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The drag coefficient at zero yaw angle is the single parameter usually used to define the aerodynamic drag characteristics of a passenger car. However, this is usually the minimum drag condition and will, for example, lead to an underestimate of the effect of aerodynamic drag on fuel consumption because the important influence of the natural wind has been excluded. An alternative measure of aerodynamic drag should take into account the effect of nonzero yaw angles and a variant of wind-averaged drag is suggested as the best option. A wind-averaged drag coefficient (CDW) is usually derived for a particular vehicle speed using a representative wind speed distribution. In the particular case where the road speed distribution is specified, as for a drive cycle to determine fuel economy, a relevant drag coefficient can be derived by using a weighted road speed.

The aerodynamic drag characteristics of a passenger car are typically defined by a single parameter, the drag coefficient at zero yaw angle. While this has been acceptable in the past, it may not allow a true comparison between vehicles with regard to the impact of drag on performance, especially fuel economy. An alternative measure of aerodynamic drag should take into account the effect of non-zero yaw angles and some proposals have been made in the past, including variations of wind-averaged drag coefficient. For almost all cars the drag increases with yaw, but the increase can vary significantly between vehicles. In this paper the effect of various parameters on the drag rise with yaw are considered for a range of different vehicle types. The increase of drag with yaw is shown to be an essentially induced drag, which is strongly dependent on both side force and lift. Shape factors which influence the sensitivity of drag with yaw are discussed.

This paper presents a novel approach to augment existing engine calibrations to deliver improved engine performance during a transient, through the application of multi-objective optimization techniques to the calibration of the Variable Valve Timing (VVT) system of a 1.0 litre gasoline engine. Current mature calibration approaches for the VVT system are predominantly based on steady state techniques which fail to consider the engine dynamic behaviour in real world driving, which is heavily transient. In this study the total integrated fuel consumption and engine-out NOx emissions over a 2-minute segment of the transient Worldwide Light-duty Test Cycle are minimised in a constrained multi-objective optimisation framework to achieve an updated calibration for the VVT control. The cycle segment was identified as an area with high NOx emissions.

The internal combustion engine contains several actuators to control engine performance and emissions. These are controlled within the engine ECU and follow a specific operating strategy to achieve objectives such as NOx reduction and fuel economy. However, these two goals are conflicting and a compromise is required. The operating state depends on system constraints such as engine speed, load, temperature levels, and aftertreatment system efficiency. This results in constantly changing target values to stay within the defined limits, especially the legal emission limits. The conventional approach is to use multiple operating modes. Each mode represents a specific compromise and is activated accordingly. Multiple modes are required to meet emissions regulations under all required conditions, which increases the calibration effort. This new control approach uses an artificial neural network to replace the conventional multiple mode approach.

Variable valve actuation in heavy duty diesel engines is not well documented, because of diesel engine feature, such as, unthrottled air handling, which gives little room to improve pumping loss; a very high compression ratio, which makes the clearance between the piston and valve small at the top dead center. In order to avoid strike the piston while maximizing the valve movement scope, different strategies are adopted in this paper: (1) While exhaust valve closing is fixed, exhaust valve opening is changed; (2) While exhaust valve closing is fixed, late exhaust valve opening: (3) While inlet valve opening is fixed, inlet valve closing is changed; (4) Delayed Inlet valve and exhaust valve openings and closings; (5) Changing exhaust valve timing; (6) changing inlet valve timing; (7) Changing both inlet and exhaust timing, will be used.

The injection timing of a Diesel internal combustion engine typically follows a prescribed sequence depending on the operating condition using open loop control. Due to advances in sensors and digital electronics it is now possible to implement closed loop control based on in cylinder pressure values. Typically this control action is slow, and it may take several cycles or at least one cycle (cycle-to-cycle control). Using high speed sensors, it becomes technically possible to measure pressure deviations and correct them within the same cycle (intra-cycle control). For example the in cylinder pressure after the pilot inject can be measured, and the timing of the main injection can be adjusted in timing and duration to compensate any deviations in pressure from the expected reference value. This level of control can significantly reduce the deviations between cycles and cylinders, and it can also improve the transient behavior of the engine.

For a broad acceptance of electric vehicles, the trade-off between all electric range and battery cost respectively weight represents the most important challenge. The all electric range obtained under real world conditions most often deviates significantly from the nominal value which is measured under idealized conditions. Under extreme conditions - slow traffic and demanding requirements for cabin heating or cooling - the electrical range might become less a question of spatial distance but even more of total operation time. Whereas with conventional powertrain, high flexibility of the total driving range can be obtained without sacrificing cost, with a pure battery vehicle this results in extreme high cost and weight of the energy storage. Therefore the difference between the typical daily driving range (e.g. in Germany 80-90% is below 50 km) and the minimum total range requested by most customers for acceptance of battery vehicles (200- 250 km), becomes essential.

