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The purpose of this study is to define requirements for technological and business success in the world's first implementation of Reverse-Supply-Chain, in which bumper materials of end-of-life vehicles (ELV) are recycled for use as ingredients in new bumper materials. In Japan, ELVs are recovered following to the government regulation. About 20% (700,000 ton) of such collected ELVs are automotive shredder residues (ASR), most of which are burnt as fuel or used as landfill trash. ASRs are mainly plastics, which are largely used as materials of bumpers. The reverse-supply-chain was started as a small business by a collaboration between the car manufacture (Mazda), dismantler, and resource-recycling business operator, and enhanced by the development of easy-to-recycle bumpers, technologies of paint removal from crushed bumpers and sorting-out, a material quality control method, and improvement in transportation efficiency.

The present study investigated the aerodynamic pitching stability of sedan-type vehicles under the influence of A- and C-pillar geometrical configurations. The numerical method used for the investigation is based on the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) method. Whilst, the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method was employed to realize the prescribed pitching oscillation of vehicles during dynamic pitching and fluid flow coupled simulations. The trailing vortices that shed from the A-pillar and C-pillar edges produced the opposite tendencies on how they affect the aerodynamic pitching stability of vehicles. In particular, the vortex shed from the A-pillar edge tended to enhance the pitching oscillation of vehicle, while the vortex shed from the C-pillar edge tended to suppress it. Hence, the vehicle with rounded A-pillar and angular C-pillar exhibited a higher aerodynamic damping than the vehicle with the opposite A- and C-pillars configurations.

This paper clarifies aggressivity reduction approach for MPV, Multi-Purpose Vehicles, derived from large passenger vehicles toward small passenger vehicles. The effects of aggressivity-reducing approach were measured through full-frontal rigid barrier crash simulations with TRL aluminum honeycomb by Finite Element Method. The front-end structures of large vehicles studied in this paper based on this aggressivity reduction approach show good front-end homogeneity and low average height of force. The structures were also found to effectively reduce aggressivity toward small vehicles by car-to-car simulation. However, there are some cases where the effect was influenced by overlap ratios. From this result, overlap ratio is considered to be one of the important factors to improve compatibility performance.

Coating the heat insulation materials on the combustion chamber walls is one of the solutions to reduce the cooling loss of internal combustion engines. In order to examine the coatings, the evaluation of the heat transfer coefficient and the analysis of the heat transfer phenomena on the heat insulated walls are important. Firstly, the highly-responsive wall temperature sensor is developed, and the instantaneous wall heat flux is measured to evaluate the heat transfer coefficient on the heat insulated walls. The results show that the Nusselt number on the heat insulated walls is less influenced by the Reynolds number variation than that on the metal walls. Secondly, the high speed µ-PIV is employed to analyze the various turbulent flow characteristics. The results show that the turbulent dissipation on the heat insulated walls is smaller than that on the metal walls.

In order to reduce the emission of both VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) included in paint and CO2 which is generated from operating painting booth and baking oven, low solvent content paint and new coating system which make it possible to apply primer coating, base coating, and clear coating continuously before baked at once have been developed. With these technologies, it is possible to eliminate primer baking process, and reduce coating cost, while maintaining the film properties.

We have developed injection molding technologies consist of a new high-strength long-glass fiber reinforced polypropylene (PPLGF). They are key technologies of new modular design for substantial reductions of weight and cost, offering integrated functionality. The strength of injection molded parts are three times stronger than that of the conventional material. This technology makes it possible to replace parts from steel stamping and press molded glass-mat reinforced polypropylene. The front end and door modules of Atenza / Mazda6, Demio / Mazda2, RX-8 employs the module carriers using this material, resulting in dramatic weight and cost savings. (Fig. 1)

We have developed injection molding technologies consist of a new high-strength long-glass fiber reinforced polypropylene (PPLGF). They are key technologies of new modular design for substantial reductions of weight and cost, offering integrated functionality. The strength of injection molded parts are three times stronger than that of the conventional material. This technology makes it possible to replace parts from steel stamping and press molded glass-mat reinforced polypropylene. The front end and door modules of Mazda 6 employ the module carriers using this material, resulting in dramatic weight and cost savings.

