Search Results

The stability factor is widely used for four-wheel vehicles as an index representing the turning performance of a vehicle. Stability factor for two-wheel vehicles has been proposed as an indicator of cornering performance from the same way of thinking. In line traceability evaluation as a sensory evaluation item of motorcycles, the expressions of understeer and oversteer are sometimes used, but the relation with stability factor for two-wheel vehicles has not been investigated. In this paper, a test in which the slip angle characteristics of the front and rear tires were varied using a riding simulator was conducted, and the correlation between the stability factor and the rider evaluation was investigated to derive an index showing the line traceability.

The detection range of an air-fuel ratio sensor is expanded in the rich A/F region. Using a simulation technique, the limiting cause of the detection range in the rich A/F region is identified as insufficient combustion rates of CO and H2 with O2 on the electrode, which prevent realization of a limited diffusion state which is necessary to detect the air-fuel ratio. Applying an improved diffusion layer to decrease the diffusion rates and an improved electrode to increase the combustion rates, it is demonstrated that the detection limit can be expanded to λ=0.6 while that of a conventional sensor is λ=0.8.

This paper describes the sensing principle of a new air-fuel ratio sensor, which has the ability to detect air-fuel ratios in rich, stoichiometric and lean ranges. The sensing part is composed of a gas diffusion layer and a zirconia solid electrolyte with a pair of electrodes which function as an anode and a cathode. The anode and the cathode electrodes are exposed to the atmosphere and the exhaust gas, respectively. To obtain the bidirectional pumping current between the two electrodes, the potential of the cathode is held to a constant value higher than the electronic circuit ground. The electromotive force induced between the two electrodes is forcibly controlled to a constant value by the electronic circuit. In this composition, three ranges of air-fuel ratio can be detected by the amount of pumping current.

This paper describes the design and operation of a thick-film zirconia air-fuel ratio sensor with a heater. This sensor is composed of two zirconia plate cells, a stoichiometric cell and a lean cell, laminated on the platinum heater. It is fabricated as one body using a thick-film process. The pair of cells has a gas diffusion chamber and a slit type gas diffusion aperture. The sensing principle is based on the rate-determining diffusion of oxygen molecules at the gas diffusion aperture. By using an oxygen pumping phenomenon, air-fuel ratios of the stoichiometric and lean regions can be detected. As this sensor is heated to a high constant temperature, it has sufficient accuracy without any additional temperature compensation. Its starting time is short and response time is very quick.

A hot-wire air flow sensor which can directly measure the intake air mass flow has been developed, and a microprocessor based engine control system using the sensor has been designed. The sensing probe of the sensor is formed from a small wire-wound resistor, and installed in the bypass of the intake passage. The sensor requires a good signal processing method under pulsating flow conditions because of its quick response. New control technologies were examined for the prototype engine control system, using the sensor, as applied to a 4 cycle, 4 cylinder engine. The air-to-fuel ratio, ignition timing, and EGR rate are controlled to their optimum values by a microprocessor which processes signals of this sensor and of other sensors indicating the engine operating conditions. The results of engine performance tests show that the output power, fuel economy and exhaust emissions are improved significantly in comparison with other fuel management systems.