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The 2005 Ford GT high performance sports car was designed and built in keeping with the heritage of the 1960's LeMans winning GT40 while maintaining the image of the 2002 GT40 concept vehicle. This paper reviews the technical challenges in designing and building a super car in 12 months while meeting customer expectations in performance, styling, quality and regulatory requirements. A team of dedicated and performance inspired engineers and technical specialists from Ford Motor Company Special Vehicle Teams, Research and Advanced Engineering, Mayflower Vehicle Systems, Roush Industries, Lear, and Saleen Special Vehicles was assembled and tasked with designing the production 2005 vehicle in record time.

An integrated engineering approach using computer modeling, laboratory and vehicle testing enabled the Ford GT engineering team to achieve supercar thermal management performance within the aggressive program timing. Theoretical and empirical test data was used during the design and development of the engine cooling system. The information was used to verify design assumptions and validate engineering efforts. This design approach allowed the team to define a system solution quickly and minimized the need for extensive vehicle level testing. The result of this approach was the development of an engine cooling system that adequately controls air, oil and coolant temperatures during all driving and environmental conditions.

The main objective of the current paper was to investigate the fluid flow and pressure loss characteristics of DPF substrates with asymmetric channels utilizing 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods. The ratio of inlet to outlet channel width is 1.2. First, CFD results of velocity and static pressure distributions inside the inlet and outlet channels are discussed for the baseline case with both forward and reversed exhaust flow. Results were also compared with the regular DPF of same cell structure and wall material properties. It was found that asymmetrical channel design has higher pressure loss. The lowest pressure loss was found for the asymmetrical channel design with smaller inlet channels. Then, the effects of DPF length and filter wall permeability on pressure loss, flow and pressure distributions were investigated.

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the performance of partial filtration DPF substrates using 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods. Detailed 3-D CFD simulations were performed for real world sizes of DPF inlet and outlet channel geometries. Two concepts of partial filters were studied. The baseline geometry was a standard DPF with the front plugs removed. The second concept was to eliminate half of outlet plugs in addition to the inlet plugs to improve the pressure drop performance. The total filter efficiency was defined in current study to quantify the overall filter filtration efficiency which combines the effects from wall flow efficiency and flow through efficiency. For baseline case, 45% of total exhaust gas was found to go through the inlet channels, and the total trap efficiency was as high as 60%. However, only a 10% pressure loss reduction was found due to the removal of the outlet channel plugs from the DPF inlet side.

Model validation is a process to assess the validity and predictive capabilities of a computer model by comparing simulation results with test data for its intended use of the model. One of the key difficulties for model validation is to evaluate the quality of a computer model at different test configurations in design space, and interpolate or extrapolate the evaluation results to untested new design configurations. In this paper, an integrated model interpolation and extrapolation framework based on Bayesian inference and Response Surface Models (RSM) is proposed to validate the designs both within and outside of the original design space. Bayesian inference is first applied to quantify the distributions' hyper-parameters of the bias between test and CAE data in the validation domain. Then, the hyper-parameters are extrapolated from the design configurations to untested new design. They are then followed by the prediction interval of responses at the new design points.

“There's nothing new under the sun,” the old proverb says. But you only have to read a magazine, scan a periodical, listen to the radio, watch television, or glance at the multitude of ads that promise that such and such product is the latest trend or has up-to-date, state-of-the-art technology, to seemingly prove the old proverb wrong. However, old proverbs become old because they withstand the test of time. In this case, a hasty judgement should be withheld. Currently, as in the past, the above holds true for car radios as well. Whether in the United States, Europe, Canada or Latin America, the public has always been susceptible to last minute technological advances. It is curious then, that as far as car radio styling is concerned, their appearance has been typically rather conservative, and that it is only recently that styling has begun to change to be more in tune with the times.

