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This paper describes a prediction of vibration and the transfer path analysis (TPA) using an engine multi body dynamics (MBD) model and measured frequency response functions (FRFs). TPA is used in order to analyze each contribution of vibration transfer paths. In the TPA, input forces from vibration source to passive part should be identified accurately. In the traditional TPA, an identification of input forces is done using only experimental results. Therefore, a parametric study to an improvement of a structure or an isolation system is impossible. In this study, the MBD model of engine is constructed, and input forces from engine to mainframe of agriculture machine are predicted. The accuracy of prediction is confirmed, compared with the results from the traditional TPA method. The contribution of each transfer path is analyzed, and the vibration levels of operator position are predicted using the measured FRFs and the simulated input forces.

Rechargeable lithium batteries are essentially ubiquitous in our daily lives and in virtually every industry from pocket key fobs to billion dollar space programs, in benign as well as extreme environments. Cell production in 2012 was estimated at 4.4 billion cells and expected to double by 2016. However within civil aviation, lithium batteries are still in the early stages of deployment. The general consensus within the industry is that the use of lithium batteries within civil aviation will increase substantially in the coming years. This paper focuses on design considerations with respect to deployment of rechargeable, or secondary, lithium batteries within civil aviation.

This article attempts to provide a big picture of systems engineering in both philosophy and engineering perspectives, discusses current status and issues, trends of systems engineering development, future directions and challenges, followed by certain examples.

Two compact intercoolers are designed for the Rotax 914 aircraft engine to increase engine power and avoid engine knock. A study is performed to investigate the effects of unsteady airflow on intercooler performance. Both intercoolers use air-to-liquid cross flow heat exchangers with staggered fins. The intercoolers are first tested by connecting the four air outlets of the intercooler to a common restricted exit creating a constant back pressure which allows for steady airflow. The intercoolers are then tested by connecting the four air outlets to a 2.4 liter, 4 cylinder engine head and varying the engine speed from 6000 to 1200 RPM corresponding to decreasing flow steadiness. The test is performed under average flight conditions with air entering the intercooler at 180°F and about 5 psig. Results from the experiment indicate that airflow unsteadiness has a significant effect on the intercooler's performance.

The scaling laws of fans express basic relationships among the variables of fan static pressure head, volume flow rate, air density, rotational speed, fan diameter, and power. These relationships make it possible to compare the performance of geometrically similar fans in dissimilar conditions. The fan laws were derived from dimensionless analysis of the equations for volumetric flow rate, static pressure head, and power as a function of fan diameter, air density and rotational speed. The purpose of this study is to characterize a fan's performance characteristics at various rotational speeds and ambient pressures. The experimental results are compared to the fan scaling laws.

Today, the design and optimization of complex 3D composites structures is managed by taking into account engineering and manufacturing constraints. If the manufacturing process is automated, especially using a robot, these constraints are particularly complex and a difficult compromise needs to be reached. Most of the technology available on the market, dedicated to automated processes offline programming, neglects some of these constraints, or can only highlight the manufacturing defects without any automatic or manual tools to solve the tape course programming issues. A new innovative approach has been developed to include engineering, material and process specifications, to help designers and NC programmers to optimize the final layup program in terms of structural properties and productivity rate. An aerospace case study using the automated fiber placement (AFP) process will be presented to highlights these offline programming capabilities.

Electroimpact has developed a second generation of mobile robots with several improvements over the first generation. The frame has been revised from a welded steel tube to a welded steel plate structure, making the dynamic response of the structure stiffer and reducing load deflections while maintaining the same weight. The deflections of the frame have been optimized to simplify position compensation. The caster mechanism is very compact, offers greater mounting flexibility, and improved maneuverability. The mechanism uses a pneumatic airbag for both lifting and suspension. The robot sled has been improved to offer greater rigidity for the same weight, and dual secondary feedback scales on the vertical axis further improve the rigidity of the overall system. Maintenance access has been improved by rerouting the cable and hose trays, and lowering the electrical cabinet.

The following is a unique case study expounding on automatic fastening technology designed and engineered to ramp up a Tier 2 supplier that had no experience with automatic fastening, to efficiently produce a large volume of fuselage panel assemblies with demanding process requirements in a very short amount of time. The automation technology integrated for the skin to stringer & skin to window frame fastening were two GEMCOR G12 five-axis CNC All-Electric fastening systems coupled with a Cenit offline part programming system. This joint solution served as a launch vehicle for Center Industries to efficiently supply the full rate of fuselage panel assemblies for a large volume commercial aircraft program without having any automatic riveting experience.

