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This report provides an overview of recent technical solution adoption rates by fleets from detailed fleet surveys. Manufacturers’ contributions in terms of technology development, cost reduction, durability and refinement will also be discussed. OEM vehicle integration and product line offerings (standard, optional, and post-production upfits) are shared. All of this background will set the stage for a review of the proposed Greenhouse Gas Phase 2 regulations, the technologies expected to be utilized to meet the targets, and the hurdles the industry must successfully clear for profitable fleet use in commercial vehicle freight transportation. Fuel efficiency has always been important to fleets and as fuel costs have risen, a plethora of fuel efficient technologies have emerged. The industry also cares about sustainability and emissions reductions and now Greenhouse Gas regulations exist to further encourage development, integration and adoption of such technologies.

A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study was completed to characterize the fuel consumption in terms of the separation distance of a Driver-Assistive-Truck-Platooning (DATP). The DATP system considered utilizes radar and GPS for a redundant range measurement, paired with Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) communications to enable regulation of the longitudinal distance between the pair of trucks without acceleration input from the rear driver. The linkage of information between the trucks promotes increased safety between the following trucks, while improving their fuel economy. The results from this study are compared to previous works. Preliminary analysis of the system indicated that the fuel economy of both trucks increases dramatically as the separation distance diminishes. Additionally, an SAE Type-II fuel economy test complying with the (1986) SAE J1321 standard was completed to correlate the computational studies.

This study investigates the significance levels of the clutch pedal effort parameters in heavy duty vehicles with manual transmission. A non-linear multibody dynamic model of the clutch system is developed to show the effect of clutch system parameters on clutch pedal performance in an experimental design. The most critical factors are selected the release load on release bearing, mechanical ratio, clutch servo assist air pressure, hydraulic ratio, expansion loss ratio, spring forces. The two level factorial designs for each critical factor represent the experimental design. The results of the study show that clutch servo assist air pressure has the most significant effect on the pedal effort, and the level selected in the experimental design is an important parameter for the reliable results.

The existing head cover is having external oil and blow by separation unit, which is not only costlier but also complex and leads to increase in overall height of engine which was difficult to integrate in new variants of vehicles. A new head cover has been designed with internal baffle type oil and blow by separation system to ensure efficient separation and proper packaging of the system in new variants. The new system has been finalized after 26 DOE’s of different wire mesh sizes and different baffle plate size and positions. The final system has two bowl shaped separation unit with wire mesh, two cup type oil separation passages and one baffle plate for separating blow by. The system works on condensation and gravity method. The blow by is guided through a well-defined passage integrated in aluminum cylinder head cover itself. The passage angle is maintained to ensure minimum oil flow with blow by.

There has been immense focus on Gear Shift Quality as it is seen as an important factor for subjective evaluation of driving comfort of a vehicle with manual transmission. Synchronizer and driveline stiffness optimization is often the only area of focus for gear shift quality during early design stage. Proven Simulation models are already available for predicting the effect of synchronizer and driveline stiffness. Though Gear shift cable also has a significant effect on gear shift quality, neither design guidelines nor simulation models are available for predicting gear shift cable performance. Designers have relied on physical approach to establish cable routing, since cable routing cannot be predicted on virtual vehicle. In design phase cable routing is imagined and modeled in CAD using constrained curve geometry and later on established by physical trials on vehicle with various cable lengths, routing paths and clamp positions.

This paper presents the results of a long haul truck Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) system from simulation, test bench and public road testing. The WHR system uses exhaust gas recuperation only and utilizes up to 110kW of exhaust waste heat for the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) in a typical European driving cycle. The testing and simulation procedures are explained in detail together with the tested and simulated WHR fuel consumption benefit for different real life cycles in Europe and USA reaching fuel consumption benefits between 2.5% and 3.4%. Additionally a technology road map is shown which discusses the role of WHR in fulfilling the future CARB BSFC target value (minimum in map) of around 172 g/kWh.

Increasing fuel cost and constant pressure to maximize the fuel economy are forcing OEMs in India to look for alternate engine cooling mechanism which will minimize the power take off from the engine without affecting the system reliability. Aim of this paper is to analyze the potential benefit of incorporating Electro-magnetic fan (EMF) drive in terms of fuel economy and reduced load on the engine. These benefits were compared with the conventional viscous coupled fan drive system. In vehicle with viscous coupling, fan RPM is based on the ram air temperature at coupling face which takes heat from turbo-charged air and coolant. On the other hand, EMF drive have a separate controller and control the fan RPM based on the coolant temperature enabling itself to respond directly to changes in the heat load as compared to viscous coupling having indirect representation of Coolant/charged air temperature.

