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This paper examines the effect of pulse-and-glide (PnG) driving strategies on the fuel efficiency when applied on parallel HEVs. Several PnG strategies are proposed, and these include the electrical, mechanical, and combined PnG strategies. The electrical PnG strategy denotes the hybrid powertrain control tactics in which the battery is charged or discharged according to the power demanded while maintaining the constant vehicle speed. On the other hand, the mechanical PnG strategy denotes the powertrain control tactics in which the vehicle accelerates or decelerates according to the power load while minimizing the battery usage. The combined PnG strategy involves both electrical and mechanical strategies to find a balanced point in between them. Here, a tradeoff relationship between the fuel efficiency and the vehicle drivability related to the tracking performance of the desired target speed is revealed.

In this study a new model is proposed for turbulent premixed combustion in a spark-ignition engine. An independent transport equation is solved for the mean reaction progress variable in a propagation form in KIVA-3V. An expression for turbulent burning velocity was previously given as a product of turbulent diffusivity in unburned gas, laminar flame speed and maximum flame surface density. The model has similarity with the G equation approach, but originates from zone conditionally averaged formulation for unburned gas. A spark kernel grows initially as a laminar flame and becomes a fully developed turbulent flame brush according to a transition criterion in terms of the kernel size and the integral length scale. Simulation of a homogeneous charge pancake chamber engine showed good agreement with measured flame propagation and pressure trace. The model was also applied against experimental data of Hyundai θ-2.0L SI engine.

A study for improving the resistance to fretting corrosion of SCr 420 pinion gear was conducted. Fretting is the damage to contacting surfaces experiencing slight relative reciprocating sliding motion of low amplitude. Fretting corrosion is the fretting damage to unlubricated contacting surfaces accompanied by corrosion, mostly oxidation that occurs if the fretting occurs in air. Two kinds of conventional heat treatment and a newly designed one suggested for improving the resistance to the fretting corrosion of pinion gear were compared each other to find out what is the main factor for generating fretting corrosion phenomenon. Increased carbon potential at both the heating and diffusing zone and reduced time of tempering was found out to be a solution for improving the resistance to fretting corrosion of forged and heat treated gear steel. On the contrary, modified carbo-nitriding using ammonia gas has been getting worse the fretting corrosion problem.

High speed natural light motion picture records synchronized with head gasket ionization probe and in-cylinder pressure data have been made in the transparent engine of different combustion chamber configurations. For knocking cycles, the head gasket ionization current method simultaneously taken with pressure data was able to find the location of knocking occurrence. To investigate the effects of combustion chamber configurations, the flame propagation experiments for pent-roof combustion chamber with center ignition ( Modified Type I engine ) and modified pent-roof ( Type II engine ) combustion chamber were performed with high speed natural light photography technique. The flame propagation of Modified Type I engine represents more uniform patterns than that of Type II engine. The investigation of knocking combustion was also made possible by observing flame propagation with the measuring techniques that use head gasket ionization probe and in-cylinder pressure data.

Hydroforming process is an emerging manufacturing technology which allows engineers to use continuous closed section without flange for spot weld in a given package envelope. In this research, Hydroforming is applied to a front pillar and a roof side rail for improvement of obstruction angle, body stiffness and roof crush resistance. In addition, the joints of front / center pillar that were integrated into the hydroforming part and structure of package tray were improved. As a result, front pillar width is reduced by 23%, body torsional stiffness is increased by 45% and roof crush resistance is improved by 35%.

Impact resistance of plastic underbody parts was studied using simulated injection-molded specimen which can be tested according to different types of material used, injection molding variants like position and number of injection molding gates, and features of ribs. Material applied was glass fiber reinforced polyamide which can be used in underbody parts. Test was performed using several combinations of injection molding gates and rib types. From the test result, optimal design guide for plastic underbody parts was determined. Also, new high impact resistant plastic material made of glass fiber reinforced polyamide 66 (PA66) and polyamide 6 (PA6) alloy was developed and the material properties useful for CAE were determined. As a case study, oil pan and muffler housing were designed following the optimal design guide and CAE. And the reliability of the sample muffler housing designed was verified.

In this study, fundamental questions in improving thermal efficiency of spark-ignition engine were revisited, regarding two principal factors, that is, stroke-to-bore (S/B) ratio and valve timings. In our experiment, late intake valve closing (LIVC) camshaft and variable valve timing (VVT) module for valve timing control were equipped in the single-cylinder, direct-injection spark-ignition (DISI) engine with three different S/B ratios (1.00, 1.20, and 1.47). In these three setups, displacement volume and compression ratio (CR) were fixed. In addition, the tumble ratio for cylinder head was also kept the same to minimize the flow effect on the flame propagation caused by cylinder head while focusing on the sole effect of changing the S/B ratio.

