Preview suspension control for a full tracked vehicle

In this study, preview control algorithms for the active and semi-active suspension systems of a full tracked vehicle (FTV) are designed based on a 3-D.O.F model and evaluated. The main issue of this study is to make the ride comfort characteristics of a fast moving tracked vehicle better to keep an operator’s driving capability. Since road wheels almost trace the profiles of the road surface as long as the track doesn’t depart from the ground, the preview information can be obtained by measuring only the absolute position or velocity of the first road wheel. Simulation results show that the performance of the sky-hook suspension system almost follows that of full state feedback suspension system and the on-off semi-active system carries out remarkable performance with the combination of 12 on-off semi-active suspension units. The results simulated with 1^st and 2^nd weighting sets mean that the suspension system combined with the soft type of inner suspension and hard type of outer suspension can carry out better ride comfort characteristics than that with identical suspensions. The full tracked vehicle (FTV) system is uncontrollable and the system is split into controllable and uncontrollable subspace using singular value decomposition transformation. Frequency response curves to four types of inputs, such as heaving, pitching, rolling, and warping inputs, also demonstrate the merits of preview control in ride comfort. All the frequency characteristic responses confirm the continuous time results.     

Evaluation and visualization of stratified ultra-lean combustion characteristics in a spray-guided type gasoline direct-injection engine

To comply with reinforced emission regulations for harmful exhaust gases, including carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted as a greenhouse gas, improved technologies for reducing CO₂ and fuel consumption are being developed. Stable lean combustion, which has the advantage of improved fuel economy and reduced emission levels, can be achieved using a sprayguided-type direct-injection (DI) combustion system. The system comprises a centrally mounted injector and closely positioned spark plugs, which ensure the combustion reliability of a stratified mixture under ultra-lean conditions. The aim of this study is to investigate the combustion and emission characteristics of a lean-burn gasoline DI engine. At an excess air ratio of 4.0, approximately 23% improvement in fuel economy was achieved through optimal event timing, which was delayed for injection and advanced for ignition, compared to that under stoichiometric conditions, while NO_x and HC emissions increased. The combustion characteristics of a stratified mixture in a spray-guided-type DI system were similar to those in DI diesel engines, resulting in smoke generation and difficulty in three-way catalystutilization. Although a different operating strategy might decrease fuel consumption, it will not be helpful in reducing NO_x and smoke emissions; therefore, alternatives should be pursued to achieve compliance with emission regulations.     

Durability prediction for automobile aluminum front subframe using nonlinear models in virtual test simulations

This research work presents fatigue life evaluation techniques for an automotive vehicle aluminum front subframe using virtual test simulation technology with nonlinear suspension components model. The technology was used for improving the accuracy of the polynomial model used in conventional analysis. The proposed nonlinear suspension components models were developed using direct approach. The effects of the nonlinear elements on the prediction of the fatigue life were also analyzed. Actual aluminum front subframe was tested using half-car road test simulator to verify the accuracy of the models. It was found that the proposed nonlinear models yield more accurate results than conventional polynomial models. The proposed virtual test simulation technology with nonlinear suspension components model can be used to predict fatigue life for vehicle chassis structures more accurately.     

Realization of pmp-based control for hybrid electric vehicles in a backward-looking simulation

Optimal control is generally not possible without information about the future coming up, and it is not easy to obtain an optimal solution even though the information is given a priori. In this paper, a control concept based on Pontryagin’s Minimum Principle (PMP) is introduced as an efficient solution to generate an optimal control trajectory for Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HVEs) when the performance of the vehicles is evaluated on scheduled driving cycles at a simulation level. The main idea of the control concept is to minimize Hamiltonian, which is interpreted as equivalent fuel consumption, and the Hamiltonian is characterized by a co-state, which is interpreted as a weighting factor for the electrical usage. A key aspect of the control problem is that an appropriate initial condition of the co-state is required to satisfy the boundary condition of the problem. In this study, techniques to calculate the Hamiltonian in different hybrid configurations are introduced, and a methodology to look for the initial condition of the co-state is studied, so that the controller is able to realize a desired State Of Charge (SOC) trajectory. To address the issue, we utilize a shooting method with multiple initial conditions based on the concept of the Newton-Raphson method, and all these techniques are realized in a backward looking simulator. The simulation results show that the PMP-based control is a very efficient approach to produce the optimal control trajectory, and the performance is compared to the optimal solution solved by Dynamic Programming (DP).     

