Comparison of HC species from diesel combustion modes and characterization of a heat-up doc formulation

This study summarizes engine speed and load effects on HC species emissions from premixed charge compression ignition (PCI) and conventional diesel combustion, and it evaluates diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) formulations on a gas flow reactor for the purpose of diesel particulate filter regeneration or lean NO_x trap desulfation. HC emissions are sampled simultaneously by a Tedlar bag for light HC species and by a Tenax TA™ adsorption trap for semi-volatile HC species, and they are analyzed by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector. The bulk temperature and residence time during combustion are key parameters that are important for understanding the effects of speed and load on engine-out HC emissions. The degree of post-flame oxidation is higher in PCI than in conventional combustion, and it is increased for PCI with a higher speed and load, as indicated by a lower fuel alkanes/THC ratio, a higher alkenes/fuel alkanes ratio, and a higher methane/THC ratio. Ethene and n-undecane are two representative HC species, and they are used as a surrogate mixture in the gas flow reactor to simulate PCI and conventional combustion with in-cylinder post fuel injection. Among the three DOC formulations tested, the catalyst with constituent precious metals of platinum and palladium (PtPd) showed the best light-off performance, followed by PtPd with an addition of cerium dioxide (PtPd+CeO₂), and platinum (Pt), regardless of exhaust compositions. Conventional combustion exhaust composition shows a lower light-off temperature than that of PCI, regardless of catalyst formulation.     

3-D numerical and experimental analysis for airflow within a passenger compartment

People use cars so frequently that they always consider the air-conditioning, and thermal comfort of the driver and passenger when buying a new car. Therefore accurate simulation of the thermal performance of automobile air conditioners to improve human comfort has become increasingly important. In order to improve the thermal comfort of passengers, 3-D flow motion and thermal behavior within vehicles must be analyzed. In this paper, a numerical simulation was used to investigate thermal behavior in a vehicle. Because air temperature at an air vent is related to the cooling capacity of the air conditioner, the cooling capacity was calculated using ɛ-NTU (effective number of transfer unit) theoretical equations. Using the air temperature relationship between inlet and outlet vents as boundary conditions, a 3-D unsteady κ-ɛ turbulent model was used to give a transient analysis simulation of the temperature field and flow conditions in a vehicle’s passenger cabin. Cooling cycle analysis and conjugate heat transfer analysis at the inside surface of the cabin’s ceiling, floor and sides were also considered. The predicted temperature distributions in the vehicles passenger cabin were in good agreement with those obtained experimentally.     

Performance estimation model of a torque converter part I: Correlation between the internal flow field and energy loss coefficient

The objective of this paper is to improve the performance estimation model of the internal flow field of a torque converter. Compared with performance experiment results, the converter based on the one-dimensional model does not satisfy the performance requirements demanded in practice. Therefore, we need to develop more predictable and reliable performance estimation models. In order to obtain shape information on three-dimensional blade geometry, a process of reverse engineering conducts a torque converter assembly, impeller, turbine and stator. In addition, a CFD simulation including mesh generation and post-processing was carried out to extract equivalent parameters from the internal flow field. The internal flow field can be explained by analyze the correlation between a performance estimation model and CFD analysis. The equivalent performance model adopts the variation of energy loss coefficients for a given operating condition according to the application of a changing energy loss coefficient by the least mean squares method. The estimated equivalent model improves the agreement in performance between experiments and the theoretical model. This model can reduce the error to within about 3 percent. Furthermore, this procedure for predicted performance achieves eminence in the estimation of the capacity factor.     

Effect on friction of engine oil seal with engine oil viscosity

Low viscosity engine oil can improve a vehicle’s fuel economy by decreasing the friction between the engine components. Frictional torque varies with the velocity change due to different viscosity characteristics of SAE grade 5W-20, 5W-30 and 5W-40 engine oils. The viscosity for each of these grades was measured to outline the effect low viscosity engine oils have on engine friction, which may lead to improved fuel economy. Engine oil seal frictional torque increases with the shaft rotational speed for all three engine oil grades. A decrease in engine oil seal frictional torque was confirmed when low viscosity engine oil was used. Also, the leak-free performance of the engine oil with the seal satisfied the life limit durability test criteria. Thus, low viscosity engine oil may be used to improve fuel economy by decreasing the frictional loss of the engine oil seal while having no negative impact on performance due to leak-free functioning.     

