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The interaction between cooling-air and external aerodynamics is known as interference. In a conventional car this interference under the hood results in additional drag. It is estimated that about 10% of the overall aerodynamic drag originates from the cooling air [1] depending on the car shape and cooling configuration. Obviously, cooling drag should be minimized for vehicles with low-drag aerodynamics. In this study cooling-air interference-effects are investigated through experimental, numerical and analytical methods with a focus on the surface pressure of the vehicle. The surface pressure of vehicles with and without interference effects is compared. Observations show that when the cooling-air inlet is opened a pressure rise occurs around the inlet, while a pressure drop appears around the outlet. This phenomenon was investigated for several vehicle shapes including a simplified bluff-body (SAE-Body) and a close-to-real quarter-scale model (aeromodel).

The detailed presentation of fundamental aerodynamics principles that influence and improve vehicle design have made Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles the engineer’s “source” for information. This fifth edition features updated and expanded information beyond that which was presented in previous releases. Completely new content covers lateral stability, safety and comfort, wind noise, high performance vehicles, helmets, engine cooling, and computational fluid dynamics.

Brake Particle Emission (BPE) is gaining considerable importance for the friction brake and automotive industry. So far no common approach or legislation for BPE characterization exists although many activities in this field have been started during the last years. Taking this into account, the authors carried out a joint measurement campaign to investigate a new approach regarding the sampling location using a brake dynamometer. During preliminary investigations the influence of the cooling air quality has been examined and a sampling point position validation has been carried out. At first the stabilization behavior for repeated test cycles and variations of volumetric air flow rates are analyzed. As a next step the role of volatile particle emissions is determined. Subsequently, the influence of load history and friction power is studied. Finally results in terms of the role of high temperature applications are presented.

The SCR after treatment system is already in production for passenger car engines with a single exhaust system. In this case, the exhaust system has to be designed very carefully to optimize the Ammonia distribution on the catalyst and therefore the DeNOx potential. The application to V8 engines with two turbochargers delivering the gas into two separated DOC & DPF units is an additional challenge. This paper describes the different optimization steps of such an exhaust system and the tools used during this work. After a design phase to integrate the SCR system in the exhaust geometry, a first CFD study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the basic system using one or two urea injectors. An optimization of the connection of the two tubes, directly in front of the SCR catalyst, has been designed using further CFD calculations as well as a marker gas SF6 on a cold flow bench.

E-mobility is a game changer for the automotive domain. It promises significant reduction in terms of complexity and in terms of local emissions. With falling prices and recent technological advances, the second generation of electric vehicles (EVs) that is now in production makes electromobility an affordable and viable option for more and more transport mission (people, freight). Current e-vehicle platforms still present architectural similarities with respect to combustion engine vehicle (e.g., centralized motor). Target of the European project EVC1000 is to introduce corner solutions with in-wheel motors supported by electrified chassis components (brake-by-wire, active suspension) and advanced control strategies for full potential exploitation. Especially, it is expected that this solution will provide more architectural freedom toward “design-for-purpose” vehicles built for dedicated usage models, further providing higher performances.

The number of vehicles being sold is steadily increasing, as well as the amount of processed resources. Moreover, alternative powertrain concepts open up a new field of materials such as rare-earth metals, lithium, and cobalt. This results in a growing importance and complexity of the vehicle end-of-life phase and thus demands for a more detailed environmental evaluation and an integration into life cycle assessment. Due to high recycling rates, established recycling routes, and a low environmental impact regarding the materials used for conventional propulsion systems, by now the recycling is mostly neglected within the life cycle assessment of vehicles. The introduced materials for alternative concepts challenge this method with new and complex processes, the lack of available recycling routes, selective recovery of only few materials, as well as the threat of landfill, an increased share of incineration, resource shortfalls, and resource exploitation.

Advanced thermal management systems in passenger cars present a possibility to increase efficiency of current and future vehicles. However, a vehicle integrated thermal management of the combustion engine is essential to optimize the overall thermal system. This paper shows results of an experimental heat flux analysis of a state-of-the-art automotive diesel engine with common rail injection, map-controlled thermostat and split cooling system. Measurements on a climatic chamber engine test bench were performed to investigate heat fluxes and energy balance in steady-state operation and during engine warm-up from different engine start temperatures. The analysis includes the influence of the operating point and operating parameters like EGR rate, injection strategy and coolant temperature on the engine energy balance.

