Automotive Science and Engineering
Volume:1 Issue: 1, Winter 2011

In this article, rubber bumpers of Double - Wishbone suspension system have been modeled and analyzed. The objective of the present work is to predict the performance of these products during deformation, represent an optimum method to design, obtain stiffness characteristic curves and utilize the results in the automotive suspension dynamic analysis. These parts are nonlinear and exhibit large deformation under loading. They have an important role to limit the motion of wheels and absorb energy. In this study, nonlinear FE model using ABAQUS software was used to obtain the bumper load - displacement curve. Then a laboratory test was done on the bumper to get this curve. The comparison between numerical and experimental results shows a good adaptation. A less than 2 percent difference has been observed between them. Thus, we can use this numerical method to simulate bumpers easily and accurately.

Increase of environmental pollution and restricted emission legislations have forced companies to produce automobiles with lower air pollutants. In this respect, discharge of blowby gases into the environment has been prohibited and their recirculation into the combustion chamber is proposed as an alternative solution. In addition, using EGR technique to control and reduce nitrogen oxides in internal combustion engines has been quite effective. An important common feature of these two methods is the fact that improper EGR/blowby distribution leads to the increase in other pollutants and the significant engine power reduction. Therefore, the study of important factors in maldistribution of the injected gases is of great practical importance. Besides the injection position that has significant role on distribution of injected gases, it seems that other parameters such as engine speed, injection velocity and angle may affect the distribution of injected gases. In this numerical study, a new technique is used to determine the effect of these parameters on distribution of injected EGR or blowby gases into the EF7 intake manifold. Numerical calculations are performed for three injection velocities, five injection angles and three different engine speeds. It was found that recirculated gases distribution is slightly influenced by the injection angle and injection velocity, while the engine speed is the most influential factor.

This paper presents the prediction of vehicle's velocity time series using neural networks. For this purpose, driving data is firstly collected in real world traffic conditions in the city of Tehran using advance vehicle location devices installed on private cars. A multi-layer perceptron network is then designed for driving time series forecasting. In addition, the results of this study are compared with the auto regressive (AR) method. The least root mean square error (RMSE) and median absolute percentage error (MDAPE) are utilized as two criteria for evaluation of predictions accuracy. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach for prediction of driving data time series.

Conventional compression ignition (CI) engines are known for their high thermal efficiency compared to spark ignited (SI) engines. Gasoline because of its higher ignition delay has much lower soot emission in comparison with diesel fuel. Using double injection strategy reduces the maximum heat release rate that leads to NOx emission reduction. In this paper, a numerical study of a gasoline fuelled heavy duty Caterpillar 3401 engine was conducted via three dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) procedures and compared with experimental data. The model results show a good agreement with experimental data. To have a better design the effect of injection characteristics such as, the main SOI timing, injection duration and nozzle hole size investigated on combustion and emissions and an optimized point find. The results suggest an optimization in injection characteristics for simultaneous reduction of NOx and soot emissions with negligible change in IMEP.

In this paper, Front Engine Accessory Drive (FEAD) system of automotive engine is modeled with ADAMS software. The model is validated using engine test data. It is then used to investigate the effect of design parameters on the system performance such as belt vibration and loads on the idlers. Three alternative layouts were developed in order to improve the performance of original EEAD system. The validated model was used to study the effect of changes made to the layouts on the reduction of vibration and loads. Several system outputs indicated that for the modified layouts, large reductions in vibration and loads were achieved. It was concluded that one of proposed layouts was more appropriate and could be a useful substitution to the original layout. The developed model also proved useful for the design of engine FEAD systems and could be used for further developments.

Turbocharging an engine boosts its power by increasing the amount of input air. This task is accomplished by using the exhaust gas to power a turbine which is engaged with a compressor. The Variable Geometry Turbocharger, VGT is a unique turbocharger that the diffuser vane angle can be changed over a wide range of positions. The mathematics of turbomachinery flow analysis is intensive and uses iterative methods. Most of the flow analyses in the area of turbochargers are either experimental or numerical. Three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), two-dimensional multiple streamline and one dimensional mean line is the three primary numerically available methods. In this paper a mean line method has been used for predicting the performance of a centrifugal compressor with variable diffuser vane angle position at subcritical Mach numbers. The calculation is based on common thermodynamic and aerodynamic principles, and empirical correlations for losses in a mean line analyses. The model calculates the velocities, pressures, temperatures, pressure losses, work consumption, and efficiencies for a specified set of turbocharger geometry, atmospheric conditions, rotational speed, and fluid mass flow rate. The obtained numerical results are validated with the in house measured experimental data and good agreement observed. The purpose for compressor model analysis is to generate overall characteristic map and identify the impact of the diffuser vane angles on the performance. The overall characteristic map is generated by this method demonstrate very good agreement and the effect of variable vane angle in pressure ratio and operating range observed.

Improvement in braking performance and vehicle stability can be achieved through the use of braking systems whose brake force distribution is variable. Electronic braking force distribution has an important and serious role in the vehicle stopping distance and stability. In this paper a new approach will be presented to achieve the braking force distribution strategy for articulated vehicles. For this purpose, the mathematical optimization process has been implemented. This strategy, defined as an innovative braking force distribution strategy, is based on the wheel slips. The simulation results illustrate proposed strategy can significantly improve the vehicle stability in curved braking for different levels of vehicle deceleration