Model-based control system design in a urea-SCR aftertreatment system based on NH3 sensor feedback

This paper presents preliminary control system simulation results in a urea-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) aftertreatment system based on NH₃ sensor feedback. A four-state control-oriented lumped parameter model is used to analyze the controllability and observability properties of the urea-SCR plant. A model-based estimator is designed via simulation and a control system is developed with design based on a sliding mode control framework. The control system based on NH₃ sensor feedback is analyzed via simulation by comparing it to a control system developed based on NO_x sensor feedback. Simulation results show that the NH₃ sensor-based strategy performs very similarly in comparison to a NO_x sensor-based strategy. The control system performance metrics for NO_x index, urea index, urea usage, and NH₃ slip suggest that the NO_x sensor can be a potential alternative to a NO_x sensor for urea-SCR control applications.     

Performance of air conditioners with a gas-liquid separation condenser and one-tank laminated evaporator

In this study, a parallel flow condenser and laminated evaporator for an automotive air-conditioning system were modified to improve performance. Gas-liquid separation type condensers, in which the condenser and receiver drier are integrated, and one-tank laminated type evaporators were developed, and their performances were investigated experimentally using HFC-134a. Heat transfer characteristics in the condenser are examined by means of air temperature, air velocity entering the condenser and inlet pressure of the refrigerant; heat transfer characteristics in the evaporator are examined by means of air temperature, relative humidity, flow rate of air, outlet pressure of refrigerant and superheat. Pressure drops for both evaporator and condenser are also measured, and correlations for pressure drop are derived for the condenser and evaporator, respectively. Air velocity and mass flow rate of the refrigerant have a significant effect on the overall heat transfer coefficient, and flow pass is not significantly influenced by the cooling capacity of the condenser. The overall heat transfer coefficient of the evaporator increases as air flow rate, air temperature and relative humidity increases.     

A Study of the Response of a Double Bottom Vehicle to Steering and Braking

The paper describes the development, operation and some of the results obtained from a simulation of the steering behaviour of the double bottom articulated vehicle, in particular the effects that arise when certain axles are locked.     

Application of a modified thermostatic control strategy to parallel mild HEV for improving fuel economy in urban driving conditions

A modified thermostatic control strategy is applied to the powertrain control of a parallel mild hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) to improve fuel economy. This strategy can improve the fuel economy of a parallel mild HEV by operating internal combustion engine (ICE) in a high-efficiency region. Thus, in this study, experiments of a parallel mild HEV were conducted to analyze the characteristics of the hybrid electric powertrain and a numerical model is developed for the vehicle. Based on the results, the thermostatic control strategy was modified and applied to the vehicle model. Also, battery protection logic by using electrochemical battery model is applied because the active usage of battery by thermostatic control strategy can damage the battery. The simulation results of the vehicle under urban driving conditions show that the thermostatic control strategy can improve the vehicle’s fuel economy by 3.7 % compared with that of the conventional strategy. The results also suggest that the trade-off between the fuel economy improvement by efficient ICE operation and the battery life reduction by active battery usage should be carefully investigated when a thermostatic control strategy is applied to a parallel mild HEV.     

Optimal scheduling of the flexray static segment based on two-dimensional bin-packing algorithm

FlexRay is a reliable and hard real-time in-vehicle communication protocol that is strongly promoted by car manufacturers as the de facto standard in the automotive domain. The protocol offers both a time-triggered and an eventtriggered architecture. This paper focuses on the optimal scheduling of the time-triggered component of FlexRay known as the static (ST) segment using a two-dimensional bin-packing technique. To maximize the bandwidth utilization in the ST segment, a fast heuristic as well as an efficient integer linear programming approach are proposed. Our methods directly schedule signals into slots including frame packing, according to signal-based data scheduling and the slot/ cycle multiplexing mechanisms presented by the latest version of the FlexRay protocol. The benefits of our proposed methods are demonstrated by extensive experiments on synthetic and an automotive X-by-wire system case study. An additional test case is examined to emphasize the superior performance of the proposed approach relative to that of existing optimal scheduling approaches.     

Theoretical method for predicting the weight reduction rate of a box-type car body for rolling stock by material substitution design

In this paper, a theoretical approach is suggested for predicting the structural performances and weight reduction rate of a car body with a box-type section when its material is substituted with a lightweight material for weight saving. For the material substitution design of a car body for rolling stock, bending, axial, and twisting deformations should be considered at constant stiffness and strength conditions. To compare the weight reduction effects on different material applications, some new indices were derived from a structural performance point of view. The derived indices provide good measures to estimate weight reduction by material substitution design and can be effectively applied to the conceptual design of a car body.     

Vehicle detection system design based on stereo vision sensors

Vehicle detection is a crucial issue for driver assistance system as well as for autonomous vehicle guidance function and it has to be performed with high reliability to avoid any potential collision. The vision-based vehicle detection systems are regarded promising for this purpose because they require little infrastructure on a highway. However, the feasibility of these systems in passenger car requires accurate and robust sensing performance. In this paper, a vehicle detection system using stereo vision sensors is developed. This system utilizes feature extraction, epipoplar constraint and feature matching in order to robustly detect the initial corresponding pairs. The proposed system can detect a leading vehicle in front and can estimate its position parameters such as the distance and heading angle. After the initial detection, the system executes the tracking algorithm for the vehicles in the lane. The proposed vehicle detection system is implemented on a passenger car and its performances are verified experimentally.