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Models for off-road vehicles, such as farm equipment and military vehicles, require an off-road tire model in order to properly understand their dynamic behavior on off-road driving surfaces. Extensive literature can be found for on-road tire modeling, but not much can be found for off-road tire modeling. This paper presents an off-road tire model that was developed for use in vehicle handling studies. An on-road, dry asphalt tire model was first developed by performing rolling road force and moment testing. Off-road testing was then performed on dirt and gravel driving surfaces to develop scaling factors that explain how the lateral force behavior of the tire will scale from an on-road to an off-road situation. The tire models were used in vehicle simulation software to simulate vehicle behavior on various driving surfaces. The simulated vehicle response was compared to actual maximum speed before sliding vs. turning radius data for the studied vehicle to assess the tire model.

Modeling the tire forces and moments (F&M) generation, during combined slip maneuvers, which involves cornering and braking/driving at the same time, is essential for the predictive vehicle performance analysis. In this study, a new semi-empirical method is introduced to estimate the tire combined slip F&M characteristics based on flat belt testing machine measurement data. This model is intended to be used in the virtual tire design optimization process. Therefore, it should include high accuracy, ease of parameterization, and fast computational time. Regression is used to convert measured F&M into pure slip multi-dimensional interpolant functions modified by weighting functions. Accurate combined slip F&M predictions are created by modifying pure slip F&M with empirically determined shape functions. Transient effects are reproduced using standard relaxation length equations. The model calculates F&M at the center of the contact patch.

The application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for three-dimensional (3D) combustion analysis coupled with detailed chemistry in engine development is hindered by its expensive computational cost. Chemistry computation may occupy as much as 90% of the total computational cost. In the present paper, a new two-step iso-octane combustion model was developed for spark-ignited (SI) engine to maximize computational efficiency while maintaining acceptable accuracy. Starting from the model constants of an existing global combustion model, the new model was developed using an approach based on sensitivity analysis to approximate the results of a reference skeletal mechanism. The present model involves only five species and two reactions and utilizes only one uniform set of model constants. The validation of the new model was performed using shock tube and real SI engine cases.

Stringent automotive emissions and fuel economy regulations have been bringing challenges for the development of new engine technologies to achieve greater levels of efficiency and pollutants reduction. In this scenario the homogeneous charge pre-chamber jet ignition system (HCJI) enables lean operation due the jet combustion gases emerging from the small pre-chamber combustor as the ignition source for main chamber combustion in an internal combustion engine. The present computational work was carrying out to investigate the interaction between the pre-chamber and main chamber fluid dynamics events. This CFD research was performed and validated with a experimental data for a single cylinder of a 4-stroke indirect fuel injection engine under the motoring condition running at 4500 rpm with 50% wide open throttle condition.

In this work an algebraic model for the thermodynamic study of the compression-ignition engine is developed using the concept of efficiencies in the processes that compose the air standard cycle. In this model, the use of the efficiency concept added to the variation of the specific heat, the heat release based on Wiebe function, and variation of the initial instant of heat release and heat rejection, makes this no ideal cycle to approach the actual Diesel operation. A cinematic model of the crank-and-connecting rod mechanism is used to transform the gas work in axis torque. This model serves as didactic tool for the thermodynamic analysis of the compression-ignition engines operation.

The growing demand for more efficient and less polluting engines has lead the scientific community to further develop the road map engine technologies, including direct fuel injection. Direct injection research demands the investigation of spray formation and its characteristics. The present work performs the characterization of the macroscopic parameters of ethanol sprays (E100) produced with a fuel gauge pressure of 80 bar and gauge back pressures of 0, 5 and 10 bar. The sprays analysis was performed using high speed filming by means of Shadowgraph technique. Computational routines of matrix analysis were applied to measure the spray cone angles, penetration and penetration rate. The spray visualization demanded an experimental apparatus composed of a pressurized cylinder with nitrogen, a fuel tank as pressure vessel, an injection driver equipped with a peak and hold module controlled by a MoteC M84, a Phantom V7.3 high speed camera and LEDs for illumination.

The problems of vibration and noise from an internal combustion engine are common because of the wide variety of parts and components that make up an internal combustion engine. In recent years engines have evolved considerably in relation to the control of vibration and noise emitted, since these effects reduce the useful life of the internal components of the engine itself and, besides giving discomfort to the occupants of the vehicle. The objective of this work was to identify and describe the main sources of vibration and noise in an internal combustion engine. The methodology used in this work involved instrumentation of an internal combustion engine (Otto cycle), the experimental tests of the engine on a test bench and involved the application of analytical techniques for treatment and analysis of experimental data.

