Comparison of fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions between the aged and new DPF systems of Euro 5 diesel passenger car

This study was conducted to examine the impact of aged and new DPF systems of the Euro 5 diesel passenger car on fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions. Test diesel vehicle used in this study was equipped with diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and diesel particulate filter (DPF) as aftertreatment systems, and satisfied the Euro-5 emissions standard. The displacement volume of engine was 1.6 L and the cumulative mileage was 167,068 km before the test. The FTP-75 test procedure was used, and the time resolved and weight based exhaust emissions of total hydrocarbon (THC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) were measured. The results show that the vehicle with the new DPF system has lower emissions of THC, CO and NOx than the aged one, and fuel efficiency also increased about 5 percent. The aged DPF system had higher backpressure due to the particulate matter (mostly in the form of ash) accumulated in the DPF. As was shown in the analysis using X-CT (X-ray computer tomography), the aged DPF system had particulate matter (PM) accumulated to a length of 46.6 mm. In addition, a component analysis of PM through XRF (X-ray fluorescence) analysis found that 50 % or more of the components consisted of the P, S, Ca, and Zn.     

Robust control for four-wheel-independent-steering electric vehicle with steer-by-wire system

A four-wheel-independent-steering (4WIS) electric vehicle (EV) with steer-by-wire (SBW) system is proposed in this paper. The fast terminal sliding mode controller (FTSMC) is designed for the SBW system to suppress external disturbances. Taking unstructured and structured uncertainties into consideration, a robust controller is designed for the 4WIS EV utilizing μ synthesis approach and the controller order reduction is implemented based on Hankel-Norm approximation. Since sideslip angle is the feedback signal of robust controller and it is hard to measure, the extended Kalman filter (EKF) is employed to estimate sideslip angle. To evaluate the vehicle performance with the designed control system, step and sinusoidal steering maneuvers are simulated and analyzed. Simulation results show that the designed control system have good tracking ability, strong robust stability and good robust performance to improve vehicle stability and handing performance.     

Occupant injury risk analysis at NASS/CDS database

Injury information for vehicle occupants from the body regions of the head, thorax, abdomen, and upper and lower extremities, due to the restraints and interior parts of the vehicle, were extracted from the 2009 ~ 2012 NASS/CDS database. For those cases with high occurrence frequency, a detailed and comprehensive data analysis was performed to find the relationship between the accident, occupant, vehicle, and injury data. A numerical frontal impact sled model with the Hybrid III dummy and the GHBMC human body model was constructed to simulate and identify those injury risks according to NASS/CDS. Among the 5,734 injuries to the aforementioned body regions from frontal crashes are, listed by frequency of occurrence, the lower extremity (27.8 %), upper extremity (21.3 %), thorax (15.1 %), face (10.9 %), spine (8.7 %), head (7.3 %), and abdomen (6.9 %). The main injury sources to the head were the windshield, side structure, and steering wheel. For the thorax and abdomen they were the seat belt and steering wheel. For the lower extremity it was the instrument panel. The main injury patterns for the head were the concussion and the contusion. For the thorax they were vessel laceration and lung contusion. For the abdomen they were laceration and contusion of the organs. For the lower extremity they were bone fracture and ligament rupture. The steering wheel and seat positions were main factors affecting head and thorax injury risks. From the sled impact simulation, high injury risks of the head and thorax were assessed respectively at conditions of steering column tilt down and rear most seat position, which correlated well with the findings from the NASS/CDS data analysis.     

Coupled heat and mass transfer analysis of NH<Subscript>3</Subscript>-H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O falling film absorption on inner tube surface with low solution flow rates

NH₃-H₂O falling film absorption usually takes place with low solution flow rate in real absorption refrigeration system. An experimental study of inner vertical absorption is carried out for the consideration of air-cooling absorber. Variable working conditions are tested to evaluate the heat and mass transfer performances.The traditional evaluation method based on log-mean-temperature（concentration） difference is criticized for its lack of theoretical basis while simultaneous heat and mass transfer process occurs. A new method proposed by Kim and Infante Ferreira is modified to evaluate the experimental results with reasonable assumptions. The method is based on the derivation of coupled heat and mass transfer differential equations of NH₃-H₂O absorption process.The analysis of the same experimental data shows that the new method realizes better consistency with smaller error, especially in heat transfer aspect. Heat and mass transfer performance is enhanced with the increase of solution Reynolds number. Sub-cooling of inlet weak solution also has positive influence on the absorption process,which should be evaluated by the new method correctly. Two correlations are developed to evaluate both Nusselt and Sherwood numbers for the design of air-cooling absorber.     