For optimizing the performance of SI engine such as engine torque, fuel consumption, and emissions, various types of system for variable valve timing were developed by many automotive researchers. In this paper, we investigated the relationship between valve timing and intake orifice noise, and suggested how to improve NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) performance as well as engine torque. Some experiments using the engine dynamometer were carried over about 150 different operating conditions. BEM analysis was also conducted in order to calculate acoustic modes of intake system. The results show that the valve timing and overlap of breathing systems have influence on NVH behavior, especially intake orifice noise over whole range of operating conditions. Valve timing and overlap of intake and exhaust valve were optimized in the view of sound quality as well as overall noise level.

This research addresses the pressing need for reducing vehicle aerodynamic resistance, with a specific focus on mitigating wheel and tire resistance, which constitutes approximately 25% of the overall vehicle drag. While the prevailing method for reducing resistance in mass production development involves wheel opening reduction, it inadvertently increases wheel weight and has adverse effects on brake cooling performance. To overcome these challenges, novel complementary resistance reduction methods that can be employed in conjunction with an appropriate degree of wheel opening reduction are imperative. In this study, we introduce symmetrical wheels with a fan-like shape as a solution. The fan configuration influences the surrounding flow by either drawing it in or pushing it out, depending on the direction of rotation. Application of these fan-type wheels to a vehicle's wheels results in the redirection of flow inwards or outwards during high-speed driving due to wheel rotation.

As global emission standards are becoming more stringent, it is necessary to increase thermal efficiency through the high compression ratio in spark-ignited engines. Various studies are being conducted to mitigate knocking caused by an increased compression ratio, which requires an understanding of the combustion phenomena inside the combustion chamber. In particular, the in-cylinder flow is a major factor affecting the entire combustion process from the generation to the propagation of flames. In the field of spark-ignited engine research, where interest in the concept of lean combustion and the expansion of the EGR supply is increasing, flow analysis is essential to ensure a rapid flame propagation speed and stable combustion process. In this study, the flow around the spark plug was measured by the Laser Doppler Velocimetry system, and the correlation with combustion in spark-ignited engines was analyzed.

The combustion characteristics of a HSDI diesel engine were analyzed numerically using a reduced chemical kinetics. The reaction mechanism consisting of 26 steps and 17 species including the Zel'dovich NOx mechanism for the higher hydrocarbon fuel was implemented in the KIVA-3V. The characteristic time scale model was adopted to account for the effects of turbulent mixing on the reaction rates. The soot formation and oxidation processes are represented by Hiroyasu's model and NSC's model. The validation cases include the homogenous fuel/air mixture and the spray combustion in a constant volume chamber. After the validation, the present approach was applied to the analysis of the spray combustion processes in a HSDI diesel engine. The present approach reasonably well predicts the ignition delay, combustion processes, and emission characteristics in the high-pressure turbulent spray flame-field encountered in the practical HSDI diesel engines.

A comparative study was carried out to investigate the DTV (disk thickness variation) behavior according to the types of brake disks (gray iron grade 250 and high-carbon gray iron grade 200, 170) with two typical friction materials (non-steel and low-steel friction materials). To evaluate DTV generation and recovery characteristics, a parasitic drag mode simulating highway driving (off-brake) and a normal braking mode simulating city traffic driving (on-brake) were used with an inertia brake dynamometer. Results showed that DTV and BTV were strongly affected by the microstructure, hardness level and distribution of the gray cast iron with the friction material types. The BTV was reduced in the friction two pairs using non-steel friction materials with high carbon grade disks and low-steel friction materials with high-carbon, low hardness disk. In particular, the pair of low-steel friction materials and high-carbon, low-hardness brake disks was more effective on DTV recovery.

As the carbon neutrality to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has become a global movement, the development of power sources using carbon-free fuels is an essential task for the industry. Accordingly, many companies in various fields that need carbon reduction are striving to develop power sources and build energy value chains using carbon-free or carbon-neutral fuels such as hydrogen and E-fuel. Ammonia, which is also a carbon-free fuel, stands as an efficient energy vector delivering high energy density and flexibility in transportation and storage, capable of mitigating hydrogen’s key drawbacks. However, difficulty of controlling combustion of ammonia due to its fuel characteristics limited the development of internal combustion engines using ammonia to the basic research stage in the limited operating conditions. Hyundai Motor Company presents the development of ammonia fueled 4-cylinder SI engine using direct injection strategy, designed based on 2.5L LPG T-DI engine.