Transient characteristics of emissions during engine start/stop operation employing a conventional gasoline engine for HEV application

In this paper, we investigate the transient characteristics of combustion and emissions during engine start/stop operations in hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications. Hydrocarbon (HC) emissions during the initial 2^nd∼9^th cycles are found to be significantly greater when the engine is quickly started under the original engine calibration mode. Lower intake manifold absolute pressure (MAP) was also found to cause larger residual gas dilution and poor combustion, resulting in a higher HC concentration when the cranking speed was increased. The post-catalyst HC concentration was found in the way of initially decrease and then to increase again as the cranking speed was increased. A lowest concentration value was achieved at a cranking speed of 1000 r/min. Engine shut-down by fuel cut-off was shown to produce lower emissions than shut-down by ignition cut-off as one can avoid misfire of the last fuel injection cycle. The fuel deposited during the stop process seems to impact engine restart enrichment mostly during the initial 0.7 s for this engine, whose performance is dominated by the MAP transition characteristic and the time coefficient for fuel vaporization in this time period     

Desired yaw rate and steering control method during cornering for a six-wheeled vehicle

This paper proposes a steering control method based on optimal control theory to improve the maneuverability of a six-wheeled vehicle during cornering. The six-wheeled vehicle is believed to have better performance than a four-wheeled vehicle in terms of its capability for crossing obstacles, off-road maneuvering and fail-safe handling when one or two of the tires are punctured. Although many methods to improve the four-wheeled vehicle’s lateral stability have been studied and developed, there have only been a few studies on the six-wheeled vehicle’s lateral stability. Some studies of the six-wheeled vehicle have been reported recently, but they are related to the desired yaw rate of a four-wheeled vehicle to control the six-wheeled vehicle’s maneuvering during corning. In this paper, the sideslip angle and yaw rate are controlled to improve the maneuverability during cornering by independent control of the steering angles of the six wheels. The desired yaw rate that is suitable for a six-wheeled vehicle is proposed as a control target. In addition, a scaled-down vehicle with six drive motors and six steering motors that can be controlled independently is designed. The performance of the proposed control methods is verified using a full model vehicle simulation and scaled-down vehicle experiment.     

Automotive structure vibration with component mode synthesis on a multi-level

The recursive component mode synthesis method (RCMS) has been implemented for the finite element analysis model of an automobile structure as an efficient free vibration analysis tool. The RCMS method is intended to obtain a better performance relative to the block Lanczos method, which is a traditional method in the industry of obtaining eigenvalues, while obtaining the acceptable accuracy. A numerical example of the automobile finite element model demonstrates the outstanding performance of RCMS compared to the block Lanczos method.     

康明斯涡轮增压技术系统迎来在华发展新高潮

2008年6月11日,随着无锡康明斯涡轮增压技术公司(原无锡霍尔塞特)二期新厂房正式落成、无锡范尼韦尔工程公司开业投产以及康明斯涡轮增压技术系统新技术中心正式揭牌,康明斯涡轮增压技术系统(康明斯公司全资子公司)在华本地生产和研发能力得到新的提升.     

Vehicle response-based track geometry assessment using multi-body simulation

The assessment of the geometry of railway tracks is an indispensable requirement for safe rail traffic. Defects which represent a risk for the safety of the train have to be identified and the necessary measures taken. According to current standards, amplitude thresholds are applied to the track geometry parameters measured by recording cars. This geometry-based assessment has proved its value but suffers from the low correlation between the geometry parameters and the vehicle reactions. Experience shows that some defects leading to critical vehicle reactions are underestimated by this approach. The use of vehicle responses in the track geometry assessment process allows identifying critical defects and improving the maintenance operations. This work presents a vehicle response-based assessment method using multi-body simulation. The choice of the relevant operation conditions and the estimation of the simulation uncertainty are outlined. The defects are identified from exceedances of track geometry and vehicle response parameters. They are then classified using clustering methods and the correlation with vehicle response is analysed. The use of vehicle responses allows the detection of critical defects which are not identified from geometry parameters.     

Implementing a GPU-based numerical algorithm for modelling dynamics of a high-speed train

This paper discusses the initiative of implementing a GPU-based numerical algorithm for studying various phenomena associated with dynamics of a high-speed railway transport. The proposed numerical algorithm for calculating a critical speed of the bogie is based on the first Lyapunov number. Numerical algorithm is validated by analytical results, derived for a simple model. A dynamic model of a carriage connected to a new dual-wheelset flexible bogie is studied for linear and dry friction damping. Numerical results obtained by CPU, MPU and GPU approaches are compared and appropriateness of these methods is discussed.