Automotive Science and Engineering

---

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.

---

In this study it has been tried, to compare results and convergence rate of sensitivity analysis and conjugate gradient algorithms to reduce fuel consumption and increasing engine performance by optimizing the timing of opening and closing valves in XU7/L3 engine. In this study, considering the strength and accuracy of simulation GT-POWER software in researches on the internal combustion engine, this software has been used. In this paper initially all components of engine have been modeled in GT-POWER. Then considering the experimental result, results confirmed the accuracy of the model. After model verification, GT-POWER model with MATLAB-SIMULINK are coupled each other, to control the inputs and the outputs by sensitivity analysis and conjugate gradient algorithms. Then the results compared with experimental results of initial engine too. The results indicated that optimal valve timing significantly reduced brake specific fuel consumption and when is used variable valve system for opening and closing angle of intake and exhaust valves, the mean improvement percentage in brake specific fuel consumption from sensitivity analysis is nearly 5.87 and from conjugate gradient is about 6.69. too, for example with increasing engine speed late closing intake valve causes optimized brake specific fuel consumption and from 3500rpm this trend stops and in 4000rpm and 4500rpm early closing of intake valve results in more optimized brake specific fuel consumption. Then up to 6000rpm again late closing of valve would be favorable. Also results indicated that convergence rate of conjugate gradient algorithm to reaching the optimal point is more than sensitivity analysis algorithm.

---

Running the industrial components at a proper temperature is always a big challenge for engineers. Internal combustion engines are among these components in which temperature plays a big role in their performance and emissions. With the development of new technology in the fields of ‘nano-materials’ and ‘nano-fluids’, it seems very promising to use this technology as a coolant in the internal combustion engines. In this study, a nano-fluid (Al2O3-Water/Ethylene Glycol (EG)) is used as an engine coolant along with an optimized heat exchanger to reduce the warm-up timing. The effect of nano-fluid concentration is considered here by using their corresponding governing equations, such as momentum and energy. The engine coolant thermal behavior calculation is carried out based on the lumped method. The obtained results indicated that using different percentage of nano-fluid mixtures (by volume), such as Al2O3- Water/EG as engine coolant enhances the heat transfer coefficient and reduces the warm-up timing which, in turn, results in reduced emissions and fuel consumption.

---

The subjects of heat transfer and cooling system are very important topics in the Internal Combustion Engines (ICE). In modern cooling systems, low weight, small size and high compactness are the critical designing criteria that requires heat transfer enhancement. Boiling phenomenon which is occurred in the water jacket of the ICE is one of the methods to increase heat transfer in the coolant system of an ICE. A research has been shown that parameters such as material, temperature, and roughness of the heated surface have direct effect on the rate of heat transfer in a boiling phenomenon. In this paper the potential of boiling phenomenon and the effect of the surface roughness on the amount of heat flux removed by the coolant flow in the engine water jacket is investigated experimentally. For this purpose the experiments was carried out in three different flow velocities and also three different surface roughnesses. Results show that the boiling and roughness of a hot surface will increase the heat removal significantly.

---

Many studies have been done on hybrid vehicles in the past few years. The full hybrid vehicles need a large number of batteries creating up to 300 (V) to meet the required voltage of electric motor. The size and weight of the batteries cause some problems. This research investigates the mild hybrid vehicle. This vehicle includes a small electric motor and a high power internal combustion engine. In most cases the car’s driving force is created by an internal combustion part. A small electric motor, which can operate as engine starter, generator and traction motor, is located between the engine and an automatically shifted multi-gear transmission (gearbox). The clutch is used to disconnect the gearbox from the engine when needed such as during gear shifting and low vehicle speed. The power rating of the electric motor may be in the range of about 15% of the IC engine power rating. The electric motor can be smoothly controlled to operate at any speed and torque, thus, isolation between the electric motor and transmission is not necessary. The present study evaluates the properties of the mild hybrid vehicle, its structure and performance and proposes an energy control model for its optimum operation.