For a spark-ignition engine, the parasitic loss suffered as a result of conventional throttling has long been recognised as a major reason for poor part-load fuel efficiency. While lean, stratified charge, operation addresses this issue, exhaust gas aftertreatment is more challenging compared with homogeneous operation and three-way catalyst after-treatment. This paper adopts a different approach: homogeneous charge direct injection (DI) operation with variable valve actuations which reduce throttling losses. In particular, low-lift and early inlet valve closing (EIVC) strategies are investigated. Results from a thermodynamic single cylinder engine are presented that quantify the effect of two low-lift camshafts and one standard high-lift camshaft operating EIVC strategies at four engine running conditions; both, two- and single-inlet valve operation were investigated. Tests were conducted for both port and DI fuelling, under stoichiometric conditions.

Today's powertrains are becoming more and more complex due to the increasing number of gear box types requiring gearshift patterns like conventional (equipped with GSI) and automatic-manual transmissions (AT, AMT), double clutch and continuous variable transmissions (DCT, CVT). This increasing variety of gear boxes requires a higher effort for the overall optimization of the powertrain. At the same time, it is necessary to assess the impact of different powertrains and control strategies on CO₂ emissions very early in the development process. The optimization of Gear Shift Patterns (G.S.P.) has to fulfill multiple constraints in terms of objective customers' requirements, like driveability, NVH, performance, emissions and fuel consumption. For these reasons, RENAULT and AVL entered an engineering collaboration in order to develop a dedicated simulation tool: CRUISE GSP.

A control strategy has been designed for a city bus equipped with a pneumatic hybrid propulsion system. The control system design is based on the precise management of energy flows during both energy storage and regeneration. Energy recovered from the braking process is stored in the form of compressed air that is redeployed for engine start and to supplement the engine air supply during vehicle acceleration. Operation modes are changed dynamically and the energy distribution is controlled to realize three principal functions: Stop-Start, Boost and Regenerative Braking. A forward facing simulation model facilitates an analysis of the vehicle dynamic performance, engine transient response, fuel economy and energy usage.

In recent years, more attentions have been paid to stringent legislations on fuel consumption and emissions. Turbocharged downsized gasoline direct injection (DI) engines are playing an increasing important role in OEM’s powertrain strategies and engine product portfolio. Dongfeng Motor (DFM) has developed a new 1.0 liter 3-cylinder Turbocharged gasoline DI (TGDI) engine (hereinafter referred to as C10TD) to meet the requirements of China 4th stage fuel consumption regulations and the China 6 emission standards. In this paper, the concept of the C10TD engine is explained to meet the powerful performance (torque 190Nm/1500-4500rpm and power 95kW/5500rpm), excellent part-load BSFC and NVH targets to ensure the drivers could enjoy the powerful output in quiet and comfortable environment without concerns about the fuel cost and pollution.

Modern automotive industry is driven by improved fuel efficiency, whilst simultaneously increasing output power and reducing size/weight of vehicle components. This trend has the drawback of inducing various Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) concerns in the drivetrain, since fairly low energy excitation often suffices to excite natural modes of thin walled structures, such as the transmission bell housing. Transmission rattle is one of the many undesired NVH issues, originating from irregularities in engine torque output. The crankshaft speed fluctuations are transferred through the transmission input shaft. Transmission compactness also allows repetitive interaction of conjugate loose gear pairs. The engine fluctuations disturb the otherwise unintended, but orderly meshing of these loose gears. This often leads to radiation of a characteristic air-borne noise from the impact sites.

The automotive industry is subject to increasing pressure to reduce the CO2 emissions and improve fuel efficiency in internal combustion engines. Improvements may be achieved in a number of ways. The parasitic losses throughout the engine cycle emanate from friction in all engine contact conjunctions in addition to pumping losses. In particular one main contributory conjunction is the piston ring pack assembly. At low engine speeds, the contribution of friction to the total losses within the engine is increased significantly compared with the thermodynamic losses. Additionally, the sealing capability of the ring is crucial in determining the power output of the engine with any loss of sealing contributing to power loss, as well as blowby. Most reported studies on compression ring-cylinder conjunction do not take into account complex ring in-plane and out-of-plane elastodynamics.

