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Electronic throttle body (ETB) is commonly employed in an intake manifold of a spark ignition engine to vary the airflow quantity by adjusting the throttle valve in it. The actual position of the throttle valve is measured by means of a dual throttle position sensor (TPS) and the signal is feedback into the control unit for accomplishing the closed loop control in order handle the nonlinearities due to friction, limp-home position, aging, parameter variations. This work aims presents a neural networks based novel virtual sensor for the estimation of throttle valve position in the electronic throttle body. Proposed neural network model estimates the actual throttle position using three inputs such as reference throttle angle, angular error and the motor current. In the present work, the dynamic model of the electronic throttle body is used to calculate the current consumed by the motor for corresponding throttle valve movement.

Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) are becoming an essential part of the modern commercial automobile industry. Vehicle handling and stability are determined by the yaw rate and body slip of the vehicle. This paper is a comparative study of a nonlinear vehicle stability control algorithms for steering control based on two different controllers i.e. fuzzy logic based controller and PID controller. A full vehicle 14DOF model was made in Simulink to simulate an actual vehicle. The control algorithms are based on a two-track 7-DOF model with a non-linear tire model based on Pacejka “Magic tire formula”, which was used to establish the desired response of a full vehicle 14DOF model. It was found that the fuzzy logic-based control algorithm demonstrated an overall superior performance characteristic than a PID based control algorithm; this includes a significant decrease in time lag and overshoot.

The automobile industry is making huge strides to improve vehicle and occupant safety. A lot of safety improvements and modifications have been made in the past decade. But the side impact is still overlooked as not much has been improved for side safety despite most of the accidents and collisions happen to the side of a vehicle. Door intrusion barriers are the primary protection feature along with A, B and C pillars. Crashworthiness mainly depends on the position, cross-section and material of the intrusion barrier. So, our work mainly focuses on finding the optimum position, choosing the correct cross-section and finding the right material for the intrusion barrier. The objective of this project is to minimize the damage to the side of the vehicle by increasing its crashworthiness thereby reducing passenger injuries.

A Formula student team aims to develop and improve their designs every year, as far as the powertrain aspect is considered performance output and enhancement is the primary aim, and for engine to perform better, the health of the engine is the most important parameter; hence the lubrication system of the vehicles powertrain should be improved to get the most out of the engine. The primary challenge for the development of a new lubrication system was the inability to replicate the performance given by stock wet sump with the self-designed custom dry sump. However, the advantages can outnumber the cons of implementing a custom dry sump lubrication system. The work brought together in this paper highlights the meticulous design procedure for implementing a custom made dry sump system onto a 4-cylinder in-line Honda CBR600RR engine.

Electronic throttle control is extensively preferred to vary the air intake in the engine manifold for regulating the torque in order to obtain the better vehicle response, high performance in terms of improving the fuel economy and trim down the emissions of the spark ignition engines. For such type of the engine control systems the throttle angle is estimation is accomplished either by pedal follower or torque based method. This work aims to develop a throttle opening angle estimation strategy in a closed loop manner using fuzzy logic approach by considering real time internal system and driver torque demands for controlling the SI engine. In present work the torque demand from internal system such as catalyst heating, cold start assist and battery voltage compensation is estimated using fuzzy logic strategy. Such intelligent system aims to replace the lookup tables associated with those systems and reduces the calibration effort.

Steering upright is that part of suspension system which contains the wheel hub, and attaches to the suspension components. It is the pivot point of the steering and suspension system, which allows the front wheels to turn & more. Considering it for double wishbone suspension geometry lightweight and low fuel consumption are fundamental demands for a vehicle, especially for a racecar. This paper focuses on design optimization of steering upright (steering knuckle) targeting weight reduction with required strength and stiffness. Optimized design of upright is mandatory with appropriate material selection as well as valid finite element analysis. Optimization was performed considering static analysis of stress, strain and total deformation along with the suitable material selection. Material selection was performed by considering various parameters. In the present work, the design process is accomplished by Solidworks and analysis was performed using Ansys software.

