Performance assessment of bus transport reform in Seoul

Seoul city authority implemented an innovative bus transport reform (BTR) in July 2004. This paper evaluates the performance of that reform. To this end, the paper includes a discussion of the features of the reform, an explanation of the fields and the contents of the reform, and an assessment of the performance of the reform formulated by comparing pertinent circumstances in place before and after its inception. The performance of eight fields: bus routes, bus fares, bus management, bus operation, a new smart card, a median bus lane system, vehicles and stops, and the promotion of the BTR, are measured, as are the performances of four groups influenced by the BTR. Those groups are bus passengers, bus operators, transport regulators, and members of the wider civil community. The results indicate a readily apparent decrease in traffic density in Seoul after the introduction of the reform, and it would appear that the increase in the number of public transport users bears an inverse relationship with the decrease in the transport share of private cars.     

Torque ripple minimization control of permanent magnet synchronous motors for EPS applications

This paper identifies a control method used to reduce torque ripple of a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) for an electric power steering (EPS) system. NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness) is important for safe and convenient driving. Vibration caused by motor torque is a problem in column type EPS systems. Maintaining a very low torque ripple is one solution that allows for smoother steering. Theoretically, it is possible to design and drive the motor without torque ripple. However, in reality, a PMSM system torque ripple is caused by the motor itself (saturation in the iron core and EMF distortion) and the imperfect driver. This paper analyzes torque ripple of a PMSM system, and an advanced PMSM control method for the column typed EPS system is presented. Results of the analysis indicate that the compensation current is needed in order to minimize torque ripple when a PMSM is driven.     

Optimal design of the exhaust system layout to suppress the discharge noise from an idling engine

At the idle engine speed, the exhaust discharge noise is influenced by resonances in the whole system, which is composed of connecting pipes and silencers. This pipe resonance radiates a high level of low frequency discharge noise, which is dominated by the low order harmonics of the engine firing frequency. This low frequency noise deteriorates the vehicle’s interior noise level and quality. The following study attempted to optimize the layout of an exhaust system to minimize low frequency noise by changing the position of silencers and the lengths of inlet and outlet pipes in each silencer. After modeling the exhaust system using four-pole parameters, the acoustical performance of the system was evaluated using the system insertion loss. In the optimization, the virtual attenuation coefficient, which corresponds to the amount of attenuation coefficient required for the silencers, was calculated to find a minimum value for the layout. The simulated annealing method, which is also known as finding an optimal, was employed in searching for the optimized exhaust layout. Test examples of two cases, for two and six design variables, were used. When the number of design variables was two, the positions of the center and rear silencers were considered. When the number of design variables was six, the positions of the two silencers and the lengths of the inlet and outlet pipes were considered. Three typical layouts for the exhaust system of each case were designed, including the given system and an optimal system. By comparing the predicted and measured discharge noise level, it was confirmed that the optimized exhaust layout has a higher noise reduction than the other layout designs.     

Large-eddy simulation of air entrainment during diesel spray combustion with multi-dimensional CFD

Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) was used to perform computations of air entrainment and mixing during diesel spray combustion. The results of this simulation were compared with those of Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) simulations and an experiment. The effect of LES on non-vaporizing and vaporizing sprays was evaluated. The validity of the grid size used for the LES analysis was confirmed by determining the subgrid-scale (SGS) filter threshold on the turbulent energy spectrum plot, which separates a resolved range from a modeled one. The results showed that more air was entrained into the jet with decreasing ambient gas temperatures. The mass of the evaporated fuel increased with increasing ambient gas temperatures, as did the mixture fraction variance, showing a greater spread in the profile at an ambient gas temperature of 920 K than at 820 K. Flame lift-off length sensitivity was analyzed based on the location of the flame temperature iso-line. The results showed that for the flame temperature iso-line of 2000oC, the computed lift-off length values in RANS matched the experimental values well, whereas in LES, the computed lift-off length was slightly underpredicted. The apparent heat release rate (AHRR) computed by the LES approach showed good agreement with the experiment, and it provided an accurate prediction of the ignition delay; however, the ignition delay computed by the RANS was underpredicted. Finally, the relationships between the entrained air quantity and mixture fraction distribution as well as soot formation in the jet were observed. As more air was entrained into the jet, the amount of air-fuel premixing that occurred prior to the initial combustion zone increased, upstream of the lift-off length, and therefore, the soot formation downstream of the flame decreased.     

Nano-particle emission characteristics of European and Worldwide Harmonized test cycles for heavy-duty diesel engines

This study was conducted for the experimental comparison of particulate emission characteristics between the European and World-Harmonized test cycles for a heavy-duty diesel engine as part of the UN/ECE PMP ILCE of the Korea Particulate Measurement Program. To verify the particulate mass and particle number concentrations from various operating modes, ETC/ESC and WHTC/WHSC, were evaluated. Both will be enacted in Euro VI emission legislation. The real-time particle emissions from a Mercedes OM501 heavy-duty golden engine with a catalyst based uncoated golden DPF were measured with CPC and DMS during daily test protocol. Real-time particle formation of the transient cycles ETC and WHTC were strongly correlated with engine operating conditions and after-treatment device temperature. The higher particle number concentration during the ESC #7 to #10 mode was ascribed to passive DPF regeneration and the thermal release of low volatile particles at high exhaust temperature conditions. The detailed average particle number concentration equipped for golden DPF reached approximately 4.783E+11 #/kWh (weighted WHTC), 6.087E+10 #/kWh (WHSC), 4.596E+10 #/kWh (ETC), and 3.389E+12 #/kWh (ESC). Particle masses ranged from 0.0011 g/kWh (WHSC) to 0.0031 g/kWh (ESC). The particle number concentration and mass reduction of DPF reached about 99%, except for an ESC with a reduction of 95%.     

