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The ever-growing concern to reduce the impact of transportation systems on environment has pushed automotive industry towards fuel-efficient and sustainable solutions. While several approaches have been used to improve fuel efficiency, the light-weighting of automobile components has proven broadly effective. A substantial effort is devoted to lightweighting body-in-white which contributes ~35% of total weight of vehicle. Closure systems, however, have been often overlooked. Closure systems are extremely important as they account for ~ 50% of structural mass and have a very diverse range of requirements, including crash safety, durability, strength, fit, finish, NVH, and weather sealing. To this end, a carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite door is being designed for an OEM’s mid-size SUV, that enables 42.5% weight reduction. In this work, several novel composite door assembly designs were developed by using an integrated design, analysis and optimization approach.

Research of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is an important issue of intelligent vehicle (IV). As we all known, a real and experienced driver can control vehicle's speed very well under every traffic environment of ACC working. So a direct and feasible way for establishing ACC controller is to build a human-like longitudinal control algorithm with the simulation of driver behavior of speed control. In this paper, a novel fuzzy self-tuning control algorithm of ACC is established and this controller's parameters can be tuned on-line based on the evaluation indexes that can describe how the driver consider the quality of dynamical characteristic of vehicle longitudinal dynamics. With the advantage of the controller's parameter on-line self-tuning, the computational workload from matching design of ACC controller is also efficiently reduced.

Most studies on supervisory controllers of hybrid electric vehicles consider only fuel economy in the objective function. Taking into consideration the importance of the energy storage system health and its impact on the vehicle’s functionality, cost, and warranty, recent studies have included battery degradation as the second objective function by proposing different energy management strategies and battery life estimation methods. In this paper, a rule-based supervisory controller is proposed that splits the torque demand based not only on fuel consumption, but also on the battery capacity fade using the concept of severity factor. For this aim, the severity factor is calculated at each time step of a driving cycle using a look-up table with three different inputs including c-rate, working temperature, and state of charge of the battery. The capacity loss of the battery is then calculated using a semi-empirical capacity fade model.

The accuracy of tire forces directly affects the vehicle dynamics model precision and determines the ability of the model to develop the simulation platform or design the control strategy. In the high slip angle, due to the complex interactions at tire-road interfaces, the forces generated by the tires are high nonlinearity and uncertainty, which pose issues in calculating tire force accurately. This paper presents a hybrid physical and data-driven tire force calculation framework, which can satisfy the high nonlinearity and uncertainty condition, improve the model accuracy and effectively leverage prior knowledge of physical laws. The parameter identification for the physical tire model and the data-based compensation for the unknown errors between the physical tire model and actual tire force data are contained in this framework. First, the parameters in the selected combined-slip Burckhardt tire model are identified by the nonlinear least square method with tire test data.

A multitude of recent studies are suggestive of the EV as a paramount representative of the NEV, its development direction is transformed from “individuals adapt to vehicles” to “vehicles serve for occupants”. The multi-mode drive control technology is relatively mature in traditional auto control sphere, however, a host of EV continues to use a single control strategy, which lacks of flexibility and diversity, little if nothing interprets the vehicle performances. Furthermore, due to the complex road environment and peculiarity of vehicle occupants that different requirement has been made for vehicle performance. To solve above problems, this paper uses the key technology of mathematical statistics process in MATLAB, such as the mean, linear fitting and discrete algorithms to clean up, screening and classification the original data in general rules, and based on short trips in the segments of kinematics analysis method to establish a representative of quintessential driving cycle.

This research proposes a control system for Spark Ignition (SI) engines with external Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) based on model predictive control and a disturbance observer. The proposed Economic Nonlinear Model Predictive Controller (E-NMPC) tries to minimize fuel consumption for a number of engine cycles into the future given an Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP) tracking reference and abnormal combustion constraints like knock and combustion variability. A nonlinear optimization problem is formulated and solved in real time using Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) to obtain the desired control actuator set-points. An Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) based observer is applied to estimate engine states, combining both air path and cylinder dynamics. The EKF engine state(s) observer is augmented with disturbance estimation to account for modeling errors and/or sensor/actuator offset.

Knowledge of the tire slip ratio can greatly improve vehicle longitudinal stability and its dynamic performance. Most conventional slip ratio observers were mainly designed based on input of non-driven wheel speed and estimated vehicle speed. However, they are not applicable for electric vehicles (EVs) with four in-wheel motors. Also conventional methods on speed estimation via integration of accelerometer signals can often lead to large offset by long-time integral calculation. Further, model uncertainties, including steady state error and unmodeled dynamics, are considered as additive disturbances, and may affect the stability of the system with estimated state error. This paper proposes a novel slip ratio observer based on input-to-state stability (ISS) method for electric vehicles with four-wheel independent driving motors.

