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The performance of the rear axle plays an important role in the performance of vehicle, and its fatigue durability is an integral part in the vehicle development. Taking a SUV model as the research subject, a new methodology of multi-channel spindle coupled road simulator and fatigue simulation analysis for rear axle assembly was introduced in the paper, aiming to address the fatigue design and its verification for the rear axle in the development phase. Firstly, road loads in the proving ground was collected by arranging proper sensors. Secondly, physical iteration was performed on the multichannel spindle coupled road simulator by taking six component forces at the wheel hub as the target signals. Then, after the time waveform replication of the loads the durability test was conducted. Finally, the validated simulation model was successfully implemented to improve the fatigue life of the axle.

This study provides a tire puncture sealant including NR latex and acrylic emersion, which has a reduced viscosity at -40°C, and is also excellent storage stability at -40°C to 70°C, initial sealing performance. Also, this study provides device for sealing inflatable objects. 'One- Piece Tire Repair Kit' can reduce weight and operation steps.

Sliding intermediate shaft of Electric Power Steering (EPS) system is used for torque transmission from steering wheel or motor and buffering reverse input from tire. Polyamide coating material with good sliding properties is treated in the sliding types of intermediate shaft. Conventionally, sliding types of intermediate shaft with polyamide coating have been used in vehicle interior. On the other hand, extension of applied area to engine room is needed. However, in high temperature conditions, there is concerns about increase of friction coefficient and wear volume of polyamide by deterioration of sliding properties of polyamide. Therefore, improvement of sliding properties of polyamide in high temperature is necessary. In this research, we examined sliding properties of polyamide blended with metal stearate in high-temperature to use polyamide in high temperature compared to conventional environment. As resin material, we used polyamide 610 blended with metal stearates.

An automobile outer rear view mirror (ORVM) is fixed at the front exterior of the vehicle for helping the driver see areas behind and sides of the vehicle which are outside of their peripheral vision. Mirror Scalp is the cover which protects the components inside from human and other environmental damage. Hence the scalp must be properly designed and fitted to the rest of the assembly so that it allows the safe functioning of the ORVM, which is an active safety device. During automatic car washing, sometimes the scalp may get removed due to the huge force exerted by the scrubber, if the scalp is not fitted properly. Mirror scalp is fitted to the rest of the ORVM through snap-fits. Snap-fits are the simplest, quickest and most cost effective method of assembling two parts. When designed properly, parts with they can be assembled and disassembled numerous times without any adverse effect on the assembly and hence are most environmentally friendly.

Composites reinforced with 3D woven fiber preforms are known to display improved through thickness performance when tested using methods such as the ASTM D6415 curved beam protocol. The presence of reinforcing fiber in the through-thickness direction eliminates delamination as a mode of failure and allows the composite to continue to carry increasing loads well beyond first crack initiation. We propose that this characteristic of 3D woven composites may be exploited for applications such as automotive crash structures, which are required to dissipate large amounts of energy during an impact event. The rate dependent nature of these materials, however, is not well understood. An empirical study was conducted to provide an initial understanding of the dynamic behavior of 3D composites.

Due to the accidents of the motor vehicles and the osteoporosis, many people enface a lot of troubles and sometimes necessities for replacement of their knee joints. Practically, mechanical properties and surface characteristics of Total Knee Replacement (TKR) are very important parameters for improving the performance response in human. The meniscus is a small element and an essential part of the TKR. The knee meniscus has special feature allows the easy dynamic loading and motion of leg and foot with high accuracy and good balance. Therefore design and analysis of the geometrical shape for the meniscus replacement is worthy to be studied. In this paper, a proposed design using a computer software package has been presented. 3D simulation analyses of a variety of meniscus thickness and different materials under different loads are investigated. The compression stresses and surfaces deformations are determined numerically through the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) technique.

The fuel cell (FC) stack that was developed for a new FCV achieves a power density of 3.1 kW/L (one of the highest in the world) by the use of an innovative cell flow field structure, electrodes, and a simplified stack tightening structure. These innovations allow the FC stack to be installed under the floor of a sedan-type fuel cell vehicle (FCV). Underfloor installation also required excellent impact resistance, waterproofing, and rustproofing performance. These items were quantified and analyzed during the development of the FC stack, resulting in an optimized structure capable of enduring a wide range of possible underfloor inputs.