Investigation on the formation mechanism of ordered carbide (FeMn)<Subscript>3</Subscript>AlC in the Al added twinning-induced plasticity steels

The spinodal composition zone in Al added Fe-Mn-Al-C twinning-induced plasticity（TWIP） steels can be determined by contents of Al and C and aging temperature together, based on the thermodynamic analysis. Precipitation of ordered（FeMn）₃AlC carbide by the mechanism of spinodal decomposition occurs in the C-rich and Al-rich zone with low aging temperature. Increase of aging temperature shrinks spinodal composition zone to the high Al and C contents. As a result, the precipitation of（FeMn）₃AlC carbide alters from spinodal decomposition to classical nucleation-growth manner gradually. Further calculation indicates that the diffusion of Al can play a key role in determining the growth rate of（FeMn）₃AlC carbide at high aging temperature.     

Estimation of Load-Induced Damage and Repair Cost in Post-Tensioned Concrete Rocking Walls

Post-tensioned concrete rocking walls might be used to avoid severe seismic damage at the base of structural walls, decrease residual drift, and lessen post-earthquake repair costs. The prediction of load-induced damage to the rocking wall resulting from seismic loading can provide an extremely valuable tool to evaluate the status and safety of structural concrete walls following earthquakes. In this study, the behavior and the damage state of monolithic, self-centering, rocking walls, as a new type of concrete rocking wall, are investigated. The nonlinear mechanical behavior of the wall is first modeled numerically, and subsequently the mechanical parameters from the numerical simulation are used to generate the local damage index. The results from the damage index model are compared with the full-scale test results, confirming the viability of the numerically based damage index method for estimating the seismically induced damage in concrete walls. Moreover, the estimated damage can be utilized as a qualitative and quantitative scale to assess the status of the wall following seismic loading events. Finally, an equation is proposed to estimate the repair cost based on the predicted damage state for the studied structural system.     

TDOA Passive Location Based on Cuckoo Search Algorithm

This paper formulates a new framework to estimate the target position by adopting cuckoo search(CS)positioning algorithm. Addressing the nonlinear optimization problem is a crucial spot in the location system of time difference of arrival(TDOA). With the application of the Levy flight mechanism, the preferential selection mechanism and the elimination mechanism, the proposed approach prevents positioning results from falling into local optimum. These intelligent mechanisms are useful to ensure the population diversity and improve the convergence speed. Simulation results demonstrate that the cuckoo localization algorithm has higher locating precision and better performance than the conventional methods. Compared with particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm and Newton iteration algorithm, the proposed method can obtain the Cram′er-Rao lower bound(CRLB) and quickly achieve the global optimal solutions.     

Structural Optimization of Hatch Cover Based on Bi-directional Evolutionary Structure Optimization and Surrogate Model Method

Weight reduction has attracted much attention among ship designers and ship owners. In the present work, based on an improved bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization (BESO) method and surrogate model method, we propose a hybrid optimization method for the structural design optimization of beam-plate structures, which covers three optimization levels: dimension optimization, topology optimization and section optimization. The objective of the proposed optimization method is to minimize the weight of design object under a group of constraints. The kernel optimization procedure (KOP) uses BESO to obtain the optimal topology from a ground structure. To deal with beam-plate structures, the traditional BESO method is improved by using cubic box as the unit cell instead of solid unit to construct periodic lattice structure. In the first optimization level, a series of ground structures are generated based on different dimensional parameter combinations, the KOP is performed to all the ground structures, the response surface model of optimal objective values and dimension parameters is created, and then the optimal dimension parameters can be obtained. In the second optimization level, the optimal topology is obtained by using the KOP according to the optimal dimension parameters. In the third optimization level, response surface method (RSM) is used to determine the section parameters. The proposed method is applied to a hatch cover structure design. The locations and shapes of all the structural members are determined from an oversized ground structure. The results show that the proposed method leads to a greater weight saving, compared with the original design and genetic algorithm (GA) based optimization results.     

Catalytic Combustion of Lean Methane Assisted by Electric Field over Pd/Co<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> Catalysts at Low Temperature

A series of Pd/Co₃O₄ catalysts were prepared by Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis (SHS) method in this study, and electric field was applied for catalytic combustion of lean methane over Pd/Co₃O₄ catalysts at low temperature. When electric field was applied, the catalytic combustion performance of Pd/Co₃O₄ catalysts was greatly improved, and the application of electric field could reduce the load of active element Pd to some extent while maintaining the same efficiency. Based on experimental tests and the analysis results of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), H₂-temperature-programmed reduction (H₂-TPR) and in-situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (in-situ DRIFTS), the mechanism of catalytic oxidation of CH₄ over Pd/Co₃O₄ catalysts in electric field was proposed. The catalytic combustion of CH₄ occurs only when the temperature is higher than 250 °C normally, but when electric field was applied, the whole process of CH₄ oxidation was promoted significantly and the reaction temperature was reduced. Electric field could promote the reduction of the support Co₃O₄ to release the lattice oxygen, resulting in the increase of PdO_x and the surface chemisorbed oxygen, which could provide more active sites for the low-temperature oxidation of CH₄. Furthermore, electric field could accelerate the dehydroxylation of CoOOH to further enhance the activity of the catalysts.