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This article presents state-of-the art of modern hardware-in-the-loop systems for testing electronic chassis control systems in trucks and in truck/trailer combinations. In the last few years, hardware-in-the-loop has proven to be a time and cost-saving testing method for passenger cars, ideally complementing real driving tests. Due to the increasing functionality and complexity of chassis control systems in trucks, HIL will certainly prove to be a key technology for testing control systems of trucks.

Modern vehicles use Electronic Control Units (ECU), connected via Controller Area Network (CAN) to perform functions. Many of these functions are distributed across several ECUs. This network interconnection enables the sharing of sensors, calculated information and actuators. As new functionality is added, the number of ECUs and their complexity increase. This paper describes the values and possibilities of a Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) based Integration Lab, which enables a wide range of automatic tests to be performed on networked ECUs. The Integration Lab is the complex rebuild of a Scania truck/bus, containing the ECU superset, for connecting and testing networked ECUs. It involves more than 30 ECUs and eleven CAN networks.

Stricter environmental regulation of used oils and fluids requires that extensive testing be done before recycling or disposal. Heavy metals, chlorinated solvents and PCBs are the primary analytes of concern. A variety of analytical methods exist, ranging from complicated laboratory analyses such as gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy to simpler field methods that provide fast, qualitative results. Depending on the type of fluid being tested and the method of disposal or recycling for the fluid in question, the cost of testing can run from five dollars per sample to several thousand dollars per sample. Knowledge of available testing techniques can significantly lower the cost of complying with these complicated regulations. Waste lubricating oil is a valuable resource that can return much of its value when re-refined for reuse or when burned for energy recovery.

Cereal grains are subjected to physical forces produced by agricultural machinery during and after harvest. The resulting physical damages have biological consequences such as reduced germination and yield. Damages may be minimized by adjusting equipment to take into account the physical resistance of grain to mechanical and dynamic loading. This paper describes methods for evaluating grain-to-ear binding force and grain physical resistance and presents the results for barley, rye, spring wheat and winter wheat varieties. Results of research on relationships between physical forces and biological effects on varieties of spring wheat and winter wheat are also presented and discussed.

Performance requirements of service brakes for large off-highway haulage trucks have recently been questioned, particularly for downgrade hauls as experienced in many Western mining operations. Underwood McLellan & Associates Limited, Consulting Engineers, has been engaged in a program of testing and evaluating the performance of several types and sizes of brakes which are commercially available to the industry. Unique procedures were developed to acquire performance data at high levels of energy input to the brakes of trucks having GVW's in the order of 350,000 to 550,000 pounds. This paper describes the background and development of the test program and procedures, the testing details, the method of data evaluation, and a summary of performance characteristics as deduced from the test data analysis.

In this paper compatibility studies of biofuel candidates and similar liquids with the elastomeric materials nitrile butadiene rubber and fluoroelastomer are presented. The results gained with defined reference elastomers are compared to results gained with the materials used in the technical application. For this purpose test specimens are prepared from fuel hoses and the material used for shaft seals of fuel pumps. The experimental results are subsequently used to evaluate prediction approaches based on the HSP- and QSPR-method. Finally a comparison of these two approaches is given.

The TMC/SAE Type I and Type II tests were developed jointly toy the SAE and the American Trucking Associations' Maintenance Council (TMC) with sponsorship from the Voluntary Truck and Bus Fuel Economy Program. The tests allow truck and bus operators and others to evaluate products and designs for fuel economy using a drive cycle of their own choosing. To encourage the use of this procedure and provide unbiased information to the industry, the Voluntary Program has begun a series of “New Energy Concepts Tests” to evaluate products and ideas.

Modern heavy vehicles may be equipped with an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) designed to increase highway safety. Depending on the vehicle or manufacturer, these systems may detect objects in a driver’s blind spot, provide an alert when the ADAS determines that the vehicle is leaving its lane of travel without the use of a turn signal, or notify the driver when certain road signs are detected. ADASs also include adaptive cruise control, which adjusts the vehicle’s set cruise speed to maintain a safe following distance when a slower vehicle is detected ahead of the truck. In addition, the ADAS may have a Collision Mitigation System (CMS) component that is designed to help drivers respond to roadway situations and reduce the severity of crashes. CMSs typically use radar or a combination of radar and optical technologies to detect objects such as vehicles or pedestrians in the vehicle’s path.

Designers of mobile and off-highway equipment are developing more efficient systems to meet the demands of increased competition. Improving designs often includes a review of the hydraulic system, as engineers seek more efficient means of transmitting power. Increasingly, the focus is on reducing the size of hydraulic components or concentrating power in smaller package sizes. This can be accomplished by using higher operating pressures. To meet this challenge, developers of new off-highway hydraulic components must be able to test under those more demanding high pressure conditions. Fortunately, there are now more test-stand components available to support these manufacturers, as they design and qualify their products for higher operating pressures. Component testing is currently being conducted at pressures as high as 15 000 psi (1040 bar).