This work aims to study the selection of a heat exchanger available in the market with the objective of implementing it in a vehicle. The vehicle used for the tests was a prototype, developed by Formula UFMG team. It was made an experimental and a theoretical study in order to calculate the power of the CB600F engine to compare with the experimental study of heat dissipation of the selected heat exchanger. This comparison was made to check whether the heat exchanger reaches the vehicle’s requirements, and it has shown good convergence. The engine technical features were used in the theoretical studies, and thus the power was calculated. The experimental data were obtained by assembling the car in a roller dynamometer with the necessary instrumentation for these tests being performed. In these tests, the critical operation conditions of the vehicle were simulated, once the engine operates at a temperature of 95°C.

The work focuses on studying ethanol spray behavior injected directly inside a spark ignited internal combustion engine in the compression stroke. An experimental procedure for measuring spray penetration and spray overall cone angle produced by a multi-hole direct injector was developed by means of computational codes written in Matlab environment for working with images of spray injections and to acquire calculated results in an automatic way. The shadowgraph technique with back continuous illumination associated with a high speed recording image process was used in a single cylinder optical research engine for acquiring images of Brazilian ethanol fuel injected at 120° before the top dead center of compression stroke. The process of spray injections occurred with engine speeds of 1000 rpm, 2000 rpm and 3000 rpm. The results showed that spray penetrations decrease and spray cone angle increase when the engine speed is raised.

When analyzing vibrations in internal combustion engines, it is noticed that the greatest sources of vibrations are generated by combustion and mechanical forces. These forces occur over a wide frequency range and are transmitted to the outer surface of the engine through several paths, such as through the piston mechanism, connecting rod, crankshaft and engine block. As a result of the action of these forces, the external surfaces of the engine are subjected to vibrations of various amplitudes. Vibration problems in internal combustion engines are common due to the wide variety of parts and components that make up such engines. The crankshaft undergoes transverse, longitudinal and torsional vibrations due to the dynamics of the stresses sustained mainly during the combustion phase of the engine.

Aiming the decrease of manufacturing costs, the automotive industry uses Computational Aided Engineering (CAE) and prototype testing for product development. In the field of simulation CAE could be performed using FEA (finite element analysis) or CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic), the last one is the analysis of systems involving fluid flow, heat transfer and associated phenomena such as chemical reactions by means of computer-based simulation. One of the most important components of cooling system is a water pump which is evaluated through the fluid dynamic analysis. Therefore, this work aims to analyze the fluid flow inside an automotive water pump considering a three-dimensional steady-state using CFD, but also developing a methodology to evaluate it. The parameters of the analysis and the volumetric mesh were according to the simulated results approached the experimental results.

The present work aims to analyze a torch ignition system running on lean homogeneous charge, adapted to an Otto cycle multi-cylinder engine. The main objective is to maximize engine efficiency by means of redesigning the ignition system adapting a pre-chamber to the main combustion chamber. This new ignition system allows reducing its IMEP covariance for leaner mixture operation due to the increase of ignition energy availability during the kernel formation. The engine used in this research is a commercial sixteen valve, four cylinders in line with cubic capacity of 1600 cm3. The performance date of baseline engine operating stoichiometrically were used as a reference for the comparison with torch ignition engine output running from stoichiometric mixture to its leaner operational limit. The brake mean effective pressure was maintained constant in all test configurations in order to make possible to compare engines thermal efficiency.

This paper covers the development of a closed loop transaxle synchronization algorithm which was a key deliverable in the control system design for the L3 Enigma, a Battery Dominant Hybrid Electric Vehicle. Background information is provided to help the reader understand the history that lead to this unique solution of the input and output shaft synchronizing that typically takes place in a manual vehicle transmission or transaxle when shifting into a gear from another or into a gear from neutral when at speed. The algorithm stability is discussed as it applies to system stability and how stability impacts the speed at which a shift can take place. Results are simulated in The MathWorks Simulink programming environment and show how traction motor technology can be used to efficiently solve what is often a machine design issue. The vehicle test bed to which this research is applied is a parallel biodiesel hybrid electric vehicle called the Enigma.