In order to predict the interior noise of a commercial vehicle cab, a finite element model of a heavy commercial vehicle cab was established. An acoustic-structure coupling model of the cab was built based on experimentally validated structure model and acoustic model of a commercial vehicle cab. Moreover, based on the platform of Virtual. Lab, the acoustic field modes of the acoustic model of the commercial vehicle cab and the coupled modes of the acoustic-structure coupling model were analyzed by using the acoustic-structure coupling analysis technique. The excitation of the vehicle cab was tested at an average speed on an asphalt road. Then, the interior noise of the heavy commercial vehicle cab was predicted based on FEM-FEM method and FEM-BEM method with all the parameters and excitation. Furthermore, the predicted interior noise of the commercial vehicle cab was compared with the tested interior noise.

In this paper, we propose a method of dynamics simulation and analysis based on superelement modeling to increase the efficiency of dynamics simulation for vehicle body structure. Using this method, a certain multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) body structure was divided into several subsystems, and the modal parameters and frequency response functions of which were obtained through superelement condensation, residual structure solution, and superelement data restoration. The study shows that compared to the traditional modeling method, the computational time for vehicle body modal analysis can be reduced by 6.9% without reducing accuracy; for the purpose of structural optimization, the computational time can be reduced by 87.7% for frequency response analyses of optimizations; consistency between simulation and testing can be achieved on peak frequency points and general trends for the vibration frequency responses of interior front row floors under accelerating conditions.

The objective of this project was to provide pertinent information on the performance of refrigeration and heating transportation units to help fleets make decisions that will improve efficiency and increase productivity. To achieve this objective, tests were designed to measure the performance of selected refrigeration and heating units, mounted on refrigerated and heated van semitrailers. Cooling and freezing tests were carried out in summer conditions while heating tests were carried out in winter conditions, for various temperature settings. Two fundamental approaches were considered: the design of the refrigerated or heated trailer and the temperature setting of the refrigeration or heating unit. For cooling and freezing tests, the fuel consumption comparison between similar trailer models of different ages showed that newer units performed better than older ones.

The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitrogen oxides (NOx) is the most promising technique to meet prospective emission regulations of diesel-driven commercial vehicles. Due to the installation of SCR- systems downstream of both the oxidation catalyst and the particulate filter, the relatively long light-off phase after engine startup limits the overall efficiency of reducing emissions. Another challenge is the fact that, once the light-off temperature is achieved it must be maintained. In particular, the operation of urban busses with highly transient load profiles involves many phases of idling with low exhaust gas temperatures (e.g., during bus stops and/or at traffic lights). In contrast to previous studies, these investigations combine properties of catalysts determined in the course of experiments with the simulation of real operational profiles.

SCR on Filter (SCRoF) is an efficient and compact NOX and PM reduction technology already used in series production for light-duty applications. The technology is now finding its way into the medium duty and heavy duty market. One of the key challenges for successful application is the robustness to real world variations. The solution to this challenge can be found by using model-based control algorithms, utilizing state estimation by physics-based catalyst models. This paper focuses on the development, validation and real time implementation of a physics-based control oriented SCRoF model. An overview of the developed model will be presented, together with a brief description of the model parameter identification and validation process using engine test bench measurement data. The model parameters are identified following a streamlined approach, focusing on decoupling the effects of deNOx and soot phenomena.

With the advent of most advanced diesel engines the demand for upgraded engine cooling modules capable of handling more heat rejection in a smaller space is surging. Moreover, the variance in the operating conditions, i.e., the simultaneous cooling demands for peak load as well as partial load in different ambient conditions of the vehicle operation, broadens the scope of development of a cooling system. Also, the cooling system needs to be configured judiciously so as to cater effective cooling at peak loads and efficient cooling at partial loads. This research paper deals with a cooling system developed using modularity approach in order to have a control over tuning of subsystems for varying operating conditions and also to achieve the performance targets with a compact design adhering to packaging constraints. Kuli simulation of different designed configurations were carried out for identification of best concept.

The article discusses the use of the combined heating system with phase-transitional thermal accumulator. The peculiarity of the presented system is that it uses thermal energy of exhaust gas, coolant and motor oil, and emissions of the internal combustion engine during its operation to accumulate the thermal energy. The results of experimental studies of the combined heating system are shown. A system and methods for pre-start and after-start heating of the vehicular engine in the investigated system are developed. The structure of the "combined heating” system to study the impact of its structural and adjustment parameters on the performance of thermal development of the vehicular engine is described. The use of the combined heating system within phase-transitional thermal accumulators is compared with the use of standard systems for a truck engine 8FS 9.2 / 8. It reduces the time of coolant and motor oil thermal development by 22.9-57.5% and 25-57% accordingly.