Within the Russian aviation industry the necessary level of reliability risks related to the failures of aircraft mechanical parts and systems vital to the safety of flight is assured via the system of activities aimed at influencing the parameters of critical parts (CP). The goal of the system is to provide a relationship between activities aimed at prevention of dangerous failures at all phases of airplane life cycle. The system operation is regulated by the normative documents and by controlling their observance. Normative documents containing requirements and recommendations were developed about 15 years ago based on the industry experience and traditions and taking into account the requirements of AS9100 series of international standards [2] wherever possible. The documents were developed taking into account typical safety management errors outlined in [1].

Fuel properties impact the engine-out emission directly. For some geographic regions where diesel engines can meet emission regulations without aftertreatment, the change of fuel properties will lead to final tailpipe emission variation. Aftertreatment systems such as Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) are required for diesel engines to meet stringent regulations. These regulations include off-road Tier 4 Final emission regulations in the USA or the corresponding Stage IV emission regulations in Europe. As an engine with an aftertreatment system, the change of fuel properties will also affect the system conversion efficiency and regeneration cycle. Previous research works focus on prediction of engine-out emission, and many are based on chemical reactions. Due to the complex mixing, pyrolysis and reaction process in heterogeneous combustion, it is not cost-effective to find a general model to predict emission shifting due to fuel variation.

For city buses, especially hybrid electric buses, the requirements for the fuel economy and low noises are stricter, comparing with the momentum quality. Since hybrid electric buses sometimes run without the engine, the noises that the transmission makes become the major type. To get better fuel economy and lower noises, this paper focuses on optimizing the characteristics of the automatic mechanical transmission (AMT) in a hybrid electric city bus, and the studies are done as follows. Firstly, in order to reduce the fuel consumption, the transmission ratios are optimized by the co-simulation and optimization in CRUISE and MATLAB, with the limitation of the quality of driving momentum. Secondly, for the purpose of lightweight and lower transmission noise, multi-objective optimization based on reliability is applied in transmission geometric optimization design, the objective function are the smallest volume and the biggest transmission gear contact ratio of the transmission.

The paper gives a short description of the University's developments in the field of hybrid electric powertrains and vehicles as well as a survey of theoretical instruments utilized in these works for elaboration of powertrains control strategies. At the present, two units fitted with hybrid powertrains are in operation. These are the four-wheel-drive SUV and the powertrain test rig. Both allow to test different powertrain configurations. Prior to implementing a certain configuration in the rig, a theoretical research of powertrain is conducted to reveal its properties and find a way to control it optimally. The basic tool adopted for that purpose is R.Bellman's dynamic programming (DP). The paper gives an example of applying DP to explore a potential of decreasing fuel consumption and pollutant emissions of a light commercial vehicle by converting its powertrain into hybrid one. During this study, a contradiction has emerged between minimizing fuel consumption and emissions of NOx.

This paper presents a torque distribution algorithm to improve the energy efficiency of four-wheel-drive (4WD) electric vehicles with PMSM hub motors. In order to optimize the torque distribution method, at first the motor model considering the affect of iron loss and the loss model of multi-motors drive system of 4WD electric vehicle with PMSM hub motors, which operate at straight-line condition, are established. Besides, realize the online identification of motor parameters based on the MARS, which is important for updating the loss model parameters of the motor drive system. By doing this, the ideal torque distribution ratio can be obtained from the loss model in real-time. The simulation result using different distribution algorithms shows that the optimized torque distribution algorithm based on the loss model can be useful for improving the energy efficiency.

A full calibration exercise of a diesel engine air path can take months to complete (depending on the number of variables). Model-based calibration approach can speed up the calibration process significantly. This paper discusses the overall calibration process of the air-path of the Cat® C7.1 engine using statistical machine learning tool. The standard Cat® C7.1 engine's twin-stage turbocharger was replaced by a VTG (Variable Turbine Geometry) as part of an evaluation of a novel air system. The changes made to the air-path system required a recalculation of the air path's boost set point and desired EGR set point maps. Statistical learning processes provided a firm basis to model and optimize the air path set point maps and allowed a healthy balance to be struck between the resources required for the exercise and the resulting data quality.

