Search Results

This paper presents a novel battery degradation model based on empirical data from the Racing Green Endurance project. Using the rainflow-counting algorithm, battery charge and discharge data from an electric vehicle has been studied in order to establish more reliable and more accurate predictions for capacity and power fade of automotive traction batteries than those currently available. It is shown that for the particular lithium-iron phosphate (LiFePO₄) batteries, capacity fade is 5.8% after 87 cycles. After 3,000 cycles it is estimated to be 32%. Both capacity and power fade strongly depend on cumulative energy throughput, maximum C-rate as well as temperature.

A dimensionless relationship that estimates the maximum bearing load of a 4-cylinder 4-stroke in-line engine has been found. This relationship may assist the design engineer in choosing a desired counterweight mass. It has been demonstrated that: 1) the average bearing load increases with engine speed and 2) the maximum bearing load initially decreases with engine speed, reaches a minimum, then increases quickly with engine speed. This minimum refers to a transition speed at which the contribution of the inertia force overcomes the contribution of the maximum pressure force to the maximum bearing load. The transition speed increases with an increase of counterweight mass and is a function of maximum cylinder pressure and the operating parameters of the engine.

Modeling plume interaction and collapse for direct-injection gasoline sprays is important because of its impact on fuel-air mixing and engine performance. Nevertheless, the aerodynamic interaction between plumes and the complicated two-phase coupling of the evaporating spray has shown to be notoriously difficult to predict. With the availability of high-speed (100 kHz) Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) experimental data, we compare velocity field predictions between plumes to observe the full temporal evolution leading up to plume merging and complete spray collapse. The target “Spray G” operating conditions of the Engine Combustion Network (ECN) is the focus of the work, including parametric variations in ambient gas temperature. We apply both LES and RANS spray models in different CFD platforms, outlining features of the spray that are most critical to model in order to predict the correct aerodynamics and fuel-air mixing.

Internal combustion engines are routinely developed using 1D engine simulation tools. A well-known limitation is the accuracy of the turbocharger compressor and turbine sub-models, which rely on hot gas bench-measured maps to characterize performance. Such discrete map data is inherently too sparse to be used directly in simulation, and so a preprocessing algorithm interpolates and extrapolates the data to generate a wider, more densely populated map. Methods used for compressor map interpolation vary. They may be mathematical or physical in nature, but there is no unified approach, except that they typically operate on input map data in SAE format. For decades it has been common practice for turbocharger suppliers to share performance data with engine OEMs in this form. This paper describes a compressor map interpolation technique based on the nondimensional compressor flow and loading coefficients, instead of SAE-format data.

Contemporary manufacturing systems are still evolving. The system elements, layouts, and integration methods are changing continuously, and ‘collaborative robots’ (CoBots) are now being considered as practical industrial solutions. CoBots, unlike traditional CoBots, are safe and flexible enough to work with humans. Although CoBots have the potential to become standard in production systems, there is no strong foundation for systems design and development. The focus of this research is to provide a foundation and four tier framework to facilitate the design, development and integration of CoBots. The framework consists of the system level, work-cell level, machine level, and worker level. Sixty-five percent of traditional robots are installed in the automobile industry and it takes 200 hours to program (and reprogram) them.

Striving for sustainable transportation solutions, hydrogen is often identified as a promising energy carrier and internal combustion engines are seen as a cost effective consumer of hydrogen to facilitate the development of a large-scale hydrogen infrastructure. Driven by efficiency and emissions targets defined by the U.S. Department of Energy, a research team at Argonne National Laboratory has worked on optimizing a spark-ignited direct injection engine for hydrogen. Using direct injection improves volumetric efficiency and provides the opportunity to properly stratify the fuel-air mixture in-cylinder. Collaborative 3D-CFD and experimental efforts have focused on optimizing the mixture stratification and have demonstrated the potential for high engine efficiency with low NOx emissions. Performance of the hydrogen engine is evaluated in this paper over a speed range from 1000 to 3000 RPM and a load range from 1.7 to 14.3 bar BMEP.