The selective catalytic reduction SCR is extensively used for NOx reduction of recent HD-vehicles. There are some manufacturers and some applications of SCR as retrofit systems (mostly for the low emission zones LEZ and in combination with a DPF). In charge of Swiss authorities AFHB investigated several SCR-systems, or (DPF+SCR)-systems on HD-vehicles and proposed a simplified quality test procedure of those systems. This procedure can especially be useful for the admission of retrofit systems but it can also be helpful for the quality check of OEM-systems. The project name was TeVeNOx - Testing of Vehicles with NOx reduction systems. In the present paper the test procedures will be described and some specific results will be discussed.

SAE J987, Crane Structures - Method of Test, has made several contributions to stress analysis by distinguishing between different kinds of stress areas, standardizing the conditions of test, prescribing acceptable stress levels for duty cycles expected, and standardizing the recording of data. This paper discusses the testing of a 65 ton truck crane frame in accordance with the test procedure, including placement and number of gages, endurance life, and analysis of data.

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.

An experimental investigation of the performance of a mixture preparation system used with spark ignition internal combustion engines is presented. The proposed carburetor works on the principle of adiabatic vaporization of liquid gasoline fuel before it is led to engine cylinders by means of passing atmospheric air, induced by engine suction, through fuel. The study aims at the determination of parameters that affect the performance of this system. It is demonstrated through the results that this carburetor is a better device for mixture preparation in spark ignition engines having numerous advantages over conventional carburetors most notably fuel economy.

The GT601 Gas Turbine Engine has been specifically designed as a powerplant for heavy duty trucks. Development testing of this engine installed in an R-795S Model Mack chassis is presently in process. One of the major objectives of this program is the integration of the engine and the vehicle as a system, taking advantage of the unique characteristics of the turbine to optimize overall vehicle cost and performance without adversely affecting driveability by personnel trained to operate conventional diesel-powered trucks.

A full-scale vehicle testing program which emphasizes experimental determination of the rollover stability of double-bottom tanker configurations is discussed. The testing program is presented in the context of the total research program which included yaw plane and roll plane analytical studies. The baseline Michigan double-bottom tanker is found to have exceptionally low rollover stability in emergency evasive maneuvers. Vehicle modifications are described which improve stability by a factor of two. Test vehicle loading, anti-rollover outriggers, instrumentation, and modification hardware are discussed specifically. Results of dynamic handling tests and low-speed maneuverability tests are presented. Conclusions regarding the stability of individual vehicle configurations as well as overall fleet safety are reached.

This paper discusses the Formula SAE Student Engineering Design Competition that was held May 26-28, 1983. As was the case of previous student engineering design competitions, the purpose of the Formula SAE Competition is to enhance engineering education by requiring students to apply the technical knowledge gained in their coursework to a practical engineering design problem including choice of appropriate design criteria, design, fabrication, testing, and evaluation. For the Formula SAE Competition, the design problem chosen is to design, construct, and compete a low powered Formula type race car. The purpose of this paper is to describe the 1983 Formula SAE Competition and to present the results of this event. It is expected that this paper will serve as a guide to hosts of similar competitions and will aid future Formula SAE competitors.

This paper discusses the Formula SAE Student Engineering Design Competition that was held May 24-26, 1984. As was the case of previous student engineering design competitions, the purpose of the Formula SAE Competition is to enhance engineering education by requiring students to apply the technical knowledge gained in their coursework to a practical engineering design problem including choice of appropriate design criteria, design, fabrication, testing, and evaluation. For the Formula SAE Competition, the design problem chosen is to design, construct, and compete a low powered Formula type race car. The purpose of this paper is to describe the 1984 Formula SAE Competition and to present the results of this event. It is expected that this paper will serve as a guide to hosts of similar competitions and will aid future Formula SAE competitors.

This paper discusses the 1984 SAE Mini-Baja East Student Engineering Design Competition that was held in Morgantown, West Virginia on May 11 and 12, 1984. The competition consisted of 45 teams of engineering students from the Eastern United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Each team designs and builds an all-terrain vehicle based on rules and regulations issued by the host college or university. The two days of events included: design of safety judging, acceleration, speed and braking runs, power pull, land and water maneuverability, hill climb and the endurance run. The team with the highest accumulated point total wins the competition.

Many features of the 1986 Formula SAE competition are covered in this paper. Topics include structure of the competition itself, discussion of several important car design options, descriptions of the cars that entered, and results. The competition, held at Lawrence Institute of Technology, in Southfield, Michigan, drew twenty entries designed and built by engineering students from across the United States and Canada. The competition includes 3 static events and 5 dynamic events run on paved courses. This year's overall winner was from the University of Texas at Arlington.