An end beam is one of the most important structural members supporting uncovered freight under in-service loading. In general, it needs to endure over 25 years. However fatigue fracture has occurred at dynamic stress concentration location of the end beam because user's specifications demanded high speed and vehicle manufacturer made the uncovered freight car with comparatively low strength and stiffness. For durability analysis, finite element analysis is performed to evaluate the problem of uncovered freight structure and local strain. The uncovered freight car was operated on actual problematic railroad line to measure dynamic stress versus time history on the critical part from which a crack is initiated often. Rainflow cycle counting method was used to estimate fatigue damage at dangerous area under operating condition. Therefore, this study shows that analytical fatigue life at the end beam can be predicted on the basis of S-N curve and structure analysis and has a fairly good correlation with experimental fatigue life.

This study was initiated to evaluate the cooling performance of CAC (charged air cooler) and radiator in the engine room of a mini bus. So we had firstly to predict the mass flow rate coming from radiator grille and front bum per opening using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation based on 3D configuration. And simulations were carried out for different cooling module layout and bum per opening hole size on sam e vehicle operating condition. Simulation results show that CAC cooling performance at reverse protecting plate-applying model was much efficient than that of the bum per opening hole size-increasing model in IMTD point of view. Part of the CFD simulation results was com pared to with experimental data. It was confirm ed that the CFD approach using STAR-CD based on pursuing no-com promise solution could provide design engineers with useful design information in the early design stage of vehicle development.

The performance of reciprocating internal combustion engine is a strong function of the air intake system configuration. In order to improve engine power, it is essential to optimize the air induction system. In this study, a numerical investigation has been carried out for the three-dimensional flow and pressure characteristics in air intake system of a large-sized commercial bus. CFD simulations using STAR-CD were also perform ed to evaluate effects of intake duct geometry and structure variation inside air cleaner on the negative pressure distribution of overall intake system. Studies for improving the back pressure distribution have been proposed and quantitatively examined based on intensive case studies.

Exhaust gas emissions from internal combustion engines are one of the major sources of air pollution. And, it is extremely difficult to increase gasoline engine efficiency and to reduce $NO_X$ and PM(particulate matter) simultaneously in diesel combustion. This paper offers some basic concepts to overcome the above problems. To solve the problems, a recommended technique is CAI(controlled auto-ignition) combustion. In this paper, a flame trap was used to simulate internal EGR(exhaust gas recirculation) effect. An experimental study was carried out to find combustion characteristics using homogeneous premixed gas mixture in the constant volume combustion chamber(CVCC). Flame propagation photos and pressure signals were acquired to verify the flame trap effect. The flame trap creates high speed burned gas jet. It achieves higher flame propagation speed and more stable combustion due to the effect of geometry and burned gas jet.

In oder to generate various shock signals in a field study, a passenger car was driven at several speeds over road profiles that included a number of half sine shaped bumps of various heights. A triaxial SAE pad sensor was mounted on the front passenger seat to measure the acceleration signals which might produce subjective discomfort. The measured accelerations were correlated with the subjective assessments of 14 subjects. The magnitude of subjective discomfort was found to be proportional to the VDV and also the peak to peak of the frequency weighted acceleration signal.

A haptic steering system which reflects steering reaction torque has been developed for a fixed base vehicle simulator. The haptic steering system consists of a steering effort sensor, MR-clutch, AC servo motor and controller. In order to generate realistic steering torque feel to driver and at the same time to meet real-time simulation requirement, 3D torque map is constructed by experimental data and torque generation algorithm using the torque map has been also developed. 3D torque map is constructed using curve fitting and interpolation of the measured values of the steering angle, velocity and steering torque from actual slalom test on the proving ground. In order to carry out performance test of the developed haptic steering system, a fixed based vehicle simulator is constructed by integrating real time vehicle dynamics module, VR-video/audio module, and the haptic steering system. Steering torque and steering angle curves have been obtained from virtual testing in the vehicle simulator and performance of the haptic steering system has been evaluated.

According to the increasing concern on the global environment, the $CO_2$ regulation has been discussed including automobile emission regulation. In order to cope with this rapid changing circumstances, the development of an ultra low emission and super fuel economy automobile is essential. Direct injection LPG engine is the one of the possible future engine to maximize the engine efficiency. This experimental study for the development of direct injection LPG engine technology is promoted with two parts; spray characteristics of high pressure swirl injector, and performance characteristics of direct injection LPG engine. Engine characteristics according to the fuel was analyzed in order to establish stratified combustion technology for LPG engine by using the DISI engine. In the engine experiment, control system was manufactured for gasoline and LPG fuel. The engine was modified 2,000 cc GDI engine (fuel supply device, fuel injection device). Through this experiment, engine operating condition, engine speed and spark timing (MBT), fuel injection position, and fuel rate were investigated.