Diesel homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines with early injection can result in significant spray/wall impingement which seriously affects the fuel efficiency and emissions. In this paper, the spray/wall interaction models which are available in the literatures are reviewed, and the characteristics of modeling including spray impingement regime, splash threshold, mass fraction, size and velocity of the second droplets are summarized. Then three well developed spray/wall interaction models, O'Rourke and Amsden (OA) model, Bai and Gosman (BG) model and Han, Xu and Trigui (HXT) model, are implemented into KIVA-3V code, and validated by the experimental data from recent literatures under the conditions related to diesel HCCI engines. By comparing the spray pattern, droplet mass, size and velocity after the impingement, the thickness of the wall film and vapor distribution with the experimental data, the performance of these three models are evaluated.

With the increasing stringent emissions legislation on ICEs, alongside requirements for enhanced fuel efficiency as key driving factors for many OEMs, there are many research activities supported by the automotive industry that focus on the development of hybrid and pure EVs. This change in direction from engine downsizing to the use of electric motors presents many new challenges concerning NVH performance, durability and component life. This paper presents the development of experimental methodology into the measurement of NVH characteristics in these new powertrains, thus characterizing the structure borne noise transmissibility through the shaft and the bearing to the housing. A feasibility study and design of a new system level test rig have been conducted to allow for sinusoidal radial loading of the shaft, which is synchronized with the shaft’s rotary frequency under high-speed transient conditions in order to evaluate the phenomena in the system.

For diesel engines, fuel path control plays a key role in achieving optimal emissions and fuel economy performance. There are several fuel path parameters that strongly affect the engine performance by changing the combustion process, by modifying for example, start of injection and fuel rail pressure. This is a multi-input multi-output problem. Linear Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a good approach for such a system with optimal solution. However, fuel path has fast dynamics. On-line optimisation MPC is not the good choice to cope with such fast dynamics. Explicit MPC uses off-line optimisation, therefore, it can be used to control the system with fast dynamics.

Fuel consumption is the most important contributor to the total cost of ownership for mass produced motorcycles. Therefore, best fuel economy is one main influencing criteria for a decision to purchase motorcycles. Furthermore, increasingly stringent emission legislations limit and additional OBD requirements must be fulfilled. A new combined test approach has been developed that minimizes accuracy losses in the development process which compensates for the variability of driving behavior in the chassis dyno environment. An engine testbed combined with a belt drive transmission enables operation in single engine or in Powerpack (i.e. internal combustion engine including transmission) configuration as well as under steady state or dynamic operating mode. Since the belt drive transmission is integrated in the test rig, realistic inertia situation for the single engine operating test configuration is ensured.

The next generation of automotive engines has to meet 2004 emission limits, ideally with improved fuel economy and with noise emission which is at least 3 dBA below the current status. Using both simulation and experimental analysis these challenging requirements can only be fulfilled by clearly defining all key steps in NVH development and by applying suitable technological methods. The development procedure discussed in this paper is characterised by several aspects: two stage prediction procedure fully integrated in the design process, combustion development with a definite focus on noise, a closed loop between simulation and test bed development and consideration of noise in the calibration of engine and drivetrain management systems. Apart from meeting target noise levels, noise quality is the reference parameter which is continuously evaluated by means of the AVL Annoyance Index.

This paper surveys publications on automotive powertrain control, relating to modern GTDI (Gasoline Turbocharged Direct Injection) engines. The requirements for gasoline engines are optimising the airpath but future legislation suggests not only a finely controlled airpath but also some level of electrification. Fundamentals of controls modelling are revisited and advancements are highlighted. In particular, a modern GTDI airpath is presented based on basic building blocks (volumes, turbocharger, throttle, valves and variable cam timing or VCT) with an example of a system interaction, based on boost pressure and lambda control. Further, an advanced airpath could be considered with applications to downsizing and fuel economy. A further electrification step is reviewed which involves interactions with the airpath and requires a robust energy management strategy. Examples are taken of energy recovery and e-machine placement.

In the ongoing competition of powertrain concepts the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) will also have to demonstrate its potential for increased efficiency [1]. Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) Systems for Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) can make an important contribution to meeting stringent global fuel economy and CO2 standards. Using such technology a CO2 reduction of between 5% and 9% in the World Harmonized Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle (WLTC) are achievable, depending on vehicle class, load profile and power rating [2]. This paper provides a detailed description of the measurement approaches that are used during development of the AVL Dual Mode VCSTM and other VCR systems in fired operation. Results obtained from these measurements are typically used to calibrate or verify simulation models, which themselves are an integral part of the development of these systems [3].