Control of self-ignition timing in a HCCI engine is still a major technical issue. Recently, the application of a non-equilibrium plasma using repetitively discharge has been proposed as the promising technology. However, non-equilibrium plasma reaction in higher hydrocarbon fuel mixture is very complicated. Hence, there have been few calculation reports considering a series of reactions from non-equilibrium plasma production to high temperature oxidation process. In this study, 0-dimensional numerical simulation model was developed in which both reactions of plasma chemistry and high temperature oxidation combustion was taken into account simultaneously. In addition, an ODEs solver has been applied for the reduction of calculation time in the simulation. By comparing calculation results with experiment such as self-ignition timing, the validity of the developed numerical model has been evaluated.

New press forming method was developed for ensuring shape-accuracy of draw parts with high strength steel sheet(HSS) of very high tensile strength such as 780MPa. In the new method, step drawing method was combined with crash forming method by applying cam flange die structure to drawing dies. Furthermore, the die structure in the method is simple. At the trial press-forming by the model die even with 780MPa high strength steel sheets, the side wall warps in particular were restrained within a specified tolerance, that is ±0.00067[1/mm] of the variation of curvature(Δ 1/ ρ). Now the method is applied to press-forming some automotive body parts, such as front side member, etc.

The thermal efficiency of a three-rotor rotary engine (RE) was improved by a reduction in the pumping losses. These pumping losses were reduced by using a new port mechanism. The port mechanism utilized was an indirect recirculation type of late intake port closing. It was equipped with a recirculation chamber outside of the housings. This chamber interconnected the recirculation ports within each housing. This port mechanism yielded three main benefits 1. A Considerable reduction in the pumping losses. 2. A uniformly distributed air-fuel mixture in each housing. 3. A limited amount of residual gas in the housing. This residual gas was under specific pulsations by the recirculation chamber thus preventing deterioration in combustion under light loads. The above phenomena were clarified by experiments and simulations. The possibility of a reduction in exhaust emissions was also investigated.

The reduced chemical reaction scheme which can take the effect of major fuel components on auto ignition timing into account has been developed. This reaction scheme was based on the reduced reaction mechanism for the primary reference fuels (PRF) proposed by Tsurushima [1] with 33 species and 38 reactions. Some pre-exponential factors were modified by using Particle Swarm Optimization to match the ignition delay time versus reciprocal temperature which was calculated by the detailed scheme with 2,301 species and 11,116 elementary chemical reactions. The result using the present reaction scheme shows good agreements with that using the detailed scheme for the effects of EGR, fuel components, and radical species on the ignition timing under homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion (HCCI) conditions.

A new nitrogen oxide (NOx) reduction concept is suggested. A strong vertical vortex generated within the combustion bowl can mix hot burned gas into the cold excess air at the center of the combustion-bowl. This makes the burned gas cool rapidly. Therefore, it is possible to reduce NOx, which would be produced if the burned gas remained hot. In this paper the effect was verified with a 3D-CFD analysis of spray, air, combustion gas, and thermal efficiency as well as experiments on a 4-cylinder 2.0-liter direct injection diesel engine. The results confirmed that the vertical vortex was able to be strengthened with the change of spray characteristics and the combustion bowl shapes. This strengthened vertical vortex was able to reduce NOx by approximately 20% without making smoke and thermal-efficiency worse. Above results proved the effectiveness of this method.

An all-ceramic swirl chamber has been developed and analyses and evaluations concerning the strength of silicon nitride ceramic (Si3N4) have been performed with a view to using it for the entire internal wall surface of the swirl chamber. The strength characteristics of Si3N4 and their effect and variation have been determined. On the basis of measurements and analyses of thermal stresses, assembling stresses, etc., investigation of the most suitable construction and assembling methods to reduce load stresses on ceramic, and various kinds of duration tests, the swirl chamber has been confirmed to have the required durability. This engine was found to comply with the 1987 U.S. diesel particulate regulation.