The increasing automobiles continue to cause air-pollution problem s worse than ever. In fact, many automobile research are involved in how to reduce exhaust emissions effectively specially in $NO_X$ and PM to comply with stringent emission standards, Euro V. This research emphasized on the development of continuous regeneration DPF technology which was one of promising removing technology of particulate matters because of its comparability and high applicability. In addition, this research discussed on some design points of view through correlation study by com paring the experimental data with computational results by the introduction of commercial codes such as CFD-ACE+ and KIVA-3V. The numerical simulation on the performance of continuous regeneration DPF apparatus and corresponding emission characteristics has been predicted well enough and verified with experimental results. The pressure and average temperatures are decreased to about 2.6% and 1.4% respectively under a full engine load condition mainly due to back pressures raised by diesel particulate filter. Pressure, temperature and heat releasing rates tend to decrease specially at higher engine load, but they are not affected at lower engine load regions.

An infinite element for impact problem has been developed using ABAQUS/Standard UEL. 4-node plane strain element was considered, and the constitutive equation was derived from properties of propagation plane body waves. The element acts as unbounded domain to the plane waves generated by impact. The numerical method was tested for the simulation of plate impact. The results show the effectiveness of the infinite element.

Our environment is faced with serious problems related to the air pollution from automobiles in these days. In particular, the exhaust emissions of diesel engine are recognized main cause which influenced environment strong. In this study, the potential possibility of biodiesel fuel was investigated as an alternative fuel for a naturally aspirated D.I. diesel engine. The smoke emission of biodiesel fuel was reduced remarkably in com parison with diesel fuel, that is, it was reduced approximately 48.5% at 2500rpm, full load. But, power, torque and brake specific energy consumption didn't have no large differences. But, $NO_X$ emission of biodiesel fuel was increased com pared with commercial diesel fuel. Also, the effects of exhaust gas recirculation(EGR) on the characteristics of $NO_X$ emission has been investigated. It was found that simultaneous reduction of smoke and $NO_X$ was achieved with biodiesel fuel(20vol-%) and cooled EGR method($5{\sim}15%$).

The objective of this paper is to describe the optimization of design parameters in a large-sized commercial bus heater system by using CFD(computational fluid dynamics) analysis and Taguchi method. In order to obtain the best combination of each control factor which results in a desired performance of heater system, the parameter design of the Taguchi method is adopted for the robust design considering the dynamic characteristic. The research activity may be divided into four phases. The first one is analyzing the problem, i.e., ascertaining the influential factors. In the second phase the levels were set in such a way that their variation would significantly influence the response. In the third phase the experimental runs were designed. In the final phase the planned runs were carried out numerically to evaluate the optimal combination of factors which is able to provide the best response. In this study, eight factors were considered for the analysis: one with two level and seven with three level combinations comprising the $L_{18}(2^1{\times}3^7)$ orthogonal array. The results of this study can be summarized as follows ; (i)The optimum condition of control factor is a set of <$A_2\;B_1\;C_3\;D_3\;E_1\;F_2\;G_3\;H_2$> where A is shape of the outer fin, B is pitch of the outer fin, C is height of the outer fin, D is the inner fin number, E is the inner fin height, F is length of the flame guide, G is diameter of the heating element and H is clearance between air guide and heating element. (ii)The heat capacity of heated discharge air under the optimum condition satisfies the equation y=0.6M w here M is a signal factor. (iii)The warm-up rate improves about three times, more largely as com pared with the current condition, which results in about 9.2minutes reduction.

An electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) is a unique probe that does not require a couplant or gel and also can usually generate or detect an ultrasonic wave into specimens across a small gap. It, therefore can be applied in a noncontact mode with a high degree of reproducibility. Especially stiffness of composites depends on layup sequence of CFRP(carbon fiber reinforced plastics) laminates. It is very important to evaluate the layup errors in prepreg laminates. A nondestructive technique can therefore serve as a useful measurement for detecting layup errors. This shear wave for detecting the presence of the errors is very sensitive. A decomposition model has been used in the interpretation and prediction of test results. Test results have been com pared with model data. It is found that the high probability shows between tests and the model utilized in characterizing cured layups of the laminates. Also a C-scan method was used for detecting layup of the laminates because of extracting fiber orientation information from the ultrasonic reflection caused by structural imperfections in the laminates. Therefore, it was found that interface C-scan images show the fiber orientation information by using two-dimensional fast Fourier transform (2-D FFT).