An extensive calibration study has been initiated to assess the predictive ability of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) for the aerodynamic design of automotive shapes. Several codes are being checked against a set of detailed wind tunnel measurements on ten car-like shapes. The objective is to assess the ability of numerical analysis to predict the CD (drag coefficient) influence of the rear end configuration. The study also provides a significant base of information for investigating discrepancies between predicted and measured flow fields and for assessing new numerical techniques. This technical report compares STAR-CD predictions to the wind tunnel measurements. The initial results are quite encouraging. Calculated centerline pressure distributions on the front end, underbody and floor compare well for all ten shapes. Wake flow structures are in reasonable agreement for many of the configurations. Drag, lift, and pitching moment trends follow the experimental measurements.

A mathematical model is developed which describes the operation of an A/F control system containing an engine, an exhaust gas oxygen sensor, and a feedback controller. The dependence of model parameters on engine operating conditions is discussed, and the model is used to compare integral and proportional/integral control algorithms. Actual data obtained on an engine-dynamometer are presented to test the validity of the model.

Vehicle restraint system design is a difficult optimization problem to solve because (1) the nature of the problem is highly nonlinear, non-convex, noisy, and discontinuous; (2) there are large numbers of discrete and continuous design variables; (3) a design has to meet safety performance requirements for multiple crash modes simultaneously, hence there are a large number of design constraints. Based on the above knowledge of the problem, it is understandable why design of experiment (DOE) does not produce a high-percentage of feasible solutions, and it is difficult for response surface methods (RSM) to capture the true landscape of the problem. Furthermore, in order to keep the restraint system more robust, the complexity of restraint system content needs to be minimized in addition to minimizing the relative risk score to achieve New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) 5-star rating.

Electrification is the well-accepted solution to address carbon emissions and modernize vehicle controls. Batteries play a critical in the journey of electrification and modernization with battery voltage prediction as the foundation for safe and efficient operation. Due to its strong dependency on prior information, battery voltage was estimated with recurrent neural network methods in the recent literatures exploring a variety of deep learning techniques to estimate battery behaviors. In these studies, standard recurrent neural networks, gated recurrent units, and long-short term memory are popular neural network architectures under review. However, in most cases, each neural network architecture is individually assessed and therefore the knowledge about comparative study among three neural network architecture is limited. In addition, many literatures only studied either the dynamic voltage response or the voltage relaxation.

Although concerns have been raised that the performance of activated carbon canisters will decrease when exposed to air at higher humidities, results of a recently conducted test program do not substantiate these concerns. The results show that the purge efficiency and the working capacity of canisters that are purged with air at 75 grains per pound of dry air (GPPDA) humidity are equal or greater than those obtained with 50 GPPDA humidity purging. The results have been submitted to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) for use in aligning their evaporative emission testing regulations with the regulations promulgated by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Frequency domain testing has had limited use in the past for durability evaluations of automotive components. Recent advances and new perspectives now make it a viable option. Using frequency domain testing for components, test times can be greatly reduced, resulting in considerable savings of time, money, and resources. Quality can be built into the component, thus making real-time subsystem and full vehicle testing and development more meaningful. Time domain testing historically started with block cycle histogram tests. Improved capabilities of computers, controllers, math procedures, and algorithms have led to real time simulation in the laboratory. Real time simulation is a time domain technique for duplicating real world environments using computer controlled multi-axial load inputs. It contains all phase information as in the recorded proving ground data. However, normal equipment limitations prevent the operation at higher frequencies.

New regulations from the state of California have established, for the first time, reactivity-based exhaust emissions standards for new vehicles and require that any clean alternative fuels needed by these vehicles be made available. Contained in these regulations are provisions for “reactivity adjustment factors” which will provide credit for vehicles which run on reformulated gasoline. The question arises: given two fuels of different chemical composition, but both meeting the criteria for CA Phase 2 gasoline (reformulated gasoline), how different might the specific reactivity of the exhaust hydrocarbons be? In this study we explored this question by examining the engine-out HC emissions from a single-cylinder version of the 5.4 L modular truck engine run on two different CA Phase 2 fuels.

