Experimental investigation using CFD for thermal performance of ventilated disc brake rotor

In the present work, different ventilated disc brake rotor configurations were analysed to enhance the heat transfer rate and obtain the uniform temperature distribution in the rotor. CFD code used in this work was validated at using experimental results obtained by conducting experiments on a test rig. The experimental analysis was performed to calculate the mass flow rate and heat dissipation through the rotor. Further, different types of rotor configurations viz. straight radial vane (SRV), tapered radial vane (TRV), alternate long and short vane (ALSV), variable diameter circular pillars (VDCP) were considered for the analysis. A rotor segment of 20° was considered for the numerical analysis due to its rotational symmetry. CFD results were in good agreement with the experiments. The maximum deviation of the numerical results were about 12 % from the experimental results. It is found from the analysis that among the different types of rotor configurations; variable diameter circular pillars (VDCP) rotor gives better rate of heat dissipation with more uniform temperature distribution in the flow passages. Hence for modern high speed vehicles VDCP rotor may be more appropriate.     

Modeling multi-unit vehicle dynamics for low-speed path-following assessment off-highway

This paper proposes a non-linear dynamics model for articulated vehicles. This model is able to capture common low-speed behaviours of any articulated vehicles off-highway, such as operating for a corner or roundabout on a cambered or slippery surface. It can be used to assess the low-speed manoeuvrability of articulated vehicles under such manoeuvres and conditions. The vehicle model was validated by comparing its path tracking performance to that of the field tests.     

FLIRT--创新的区间运输轻型快速动车组

为适应区间铁路客运的需要,瑞士Stadler铁路成套设备公司开发了创新的轻型快速区间运输动车组FLIRT(Flinker Leichter Innovativer Regional Triebzug).该动车组以用于贯穿瑞士南北铁路连接线的瑞士中部州府而闻名.该城市必须重新评价其近郊铁路客运的设计,寻求远期的解决办法.就今天公交运输的财政形势来说,必须寻求一种费用最佳的解决办法.为此放弃了广泛新建铁路基础设施的办法,而主要是充分利用现有基础设施.对此决定将FLIRT动车组用于客、货运繁忙的南北铁路连接线.文章介绍该城市铁路动车组的设计.     

Two-Dimensional Motion of Vehicles Damaged due to Collision

This paper deals with two-dimensional motion analysis of vehicles damaged due to collision. Various parts of vehicles are damaged due to collision in general. The effects of the damage in vehicle body and wheels on the vehicle motions are investigated. The center of gravity of the vehicle and the polar moment of inertia are changed by the deformation of vehicle body. Furthermore, the geometrical relations of wheels like wheelbase, treads and steering angles may be changed by damage of the wheels. Thus the vehicle loses symmetry with respect to the vehicle axis. The four-wheel vehicle model is extended to take into account the vehicle damage due to collision. The motions of damaged vehicles are compared with those of undamaged vehicles. It is found that vehicle damages have a significant influence on vehicle motion after impact.     

Development of an LIF image processing technique for measuring drop sizes in a pre-swirl spray

Depth of field effects in laser sheet imaging were considered for droplet sizing of a pre-swirl spray. A pre-swirl spray is formed before the hollow-cone type main-swirl spray from a D.I. gasoline injector, and shows transient characteristics with high axial velocity. A microscopic imaging technique was applied to obtain high spatial resolution LIF tomograms of the pre-swirl spray. A 1 mm thick Nd:YAG laser sheet was used as a light source to make the LIF tomograms that were imaged using a high-resolution CCD camera. The droplet sizing of the pre-swirl spray was carried out using an image processing technique. In the image processing procedure, the laser sheet-straddling large-sized droplets were carefully taken into account to remove the errors caused by the depth of field effects from the limited thickness and the energy distribution of the laser sheet. The mean intensity of the individual droplets and the line profile of the LIF signal around the droplet edge were inspected to screen the laser sheet-straddling large-sized droplets. In order to consider the effects of the size-dependent LIF signal intensity, the size-classified or ensemble-averaged mean intensity of the individual droplets was introduced. The mean droplet sizes such as AMD and SMD were calculated using only screened droplets, and they slightly increase before considering the depth of field effects.     

