Robust design optimization of suspension system considering steering pull reduction

This paper presents robust design optimization method to reduce steering pull phenomenon. One of the biggest causes of steering pull phenomenon is tolerance of suspension system such as hard point, spring, damper and bush. Therefore, the relationship between suspension systems and steering pull phenomenon has as nonlinear characteristics. But, it can be very difficult to evaluate the analytical design sensitivity. Thus, it is impossible to directly apply a well-developed optimization algorithm based on gradient information. To avoid these difficulty, this study uses sequential approximation optimization process based on a meta-model. The robust design process has 28 random design variables with tolerance. For efficient design process, the sample variances for the design goals are approximated from meta-models. The proposed approach required only 62 evaluations until it converged. Optimal design reduced the drift by 80% and its deviation by 38.7%, respectively. This result proves that the suggested design method of suspension system is effective and useful.     

Nonlinear dynamic modeling of an electro-pneumatic pressure converter for VGT pneumatic actuator

This paper presents a detailed physical model of an electro-pneumatic system, used to control Variable Geometry Turbochargers (VGT). The VGT actuator system consists of two parts, a diaphragm based pneumatic actuator and a solenoid based Electro-pneumatic Pressure Converter (EPC). The proposed model copes with the pressure dynamics inside the pneumatic actuator, with special focus on the EPC. The dynamics of both parts have been modeled separately and combined into one model by parameterizing the effective flow area and the air mass flow through the pneumatic actuator. The variations in volume, temperature and air mass flow rate have been taken into account. The model so obtained serves mainly for studying the effect of actuator dynamics on the global engine system. For control purposes, the detailed model is simplified to reduce the calculation load. Both models are validated using experimental data obtained from an engine test bench.     

Objective evaluation of door-closing sound quality based on physiological acoustics

This paper presents a new method to objectively quantify the sound quality of doors closing in premium passenger cars. In previous works, psychoacoustic parameters have been used for objective quantification. However, these parameters do not agree well with subsequent subjective assessments. Therefore, the correlation between the psychoacoustic parameters and the subjective rating of door closing sounds in sampled cars is low, and it is not sufficient to use psychoacoustic parameters as an objective metric to quantify the quality of door-closing sounds. In this paper, a new method is proposed to objectively quantify the sound quality based on physiological acoustics and statistical signal processing. A gammatone filter is used as a pre-processing method in models of the auditory system and kurtosis, which is the fourth-order moment of the temporal signal and is used to extract quantitative information about the quality of door-closing sounds. The new metric obtained from the proposed method is highly correlated to subjective ratings and has been successfully applied to the quantification of door-closing sound quality.     

Experiments and thermal-electrical analysis of buss bar and relay assemblies in junction blocks

A junction block (or electrical distribution box) is electrical equipment that has been densely assembled from components such as buss bars, relays, and fuses to control the electric current flow in vehicles. Joule heat is generated in these parts as a result of electrical bulk resistance and electrical contact resistance. The generation of heat increases due to the complex behavior of modern vehicle electronic systems. Overheated parts can be damaged during operation due to thermal energy. The thermal assessment of a junction block is an important issue in automobile development. We suggest a methodology to simulate the transient temperature distribution of buss bars and electrical relays in a junction block. A finite element formulation of a coupled electro-thermal problem, which includes the effect of Joule heating, is introduced to the simulation. Finite element analysis (FEA) and experiments at the component level of buss bars and relays are conducted to investigate the thermal performance of a junction block. To verify the accuracy of the FEA procedure, the temperature history obtained by FEA is compared with the results obtained from experiments. The thermal-electric analysis of a typical junction block assembly is also discussed.     

Gasoline multiple premixed compression ignition (MPCI): Controllable, high efficiency and clean combustion mode in direct injection engines

A novel combustion concept namely “multiple premixed compression ignition” (MPCI) in gasoline direct injection compression ignition (GDICI) regime is proposed. Its predominant feature is the first premixed and followed quasipremixed combustion processes in a sequence of “spray-combustion-spray-combustion”. The multiple-stage premixed combustion decouples the pressure rise with pollutants formation process, which means the pressure rise rate and emissions can be reduced simultaneously, while achieving a high thermal efficiency. The gasoline MPCI mode has been demonstrated in a research engine with a compression ratio of 18.5. Gasoline with the research octane number (RON) of 94.4 was tested under 1400 rpm, 0.6 MPa IMEP conditions, without EGR and intake boosting. A parameter study of common rail pressure and intake temperature was implemented to investigate their effects on the performance of MPCI mode. Compared to the single-stage diffusion combustion in traditional diesel engines, the gasoline MPCI mode achieves lower emissions of soot, NO, CO, as well as slightly higher indicated efficiency, with a penalty of higher THC emissions when the common rail pressure is larger than 80 MPa in this study. With intake temperature sweeping, the gasoline MPCI mode also has the foregoing advantages compared to the diesel under the same operating conditions.     

