Search Results

Vibrations constitute a pivotal factor affecting passenger comfort and overall vehicle performance in both Conventional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles and Electric Vehicles (EVs). These vibrations emanate from various sources, including vehicle design and construction, road conditions, and driving patterns, thereby leading to passenger discomfort and fatigue. In the pursuit of mitigating these issues, natural fibers, known for their exceptional damping properties, have emerged as innovative materials for integration into the automotive industry. Notably, these natural fiber-based materials offer a cost-effective alternative to traditional materials for vibration reduction. This research focuses on evaluating natural fibers mainly hemp, jute and cotton fibers for their damping characteristics when applied to a steel plate commonly used in the automotive sector.

Vibration control plays a critical role in conventional as well as next-generation vehicles. Construction of the vehicle, road conditions, and driving patterns are the major sources of the vibrations that cause discomfort to the passengers in the vehicle. Composite material is being looked at as an alternative material in the automotive sector due to its higher specific strength and good damping properties. In this research, the test specimen of steel plate used in automotive has been considered. The damping vibration test has been carried out on the test specimen by using the FFT analyzer to evaluate the natural frequency and damping. Thereafter, the hybrid composite material is developed with the natural fibers as reinforcement with steel plate to reduce the vibrations. The test specimens with different layers of damping materials have been prepared for this research. Jute, hemp, banana, and flax are used for the preparation of different composite materials.

Major cause of air pollution in the world is due to burning of fossil fuels for transport application; around 23% GHG emissions are produced due to transport sector. Likewise, the major cause of air pollution in Indian cities is also due to transport sector. Marginal improvement in the fuel economy provide profound impact on surrounding air quality and lightweighting of vehicle mass is the key factor in improving fuel economy. The paper describes robust and integrated approach used for design and development of lightweight bus structures for Indian city bus applications. An attempt is made to demonstrate the use of environment friendly material like aluminium in development of lightweight superstrutured city buses for India. Exercise involved design, development and prototype manufacturing of 12m Low Entry and 12m Semi Low Floor (SLF) bus models.

In-cab booming noise is low frequency (20 Hz∼300 Hz) phenomenon excites the cabin structure, which occurs mainly due to excitations from the powertrain, exhaust system, road input, etc. Annoyance due to booming noise affects the In-cab sound quality, which results in passenger discomfort. A diesel passenger car observed booming noise issue when operated at stationary as well as dynamic run-up conditions. In order to increase passenger comfort, experimental root cause analysis conducted on the vehicle to investigate the dominant sources for the cavity boom. Exhaust hanger and one of the engine mount identified as major reason for the booming noise in the cabin. A detailed study was carried out on dynamic property optimization of rubber hanger and possibility to relocate the hanger to improve the vibration transmissibility. Operational measurements conducted on vehicle by attaching finalized exhaust mount to confirm the significant booming noise reduction in the cabin.

The increasing in popularity of Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) segment is an emerging trend in the commercial vehicle industry. LCVs are very efficient and cost-effective for transportation of materials and good on short distances or loads of lesser weights. Sensing the market potential, many auto companies have developed LCVs recently. Since LCV segment is price sensitive, low cost single cylinder water cooled diesel engine being used as prime mover. High noise & vibration is inherent feature of diesel engine & it is predominant in single cylinder diesel engine. In order to retain low cost of product, less attention is given on overall noise of vehicle. Also, it is challenging to meet the regulatory limits of Pass-by Noise (PBN) for this category of vehicle. This paper is a development work done for pass-by noise reduction of a diesel powered single cylinder LCV vehicle. A prototype vehicle needs to meet the legislative pass-by noise requirement when tested as per IS0 362 / IS 3028.

Urbanisation has led to an increased need for mobility in public transportation. Sensing the unfolding worrisome scenario, many countries have taken up different mass rapid transit solutions to alleviate the problem and restore the free flowing traffic. BRT should have been the logical choice particularly considering the lower capital costs involved and faster implementation. Comprehensibly the expectations of this class of vehicles will be high in term of quality and comfort to the passengers. Level of vibration and noise is an important indicator to evaluate vehicle's ride comfort. The challenges are to design the high powered Powertrain and Air Conditioning system nonetheless low interior noise, vibration and harshness correspondents to personal cars. This paper is an invention of, development work done in interior noise refinement of a bus. A prototype bus manufactured to meet all the requirement of BRT - premium segment urban bus.