Intake manifold is one of the principal components of the engine system in the vehicle. The air intake manifold is the passage for air into the engine and thus affects the amount of air quantity. The objective of the present work is to design and development of a strong, reliable and light weight intake manifold for a multi cylinder spark ignition engine. The developed manifold will improve the airflow intake and provide equal mass flow rate in all runners to create better performance. In the present work, combinations of 1-D modeling using Ricardo Wave and CFD simulations on Star CCM+ were employed to substantiate the modeling. The designed manifold is ensured to have a throat velocity of the restrictor close of Mach 1and the plenum was simulated to have a zero velocity creating maximum pressure close to atmospheric pressure. The necessary structural strength to the intake manifold was ensured by performing FEA simulations using ANSYS software.

In Formula Student, the vehicle working parameters are quite disparate from that of a commercially designed vehicle. The inability of teams to incorporate the atypical running conditions in their design causes multiple unforeseen issues. One such condition where the teams fail to improvise upon is the cooling system. Due to the high performance requirement of the competition, multiple teams participating face recurring heating problems. Maximum efficiency from a combustion vehicle can only be achieved when the cooling system is designed to handle the increasing power demand. This paper brings forth a detailed study on the intricate design of the cooling system. The problem has been approached using both theoretical and simulation models. Firstly, NTU-ℇ method was used to calculate the overall heat transfer coefficient and the temperature drop through the radiator core.

The present research deals with study of pongamia oil methyl ester as a lubricant by blending with anti-wear additive ZDDP. The experimental work carried in this work aims to investigates the friction and wear characteristics by blending zinc diakyldithio phosphates (ZDDP) with pongamia oil methyl ester as lubricant under various loading conditions and temperatures. The coefficient of friction and wear scar depth were determined using pongamia biodiesel blended with 0.3%, 0.6% and 1 % ZDDP by concentration through high frequency reciprocating wear testing machine for 2 h duration. The reciprocating wear tests were performed on an engine liner-piston ring contact under the loads of 40 N, 60 N and 80 N for 2 h duration at temperatures of 100°C, 125°C 150° C with 10 Hz oscillation frequency. The addition of ZDDP with pongamia biodiesel showed marginal reduction in friction coefficient and wear scar depth under all loads and temperatures.

The main objective of the study is to design and analyze casing and supports of a transmission system for an electric vehicle. The system comprises of motors as the power source, constant mesh gear box coupled with limited slip differential as the power transmitting source. The space occupied by the transmission system is a foremost constraint in designing the system. The wear and tear in the system is caused by the gear meshing process and transmission error which lead to failure of the transmission system. This internal excitation also produces a dynamic mesh force, which is transmitted to the casing and mounts through shafts and bearings. In order to overcome such issues in a transmission system, a gear box casing, differential mounts and motor mounts have been designed by the use of CAD-modeling software “SOLIDWORKS”. The designs were imported to FEA software “ANSYS” for carrying out static structural analysis.

Thermal management is one of the most challenging and innovative aspects of the automotive industry. The efficiency of the vehicle cooling framework unequivocally relies upon the air stream through the radiator core. Significant advances in thermal management are being embraced in the field of radiator material and coolant. The radiator shouldn't be exclusively credited for the reliable cooling of the engine. There are other auto parts that play an essential role in keeping engine temperature at a manageable level. The fan-shroud assembly is an important component of the cooling system. While the fan is responsible for drawing in air, the fan shroud's job is to ensure uniform air distribution to the radiator core. By assisting airflow in the engine compartment the fan shroud helps in dismissing excess heat from the engine. This assembly also prevents the recirculation of heated air through the cooling fan.