A methodology has been developed for identifying the combination of battery characteristics which lead to least-cost electric vehicles. Battery interrelationships include specific power vs, specific energy, peak power vs. specific energy and DOD, cycle life vs. DOD, cost vs. specific energy and peak power, and volumetric and battery size effects. The method is illustrated for the “second car” mission assuming lead/acid batteries. Reductions in life-cycle costs associated with future battery research breakthroughs are estimated using a sensitivity technique. A research prioritization system is described.

Throttling loss of downsized gasoline engines is significantly smaller than that of naturally aspirated counterparts. However, even the extremely downsized gasoline engine can still suffer a relatively large throttling loss when operating under part load conditions. Various de-throttling concepts have been proposed recently, such as using a FGT or VGT turbine on the intake as a de-throttling mechanism or applying valve throttling to control the charge airflow. Although they all can adjust the mass air flow without a throttle in regular use, an extra component or complicated control strategies have to be adopted. This paper will, for the first time, propose a de-throttling concept in a twin-charged gasoline engine with minimum modification of the existing system. The research engine model which this paper is based on is a 60% downsized 2.0L four cylinder gasoline demonstrator engine with both a supercharger and turbocharger on the intake.

A new friction testing system has been designed and built to simulate the actual engine conditions in friction and wear test of piston-ring and cylinder liner assembly. Experimental data has been developed as Friction Coefficient / Crank Angle Degree diagrams including the effects of running speed (500 and 700 rpm) and ring normal load. Surface roughness profilocorder traces were obtained for tested samples. Mixed lubrication regime observed in the most part of the test range. New cylinder bore materials and lubricants can be screened easily and more reliable simulated engine friction data can be collected using this technique.

A new formulation is developed for the ignition delay (ID) in diesel engines to account for the effect of piston motion on the global autoignition reaction rates. A differentiation is made between the IDe measured in engines and IDv, measured in constant volume vessels. In addition, a method is presented to determine the coefficients of the IDe correlation from actual engine experimental data. The new formulation for IDe is applied to predict the misfiring cycles during the cold starting of diesel engines at different low ambient temperatures. The predictions are compared with experimental results obtained on a multi-cylinder heavy-duty diesel engine.

Engines equipped with pressure charging systems are more prone to knock partly due the increased intake temperature. Meanwhile, turbocharged engines when operating at high engine speeds and loads cannot fully utilize the exhaust energy as the wastegate is opened to prevent overboost. The turboexpansion concept thus is conceived to reduce the intake temperature by utilizing some otherwise unexploited exhaust energy. This concept can be applied to any turbocharged engines equipped with both a compressor and a turbine-like expander on the intake loop. The turbocharging system is designed to achieve maximum utilization of the exhaust energy, from which the intake charge is over-boosted. After the intercooler, the turbine-like expander expands the over-compressed intake charge to the required plenum pressure and reduces its temperature whilst recovering some energy through the connection to the crankshaft.

Mobility assessment for combat vehicles is often a great challenge for the military due to various subjective attributes. The attributes' characteristics vary significantly depending on the vehicle type and its operating environments such as terrain, weather, and human factors. A clear definition and relationship between multiple attributes including human factors is necessary to assess mobility. To the best of authors' knowledge, many existing mobility assessment techniques use complex analytical methods and focus on individual attributes. In this paper, for the first time, the authors propose a novel approach to define vehicle mobility and its influencing attributes using qualitative linguistic fuzzy variables, which are defined as having values between 0 and 1. The authors also propose a fuzzy logic mobility (FLM) model and a simulation approach to assess a combat vehicle's mobility.

There are many challenges in implementing grid aware plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging systems with local load control. New opportunities for innovative load control were created as a result of changes to the 2014 National Electric Code (NEC) about automatic load control definitions for EV charging infrastructure. Stakeholders in optimized dispatch of EV charging assets include the end users (EV drivers), site owner/operators, facility managers and utilities. NEC definition changes allow for ‘over subscription’ of more potential EV charging station load than can be continuously supported if the total load at any time is within the supply system safety limit. Local load control can be implemented via compact submeter(s) with locally hosted control algorithms using direct communication to the managed electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE).