Hydraulic excavators perform numerous tasks in the construction and mining industry. Although ground grading is a common task, proper grading cannot easily be achieved. Grading requires an experienced operator to control the boom, arm, and bucket cylinders in a rapid and coordinated manner. Due to this reason, automated grade control is being considered as an effective alternative to conventional human-operated ground grading. In this paper, a path-planning method based on a 2D kinematic model and inverse kinematics is used to determine the desired trajectory of an excavator's boom, arm, and bucket cylinders. Then, the developed path planning method and PI control algorithms for the three cylinders are verified by a simple excavator model developed in Simulink®. The simulation results show that the automated grade control algorithm can grade level or with reduced operation time and error.

The paper presents the findings of the investigation of initiation conditions for parametric resonances in the nonlinear system “Engine unit - Torque Converter - Planetary Transmission Elements (Drum and Lined Plate)”. The mentioned oscillations and resonances form dynamic loading of powertrain lined plates. In terms of the research results the paper validates the ways of tuning parametric oscillations. These ways provide for the increasing of durability of multiplate clutches plates of vehicle powertrain. The evaluation of dynamic stability was performed on the basis of the analysis of Mathieu equation and Ince-Strutt diagram. The restriction of modulation depth parameter is proposed by filtering of high-frequency disturbances which are generated in the nonlinear system by different oscillation sources (power unit - internal combustion engine (ICE) or electric motor (EM), hydrodynamic processes in the hydraulic transformer - torque converter or hydraulic coupling, oil supply pump).

The economics of operating internal combustion engines in cars, buses and other automotive equipment is heavily affected by friction and wear losses caused by abrasive contaminants. As such, dust is a universal pollutant of lubricating oils. Road dust consists of depositions from vehicular and industrial exhausts, tire and brake wear, dust from paved roads or potholes, and from construction sites. Present research investigates the influence of dust powder of size 5 μm-100 μm as contaminant in SAE 20W-40 lubricant on the relative motion of a plane surface over the other having circular surface in contact. A pin-on-disk setup as per ASTM G99 has been used to conduct the experiments, firstly at increasing rpm keeping constant load of 118 N, and secondly by increasing loads, keeping rpm constant at 1000. The contaminated lubricant has been used to study its influence on friction and wear rate at the interface of pin of 12 mm diameter and disk at track diameter of 98 mm.

Phosphorous is an important alloying element in powder metallurgy applications. It is used in Powder metal parts for effective Sintering, dimensional stability, improved machinability, corrosion resistance etc. However it does have some negative effects on properties of Powder metal parts. The purpose of the paper is to study the effect of phosphorous on Powder metal gear of Mix A and Mix B having identical composition differing only in phosphorous content. The samples were detailed on each stage, viz. sintering & Heat treatment. In addition two defective samples were studied to observe the extent to which phosphorous may deteriorate the Powder metal Gear.

This paper involves increase in engine power by increasing bore size and stroke length along with other required engine level design modifications. Main focus is on addressing the cooling related issues by optimizing the cooling jacket design and water pump flow parameters. Engine cooling requirements need to be upgraded to address increase in thermal loads because of reduction in cooling area between cylinder block and cylinder liner due to increase in bore size keeping engine block size fixed. Methodology used is cooling jacket optimization and water pump design modifications. In internal combustion engines, cooling system involves a complex geometry of water jackets. For such complex systems, CFD simulations can be executed in a short period of time and are relatively inexpensive. CFD provides the ability to theoretically simulate any physical condition.

In order to satisfy China IV emissions regulations, a unique design concept was proposed with injector closely coupled with Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system outer body. The benefit of this design is significant in cost reduction and installation convenience. One paper was published to describe the vertical inlet layout [1]; this work is the second part describing applications of this concept to horizontal inlet configurations. For horizontal inlet pipe, two mixing pipe designs were proposed to avoid urea deposit and meet EU IV emission regulations. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique was used to evaluate two design concepts; experiments were performed to validate both designs. CFD computations and experiments give the same direction on ranking of the two decomposition tubes. With the straight decomposition pipe design and unique perforated baffle design, no urea deposits were found; in addition, the emission level satisfied EU IV regulations.