Derivation and validation of nonlinear governing equations for an analysis of vehicle handling

Nonlinear governing equations used to analyze the handling of a ground vehicle are derived from the Lagrange equations of motion. The derived equations are coded using VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) embedded in Microsoft’s Excel Software and simulated in the time domain using the 4th-order Runge-Kutta method. A total of six degrees of freedom are used in the equations; three of these are the directional translation, lateral translation, and yaw of a platform (unsprung) on the base of an inertial ground coordinate, and the other three are the roll, pitch, and yaw of a body (sprung) by a platform-fixed coordinate. Four driving torques and four wheel angles of all tires are used as input control parameters. A simplified Calspan tire model is adopted for the generalized forces of the equations. This is a combined model that can be used to obtain tractional (or braking) and side forces using the inputs of the directional and side-slip ratios and the vertical force. The VBA code realized in this study is validated by comparisons with trimmed equilibrium results and the test data cited in published papers. The major characteristics of this study are: (1) the coordinate systems of the equations are mixed with the inertial frame and the platform-fixed frame, and, as a result, almost all types of driving conditions with long mileages can be simulated; (2) vertical movement is eliminated due the focus on the handling analysis; (3) the body-yaw degree of freedom is separated from the platform-yaw degree of freedom; and (4) the programming is performed by VBA, which is rarely used in the vehicle dynamics field.     

Implementation of an executable business process management model for the ship hull production design process

The shipbuilding industry has adopted IT convergence as a new engine for growth encompassing conventional production know-how and economies of scale. Brand new solutions for enterprise IT, such as three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) systems, enterprise resource planning systems, and product lifecycle management systems have been adopted and customized to shipyards and contribute to productivity enhancement. As part of IT convergence in the shipbuilding industry, we examine the adoption of business process management (BPM) for the ship hull production design process. Ship hull production design, a process-based task, requires the most man-hours among all ship design processes and is directly coupled with ship production; thus, improvements in this task can contribute hugely toward enhancing productivity. First, we explain the concept of the executable model, which is an essential condition for executing defined processes in a business process management system (BPMS). In addition, we analyze the hull production design task and use this as the basis of a process to build executable BPM models. Thus, we present detailed implementations and the expected effects for the BPM execution of the hull production design process. The executable BPM model of the hull production design process is implemented using Bonita Open-Solution 5.5, a representative open-source BPMS.     

Precise and reliable positioning based on the integration of navigation satellite system and vision system

In this paper, we propose a precise and reliable positioning method for solving common problems, such as a navigation satellite’s signal occlusion in an urban canyon and the positioning error due to a limited number of visible navigation satellites. This is an integrated system of the navigation satellites system and a vision system. In general, the navigation satellite positioning system has a fatal weakness in that it can not calculate a position coordinate when its signal is occluded by some obstacle. For this reason, positioning by using the navigation satellites system can not be used for a variety of applications. Therefore, we propose as a method to integrate both the navigation satellites system and the vision system. Some target objects that have accurate position coordinates, for example, in an outdoor shaded area like an urban canyon, are installed into the vision system. When the vision system recognizes a target object it loads the accurate coordinate of that target object. Then, it measures the distance by using the disparity from the camera sensor to the target object. These distance and object coordinate data are used for positioning with the navigation satellites system’s data. This integrated system can be used for the positioning solution where the user is in unfavorable conditions. This paper shows that the algorithm of integrated system and the numerical test performed. The results indicate that the reliable and stable positioning can be obtained by introducing the vision system to the satellite navigation system.     

Development of a model of the dual clutch transmission in autonomie and validation with dynamometer test data

Owing to ever more stringent regulations and customers’ expectations, auto manufacturers have been considering numerous technology options to improve vehicle fuel economy. One of these is transmission technology, which has been shown to be one of the most cost-effective technologies. Over the past few years, transmissions have significantly evolved and have impacted both performance and fuel efficiency. As one of the advanced tranmissions, the dual clutch transmission (DCT) is the first automatic transmission to provide better efficiency than manual transmissions. DCTs provide reduced shift shocks and better driver comfort in addition to higher top speeds and torques. In this paper, a model and shifting controller for the DCT are developed in the vehicle systems context using Autonomie, a model-based vehicle simulation tool. Finally, the Autonomie DCT model and control strategy are validated using vehicle test data from Argonne’s Advanced Powertrain Research Facility.     

On-road chasing measurement of exhaust particle emissions from diesel,CNG, LPG,and DME-fueled vehicles using a mobile emission laboratory

We designed and applied a mobile emission laboratory for on-road measurements of exhaust particles emitted from conventional diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and dimethyl ether (DME)-fueled vehicles. Fuel type and vehicle driving conditions significantly affected the particle size distribution and the number concentrations of the nucleation mode. For all buses, the size distributions of particles in the exhaust under idling conditions had larger mode diameters than at constant speed conditions of 50 km/h or 80 km/h. The nucleation mode (< 50 nm) fraction of diesel, CNG, LPG, and DME at a constant speed of 50 km/h was 53%, 63%, 79%, and 99%, respectively, indicating that the DME-fueled bus emitted the most nanoparticles. As the vehicle speed increased from 50 km/h to 80 km/h, the nucleation mode fraction of diesel, CNG, LPG, and DME changed to 43%, 99%, 99%, and 99%, representing a significant increase in the number concentrations of nanoparticles in the CNG and LPG-fueled vehicles. The particle size distributions in the exhaust of diesel, CNG, LPG, and DME-fueled vehicles were not affected by increase in the chasing distance.