Stringent emission regulations and increasing demands on reductions of noise and vibration of common rail direct injection (CRDI) diesel engines lead to the advent of piezo-actuated injectors. Compared with solenoid-actuated injectors, piezo-actuated injectors generate greater force and give faster response time, resulting in more accurate and faster injections. The accurate and fast response of an injector can offer an opportunity to control the combustion process and pollutant formation. In this study, the mathematical model of a piezo-actuated injector is developed. An estimator of the injection rate of the piezo-actuated injector is designed based on this model. The sliding mode theory is applied to the estimator design in order to overcome model uncertainties. The injector model and the estimator are verified by the injection experiments in an injector test bench. The simulation and the experimental results show that the proposed sliding mode observer can effectively estimate the injection timing and the injection rate of the piezo-actuated injector.

In this paper, optimized operating parameters were found using multi-dimensional engine simulation software (KIVA-3V) and micro-genetic algorithm for heavy duty diesel engine. The engine operating condition considered was at 1,737 rev/min and 57 % load. Engine simulation model was validated using an engine equipped with a high pressure electronic unit injector (HEUI) system. Three important parameters were used for the optimization - boost pressure, EGR rate and start of injection timing. Numerical optimization identified HCCI-like combustion characteristics showing significant improvements for the soot and $NO_X$ emissions. The optimized soot and $NO_X$ emissions were reduced to 0.005 g/kW-hr and 1.33 g/kW-hr, respectively. Moreover, the optimum results met EPA 2007 mandates at the operating point considered.

The damageability and repairability of similar platform type vehicles could be very concerned with design optimization. In all the vehicles crash tested, small size passenger vehicles were weakness in aspect of damageability and repairability. The most critical area appears to be repair cost considering that parts cost is the largest portion of total repair cost segments. Besides repair cost, attaching method of front sidemember and subframe are placed special importance for impact energy absorption and damageability and repairability. So in order to improve damageability and repairability of vehicle structure and body component of the monocoque type passenger vehicles, the end of front side member and front back beam should be designed with optimum level and to supply the end of front side member as a partial condition approx 300mm. The effectiveness of design concept on the 40% offset frontal impact characteristics of the passenger vehicle structure is investigated and summarized.

Air cleaners in all of the automotive engines have been used for decades. In the early 1920's the oil bath type was the popular shape of air cleaners. The air cleaners of the oil wetted bath type were introduced in 1940's. The shape of the dry pleated paper type media was introduced in the 1950's. This trend still continues with new and innovative media being introduced. Engine air cleaners should have effectively removed and reduced harmful contaminants being ingested into engines. This studies show that both, the ingested contaminant size and concentration need to be controlled. This paper com pare and analyze the characteristics over the economics, engine performances and reduction of noises of power-plus air filters with wet paper which were sticked to heavy duty diesel engine.

Abrasive waterjet (AWJ) cutting is an emerging technology for precision cutting of difficult-to-machining materials with the distinct advantages of no thermal effect, high machinability, high flexibility and small cutting forces. This paper investigated theoretical and experimental cutting characteristics associated with abrasive waterjet cutting of quartz GE214. It is shown that the proper variations of several cutting parameters such as waterjet cutting pressure, cutting speed and cutting depth improve the roughness on workpiece surfaces produced by AWJ cutting. From the experimental results by AWJ cutting of quartz GE214, the optimal cutting conditions to improve the surface roughness and precision were proposed and discussed.

This paper introduces a newly developed high speed material testing apparatus for tensile tests at the strain rate up to 500/sec. The tensile properties of sheet metals are indispensable for the accurate crashworthiness analysis of auto-bodies since the local strain rate reaches to 500/sec in the car crash. An appropriate experimental method has to be developed to acquire the tensile properties at the intermediate strain rate ranged from 0.003/sec to 200/sec. Tensile tests of various different steel sheets for an auto-body were perform ed to obtain the dynamic properties with respect to the strain rate. The dimensions of specimens that can provide the reasonable results were determined by the finite element analysis. A special jig fixture of a load cell is designed to reduce the load ringing phenomenon induced by unstable stress propagation at the high strain rate. Stress-strain curves were acquired for each steel sheet from the dynamic tensile test and utilized to obtain the relationship of the stress to the strain rate.

Nitric oxide(NO) reduction by methanol was investigated over $La_2O_3$ catalysts in the presence and absence of oxygen. In the absence of $O_2$, $CH_3OH$ reduced NO to both $N_2$ and $N_2O$, with selectivity to $N_2$ formation decreasing from 81-88% at 623K to 47-71% at 723 K. With 1.2% $O_2$ in the feed, the rates were 4-8 times higher, but the selectivity to $N_2$ dropped from 50% at 623 K to 9% at 723 K. The specific activities with $La_2O_3$ for this reaction were higher than those for other reductants; for example, at 773 K with hydrogen a specific activity of $34\;{\mu}mol\;NO/sec{\cdot}m^2$ was obtained whereas that for methanol was $638\;{\mu}mol\;NO/sec{\cdot}m^2$. The Arrhenius plots were linear under differential reaction conditions, and the apparant activation energy was consistantly near 15 kcal/mol with $CH_3OH$. Linear partial pressure dependencies based on a power rate law were obtained and showed a near-zero order in $CH_3OH$ and a near-first order in $H_2$.