In an age when there is growing tension between customer expectations of high engine performance, low fuel consumption and compliance with the legal requirements on the emission of airborne pollution, the ability of a vehicle to meet the most stringent emission standards is becoming an increasingly important aspect of its market appeal. The 1.8 l, 5-valve turbo engine which Audi launched in 1994 represented an emissions concept which, thanks to its innovative close-coupled catalytic converter, provided an ideal basis for further development to an engine meeting the US ULEV emission standard, as the current engine does [1]. Its configuration as a ULEV concept necessitated the blanket optimisation of all components which influence the exhaust emissions. The pistons and injectors were improved in order to reduce untreated emissions.

Diesel engines face difficult challenges with respect to engine-out emissions, efficiency and power density as the legal requirements concerning emissions and fuel consumption are constantly increasing. In general, for a diesel engine to achieve low raw emissions a well-mixed fuel-air mixture, burning at low combustion temperatures, is necessary. Highly premixed diesel combustion is a feasible way to reduce the smoke emissions to very low levels compared to conventional diesel combustion. In order to reach both, very low NOX and soot emissions, high rates of cooled EGR are necessary. With high rates of cooled EGR the NOX formation can be suppressed almost completely. This paper investigates to what extent the trade-off between emissions, fuel consumption and power of a diesel engine can be resolved by highly premixed and low temperature diesel combustion using injection nozzles with reduced injection hole diameters and high pressure fuel injection.

Non-exhaust emissions in general and brake particle emissions in particular have become very relevant during the last years. Even if many investigations and efforts are under progress, no common test standards exist so far. Many mechanisms and possible impacts are not fully understood either. Hence, the authors continued their investigations by using an already refined and proved test setup, which is the base for further characterizations and enhancements. The presented studies include the characterization of three different friction couples (using the same brake system) for two different test cycles (namely a modified AK Master and a WLTP) in terms of particle number concentration. Additionally, the major differences of the modified AK Master and the WLTP are investigated and analyzed. Finally, results of particle mass characterizations introduced. A brief summary and some conclusions are presented in the final chapter.

Good lighting is crucial for safe driving at night. Unfortunately, many parameters are contributing to the final result of the individual tolerances of car body, dynamics and headlamp: the resulting aim. The paper will analyze individual tolerance contributors from car body parameters like load, tire pressure, suspension as well as temperature parameters of chassis and plastic parts. The investigation shows that the headlight aim can fluctuate in a worst case scenario more than ±0.3°.

The deposition behavior of brake wear particles on the surface of a wheel and the mechanisms on it have not been fully understood. In addition, the proportion of brake wear particles deposited on the wheel surface compared to the total emitted particles is almost unknown. This information is necessary to evaluate the number- and mass-related emission factors measured on the inertia dynamometer and to compare them with on-road and vehicle-related emission behaviour. The aim of this study is to clarify the deposition behavior of brake particles on the wheel surface. First, the real deposition behaviour is determined in on-road tests. For particle sampling, collection pads are adapted at different positions of a front and rear axle wheel. In addition to a Real Driving Emissions (RDE)-compliant test cycle, tests are performed in urban, rural and motorway sections to evaluate speed-dependent influences.

As the importance of sustainability increases and dominates the powertrain development within the automotive sector, this issue has to be addressed in motorsports as well. The development of sustainable high-performance fuels defined for the use in motorsports offers technical and environmental potential with the possibility to increase the sustainability of motorsports at the same or even a better performance level. At the moment race cars are predominantly powered by fossil fuels. However due to the emerging shift regarding the focus of the regulations towards high efficient powertrains during the last years the further development of the used fuels gained in importance. Moreover during the last decades a huge variety of sustainable fuels emerged that offer a range of different characteristics and that are produced based on waste materials or carbon dioxide.