Fatigue strength assessment including welding residual stress of spot welded joints subjected to cross-tension loads

This paper presents a method to assess of fatigue strength for resistance spot welded joints, which incorporates welding residual stress effects. To achieve this, first, a non-linear finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to simulate the spot-welding process. To validate the FEA results, the numerically calculated welding residual stresses of spot welds were then compared with experimental results measured by X-ray diffraction method. The residual stress distributions showed good agreement between calculations and experiments. To evaluate the effects of welding residual stress on the fatigue design criterion of resistance spot welded joints subjected to cross-tension load, the stress amplitude (σ_a-res) taking into account welding residual stress at a spot weld was proposed based on a modified Goodman equation incorporating the residual stress effect. Using the stress amplitude σ_a-res at the nugget edge of a spot weld, the ΔP ? N_f relations obtained as the fatigue test results for spot welded joints were systematically rearranged to the σ_a-res ? N_f relation. It was found that the proposed stress amplitude (σ_a-res) provides more reasonable and accurate fatigue design criterion of spot welded joints subjected to cross-tension load.     

Vehicle velocity estimation using effective inertia for an in-wheel electric vehicle

In this study, a vehicle velocity estimation algorithm for an in-wheel electric vehicle is proposed. This algorithm estimates the vehicle velocity using the concept of effective inertia, which is based on the motor torque, the angular velocity of each wheel and vehicle acceleration. Effective inertia is a virtual mass that changes according to the state of a vehicle, such as acceleration, deceleration, turning or driving on a low friction road. The performance of the proposed vehicle velocity estimation algorithm was verified in various conditions that included straight driving, circle driving and low friction road driving using the in-wheel electric vehicle that was equipped with an in-wheel system in each of its rear wheels.     

Design of power split transmission: Design of dual mode power split transmission

The power split type hybrid system transmits engine power by dividing it into the electrical unit and the mechanical unit. Its power transmission efficiency is highest at the mechanical point (MP), where the full power is transmitted to the mechanical unit. In this study, the equation for the MP was derived for the gear ratios of a general 4-node lever model. The MP characteristics for the transmission ratio (TR) of the input split and compound split structures were examined using the equation derived. Using the examined input split and compound split structures, a systematic design method for the dual mode power split transmission was proposed. In the dual mode power split transmission, the MP could be positioned at the desired TR, and the input split and compound split modes could be selectively used according to the clutch combination, which leads to the operation of the vehicle within a high system efficiency range.     

Effects of injection parameters on the spray characteristics of swirl and slit injectors using the Mie-scattering method

We investigated the effects of injection parameters such as injection pressure, ambient pressure, and ambient temperature on spray characteristics. We calculated the turbulence occurring point (t _c ), defined as the time required to generate a vortex, and the deceleration point (t _b ), defined as the time when spray penetration begins to decelerate, to elucidate the breakup mechanism of the test injectors. The spray velocity coefficient (C_v) was obtained to evaluate the spray characteristics. As the ambient pressure increases in the case of a slit injector, C_v decreases. We investigated the effects of nozzle tip shape according to injection pressure, ambient pressure, and fuel properties on spray characteristics and provide a C_v value of 0.38 for the swirl injector with a spray angle of 60° and the slit injector under atmospheric conditions. The value of C_v in the case of a slit injector was reduced by increasing the ambient pressure. Our results suggest that C_v of a swirl injector is constant regardless of changes in ambient pressure, injection pressure, and fuel properties. On the other hand, C_v of a slit injector is altered by changes in ambient pressure.     

Experimental research of the EQ6110HEV hybrid electric bus using an on-line debugging system

This paper describes the on-line debugging software developed by our research team. The software has five functions and can be helpful in achieving rapid development for hybrid electric buses. In addition, the software can monitor system states continuously and also modify parametric maps or update control programs using its on-line programming function. Based on the on-line debugging system, the hybrid propulsion control system is designed, and all the working modes of the hybrid electric bus are tested. Finally, experiments are carried out that verify that the debugging system is feasible and reliable. The test results show that the hybrid electric bus can reduce fuel consumption by about 19.1 percent, in comparison with conventional buses.     

Fault detection method for electric parking brake (EPB) systems with sensorless estimation using current ripples

A fault detection method with parity equations is proposed in this paper. Due to its low cost implementation, the velocity of the motor is not measurable in electric parking brake (EPB) systems. Therefore, residuals are not reliable when estimating the motor velocity with a low-resolution encoder. In this paper, we propose a fault detection method with sensorless estimation using current ripples that estimates the position and velocity of the motor by detecting periodical oscillations of the armature current caused by rotor slots. In addition, this method can estimate the position and velocity of the motor with less computational effort than a state observer. Moreover, the method is less sensitive to motor parameters than model-based estimation methods. The effectiveness of this method is validated with experimental data, and the simulation results show that various faults have their own residual patterns. Therefore, we can detect the presence of faults by monitoring the residual signals.