Cooling performance of 25 kW in-wheel motor for electric vehicles

The in-wheel motor used in electric vehicles was designed and constructed for an electric direct-drive traction system. It is difficult to connect cooling water piping to the in-wheel motor because the in-wheel motor is located within the wheel structure. In the air cooling structure for the in-wheel motor, an outer surface on the housing is provided with cooling grooves to increase the heat transfer area. In this study, we carried out the analysis on the fluid flow and thermal characteristics of the in-wheel motor for various motor speeds and heat generations. In order to resolve heat release, the analysis has been performed using conjugate heat transfer (conduction and convection). As a result, flow fields and temperature distribution inside the in-wheel motor were obtained for base speed condition (1250 rpm) and maximum speed condition (5000 rpm). The thermo-flow analysis of the in-wheel motor for vehicles was performed in consideration of ram air effect. Also, in order to improve cooling effect of the motor, we variously changed geometries of housing. Therefore, we confirmed the feasibility of the air cooling for the motors of 25 kW capacity with housing geometry having cooling grooves and investigated the cooling performance enhancement. We found that the cooling effect was most excellent, in case that cooling groove direction was same with air flow direction and arranged densely.     

Angular position error detection of variable reluctance resolver using simulation-based approach

The variable reluctance type resolver is widely used in an electric motor for hybrid electric vehicles as a rotor position sensor. The purpose of this paper is to present a simulation-based approach capable of determining a more accurate rotor shape of variable reluctance resolver in order to cut the time and cost of its development before testing a physical prototype. For the verification of the simulation-based approach to the position error detection of rotor, experiments for 8XVR resolver were conducted. Based on this approach, an optimal salient-pole rotor shape of 4X-VR resolver is proposed.     

A real-time multi-vehicle simulator for longitudinal controller design

This paper presents a new multi-vehicle simulator for platoon simulation. The main new feature of the developed simulator is a network structure for the real-time simulation of multiple vehicles, each with a detailed powertrain and engine model. It has a small initial delay, which is determined by the number of connected PCs, but the actual simulation is performed and displayed in real-time after this initial and one-time delay. Several longitudinal controllers, including a PID controller with gain scheduling, an adaptive controller, and a fuzzy controller, are also implemented in the simulator. Various system parameters can be modified interactively in the simulator screen, which is very useful for simulating a platoon of heterogeneous vehicles, in which vehicles with different dynamics and different longitudinal controllers may be involved. The simulator provides an excellent tool to develop vehicle longitudinal controllers and to study platoon behaviors. The developed simulator is also effective in testing the effects of nonlinearities neglected in the controller design phase, such as actuator delays and gear shifting schedule.     

Changes in the shelf macrobenthic community over large temporal and spatial scales in the Bohai Sea, China

Over the past 20 years, the Bohai Sea has been subjected to a considerable human impact through over-fishing and pollution. Together with the influence of the Yellow River cut-off, the ecosystem experienced a dramatic change. In order to integrate available information to detect any change in macrobenthic community structure and diversity over space and time, data collected during the 1980s and the 1990s from 3 regions of the Bohai Sea (Laizhou Bay, 16 stations, 37–38°N, 119–120.5°E; central Bohai Sea, 25 stations, 38–39°N, 119–121°E; eastern Bohai Bay, 12 stations, 38–39°N, 118.5–119°E) were reanalyzed in a comparative way by means of a variety of statistical techniques. A considerable change in community structure between the 1980s and the 1990s and over the geographical regions at both the species and family level were revealed. After 10 years, there was a considerable increase in abundance of small polychaetes, bivalves and crustaceans but decreased number of echinoderms. Once abundant in Laizhou Bay in the 1980s, a large echinoderm Echinocardium cordatum and a small mussel Musculista senhousia almost disappeared from the surveying area in the 1990s. Coupled with the increased abundance was the increased species richness in general whereas evenness was getting lower in central Bohai Sea and Bohai Bay but increased in Laizhou Bay. K-dominance plot showed the same trend as evenness J′. After 10 years, the macrobenthic diversity in the Bohai Sea as a whole was slightly reduced and a diversity ranking of central Bohai Sea > Laizhou Bay > eastern Bohai Bay over space was also suggested. Sediment granulometry and organic content were the two major agents behind the observed changes.     

Effect of fuel choice on nanoparticle emission factors in LPG-gasoline bi-fuel vehicles

Nanoparticle and gas-phase emission factors are presented for a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) passenger vehicle and are compared to gasoline operation. A bi-fuel LPG-gasoline vehicle certified for use on either fuel was used as the test vehicle so that a direct comparison of the emissions could be made based on fuel choice. These values were considered along with previous studies to determine the relative change in particulate emissions due to fuel choice over a wide range of vehicles and operating conditions. The vehicle examined in this study was tested on a chassis dynamometer for both steadystate and transient conditions. Transient test cycles included the US FTP72 driving cycle, Japanese driving cycle and modified Indian driving cycle while steady-state tests were done at vehicle speeds ranging from 10–90 km/hr in various transmission gears. Exhaust particle size distributions were measured in real-time using a differential mobility spectrometer (DMS50), and particle number and particle mass emission factors were calculated. For both fuels, the majority of the particles ranged from 5 to 160 nm in terms of particle diameter, with typically more than 85% of the particles in the nucleation mode (between 5–50 nm). In most cases, the vehicle produced a greater fraction of larger (accumulation mode) particles when fuelled on LPG. Using the data in the literature as well as the data in the current study, gasoline fuel produces 4.6 times more particles in terms of number and 2.1 times more particles in terms of mass.