or magnesium to the aluminum drop for the temperature range 700-900 or 1400°C in the titanium-gettered vacuum (1.3 x 10-2 / 1.3 x 10-3 Pa).

Fuel tank in vehicle must hold the fuel in a stable way under any driving condition. However, the fuel tank might not conserve the fuel firmly in case a crack emerged while the fuel tank is exposed to different driving condition. Basically, when the engine is in purging at a normal ambient temperature before fuel boiling, the pressure inside the fuel tank decreases. However, the pressure inside a fuel tank increases while a vehicle is driven at extreme hot ambient temperature as fuel is boiling. This repetitive pressure change in the fuel tank comes with fuel tank’s physical expansion and shrink, which would cause a damage to the fuel tank. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the root cause of why fuel tank cracks at a fatigue point. We also aim to set up the method of how to test durability of the fuel tank in association with the pressure inside the tank.

The effects of tempering on carburized Cr-Mo gear steel were investigated through mechanical and fatigue tests. Specimens were carburized at 900°C for 180 minutes, and then oil quenched at 150°C for 10 minutes of holding time and cooled to room temperature. The subsequent tempering process was performed to 160°C for 90 minutes. Surface hardness and residual compressive stress were decreased by tempering treatment, whereas tensile strength, yield strength and impact energy were increased. Bending fatigue endurance limits for both tempered and untempered specimens were same as 779MPa. The strength of roller contact fatigue is also not greatly influenced by tempering treatment. Thermal distortion for carburized transfer driven gear before and after tempering exhibited a similar distribution. Microstructural changes during tempering were also discussed.

This session covers topics regarding new CI and SI engines and components. This includes analytical, experimental, and computational studies covering hardware development as well as design and analysis techniques. Presenter Sung Hoon Lee, Hyundai Motor Co.

As CO2 legislation tightens, the next generation of turbocharged gasoline engines must meet stricter emissions targets combined with increased fuel efficiency standards. Recent studies have shown that the following technologies offer significant improvements to the efficiency of turbocharged GDI engines: Miller Cycle via late intake valve closing (LIVC), low pressure loop cooled EGR (LPL EGR), port water injection (PWI), and cylinder deactivation (CDA). While these efficiency-improving technologies are individually well-understood, in this study we directly compare these technologies to each other on the same engine at a range of operating conditions and over a range of compression ratios (CR). The technologies tested are applied to a boosted and direct injected (DI) gasoline engine and evaluated both individually and combined.

Due to technological evolutions and social demands, motor vehicles are requested to be enhanced in terms of occupant safety and comfort. As a result, many countries are reinforcing crash regulations and new car assessment programs. Automotive seats are essential parts for providing passenger safety and comfort and have become most important. Many automotive companies concentrate on optimization of the seat structure. This paper presents an overview of the recent evolution of the seat structures and gives a development procedure covering seat frame design, optimization and validation. Through the study, a competitive frame design is drawn as a case result and a design guideline and a standard development procedure is established

This study suggests new types of catalysts that show low hydrogen sulfide emission without scavenger such as NiO. Hydrogen sulfide can be reduced by changing the physicochemical properties of washcoat components. Synthesized gas activity tests were performed to investigate the effect of modified washcoat on hydrogen sulfide formation and catalytic activity. BET surface area tests, X- ray diffraction tests, and gas chromatography tests were also carried out to examine the characteristics of catalysts. Preparation methods for catalysts were focused on minimizing the adsorption of sulfur species on catalysts. The first approach is heat treatment of cerium oxide to reduce adsorption sites for sulfur compounds. But this leads to deterioration of CO and NOx conversion efficiencies. The second one is adding new types of promoters that increase thermal durability and dynamic oxygen storing function of cerium oxide.

