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As an index to control the heat release of auto-ignition combustion, our previous paper introduced a concept of ΔT. It was the difference between the adiabatic flame temperature and the initial in-cylinder gas temperature before the heat release, i.e., ΔT physically represents the heat capacity of the in-cylinder gases relative to the calorific value supplied in a cycle. Firing tests of a four-stroke auto-ignition gasoline engine revealed that the heat release process could be successfully controlled when ΔT was maintained at a proper level. This paper evolved the ΔT theory into the every possible gas exchanging state in the four-stroke engines and found out a chain of the low-temperature combustion cycle (LTC), which continuously varied from the spark-ignition (SI) to auto-ignition (AI). By using a hydraulic-electromagnetic fully-free valve actuator system, the LTC was examined in our 650 cm₃ single-cylinder experimental-engine.

Compared to conventional injection techniques, Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) has a lot of advantages such as increased fuel efficiency, high power output and low emission levels, which can be more accurately controlled. Therefore, this technique is an important topic of today's injection system research. Although the operating conditions of GDI injectors are simpler from a numerical point of view because of smaller Reynolds and Weber numbers compared to Diesel injection systems, accurate simulations of the breakup in the vicinity of the nozzle are very challenging. Combined with the complications of experimental techniques that could be applied inside the nozzle and at the nozzle exit, this is the reason for the lack of understanding the primary breakup behavior of current GDI injectors.

The goal of the present study was to develop a new legform impactor that accurately represents both the impact force (i.e., force between the leg and impacting mass)and leg kinematics in lateral impacts simulating car-pedestrian accidents. In its development we utilized the knee joint of the pedestrian dummy called Polar-2 (HONDA R&D) in which the cruciate and collateral ligaments are represented by means of springs and cables, the geometry of the femoral condyles is simplified using ellipsoidal surfaces, and the tibial meniscus is represented by an elastomeric pad. The impactor was evaluated by comparing its responses with published experimental results obtained using postmortem human subjects (PMHS). The evaluation was done under two conditions: 1)impact point near the ankle area (bending tests),and 2)impact point 84 mm below the knee joint center (shearing tests). Two impact speeds were used: 5.56 m/s and 11.11 m/s.

To model sprays from pintle type nozzles with large hollow cone angle and high injection pressure, the correct flow field in the near region must be predicted. A new model was implemented in KIVA-3V code, which adopts the theory of steady gas jet to correct the relative velocities between the drop and gas phases, based on the existence of quasi-steady part of the conical spray and an assumption of equivalent gas jet. Accordingly, the structure of the sprays is defined into three parts: 1. initial part that the gas phase velocity is set to the assumed gas injection velocity; 2. quasi-steady part where the component of velocity in the symmetric line direction of the spray is corrected; 3. stagnation part which is left unchanged. This new model is referred to as the Relative Velocity Correction (RVC) model, and is a set of empirical equations that calculate the sectional distribution of the gas-phase velocity along the symmetric line of the sprays.

In order to simulate the valve behavior of an engine that uses a hydraulic lash adjuster (HLA), it is necessary to accurately reproduce the dynamic characteristics of the HLA in the model. Formerly, the model used values from drawings and values based on past experiences, and did not reflect actual driving conditions such as oil properties, leaked oil quantity, or oil aeration rate. We therefore developed a technique to reproduce HLA unit dynamic characteristics in a high-accuracy simulation. This representation was made possible using a unit excitation test to quantify the HLA unit dynamic characteristics in four categories: HLA stiffness, load response delay of the plunger, sinking displacement after relaxation, and lissajous curve of load vs. displacement. The effectiveness of this model calibration technique was confirmed through comparison of unit dynamic characteristics in a unit excitation test and a calibrated simulation.

In 1999, some Japanese fuel suppliers sold highly concentrated alcohol fuels, which are mixtures of gasoline and oxygenates, such as alcohol or ether, in amounts of 50% or more. In August 2001, it was reported that some vehicle models using the highly concentrated alcohol fuels encountered fuel leakage and vehicle fires due to corrosion of the aluminum used for the fuel-system parts. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Government of Japan (MLIT) jointly established the committee on safety for highly concentrated alcohol fuels in September 2001. The committee consisted of automotive technology and metal corrosion experts knowledgeable about preventing such accidents and ensuring user safety. Immersion tests were conducted on metals and other materials used for the fuel-supply system parts to determine the corrosion resistance to each alcohol component contained in the highly concentrated alcohol fuels.

ISO 26262, a functional safety standard for motor vehicles, was published in November 2011. Although motorcycles are not included in the scope of application of the current edition of ISO 26262, it is expected that motorcycles will be included in the next revision. However, it is not appropriate to directly apply automotive safety integrity levels (ASILs) to motorcycles because the situation of usage in practice presumably differs between motorcycles and motor vehicles. In our previous study, we newly defined safety integrity levels for motorcycles (MSILs) and proposed that the levels of MSILs should correspond to levels one step lower than those of ASILs; however, we did not investigate the validity of their connections. Accordingly, in this research, we validated the connections. We defined the difference of levels of SILs between motorcycles and motor vehicles as the difference of target values of random hardware failure rates specified in ISO 26262-5.

Honda developed a new generation 1.6L diesel engine as a part of technologies for high driving performance and good fuel economy. This new engine is equipped on Civic (C Segment, 5 doors), launched as a new European model in 2013. This engine has some technologies achieving both good fuel economy and low emission, and met Euro5 emission regulation. And the Civic achieved CO2emission of 94 g/km in NEDC, a reduction of 14.5% in CO2 emission against the previous diesel engine of Honda. [1] This engine has the dual EGR system composed of HP-EGR and LP-EGR, one of the technologies introduced to increase fuel efficiency. In this paper, some issues for the dual EGR system control and countermeasures for them will be described. In order to control each EGR mass flow, two or more valves (HP-EGR valve, LP-EGR valve and intake throttle) should be regulated cooperatively.