Links between subjective and objective evaluations regarding the steering character of automobiles

This work presents an experiment on the relationships between subjective and objective evaluations of vehicle handling. Ten cars were examined objectively in several open-loop driving dynamics manoeuvres and subjectively by test persons in typical traffic situations. Results are extracted from a stationary test (the Slowly Increasing Steer Test), and a dynamical test (the Frequency Response Test). The subjective measurements are obtained from drivers on a rural road course via a questionnaire, which was developed to separately investigate the quantity level perception, the so-called “Niveau”, and the more qualitative “Liking”. These subjective “measurements” are embedded into a two-channel definition of “Steering Comfort” as a genus for “Steering Discomfort” and “Character”. The article concentrates on developing a statistical method for the consideration of correlations amongst the subjective/objective data. In doing so, the variance in example subjective Niveau ratings can be significantly explained by several objective quantities. Indicators for co-domains of validated discomfort characteristics and hints for endeavouring character Liking ranges are detected.     

3-D numerical and experimental analysis for airflow within a passenger compartment

People use cars so frequently that they always consider the air-conditioning, and thermal comfort of the driver and passenger when buying a new car. Therefore accurate simulation of the thermal performance of automobile air conditioners to improve human comfort has become increasingly important. In order to improve the thermal comfort of passengers, 3-D flow motion and thermal behavior within vehicles must be analyzed. In this paper, a numerical simulation was used to investigate thermal behavior in a vehicle. Because air temperature at an air vent is related to the cooling capacity of the air conditioner, the cooling capacity was calculated using ɛ-NTU (effective number of transfer unit) theoretical equations. Using the air temperature relationship between inlet and outlet vents as boundary conditions, a 3-D unsteady κ-ɛ turbulent model was used to give a transient analysis simulation of the temperature field and flow conditions in a vehicle’s passenger cabin. Cooling cycle analysis and conjugate heat transfer analysis at the inside surface of the cabin’s ceiling, floor and sides were also considered. The predicted temperature distributions in the vehicles passenger cabin were in good agreement with those obtained experimentally.     

Parametric study of the main parameters influencing the catalytic efficiency of a diesel oxidation catalyst: Parameters influencing the efficiency of a diesel catalyst

This work studies the impact of five parameters: CO and HC engine-out emissions, space velocity, average value and profile of exhaust temperature, on Diesel CO and HC tail-pipe emissions. The first part of this work is conducted on a reactor and shows that both HC and CO light-off temperature increases with CO and HC input concentration. CO and HC initial concentration influence the adsorption/desorption capacities of HC only at high temperatures. Space velocity also influences CO and HC conversion efficiency. The second part of this work studies the impact of different combinations of HC and CO engine-out emissions on CO and HC conversion and tail-pipe emissions in the case of New European Driving Cycle. This part proposes that a Diesel oxidation catalyst must be mainly studied at the Urban Part of NEDC, as the CO and HC conversions are very high at the extra-urban part of NEDC. CO and HC conversion efficiencies are also dependent on exhaust temperature and catalytic volume. In the case of two different profiles of exhaust temperature with the same average temperature, CO and HC conversion efficiency is lower in the case of the smoother profile.     

Effect on friction of engine oil seal with engine oil viscosity

Low viscosity engine oil can improve a vehicle’s fuel economy by decreasing the friction between the engine components. Frictional torque varies with the velocity change due to different viscosity characteristics of SAE grade 5W-20, 5W-30 and 5W-40 engine oils. The viscosity for each of these grades was measured to outline the effect low viscosity engine oils have on engine friction, which may lead to improved fuel economy. Engine oil seal frictional torque increases with the shaft rotational speed for all three engine oil grades. A decrease in engine oil seal frictional torque was confirmed when low viscosity engine oil was used. Also, the leak-free performance of the engine oil with the seal satisfied the life limit durability test criteria. Thus, low viscosity engine oil may be used to improve fuel economy by decreasing the frictional loss of the engine oil seal while having no negative impact on performance due to leak-free functioning.     

Vibration reduction of H/Shaft using an electromagnetic damper with mode change

The objective of this study is to develop a damper that can reduce the amplitude of vibration in various frequency ranges. Previous H/Shaft vibration reduction methods work in a passive way. A dynamic damper reduces the amplitude of vibration at its first mode, but vibration still appears at the second mode. A mass damper or hollow shaft can shift the natural frequency to a lower or higher region. The fixed operating frequency prevents vibration from being reduced outside the operating frequency range. The proposed damper uses electromagnets as either masses or actuators to change the damper mode between dynamic damper mode and mass damper mode. The electromagnetic damper (EMD) can change its mode to respond to the vibration excitation at both low and high frequencies. The vibration reduction performance was evaluated by FRF tests in laboratory and vehicle conditions. The results were compared with those of a dynamic damper and indicate that the amplitude of vibration is reduced by 95.6 % when the EMD is implemented on an H/Shaft, whereas only 61.9 % vibration reduction is achieved by the dynamic damper.