In any drive system, tooth mesh misalignment originates primarily from its torque transmitting components such as spline connections, gears, shafts, bearings and housing. The major influencing factors for tooth mesh misalignments are clearance between components, deflection, stiffness, thermal expansion, manufacturing limitations and assembly limitations. Tooth mesh misalignments in heavy duty off-highway applications like tractor, propagates drastically while handling severe loads and tends to shift the load distribution in a gear pair to an un-biased manner along the facewidth, resulting in high contact stresses and poor transmission performance. Misalignments definitely add few more decibels to the driveline system which will be an annoyance to the user. Moreover, mesh misalignments in any drive system cannot be eliminated and hence different approaches and methods were followed to compensate the misalignment.

Three on the tree, four on the floor. The gear change mechanism is a component that is too often taken for granted but it is one of the more important features of the vehicle. It must be quick and smooth in action, efficient and totally reliable. Modern driving conditions demand that the driver makes frequent gear changes and a mechanism that is temperamental or inaccurate can be both frustrating and dangerous as well as physically tiring. The gear changing mechanism starts, quite obviously, with the gear lever. Most stem from the fact that a gear lever must move in two planes, forward and back and then from side to side to move across the gear "gate". A good many drivers think of gear changing as one simple action. This is more a tribute to the design of gear changing mechanisms than a reality. There are multiple gear selector mechanisms that are available for use in commercial vehicle industry.

In order to comply with demanding Greenhous Gas (GHG) standards, future automotive engines employ advanced engine technologies including waste heat recovery (WHR) systems. A waste heat recovery system converts part of engine wasted exergies to useful work which can be fed back to the engine. Utilizing this additional output power leads to lower specific fuel consumption and CO2 emission when the total output power equals the original engine output power. Engine calibration strategies for reductions in specific fuel consumption typically results in a natural increase of NOx emissions. The utilization of waste heat recovery systems provides a pathway which gives both reduction in emissions and reduction in specific fuel consumption. According to DOE (Department of Energy), US heavy-duty truck engines’ technology need to be upgraded towards higher brake thermal efficiencies (BTE). DOE target is BTE>55% for Class-8 heavy-duty vehicles in the United States.

The medium and heavy duty vehicle industry has fostered an increase in emissions research with the aim of reducing NOx while maintaining power output and thermal efficiency. This research describes a proof-of-concept numerical study conducted on a Caterpillar single-cylinder research engine. The target of the study is to reduce NOx by taking a unique approach to combustion air handling and utilizing enriched nitrogen and oxygen gas streams provided by Air Separation Membranes. A large set of test cases were initially carried out for closed-cycle situations to determine an appropriate set of operating conditions that are conducive for NOx reduction and gas diffusion properties. Several parameters - experimental and numerical, were considered. Experimental aspects, such as engine RPM, fuel injection pressure, start of injection, spray inclusion angle, and valve timings were considered for the parametric study.

The hydraulic retarder is an auxiliary braking device generally equipped on commercial vehicles. Its oil temperature change influences the brake performance of hydraulic retarder. The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is a good means to recover exhausted heat. Moreover, it can cool oil and stably control oil temperature with the help of heat absorption related with evaporation. Comprehensively considering the heat-producing characteristics of hydraulic retarder and the temperature control demand, the aimed boundary conditions are determined. Also the changing rules about the working medium flow rate are obtained. In this work, the heat-producing properties of hydraulic retarder under different conditions and the oil external circulating performance is firstly analyzed. By researching the system’s adaptation to the limiting conditions, the aimed temperature to control is prescribed.

Increasing diagnosis capabilities in modern engine electronic control units (ECUs), especially in the exhaust path, in terms of emission and engine aftertreatment control utilize on-board NOx prediction models. Nowadays it is an established approach at hardware-in-theloop (HIL) test benches to replicate the engine's steady-state NOx emissions on the basis of stationary engine data. However, this method might be unsuitable for internal ECU plausibility checks and ECU test conditions based on dynamic engine operations. Examples of proven methods for modeling the engine behavior in HIL system applications are so-called mean value engine models (MVEMs) and crank-angle-synchronous (in-cylinder) models. Of these two, only the in-cylinder model replicates the engine’s inner combustion process at each time step and can therefore be used for chemical-based emission simulation, because the formation of the relevant gas species is caused by the inner combustion states.