Weight reduction for a fuel cell vehicle (FCV) is important to contribute a long driving range. One approach to reduce vehicle weight involves using a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) which has a high specific strength and stiffness. However, a conventional thermoset CFRP requires a long chemical reaction time and it is not easy to introduce into mass production vehicles. In this study, a new compression-moldable thermoplastic CFRP material for mass production body structural parts was developed and applied to the stack frame of the Toyota Mirai.

Friction stir processing (FSP) is a method of changing the properties of metal through intense, localized plastic deformation. This deformation is produced by forcibly inserting a non-consumable tool into a workpiece, and revolving the tool in a stirring motion as it is pushed laterally through the workpiece. It comprises of a rotating tool with pin and shoulder which are inserted into a single piece of material and traversed along the desired path to cover the region of interest. Friction between the shoulder and work piece results in localized heating which raises the temperature of the material to the range where it is plastically deformed. During this process, severe plastic deformation occurs and due to thermal exposure of material, it results in a significant evolution in the local microstructure. Carbon nanotubes were dispersed into Al matrix by multipass FSP to fabricate Al6082 T0/Fe-MWCNT.

In order to ensure a comfortable space inside the cabin, it is very essential to design an efficient heating ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system which can deliver uniform temperature distribution at the exit. There are several factors which impact on uniformity of temperature distribution. Airflow distribution is one of the key parameter in deciding the effectiveness of temperature distribution. Kinematics links and linkage system typically termed as ‘mechanism’ is one of the critical sub-systems which greatly affects the airflow distribution. It is not the temperature uniformity but also the HVAC temperature linearity also depends on airflow distribution. Hence the design of mechanism is incomparably of paramount importance to achieve the desired level of airflow distribution at HVAC exit. The present paper describes the design methodology of automotive HVAC mechanism system.

Eddy current retarder (ECR) shares a large market of auxiliary brakes in China, but shortcomings of the short continuous braking time and the high additional energy consumption are also obvious. The propose of combined braking partakes the braking torque of ECR. However, the existed serial-parallel braking strategy could hardly balance well the relationship between the braking stability and the energy recovery efficiency. This research puts forward an energy management strategy of combined braking system which aims to maximize energy recovery while ensure the brake stability. The motor speed, the braking request and the state of charge (SoC) of the storage module are analyzed synthetically to calculate the reasonable braking torque distribution proportion. And the recovered energy is priority for using in the braking unit to reduce the additional energy consumption in this strategy.

In this paper, a model predictive control (MPC) based trajectory tracking scheme utilizing steering wheel and braking or acceleration pedal is proposed for intelligent vehicles. The control objective is to track a desired trajectory which is obtained from the trajectory planner. The proposed control is based on a simplified third-order vehicle model, which consists of longitudinal vehicle dynamics along with a commonly used bicycle model. A nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) is adopted in order to follow a given path by controlling front steering, braking and traction, while fulfilling various physical and design constraints. In order to reduce the computational burden, the NMPC is converted to a linear time-varying (LTV) MPC based on successive online linearization of the nonlinear system model. Two different test conditions have been used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approaches through simulations using Matlab and CarSim.

This paper presents the relationship between suspension and steering systems and wheels, and proposes the vehicle dynamics modeling method. A vehicle dynamics model combined with the suspension K&C test data of a concrete vehicle was built based on the method. The simulation results show that the method is correct and feasible, and the dynamics model performed characteristics of the suspension and steering systems with high precision can be used for the followup simulation and optimization.

This paper presents payload estimation based on experimental friction coefficients identification. To estimate exact payload mass, dynamic mathematical model such as actuator dynamics and front linkage dynamics is derived by using Newton-Euler method. From the dynamic equation, nonlinear terms are analyzed and transformed. And a friction model is derived from the experiments with various conditions which have three states; boom joint angle, head and rod chamber pressures. It can identify friction coefficients and compensate friction forces. In addition, the accuracy of payload estimation system is verified through the field test.