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) technologies have the potential for considerable petroleum consumption reductions, possibly at the expense of increased tailpipe emissions due to multiple “cold” start events and improper use of the engine for PHEV specific operation. PHEVs operate predominantly as electric vehicles (EVs) with intermittent assist from the engine during high power demands. As a consequence, the engine can be subjected to multiple cold start events. These cold start events may have a significant impact on the tailpipe emissions due to degraded catalyst performance and starting the engine under less than ideal conditions. On current hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), the first cold start of the engine dictates whether or not the vehicle will pass federal emissions tests. PHEV operation compounds this problem due to infrequent, multiple engine cold starts.

Road vehicles can expend a significant amount of energy in undesirable vertical motions that are induced by road bumps, and much of that is dissipated in conventional shock absorbers as they dampen the vertical motions. Presented in this paper are some of the results of a study aimed at determining the effectiveness of efficiently transforming that energy into electrical power by using optimally designed regenerative electromagnetic shock absorbers. In turn, the electrical power can be used to recharge batteries or other efficient energy storage devices (e.g., flywheels) rather than be dissipated. The results of the study are encouraging - they suggest that a significant amount of the vertical motion energy can be recovered and stored.

The 4th Workshop of the Engine Combustion Network (ECN) was held September 5-6, 2015 in Kyoto, Japan. This manuscript presents a summary of the progress in experiments and modeling among ECN contributors leading to a better understanding of soot formation under the ECN “Spray A” configuration and some parametric variants. Relevant published and unpublished work from prior ECN workshops is reviewed. Experiments measuring soot particle size and morphology, soot volume fraction (fv), and transient soot mass have been conducted at various international institutions providing target data for improvements to computational models. Multiple modeling contributions using both the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) Equations approach and the Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) approach have been submitted. Among these, various chemical mechanisms, soot models, and turbulence-chemistry interaction (TCI) methodologies have been considered.

This work presents a simple fan model that is based on the actuator disk approximation, and the blade element and vortex theory of a propeller. A set of equations are derived that require as input the rotational speed of the fan, geometric fan data, and the lift and drag coefficients of the blades. These equations are solved iteratively to obtain the body forces generated by the fan in the axial and circumferential directions. These forces are used as momentum sources in a CFD code to simulate the effect of the fan in an underhood thermal management simulation. To validate this fan model, a fan experiment was simulated. The model was incorporated into the CFD code STAR-CD and predictions were generated for axial and circumferential air velocities at different radial positions and at different planes downstream of the fan. The agreement between experimental measurements and predictions is good.

Significant A/F ratio excursion may occur during some engine transient operations, especially for transient periods of throttle tip in or tip out. A/F ratio excursion results in excessive emissions, extra fuel consumption, driveability deterioration and three-way-catalyst (TWC) efficiency drop. Simple two-parameter (X, τ) wall wetting models have traditionally been used to describe this transient A/F ratio excursion phenomenon. The transient fuel control techniques are utilized for this model to be applicable across vehicles, engines, fuel types and ambient conditions, so as to compensate for the A/F ratio excursion with the extra compensation fuel. More complicated model structures must be further expanded and model dependence on various environment conditions must be established to achieve a precise model. In this paper, a simple linear approach is proposed for transient fuel control, using least squares estimation.

A unified approach has been developed and applied to solder joint life prediction in this paper, which indicates a breakthrough for solder joint reliability simulation. It includes the material characterization of solder alloys, the testing of solder joint specimens, a unified viscoplastic constitutive framework with damage evolution, numerical algorithm development and implementation, and experimental validation. The emphasis of this report focuses on the algorithm development and experimental verification of proposed viscoplasticity with damage evolution.

High-speed video of combustion processes and cylinder pressure traces were obtained from a single-cylinder optical-accessible engine with a production four-valve cylinder head to study the mixture formation and flame propagation characteristics at near-stoichiometric start condition. Laser-sheet Mie-scattering images were collected for liquid droplet distributions inside the cylinder to correlate the mixture formation process with the combustion results. A dual-stream (DS) injector and a quad-stream (QS) injector were used to study the spray dispersion effect on engine starting, under different injection timings, throttle valve positions, engine speeds, and intake temperatures. It was found that most of the fuel under open-valve injection (OVI) conditions entered the cylinder as droplet mist. A significant part of the fuel droplets hit the far end of the cylinder wall at the exhaust-valve side.