This paper reflects an efficient and comprehensive approach for vehicle sound optimization integrated into the entire development process. It shows the benefits of early consideration of typical vehicle NVH features and of intensive interaction of P/T and vehicle responsibilities. The process presented here considers the typical restriction that acoustically representative prototypes of engines and vehicles are not available simultaneously at the early development phase. For process optimization at this stage, a method for vehicle interior noise estimation is developed, which bases on measurements from the P/T test bench only, while the vehicle transfer behavior for airborne and structure-borne noise is assumed to be similar to a favorable existing vehicle. This method enables to start with the pre- optimization of the pure P/T and its components by focusing on such approaches which are mainly relevant for the vehicle interior noise.

The role of a brake disc is to convert the kinetic energy of automobiles into thermal energy caused by friction between the brake pads and disc surfaces. The braking performance of an overheated disc is decreased due to hot judder and fade. Hence, the cooling technology of a brake disc is one of the most important issues related to automobile safety. In the present study, the fluid flow and heat transfer analysis of a ventilated brake disc are conducted numerically. Some geometries of automotive parts such as bearings, hubs and wheels are considered in this study. The commercial code ANSYS CFX is used to simulate the fluid flow and the conjugate heat transfer which includes conduction and convection. To evaluate the cooling performance in each case, the results, including the flow patterns of cooling air inside the wheel and the heat transfer coefficient distribution at the disc surfaces, were investigated and compared for various disc-hub combinations.

Generally, the widely used hydraulic control system in automatic transmissions is pulse width modulation (PWM) type. It consists in a PWM solenoid valve and a reducing type second stage valve, so called pressure control valve (PCV), to amplify pressure or flow rate. In this study, the mathematical models of the PWM solenoid valve and the PCV with moderate complexity are proposed. Then, their behavior is analyzed from the steady state characteristics. Finally, we find that there are good matches between the dynamic simulation results and the experimental data.

The main contribution of this paper is to employ a sound and vibration theory in order to develop a light and cost effective plastic intercooler pipe. The intercooler pipe was composed of two rubber hoses and one aluminum pipe mounted between an ACV (Air Control Valve) and an intercooler outlet. The engineering design concept is to incorporate low-vibration type bellows and an impedance-mismatched center pipe, which replaces the rubber hoses and aluminum pipe respectively. The bellows were designed to adapt powertrain movement for high vibration transmission loss to the intercooler outlet. Also, the impedance-mismatched center pipe was implemented to increase reflected wave by using relatively higher modulus than bellows part and applying a SeCo (Sequential Coextrusion) processing method.

Reducing unsprung mass of the car is a representative method to enhance the ride & handling performance and fuel efficiency. In this study, brake disc weight is reduced 15∼20% using a hybrid type material. The basis for this study is the separation of the friction surface and HAT(mounting part). Aluminum material is applied in the HAT for a light weight effect. Gray iron is applied in the friction surface section to maintain braking performance. Two types of joining between aluminum and cast iron are developed. One is the aluminum casting method utilizing a gray iron insert and the other is a bolted assembly method. Detailed structure, process and material are optimized using try-out & dynamometer experiments. The Reliability of this development is proved through durability (dynamometer and vehicle) testing.

The banded microstructure of pearlite and ferrite in normalized alloy steel is susceptible to thermal distortion during carburizing process due to its unidirectional orientation parallel to rolling direction. The planetary gears with material of banded microstructure have been experienced in high thermal distortion during carburizing and quenching process and result in uneven surface hardness and effective case depth at the inside of pinion gear after honing. These defects played failure initiation site roles in durability test during development of new automatic transmission. The galling between the contacting components in severe lubricating system was the main failure mechanism. Double normalizing at 920 °C was designed to resolve the banded microstructure of normalized alloy steel. The microstructure and grain size of the double heated steel became equiaxed and fine due to homogenizing and recrystallization through double heat treatment.