Direct injection compression ignition engines have proved to be the best option in light duty applications but rapid depleting sources of conventional fossil fuels, their rising prices and ever increasing environmental issues are the major concerns. Alternate fuels, particularly bio fuels are receiving increasing attention during the last few years. Biodiesel has already been commercialized in the transport sector. In the present work, a turbocharged, intercooled, DI diesel engine has been alternatively fuelled with biodiesel and its 20% blend with commercial diesel. The effect of biodiesel addition to diesel on engine performance, combustion, and emissions were studied in a turbocharged, high-pressure common rail diesel engine. Biodiesel/diesel blends with different biodiesel fractions were used and compared with neat biodiesel and diesel at different engine loads and speeds.

In the past decades, the stability of vehicles has been improved significantly by use of variety of chassis control systems such as Antilock Braking System (ABS), Electric Stability Program (ESP) and Active Front Steering (AFS). Recently, in order to further improve the performance of vehicles, more and more researches are focused on the integration control of multiple degrees of freedom of vehicle dynamic. However, in order to control multiple degrees of freedom simultaneously, the nonlinear problems caused by the coupling between different degrees of freedom have to be solved, which is always a difficult task. In this paper, a three-degrees-of-freedom single track vehicle model, in which some nonlinear terms are considered, is built firstly. Then, the nonlinear model is processed by the fuzzy technique and the T-S fuzzy model is designed.

Urban Mobility is one of the most critical issues at the present. Public transport in connection with feeder bus system is proposed to be one of the main solution. Chulalongkorn University has a fleet of electric feeder bus in operation for a few years now. The fleet service is, however, to be improved because of current limitations in battery energy capacity and long battery charging time. This paper aims to examine the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the electric feeder buses using various types of energy storage. The results on the sensitivity analysis highlight the major parameters that exert strong influence in the TCOs. The fast charging system using supercapacitor battery bus shows the lowest TCO for the present bus fleet. The travel distance (km/year) and operational years were illustrated to be the top two parameters that exert major influence towards the TCO.

In meeting the stringent emission norms the injector selection plays a vital role. Selection of optimum injection parameters helps in achieving good spray targeting and efficient atomization of fuel to generate optimum mixing effect. The purpose of this experimental study is to investigate the effect of injection parameters on a heavy duty diesel engine performance and emission characteristics. The injection parameters such as hydraulic through flow, cone angle, number of holes & hole diameter are studied on 6-cylinder turbocharged common rail diesel engine (BS-IV). The influence of these parameters and their combinations along with the various injection strategies are analyzed using different parametric variations in order to see the combustion and performance trend of engine. The performance of the various hardware configurations are then evaluated and discussed based on the fuel consumption and exhaust emission values.

Nowadays, more than 50% of the fuel energy is lost in CNG Engines. While efforts to increase their efficiency have been focused mainly on the improvement of the combustion process, the combustion chamber and the reduction of friction losses, heat losses still remain the most important inefficient factor. A global strategy in which several energy recovery strategies are implemented could lead to engine improvements up to 15%. Therefore, the development of accurate models to size and predict the performance of the integrated components as well as to define an optimized control strategy is crucial. In this contribution, a model to analyze the potential of a new powertrain based on the electrification of the main auxiliaries, the integration of a kinetic energy recovery system and the exhaust gases heat recovery through a thermoelectric generator and a turbo-component is presented.

A GT-Power Fast Run Model simplified from detail model for HIL is verified with a bench test using the dSPACE Simulator. Firstly, the conversion process from a detailed model to FRM model is briefly described. Then, the spark timing, fuel pulse with control for FAR, and torque level control are developed for proof of concept. Moreover a series of FRM/Simulink co-simulation and HIL tests are conducted. In the summary, the test results are presented and compared with GT detailed model simulations. The test results show that the FRM/dSPACE HIL stays consistent in most variables of interest under 0.7-0.9 real-time factor condition between 1000 - 5000 RPM. The same steady-state can be reached by RCP controllers or with GT-Power internal controllers. The transient states are close using different control algorithm. The main purpose of HIL application is achieved, despite inconsistencies in performance data like fuel consumption.