Available methodologies for model bias identification are mainly regression-based approaches, such as Gaussian process, Bayesian inference-based models and so on. Accuracy and efficiency of these methodologies may degrade for characterizing the model bias when more system inputs are considered in the prediction model due to the curse of dimensionality for regression-based approaches. This paper proposes a copula-based approach for model bias identification without suffering the curse of dimensionality. The main idea is to build general statistical relationships between the model bias and the model prediction including all system inputs using copulas so that possible model bias distributions can be effectively identified at any new design configurations of the system. Two engineering case studies whose dimensionalities range from medium to high will be employed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the copula-based approach.

This paper reports the analytical procedure developed for a simulation of knee impact during a barrier crash using a hybrid III dummy lower torso. A finite element model of the instrument panel was generated. The dummy was seated in mid-seat position and was imparted an initial velocity so that the knee velocity at impact corresponded to the secondary impact velocity during a barrier crash. The procedure provided a reasonably accurate simulation of the dummy kinematics. This simulation can be used for understanding the knee bolster energy management system. The methodology developed has been used to simulate impact on knee for an occupant belted or unbelted in a frontal crash. The influence of the vehicle interior on both the dummy kinematics and the impact locations was incorporated into the model. No assumptions have been made for the knee impact locations, eliminating the need to assume knee velocity vectors.

A cycle counting algorithm that will reduce a complex history into a series of discrete cycles is presented. The cycles determined by this technique are defined as closed stress-strain hysteresis loops of the type obtained from constant amplitude tests. Using the computer cycle counting algorithm, life predictions were made and compared with experimental results. These predictions were found to be typically within a ±3 factor of error. Also, the computer counting method was found to yield more accurate life predictions when compared to the histogram and range counting methods.

Vehicle sound quality has become an important basic performance requirement. Traditionally, automobile noise studies were focused on quietness. It is now necessary for the automobile to be more than quiet. The sound must be pleasing. This paper describes a development process to improve both vehicle noise level and sound quality. Formal experimental design techniques were utilized to quantify various hardware effects. A-weighted sound pressure level, Speech Intelligibility, and Composite Rating of Preference were the three descriptors used to characterize the vehicle's sound quality. Engineering knowledge augmented with graphical and statistical techniques were utilized during data analysis. The individual component contributions to each of the sound quality descriptors were also quantified in this study.

A flexible, easily configuration data acquisition system was designed and built for detailed studies of the steady state and dynamic properties of lean NOx traps for an engine dynamometer environment. The system is based on the industry standard VXI backplane. The overriding design philosophy was to design and develop a data acquisition system that was user friendly and could be operated easily by engine laboratory technicians, as well as by test engineers. The primary requirements guiding the design were the following: (1) the ability easily to configure, save, recall, modify, and print test configurations. (2) The ability to configure the gain, channel name, and engineering units for each analog channel. (3) The ability to trigger from one analog input channel. (4) A provision for numeric auto-incrementing of data file names. (5) The ability to save data in Excel™ compatible ASCII format. (6) The utilization of off-the shelf VXI hardware.

Due to magnesium alloy's poor weldability, other joining techniques such as laser assisted self-piercing rivet (LSPR) are used for joining magnesium alloys. This research investigates the fatigue performance of LSPR for magnesium alloys including AZ31 and AM60. Tensile-shear and coach peel specimens for AZ31 and AM60 were fabricated and tested for understanding joint fatigue performance. A structural stress - life (S-N) method was used to develop the fatigue parameters from load-life test results. In order to validate this approach, test results from multijoint specimens were compared with the predicted fatigue results of these specimens using the structural stress method. The fatigue results predicted using the structural stress method correlate well with the test results.

A flow network method was developed to predict the underhood temperature distribution of an automobile. The method involves the solution of simplified energy and momentum equations of the air flow in control volumes defined by subdividing the air space between the surfaces of the underhood components and the front-end geometry. The control volumes are interconnected by ducts with branches and bends to form a flow network. Conservation of mass and momentum with appropriate pressure-loss coefficients leads to a system of algebraic equations to be solved for the flow rates through each volume. The computed flow rates are transferred to a thermal model to calculate the temperatures of the air and the major vehicle components that affect the underhood environment. The method was applied to a 1986 3.0L Taurus and compared with vehicle experiments conducted in a windtunnel.