Multi-material design is one of the trending methods for automakers to achieve lightweighting cost-efficiently and meet stringent regulations and fuel efficiency concerns. Motivated by this trend, the hybrid single-shot (HSS) process has been recently introduced to manufacture thermoset-thermoplastic composites in one single integrated operation. Although this integration is beneficial in terms of reducing the cycle time, production cost, and manufacturing limitations associated with such hybrid structures, it increases the process complexity due to the simultaneous filling, forming, curing, and bonding actions occurring during the process. To overcome this complexity and have a better understanding on the interaction of these physical events, a quick yet accurate simulation of the HSS process based on an experimentally calibrated numerical approach is presented here to elucidate the effect of different process settings on the final geometry of the hybrid part.

A high-precision steady state tire model is critical in the tire and vehicle matching research. For the moment, the popular Magic Formula model is an empirical model, which requires the pure and combined test data to identify the model parameters. Although MTS Flat-trac is an efficient tire test rig, the long test period and high test cost of a complete tire model tests for handling are yet to be solved. Therefore, it is necessary to explore a high accuracy method for predicting tire complex mechanical properties with as few test data as possible. In this study, a method for predicting tire combined slip characteristics from pure cornering and pure longitudinal test data has been investigated, and verified by comparing with the test data. Firstly, the prediction theory of UniTire model is introduced, and the formula for predicting combined slip characteristics based on constant friction coefficient is derived.

As engines are equipped with an increased number of control actuators to meet fuel economy targets they become more difficult to control and calibrate. The large number of control actuators encourages the investigation of physics-based control strategies to reduce calibration time and complexity. Of particular interest is spark timing control and calibration since it has a significant influence on engine efficiency, emissions, vibration and durability. Spark timing determination to achieve a desired combustion phasing is currently an empirical process that occurs during the calibration phase of engine development. This process utilizes a large number of stored surfaces and corrections to account for the wide range of operating environments and conditions that a given engine will experience. An obstacle to realizing feedforward physics-based combustion phasing control is the requirement for an accurate and fast combustion model.

Accurate in-cylinder air charge estimation is important for engine torque determination, controlling air-to-fuel ratio, and ensuring high after-treatment efficiency. Spark ignition (SI) engine technologies like variable valve timing (VVT) and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) are applied to improve fuel economy and reduce pollutant emissions, but they increase the complexity of air charge estimation. Increased air-path complexity drives the need for cost effective solutions that produce high air mass prediction accuracy while minimizing sensor cost, computational effort, and calibration time. A large number of air charge estimation techniques have been developed using a range of sensors sets combined with empirical and/or physics-based models. This paper provides a technical review of research in this area, focused on SI engines.

Part V of this five-part paper investigates the flow field and the total pressure loss mechanisms for three valve lifts in the exhaust region of a V8 racecar engine using the robust, systematic computational methodology described in Part I. The replica of the engine geometry includes a cylinder, detailed combustion chamber, exhaust valve, valve seat, port, and “exhaust pipe”. A set of fully-converged and grid-independent solutions for the steady, time-averaged (or RANS), non-linear Navier-Stokes equations are obtained using dense and high quality grids, involving 2.1∼3.0 finite volumes, and unusually strict convergence criteria. Turbulence closure is attained via the realizable k-ε (RKE) model used in conjunction with the non-equilibrium wall function near-wall treatment. The validation presented in Part I showed that flow rate results from the “blind simulations” agree well with the experimental measurements.

Velocity prediction on hilly road can be applied to the energy-saving predictive control of intelligent vehicles. However, the existing methods do not deeply analyze the difference and diversity of road slope driving characteristics, which affects prediction performance of some prediction method. To further improve the prediction performance on road slope, and different road slope driving features are fully exploited and integrated with the common prediction method. A rolling prediction-based multi-scale fusion prediction considering road slope transition driving characteristics is proposed in this study. Amounts of driving data in hilly sections were collected by the advanced technology and equipment. The Markov chain model was used to construct the velocity and acceleration joint state transition characteristics under each road slope transition pair, which expresses the obvious driving difference characteristics when the road slope changes.