With the alarming increase in vehicular population, there is depletion of fossil fuel availability. Hence to overcome the difficulties, alternative fuels are tested and used in parts of the world. One of the difficulties with usage of alternate fuels is their high viscosity in comparison to fossil fuels. To overcome this, preheating of biofuel is a good option as it makes the fuel less viscous. In our research, we have used a helical coil heat exchanger to preheat the inlet fuel using the engine’s exhaust gas, making the system more sustainable since no external energy is used. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of preheating device a simulation study has been carried for the ethanol based biofuels. For simulation work, a set of boundary conditions has been arrived based on the experimental analysis. The results from the experiment such as velocity of air and fuel inlet were utilized as input for simulation work.

This paper describes the design methodology and algorithm development towards the design of an automatic external gear-shifting and clutch-actuation system for a sequential gearbox with the aim of providing the drivers with easier and an efficient means of shifting gears. Automatically actuated manual transmission system bridges the gap between automatic and manual transmissions which provides the advantages of both type of transmissions. This would ideally leads to faster shifting time and provide significant benefits in the form of electronic-aids like launch control and traction control. Removal of mechanical clutching would reduce fatigue and lead to ergonomic benefit. Based on the benchmarking performed on an easily available ready-to-install aftermarket alternative, options will be considered for the actuating mechanism and the most feasible will be used to develop a shifting system.

Alternative fuels for both spark ignition (SI) and compression ignition (CI) engines have become very important owing to increased environmental protection concern, the need to reduce dependency on petroleum and even socioeconomic aspects. An appropriate sustainable fuel alternative has turn out to be a main concern and bio-diesel is one of the sustainable fuels. The path of interest in biodiesel has highlighted its advantages which include decrease in hydrocarbon and particulate matter. Meanwhile its shortcoming includes higher emission of oxides of nitrogen. This work is an attempt to develop a mathematical relationship to predict thermal NOx in CI engine fuelled with neat biodiesel. Attention was focused on using in-cylinder pressure based variables to predict NOx. In cylinder pressure measurement is a valuable tool for the analysis of CI engine combustion, which is used for finding the heat release rate, ignition delay, etc.

This paper summarizes the research work incorporated in the exploration of the potential of swirling in CI Engine and designing of a new mechanism, particularly at inlet, to deliver it to improve the in-cylinder air characteristics to eventually improve mixing and combustion process to improve the engine performance. The research is concentrated on the measures to be done on engine geometry so as to not only deliver advantage to any specific fuel. According to the CI combustion theory, better engine performance may be achieved with Higher Viscous Fuel by improving the in-cylinder air-fuel mixing by increasing the swirl (rotation of air view from top of the cylinder) and tumble (rotation of air view from front of the cylinder) of in-cylinder air inside the fuel-injected region. The proposed inlet component is embedded with airfoil and is suitably designed after being iterated from four steps.

Material handling is a major section in all the industries especially for delicate and huge components. Here in this industry they are using pneumatics system to tilt the component for certain angle so that operator will be able to do the further operation in the line. Pneumatic system needs compressed air for running the system, which in turn requires electricity to compress the air using an air compressor. Due to frequent power shutdowns many industries are facing problem to run their manufacturing unit peacefully. As an alternate they are using generators which require fuel to generate power. This adds excess cost for manufacturing the products and demand for fuel is also increasing day by day. So to avoid all this problem with a one step solution, dependability of energy resources has to be minimized. For avoiding the usage of energy resources the usage of pneumatics and compressed air has to be reduced.

In present commercial vehicles, the cranking torque required for a heavy duty compression ignition engine is very high. This results in higher durability and reliability requirement of cranking system components and also makes it cumbersome to implement start-stop micro hybrid feature which requires more number of cranking cycles in lifetime. Hence higher capacity starter motor and battery is being used for implementing start-stop feature. However this would result in cost and packaging issues. In order to implement start-stop feature maintaining the same starter motor and battery capacity, the cranking energy demand of the engine needs to be reduced. Studies conducted shows that the major source of breakaway torque is the work done in compression stroke during a starting cycle.