Environmental issues and energy security are critical concerns of the most countries. According researchers, excessive growth of land vehicles is one of the biggest contributors to global air pollution and oil reserves reduction. In this context, the use of lean burn technologies emerges as a promising strategy, allowing lower fuel consumption and pollutants emissions. Present work aims to analyze the behavior of a current commercial engine, gasoline fueled, varying the air-fuel ratio without the use of lean burn ignitions technologies. Analysis was performed through bench dynamometer tests, evaluating cylinder pressure, exhaust gas temperature, fuel conversion efficiency, cycle thermal efficiency, coefficient of variation in indicated mean effective pressure, apparent heat release rate, flame development angle and burn duration.

Extensive studies of pre-chamber ignition systems in internal combustion engines have proven its effectiveness in reduction of fuel consumption and improvement in several combustion parameters. Considering the different types of pre-chamber configurations, this paper aims to compare the combustion in a SI engine with both homogeneous and stratified pre-chamber ignition systems. To achieve this objective a system with the ability to control the hydrogen injection in the pre-chamber was built. This system was installed in a multi-cylinder Ford Sigma 1.6L engine and tested in a dynamometric room. Tests consisted in imposing a constant rotation and IMEP to test three conditions: standard spark ignition, pre-chamber ignition system without fuel injection (homogenous) and with hydrogen injection (stratified). It was possible to identify that with the use of pre-chamber ignition system there is a reduction in specific fuel consumption and in the combustion duration.

Environmental policies and fuel costs have driven the development of new technologies for internal combustion engines. In this sense, the use of mixtures with small portions of fuel allows lower fuel consumption and pollutants emissions, emerging as a promising strategy. Despite the advantages, lean burn requires a larger energy source to provide satisfactory flame propagation speed and consequently a stable combustion. The use of pre-chamber ignition systems (PCIS) has been used in SI engines to assist the start of combustion of lean mixtures, in which a supplementary fuel system can stratify the amount of either liquid or gaseous fuels supplied to the pre-chamber. In this context, this paper aims to evaluate combustion characteristics of a commercial engine with the use of stratified PCIS operating with impoverished mixtures of ethanol-air in main-chamber and hydrogen assistance in pre-chamber.

This paper discusses the importance of vibration transmitted from the ground to the driver from the perspective of human whole-body vibration (WBV). The scope of analysis is to compare the main vehicle frequencies with those important from the human vibration health and comfort point of view. That was performed by mapping the vibration transmissibility present in different sub sections of the vehicle. The first is the transmissibility between the axles and the chassis rail, the following between the chassis rail and the cabin. The last would be between the cabin and the drivers' seat, although that was not possible from the acquisition point of view. The vehicles measured have mechanical suspension and elastomeric cabin coupling. It is known that all suspension systems in vehicle are highly nonlinear, although here linear dynamic analysis methods were used.

Currently the durability test of FIAT vehicles powertrain suspension system is performed in pattern roads that reproduces conditions which the vehicle is submitted by costumer during product life cycle. The test done in these roads is time consuming and expensive. Experimental Engineers, for quite some time, have endeavored in doing automotive components fatigue tests in the lab. These environments provide more controlled test conditions and enable a less time consuming test. This work analyzes, over one of the three powertrain system attachment points of a passenger vehicle, differences that are found between a test performed in pattern roads and a test performed in a 6DOF road simulator. As conclusion, presents alternatives to perform the test of these components in lab using a 6DOF road simulator.

The torch ignition system consists in the inflammation of the air/fuel mixture by means of gases jet flames that constitute ignition lines. Engines with this feature have a cavity or combustion pre-chamber, physically separate from the main chamber. In these systems happens a larger turbulence generation, due the movement of the gases inside the pre-chamber and through the interconnection orifices. The charge stratification, by means of an auxiliary inlet fuel system, also contributes for the fast and insurance inflammation of lean mixtures and the most varied combustible, including the difficult direct spark ignition fuels. This work presents the design elaboration of combustion pre-chamber from an analysis of the influence of the main constructive parameters in the combustion process.

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team of Virginia Tech (HEVT) is currently developing a control strategy for a parallel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). The hybrid powertrain is being implemented in a 2016 Chevrolet Camaro for the EcoCAR 3 competition. Fuzzy rule sets determine the torque split between the motor and the engine using the accelerator pedal position, vehicle speed and state of charge (SOC) as the input variables. The torque producing components are a 280 kW V8 L83 engine with active fuel management (AFM) and a post-transmission (P3) 100 kW custom motor. The vehicle operates in charge depleting (CD) and charge sustaining (CS) modes. In CD mode, the model drives as an electric vehicle (EV) and depletes the battery pack till a lower state of charge threshold is reached. Then CS operation begins, and driver demand is supplied by the engine operating in V8 or AFM modes with supplemental or loading torque from the P3 motor.