In this paper, a sliding mode observer for estimating vehicle slip angle and tire forces is developed. Firstly, the sliding mode observer design approach is presented. A system damping is included in the sliding mode observer to speed the observer convergence and to decrease the observer chattering. Secondly, the sliding mode observer for vehicle states is developed based on a 7 DOF embedded vehicle model with a nonlinear tire model ‘UniTire’. In addition, since the tire lateral stiffness is sensitive to the vertical load, the load transfers are considered in the embedded model with a set of algebraic equations. Finally, a simulation evaluation of the proposed sliding mode observer is conducted on a validated 14 DOF vehicle model. The simulation results show the model outputs closely match the estimations by the proposed sliding mode observer.

Autonomous driving technology is more and more important nowadays, it has been changing the living style of our society. As for autonomous driving planning and control, vehicle dynamics has strong nonlinearity and uncertainty, so vehicle dynamics and control is one of the most challenging parts. At present, many kinds of specific vehicle dynamics models have been proposed, this review attempts to give an overview of the state of the art of vehicle dynamics models for autonomous driving. Firstly, this review starts from the simple geometric model, vehicle kinematics model, dynamic bicycle model, double-track vehicle model and multi degree of freedom (DOF) dynamics model, and discusses the specific use of these classical models for autonomous driving state estimation, trajectory prediction, motion planning, motion control and so on.

Fuel efficiency improvement in automobiles has been a topic of great interest over the past few years, especially with the introduction of the new CAFE 2025 standards. Although there are multiple ways of improving the fuel efficiency of an automobile, lightweighting is one of the most common approaches taken by many automotive manufacturers. Lightweighting is even more significant in electric vehicles as it directly affects the range of the vehicle. Amidst this context of lightweighting, the use of composite materials as alternatives to metals has been proven in the past to help achieve substantial weight reduction. The focus of using composites for weight reduction has however been typically limited to major structural components, such as BiW and closures, due to high material costs. Secondary structural components which contribute approximately 30% of the vehicle weight are usually neglected by these weight reduction studies.

The emphasis on vehicle fuel economy and tailpipe emissions, coupled with a trend toward greater system functionally, has prompted automotive engineers to develop on-board control systems with increased requirements and complexity. Mainstream engine controllers regulate fuel, spark, and other subsystems using custom solutions that incorporate off-the-shelf hardware components. Although the digital processor core and the peripheral electronics may be similar, these controllers are targeted to fixed engine architectures which limit their flexibility across vehicle platforms. Moreover, additional software needs are emerging as electronics continue to permeate the ground transportation sector. Thus, automotive controllers will be required to assume increased responsibility while effectively communicating with distributed hardware modules.

The Electronic Stability Program (ESP), as a key actuator of traditional automobile braking system, plays an important role in the development of intelligent vehicles by accurately controlling the pressure of wheels. However, the ESP is a highly nonlinear controlled object due to the changing of the working temperature, humidity, and hydraulic load. In this paper, an accurate pressure control strategy of single wheel during active braking of ESP is proposed, which doesn’t rely on the specific parameters of the hydraulic system and ESP. First, the structure and working principle of ESP have been introduced. Then, we discuss the possibility of Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control based on the mathematical model of the high-speed switching valve. Subsequently, the pressure building characteristics of the inlet and outlet valves are analyzed by the hardware in the Loop (HiL) experimental platform.

Advanced engine cooling systems can enhance the combustion environment, increase fuel efficiency, and reduce tailpipe emissions with less parasitic engine load. The introduction of computer controlled electro-mechanical valves, radiator fans, and coolant pumps require mathematic models and real time algorithms to implement intelligent thermal control strategies for prescribed engine temperature tracking. Smart butterfly valves can replace the traditional wax-based thermostat to control the coolant flow based on both engine temperature and operating conditions. The electric water pump and radiator fan replace the mechanically driven components to reduce unnecessary engine loads at high speeds and provide better cooling at low speeds.

Formula One (F1) racing cars are often running at high-speed with the pitching angle changing frequently due to road conditions. These pitching angle changes result in changes to the car’s aerodynamic characteristics that will directly affect handling stability and other performance factors including safety. This paper takes a F1 racing car as the model; the influence of the change of pitching angle on aerodynamic drag force and lift force are investigated. CFD code-PowerFLOW based LBM is used to simulate the aerodynamic characteristics with different pitching angles. The distribution of aerodynamic coefficients, velocity and pressure in the flow field are obtained; and the differences between different pitching angles were analyzed. The results show that as the pitching angle increases, the drag force increases and the lift force decreases. The down-force of the car is mainly supplied by the front wing and the rear wing.