In this paper, the stress singularity on interface of friction welded dissimilar materials was investigated by using 2-dimensional elastic boundary element method. It is required that stress distributions and stress singularities on an interface for friction welded dissimilar materials analize to establish strength evaluation. The stress singularity index ($\lambda$) and stress singularity factor ($\Gamma$) were calculated from the results of stress analysis. The stress singularities on variations for shapes and thickness of friction welded flashes were analized and discussed. This paper suggested that the strength evalution by using the stress singularity factors as fracture parameters, considering the stress singularity on an interface edge of friction welded dissimilar materials were very useful.

In this paper, the VR(Virtual Reality) simulation system is developed to analyze driver's perceptive response on the ASV(Advanced Safety Vehicle). The ASV is the vehicle of next generation equipped with various warning systems. For the purpose, the VR simulation system consists of VR database, vehicle dynamic model, graphic/sound system, and driving system. The VR database which generates 3D graphic and sound information is organized for the driving reality. Mathematical models of vehicle dynamic analysis are constructed to represent the dynamic behavior of a vehicle. The driving system and the graphic/sound system provide a driver with the operation of a vehicle and the feedback of a driving situation. Also, the real-time simulation algorithm synchronizes the vehicle dynamic model with the VR database. To check the validity of the developed system, a simple scenario is applied to investigate driver's perceptive response time and vehicle acceleration on an emergency situation. It is confirmed that the proposed system is useful and helpful to design the FVCWS(Forward Vehicle Collision Warning System).

In the FY 2003, the number of registered vehicles in Korea reached 14 million, which is 7.7% increase from the previous year. The increase of number of vehicles has caused a lot of social problem with enormous costs. The social costs related to the vehicles includes environmental costs resulting from pollution and scraping of vehicles, those resulting from life-saving and repairing from car accidents and so on. There have been m any efforts to reduce the social costs in m any areas. As a part of the efforts, there are recent grow ing interests on the damageability & repairability in related industries. In this study, we investigated the cases of two different types of bum per stay. Futhermore, we analyzed their effects on damageability & repairability and reduction of repair cost. So we found that if the manufacturers design new cars with good damageability & repairability, then the total repair cost in crash will be reduced.

To achieve rapid new car developments and cost saving, new approaches for automotive general assembly in manufacturing preparations are needed. In this paper, CAD and DMU technologies for design and evaluation of machines and equipments are discussed. Digital Mock-up based on 3-D CAD models usually apply in the area of concept design and design review. We focus on manufacturing preparations of the machine and equipment. Detail procedures, examples and considerations of DMU are suggested in this paper. By applying DMU in the manufacturing preparations of general assembly, time, cost and quality of engineering can be enhanced through engineering collaboration.

The fuel-lean premixed flame has been considered one of the most efficient ways to reduce $NO_X$ emission during a combustion process. However, it is difficult to achieve stable fuel-lean premixed flames over the wide range of equivalence ratios: therefore, the application of fuel-lean flames to a practical combustion system is rather limited. In this study, the stability characteristics of fuel-lean flames stabilized by fuel-rich flames are investigated experimentally using a slot burner as a part of the basic research for practical application such as lean burn engines. Spontaneous emission of radical species were examined to understand the stability mechanisms of rich-lean premixed flames. The presence of fuel-rich flames could significantly lower the lean limit of fuel-lean flames. The stability of a fuel-lean flame is enhanced with the increase of fuel flow rate in a fuel-rich flame; how ever, it is not sensitive to the equivalence ratio of fuel-rich flames in the range of 1.2-2.4. The mechanisms of stable rich-lean premixed flames could be understood based on the characteristics of triple flame.

The synergistic effect of ethylene/propane mixture on soot formation is studied experimentally using a concentric co-flow diffusion burner, which provides the stratified fuel mixture. The soot volume fraction, soot particle diameter, number density and PAH concentrations are measured with various fuel supply configurations and compared to the homogeneously mixed case. When propane is supplied through the inner nozzle, an increase of soot formation is observed. However, when propane is supplied through the outer nozzle, a decrease is observed. The reaction path of PAH's formed from the pyrolysis process of propane is likely to be responsible to the observed differences. When propane is supplied through the outer nozzle, PAH's are formed in the relatively near oxidation region and exposed to the oxidization environment; on the other hand, when propane is supplied through the inner nozzle, PAH's are not likely to be oxidized and thus get involved in soot formation process. The synergistic effect in ethylene/propane diffusion flames is found to be affected not only by the com position of the mixture but also by the way of mixing.