Experiment and CFD have been performed to clarify the distribution of wind noise sources and its generation mechanism for a production vehicle. Three noise source identification techniques were applied to measure the wind noise sources from the outside and inside of vehicle. The relation between these noise sources and the interior noise was investigated by modifying the specification of underbody and front-pillar. In addition, CFD was preformed to predict the noise sources and clarify its generation mechanism. The noise sources obtained by simulation show good agreement with experiment in the region of side window and underbody.

This study shows an example in which the conventional aerodynamic evaluation method that focuses on “steady” aerodynamic lift coefficient is not necessarily sufficient to evaluate vehicle's straight-ahead stability at high speed, and proposes a new aerodynamic evaluation method for vehicle stability. In vehicle development, it is generally said that vehicle with lower aerodynamic lift coefficient has better straight-ahead stability at high speed. However, in some cases, straight-ahead stability differs between two vehicles with similar low aerodynamic lift coefficient. It is natural to think that this variation is caused by the difference of suspension characteristics or vehicle body rigidity. But from our experiences, different straight-ahead stability was observed between two vehicles having same suspension characteristics, same vehicle body rigidity and almost similar aerodynamic lift coefficient, but different vehicle configurations.

In the present study, two kinds of simplified vehicle models, which can reproduce flow structures around the two sedan-type vehicles in the previous study, are constructed for the object and the unsteady flow structures are extracted using Large-Eddy Simulation technique. The numerical results are validated in a stationary condition by comparing the results with a wind-tunnel experiment and details of steady and unsteady flow characteristics around the models, especially above the trunk deck, are investigated. In quasi- and non- stationary manner with regard to vehicle pitch motion, unsteady flow characteristics are also investigated and their relations to an aerodynamic stability are discussed.

The International Lubricant Standardization and Approval Committee (ILSAC) ATF subcommittee members have compared the two oxidation bench test methods, Aluminum Beaker Oxidation Test (ABOT) and Indiana Stirring Oxidation Stability Test (ISOT), using a number of factory-fill and service-fill ATFs obtained in Japan and in the US. In many cases, the ATFs were more severely oxidized after the ABOT procedure than after the same duration of the ISOT procedure. The relative severity of these two tests was influenced by the composition of the ATFs. The bench test oxidation data were compared with the transmission and the vehicle oxidation test data.

To investigate NO formation in a combustion flame, PLIF (Planar Laser-Induced-Fluorescence) technique was applied to measure the NO fluorescence distribution in a constant-volume combustion chamber and in a sparkignition engine. The NO fluorescence distribution was taken by an image intensified CCD camera. In the constant-volume combustion chamber, the high NO fluorescence intensity was concentrically observed in the thin flame zone along the flame front. In postflame gas behind the flame zone, the NO fluorescence was widely distributed with weak intensity. In the case of the engine, the fluorescence was distributed in the broad flame zone. The fluorescence intensity had high value near the flame front, and decreased from the flame front to the postflame gas. As the equivalence ratio was changed, the fluorescence intensity reached maximum value at slightly lean condition.

Seat lumbar support is thought to be essential for seating comfort as it plays important role in the driver's fatigue during long term driving. We tried to evaluate the lumbar support performance objectively with Seat Pressure Distribution. First, the tolerance in the measurement was eliminated by application of ASPECT manikin that reproduced a human seating torso posture [1, 2]. Second, an analysis method to visualize the seat support balance on the human back was developed. Third, a hypothesis for the optimal support balance to minimize the fatigue was proposed according to the fatigue growing mechanisms. Examining the deviation of each seat result from the optimal support, the performances were quantitatively evaluated. In addition to that, the effect of the lumbar support adjuster was taken into consideration to predict the market evaluation more precisely.

Combustion behavior in Rotary Engine (RE) is quite different from that in conventional reciprocating engines. Therefore, it is important to observe the combustion in RE. In the previous studies, an optical RE was developed, which enabled the observation of the flame propagation in the rotor rotating direction (side view). In the present study, modification was made to the optical RE so that the observation of the flame propagation in the rotor width direction (bottom view) became possible. By using two high-speed cameras, the combustion in RE was observed by bottom view and side view simultaneously. Consequently, it was found that the flame propagation in the rotor width direction is also important for better engine performance as well as that in the rotor rotating direction.