The use of light-weight materials in automotive engine components has increased in order to achieve better fuel efficiency and engine performance. In this study, Al alloy (AI5056) valve spring retainer can reduce a weight by 63% in comparison to steel and improve the upper limit of engine speed by about 500rpm. The Al valve spring retainer was fabricated by cold forging and coated with hard anodizing, DLC (diamond like coating), cold spray and thermal spray for better wear resistance and durability. We conclude that among these materials the DLC coating improves the wear resistance of Al valve spring retainer and has a sufficient durability after endurance testing.

A module based IPS (Intelligent Power Switch) evaluation system is proposed in this paper. As the IPS is gradually replacing the conventional relay and fuses, the stability and reliability of power system depends more on these IPS. The proposed IPS evaluation system outperforms the conventional manual evaluation in terms of speed and efficiency. This paper will introduce the structure of hardware and software of the IPS evaluation system. The system is placed between the module and cable connector to evaluate the module in an operating car without changing the cables. The control and signal processing is carried out by personal computer which is connected to the evaluation system by USB (Universal Serial Bus). The load resistance can be switch from actual load to arbitrary value using relay circuitry and DC electric load controlled by GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus). CAN (Controller Area Network) circuits were added to control the IPS mounted inside the module.

Most bucket type valvetrain engines use DLC coated tappet for low friction and fuel efficiency. However the requirements on coating robustness have been increased as the tribological environments have become more severe by use of low viscosity oil or higher engine output. In order to obtain higher coating efficiency and improved wear resistance, 5∼9 at.% Si doped DLC (Si-DLC) coated tappet has been developed using PACVD process. Thermal stability and wear resistance of Si-DLC were improved impressively than those of DLC, although mechanical properties such as hardness and adhesion were degradated. It seems that Si suppresses a graphitization of DLC and thin SixOy film on coating surface acts as a barrier to oxidation or flash heat.

As a result of stringent global regulations on fuel economy and CO2 emissions, the development of high-efficiency SI engines is more urgent now than ever before. Along with advanced techniques in friction reduction, many researchers endeavor to decrease the B/S (bore-to-stroke) ratio from 1.0 (square) to a certain value, which is expected to reduce the heat loss and enhance the burning rate of SI engines. In this study, the effects of B/S ratios were investigated in aspects of efficiency and knock characteristics using a single-cylinder LIVC (late intake valve closing) GDI (gasoline direct injection) engine. Three B/S ratios (0.68, 0.83 and 1.00) were tested under the same mechanical compression ratio of 12:1 and the same displacement volume of 0.5 L. The head tumble ratio was maintained at the same level to solely investigate the effects of geometrical changes caused by variations in the B/S ratio.

Systematic numerical simulations were performed for the improvement of fuel efficiency and thermal performance of a compact size passenger vehicle. Both aerodynamic and thermal aspects were considered concurrently. For the sake of systematic evaluation, our study was conducted employing various design changes in multiple steps: 1) analysis of the baseline design; 2) elimination of the engine room components; 3) modification of the engine room component layout; 4) modification of the aerodynamic components (such as under body cover and cooling ducts). The vehicle performance characteristics corresponding to different design options were analyzed in terms of aerodynamic coefficient, engine coolant temperature, and surface temperatures of thermally critical components such as battery and exhaust manifold. Finally optimal design modification solutions for better vehicle performance were proposed.

A new Hyundai Aero-acoustic Wind Tunnel (HAWT) has been opened in the Nam-yang Technical Center of Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) since August 1999. This wind tunnel has a 3/4 semi-open jet test section and a closed circuit in order to improve aerodynamic and wind noise and thermodynamic characteristics of vehicles. The HMC technical center had started the feasibility study of full-scale wind tunnel in 1995, to improve the aerodynamic characteristics and to meet fuel consumption regulations. The main purpose of this facility is conduct various kinds of tests on customer driving conditions, including aerodynamic and aero-acoustic tests and engine cooling simulations, etc. The technical specification was made on the basis of HMC engineers' experience of their own model scale and full-scale wind tunnels (like MIRA or DNW) during last 10 years.

The controlled rolling process has been introduced to increase strength and toughness of alloy steels for the application of transmission gear. Cr-Mo alloy steel containing 0.02% Nb was controlled rolled in the temperature range of 870-970°C, showed fine austenite grain size, about ASTM No.11, resulted from the effects of recrystallization and Nb(C,N) precipitation. To investigate the effects of grain refinement on mechanical properties, several tests were conducted for the newly developed controlled rolled steel and conventional Ni-Cr-Mo alloy steel after carburizing. The new steel showed 2.1 times higher pitting resistance than the conventional steel. Fatigue limits of new and conventional steels were 950 and 930 MPa respectively. Charpy impact energy of new steel was improved about 35% compared with the conventional steel. Consequently, the pinion gear from the new steel instead of conventional one showed enhanced performance, especially pitting resistance, in dynamometer test.