The sliding door’s movement is 3-dimensional unlike the conventional door. So the electric power and signal are exchanged via the long ‘Power Cable’. It has a quite complex structure in order to be suitable to connect the vehicle’s body and the sliding door even during it’s moving. As the result, it is more expensive than conventional door’s one and the quality could not be guaranteed easily. In this paper, I have developed new technology which could transfer electric power by ‘wireless transfer’ in order to resolve the problem from using ‘Power cable’. I would propose the proper structure to transfer the electric power at any position of the sliding door without any physical connection. To transfer the electric power which drives the window regulator and the actuators in door, I have applied the ‘inductive coupling’ system.

A new thermoplastic polyolefin with primerless adhesion to paint has been developed by polypropylene (PP) with α-olefin copolymers, mineral fillers and some additives. It can substantially reduce costs and environmental problems by eliminating primer treating operations, traditionally treated from trichloroethene (TCE). This new material exhibits unique solid-state texture that rubbery polymer component are typically dispersed in lamellar structure matrix. Versus conventional PP or thermoplastic olefin (TPO), it provides excellent brittle-ductile (BD) transition as well as paintability. Also it is expected to have a significant impact on interior parts as requirements for material change to an emphasis on light weight, lower cost, more efficient finishing.

Numerical durability analysis is the only approach that can be used to assess the durability of vehicles in early stages of development. In these stages, where there are no physical prototypes available, the road wheel forces (or spindle forces) for durability testing on Belgian PG (Proving Ground) must be predicted by VPG (Virtual Proving Ground) or derived from the measured forces of predecessor vehicles. In addition, the tuning parts and geometry are not fixed at these stages. This results in the variation of spindle forces during the development stages. Therefore, it is not reasonable to choose the forces predicted at a specific tuning condition as standard forces. It is more reasonable to determine the standard forces stochastically using the DB of the measured forces of predecessor vehicles. The spindle forces measured or predicted on Belgian PG are typically stationary random.

It is difficult to reach higher compression ratios of the gasoline engine even though higher compression ratios improve thermal efficiency. One of the barriers is large torque drop led by knocking. Extensive researches to suppress knocking of the gasoline engine have been conducted. It is focused on lowering the temperature of fuel mixture in combustion chamber at compression top dead center (TDC). This paper covers the new valvetrain system to decrease the temperature of exhaust valve bottom (combustion) side. Hollow head and stem sodium filled valve (HHSV) have shown more heat transfer from combustion chamber to valve seat insert and valve guide, and higher thermal conductivity valve seat insert (HVSI) and valve guide (HVG) help to decrease valve temperature lower by higher heat transfer.

A newly developed surface hardening process, supercarburizing, has been developed for the application of tappet shim to improve fuel economy. Supercarburizing has been introduced to increase resistance of wear and pitting performance and was designed to have supersaturated carbon surface layer and further to have spheroidized carbide morphology. In this presentation, the process variables, such as surface microstructure, morphology and distribution of carbide precipitation, will be discussed via the results of friction loss tests. At an entire speed range investigated, the application of supercarburized tappet shim improved fuel economy with 25∼30% in terms of valve train itself and with 4∼5% concerning on the gross engine performance. The fuel economy analysis showed that the improved surface hardening process of tappet shim increased fuel economy of vehicle about 1.4∼3.6%.

Hyundai Motor Group launched a Continuously Variable Valve Lift (CVVL) engine in 2012. The engine is equipped with HMG's unique CVVL mechanism and is characterized by low fuel consumption, high performance and its responsiveness. The CVVL mechanism is based on a six-linkage mechanism and has advantages of compactness and durability. The engine is a 4 cylinder In-Line, 2.0L gasoline engine and is designed for a mid-sized passenger car. The engine increases fuel efficiency by 7.7% and the peak engine power by 4.2%. One of the most challenging issues in producing a CVVL engine is the valve lift deviations throughout the engine cylinders. The valve cap shim and set screw were designed to adjust the valve lift deviations. Cap shim thickness is chosen by measuring the valve top height, and shoe lift of the cam carrier assembly. The set screw is an auxiliary device to adjust the valve lift deviation.