An effective method for detecting misfire using crank speed fluctuations has been developed for on-board use in production vehicles. Engine misfire is represented in this method by Engine Roughness identified by crankshaft rotational acceleration. Engine Roughness is calculated for each combustion event and is compared with a speed and load dependent threshold permitting the determination of single or continuous misfire. Correctional functions are applied to avoid erroneous detection during highly transient engine operation. In the wide range of engine speed and load at common driving conditions the detection of single and continuous misfire events is possible without requiring additional sensors or electronic hardware in most cases. This sophisticated method as well as other OBDII functions has already been implemented into 8 bit and 16 bit ECU's.

In current research projects such as "Vehicle to Grid" (V2G), "Vehicle to Building" (V2B) or "Vehicle to Home" (V2H), plug-in vehicles are integrated into stationary energy systems. V2B or V2H therefore stands for intelligent networking between vehicles and buildings. However, in these projects the objective is mostly from a pure electric point of view, to smooth the load profile on a household level by optimized charging and discharging of electric vehicles. In the present paper a small energy system of this kind, consisting of a building and a vehicle, is investigated from a holistic point of view. Thermal as well as electrical system components are taken into account and there is a focus on reduction of overall energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. A predictive energy management is presented that coordinates the integration of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle into the energy systems of a building. System operation is optimized in terms of energy consumption and CO₂ emissions.

A catalyzed ceramic filter has been used on diesel engines for diesel particulate matter emission control. A key design criteria for a diesel particulate filter is to maximize DPF performance, i.e. low back pressure and compact size as well as near continuous regeneration operation. Based upon the modeling and deep understanding of material properties, a DPF system design has been successfully applied on a high performance diesel engine exhaust system, such as the Audi R10 TDI, the first diesel racing car that won the most prestigious endurance race in the world: the 24 hours of Le Mans in both 2006 and 2007. The design concept can be used for other materials and applications

Brake particle emissions as a part of non-exhaust emissions are becoming more and more relevant, various international research activities can be stated. Also from the legislation side, first hints are given in regards of possible regulations. One possible approach for the reduction of brake particle emissions deals with the collection of those particles close to the foundation brake. The presented paper will follow such an approach and give some insights. In a first step, the technical layout is described for bench and vehicle testing. While for bench testing a PMP-like style of the setup could be chosen, the vehicle test setup is oriented on conventional wheel dust measurements. Hence, presented results of laboratory testing are dealing with PN and PM measurements. Also the impact on particle size distribution is discussed. It can be stated, that the particle collecting system is able to improve PN and PM emissions. Additionally, ultra-fine particles are almost eliminated.

For car manufacturers, seating comfort is becoming more and more important in distinguishing themselves from their competitors. There is a simultaneous demand for shorter development times and more comfortable seats. Comfort in automobile seats is a multi-dimensional and complex problem. Many current sophisticated measuring tools were consulted, but it is unclear on which factors one should concentrate attention when measuring comfort. The goal of this paper is to find a model in order to predict the overall seating discomfort based on body area ratings. Besides micro climate, the pressure distribution appears to be the most objective measure comprising with the clearest association with the subjective ratings. Therefore an analysis with three different test series was designed, allowing the variation of pressure on the seat surface. In parallel the subjects were asked to judge the local and the overall sensation.

For integrating Life Cycle Assessment into the design process it is more and more necessary to generate models of single life cycle steps respectively manufacturing processes. For that reason it is indispensable to develop parametric processes. With such disposed processes the aim could only be to provide a tool where parametric environmental process models are available for a designer. With such a tool and the included models a designer will have the possibility to make an estimation of the probable energy consumption and needed additive materials for the applied manufacturing technology. Likewise if he has from the technical point of view the opportunity, he can shift the applied joining technology in the design phase by changing for instance the design.

The improved performance of heavy-duty vehicles as transport carriers is essential for economic reasons and to fulfil new emission standards in Europe. A key parameter is the aerodynamic vehicle drag. An enormous potential still exists for fuel saving and reducing exhaust emission by aerodynamic optimisation. Engineering methods are required for developments in vehicle aerodynamics. To assess the reliability of the most common experimental testing and numerical simulation methods in the industrial design process is the objective of this article. Road tests have been performed to provide realistic results, which are compared to the results obtained by scale-model wind tunnel experiments and time-averaged computational fluid dynamics (CFD). These engineering methods are evaluated regarding their deployment in the industrial development process. The investigations focus on the separated flow region behind the vehicle rear end.