---

Although, the Stirling engine (SE) was invented many years ago, the investigation on SE is still interesting due to variety of energy resources can be applied to power it (solar energy, fossil fuel, biomass and geothermal energy). In this paper, the thermodynamic cycle of SE is analyzed by employing a new analytical model and a new method is presented to evaluate output power and efficiency of real engines. Using the correcting functions; represent more accurate results for known Schmidt equations respect to adiabatic model. So without need to employing numerical methods and iterative solver programs, analogous results with accuracy and correctness of open-form solution-adiabatic method is obtained. The modeling of results of two methods is done by Non-linear Multiple Regression and new equations based on Schmidt equations with new correctness factors is presented. The correctness factors are function of structural and operational characteristics of engine.  Moreover, available output data of GPU-3 SE was compared. These comparisons show good agreement, indicating that the model is an appropriate method for modeling of SE outputs.

---

A multi-objective optimization and thermal analysis is performed by both experimental and numerical approaches on a Stirling engine cooler and heater. The power generated is measured experimentally by an electrical engine coupled with the crank case, and the friction is estimated by the difference between the necessary power used for rotating the engine at a specific pressure and speed, versus the actual power measured experimentally. In the experimental approach, different conditions were considered; for example, the charge pressure varied from 5-9 bars, and the engine speed varied from 286-1146 rpm. The maximum power generated was 461.3 W and was reported at 9 bars of charge pressure and 1146 rpm engine speed. Numerical approach was carried to simulate thermal balance for investigations on the effect of friction, engine speed and efficiency on generated engine power. Average values of Nusselt number and coefficient of friction were suggested from simulation results.
The multi-objective optimization was held using DOE method for maximizing engine efficiency and power, and also minimizing pressure drop. The top and bottom boundary values for our optimization were 5-9 bars of pressure and 286-1146 rpm of engine speed; for both helium and carbon dioxide. To do so, all three significance factors (engine speed, efficiency and friction) were given different weights, thus different combinations of weight value was investigated
Amongst different interesting findings, results showed that if the efficiency weight factor changed from 1 to 3, for helium in a specific condition, the optimum engine speed would increase by approximately 30.6 %

---

This work investigates the effects of hydrogen addition to compressed natural gas (CNG) on combustion characteristics and emission reduction using a closed cycle simulation with exact geometry of piston and cylinder head. The effect of equivalence ratio on combustion characteristic were investigated using a spark ignition (SI) engine fueled with CNG and addition of 10% _vol, 15% _vol and 20%_vol hydrogen. Two different speed of 1500 and 3000 rpm have considered at full load condition. The modeling includes ECFM combustion model combined with K-ζ-f turbulent modeland has been done by AVL Fire software. Different volume fraction of Hydrogen with different excess air modeled and validated with experimental data. The validation procedure included in-cylinder pressure profile, maximum pressure, angle of maximum pressure, indicated mean effective pressure, and carbon monoxide (CO) emission showing a good agreement with the experimental results. The value of the peak pressure increases by hydrogen addition and it takes place sooner as the hydrogen volume fraction increases. However, the mean effective pressure drops 3.5%, 7% and 15% for HCNG 10, HCNG15 and HCNG20, respectively. CO emission decreases by increasing the hydrogen volume fraction. The results also indicate that hydrogen addition in lean combustion causes more CO reduction compared to the fuel-rich mixtures.

---

The utilization of adhesively bonded square sections (ABSS) serves to enhance energy absorption and specific energy absorption (SEA) when subjected to oblique loading. Finite element models utilizing LS-DYNA were constructed in order to examine the deformation mode and load-displacement characteristics of ABSS and hybrid aluminum/carbon fiber reinforced polymer models. Subsequently, an evaluation was conducted on the general parameter pertaining to crashworthiness and the capacity for absorption of energy. The results reveal that an increase in the quantity of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) layers within the stacking sequence of [0,90] affords enhanced potential for energy absorption. Conversely, the stacking sequence of [90] exhibits an incongruity with this trend, and achieves superior energy absorption capacity with a count of 4 CFRP layers rather than 8.
The present study indicates that carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) possessing a stacking sequence of [90] exhibits superior energy absorption capacity under both axial and oblique loading conditions at an inclination angle of 10 degrees. In contrast, the use of eight layers of CFRP with a stacking sequence of [0, 90] is found to yield better performance in achieving both axial and oblique loading up to 10 degrees.