Issues in the integration of active control turbochargers with internal combustion engines

The application of active control means to regulate the flow of exhaust gas in a turbocharger turbine is a concept developed by the Turbomachinery Group at Imperial College, London. It is a new concept the first results of which were made public in 2004. This paper presents the theoretical grounding behind the idea, its development and the elements required for a successful implementation of active control for a turbocharger turbine and the integration of such a turbocharger system within an internal combustion engine. This paper is intended to fill a gap in the theoretical understanding of the issues pertaining to the concept of Active Control for Turbocharger Turbines. The discussion is led towards a theory summarising the flow physics and their effect on the behaviour of the exhaust gas flow occurring during turbocharger turbine inlet geometrical changes and the implications from the periodic nature of these geometric changes in particular with respect to cycle performance results both for the turbocharger and for the engine. This paper is written with the purpose of presenting a realistic context of ACT operation by identifying and considering those parameters relevant to the operation and successful application of ACT to an internal combustion engine. In addition, the requirements for a dedicated ACT control strategy which can be effective in the ACT-engine integrated environment are, also, highlighted.     

Temps de transport au regard des changements démographiques en Île-de-France. Tendances passées et projections à l’horizon 2030

This paper investigates the evolution of travel time through travel time budget in the most densely populated region of Paris and its neighbouring regions, where the GDP per capita is the highest in France. Four consecutive household travel surveys available from 1976 up to 2001 allow us to compare travel time and travel time budget over the years and also to forecast Parisian mobility up to 2030. We have chosen to focus on the distinction between mandatory and non-mandatory trips, mandatory trips being defined as trips whose destinations are related to work, university or school. We have studied travel time related to demographic, socio-economic and geographical patterns in order to identify some key elements determining travel time and urban mobility.     

Decentralized neuro-fuzzy control for half car with semi-active suspension system

In this paper, a decentralized neuro-fuzzy controller has been created in order to improve the ride comfort and increase the stability for half car suspension system, which used the magneto-rheological damper as a semi-active device. Firstly, relative gain array and relative disturbance gain methods have been used for deriving a relation between inputs, disturbances and outputs to select pairing with minimum interaction to design a decentralize controller. Secondary, decentralized neuro-fuzzy controllers for front and rear chassis are designed to predict the required damping force taking the acceleration of the sprung mass and desired acceleration obtained by using pole-placement method as inputs. To predict the control voltage required for producing the force predicted by the controller, the inverse neuro-fuzzy model of MR damper has been designed. Simulation by using MATLAB programs has been created. The results show that the ride comforts and vehicle stability have been improved in comparison with the passive system.     

Simplified dynamics model for axial force in tripod constant velocity joint

Tripod constant velocity (TCV) joints are common components in automotive and mechanical applications. The benefits of the TCV joint are its high plunge capacity and high torque capacity. During power transmission, the friction inside the joint generates an axial force according to the kinematics. This force causes noise and vibration problems. In this study, a simplified multi-body dynamic model based on a phenomenological TCV joint friction model is developed. This model considers the generated axial force (GAF) of a TCV joint with different lubricate conditions. The efficiency and accuracy are verified by comparison with other prediction models and experiments. Thus, this model can be used to design and control the manufacture process of TCV joints.     

Heat exchanger/catalytic system for reducing the exhaust emissions from diesel engines

A system has been researched over the past 3 years for reducing the exhaust pollutants from diesel engines for light commercial vehicles. The system researched achieves Euro 6 standards for reduction of polluting gases (CO, HC, PM, NO). It consists of 4 main sections: 1. A heater and heat exchanger (HE); 2. A CO/HC oxidising catalyst (D°C); 3. Pt catalyst on a diesel particulate filter (DPF); 4. A NO reducing reaction (SCR) within the DPF. The system operates as follows. The exhaust gas contains oxidising gases, namely both O₂ and NO₂. The levels of CO and HC are oxidised by O₂ to CO₂ for temperatures above 200°C. Carbon (PM) is oxidised to CO₂ by NO₂ but requires a temperature above 250°C. The operating exhaust temperature of 300°C is ideal for the removal of NO by using the Pt catalyst and the CO generated within the DPF. The heater is required to be able to raise the exhaust temperature at any time to 300°C in order to optimise the performance of the system, since diesel engine exhaust temperatures vary between 160°C (slow speeds) to 350°C (high speeds). Considerable heat is required (??3 kW) to maintain the exhaust gas for a 2l engine at 300°C for engine idle conditions. Therefore a heat exchanger is required to re-circulate the input heat and thereby reduce the maximum power consumption to a maximum of 500W over the engine full operating test cycle. This energy is supplied by the engine battery and alternator. Experimental results have been obtained for the exhaust from a Kubota diesel engine and the reductions in exhaust emissions of 83% (CO/ HC), 58% (NOx) and 99% (PM) were obtained. The PM was continuously cleaned so that there was no build up of back pressure.     

A simplified model for evaluating tire wear during conceptual design

In the field of vehicle dynamics, commercial software can aid the designer during the conceptual and detailed design phases. Simulations using these tools can quickly provide specific design metrics, such as yaw and lateral velocity, for standard maneuvers. However, it remains challenging to correlate these metrics with empirical quantities that depend on many external parameters and design specifications. This scenario is the case with tire wear, which depends on the frictional work developed by the tire-road contact. In this study, an approach is proposed to estimate the tire-road friction during steady-state longitudinal and cornering maneuvers. Using this approach, a qualitative formula for tire wear evaluation is developed, and conceptual design analyses of cornering maneuvers are performed using simplified vehicle models. The influence of some design parameters such as cornering stiffness, the distance between the axles, and the steer angle ratio between the steering axles for vehicles with two steering axles is evaluated. The proposed methodology allows the designer to predict tire wear using simplified vehicle models during the conceptual design phase.     

Mixed assembly line rebalancing: A binary integer approach applied to real world problems in the automotive industry

Industrial organizations have increasingly sought to optimize the resources needed for the manufacture of its products from the competition, in order to maintain their profit margins. The search for balance of resources and balanced distribution of tasks in various types of industrial environments is called balancing. When adjustments are made and adequacy of an assembly line that is already in operation, this process is called rebalancing. This paper presents a case study involving a problem of rebalancing of automotive assembly line in an environment of arbitrarily mixed models of products, also known as mix. The proposed procedure for solving the rebalancing in the company in question is based on Binary Integer Programming, in particular the branch and bound algorithm. For comparison, we used a heuristic method based on precedence diagrams for solving the rebalancing of lines. To evaluate the results obtained between the two procedures were used performance indicators such as number of workstations created, average load of work and level of unbalance. The proposed algorithm has resulted in significant improvements in the production line capacity.     

Road identification in monocular color images using random forest and color correlogram

This paper presents a system to identify road and non-road regions from monocular color images of paved and unpaved roads. Despite being a single object, the road in these images is subject to large changes in appearance due to environmental effects and track materials. This condition has challenged the practical application of road identification. The proposed system combines random forest with color correlogram to overcome such conditions and offers a classifier for road and non-road regions in traffic images. As a color feature, the color correlogram depicts the spatial correlation of color changes in an image. Using random forest, road identification is formulated as a learning paradigm. The combined effects of color correlograms and random forest create a robust system capable of identifying roads even in variable situations in real time. This combination is more effective than other combinations, such as a color histogram plus random forest, a color correlogram plus neural network, or a color histogram plus neural network.     

Réflexions sur le transfert méthodologique de l’analyse qualitative d’accidents de la circulation routière issue de l’étude détaillée des accidents (EDA) fran?aise aux procédures d’accidents colombiennes

Nearly 90% of the traffic accidents that occur worldwide happen in developing countries. Yet road safety remains a little-studied subject in these countries, and notably accidentology studies, which provide a wealth of information. One of the major problems in studying road accidents in developing countries lies in the lack of reliable accident data. Indeed, while the comprehensive accident analysis methodologies used in developed countries provide an understanding of the origin of accidents and accident processes, as well as making it possible to define suitable, effective actions, they require reliable and relatively detailed accident data. These methodologies are notably based on detailed accident studies (DASs) and their adaptation to the analysis of accident reports. Colombia has an infrastructure for gathering and storing traffic accident data that can be used to perform comprehensive accident analyses. This article defines the feasibility of a technology transfer (clinical accident analysis) to the Colombian equivalent of accident reports. These observations are part of a doctoral thesis prepared jointly by the IFSTTAR Accident Mechanisms Research Unit and the University of the Andes in Bogotá.     

Experimental study on performance characteristics of cold storage heat exchanger for ISG vehicle

The ISG (Idle Stop and Go) system isvery useful in the automobile industry because it increases fuel consumption and reduces green house gas emissions. However, when the engine is on standby, the air-conditioning system does not work due to compressor inactivity, causing thermal discomfort to passengers. This study examines the thermal storage system, which is a cold storage heat exchanger integrated with a current evaporator. The experiments were conducted for an optimum cold storage heat exchanger design with various fin heights and densities, a number of stacking evaporator plates, refrigerant flow circuits inside the evaporator, and PCMs (Phase Change Materials) in the heat exchanger. The effects of coldness-release performance were examined with various ambient temperatures and air flow volume rates to the cold storage heat exchanger. The visualization of PCM’s freezing and melting was conducted with the cold storage heat exchanger. From the results, we found that the air discharge temperature of the air-conditioning system that was applied to the optimum cold storage heat exchanger was delayed around 540 seconds compared to the current air-conditioning system to reach 24 °C. Thus we can say that the cold storage heat exchanger integrated with an evaporator is an effective solution for ISG vehicles in maintaining thermal comfort in vehicle cabins during short engine stops.