Computer simulates thermal stress

Aug 12th, 2008 | Filed under: Automotive | 0 Comments

A new simulation method has made it possible to predict when and where heavily stressed engine components are likely to fail. Car manufacturers can thereby significantly reduce the time for developing new engine components.

Exhaust fumes come hissing out of car engines at up to 1050 degrees Celsius – and that’s pretty hot! It exposes the engine components to tremendous stress, for they expand heavily in the heat. On frosty days, by contrast, the material contracts.

In the long run, such temperature fluctuations put the material under enormous pressure. The manufacturers therefore test particularly stressed components on a test rig while the vehicle is still under development. However, these investigations cost time and money. Component prototypes have to be built and modified in a time-consuming trial-and-error process until the manufacturer has finally produced a reliable component with no weak points.

These investigations have to be repeated for each new material. For certain car manufacturers and suppliers, however, time-consuming component tests are now a thing of the past. A new simulation method developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg enables companies to significantly reduce the time taken to develop exhaust manifolds.

Exhaust manifolds collect the hot exhaust fumes from the engine and pass them on to the catalytic converter. They are exposed to particularly high temperatures and therefore under very great stress.

Fuelling the next generation of hybrid cars

Aug 7th, 2008 | Filed under: Automotive, Design | 0 Comments

Using a specially-coated form of clothing material Goretex, scientists at Monash University have developed an electrically-generated fuel cell which could make the next generation of hybrid cars more reliable and cheaper to build.

The team of Monash scientists have designed and tested an air-electrode, where a fine layer – just 0.4 of a micron thick, or about 100 times thinner than a human hair – of highly conductive plastic is depositied on the breathable fabric. The conductive plastic acts as both the fuel cell electrode and catalyst.

Dr Bjorn Winther-Jensen, Monash University, explained: “The same way as waste vapour is drawn out of this material to make hikers more comfortable and less prone to hypothermia, so it is able the ‘breathe’ oxygen into our fuel cell and into contact with the conductive plastic.”

Professor Doug MacFarlane, Monash University, continued: “The benefits for the motoring industry and for motorists are that the new design removes the need for platinum, which acts as the catalyst and is currently central to the manufacturing process.

Continue reading…

A low cost route to increased fuel economy

Aug 7th, 2008 | Filed under: Automotive | 0 Comments

Engineering solutions firm Ricardo, has unveiled a research prototype vehicle that demonstrates the company’s patent pending electromagnetic linear actuator technology, which it says offers a low cost route to robust and highly efficient Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) and Dry Clutch Transmission (DCT) vehicles, capable of providing increased fuel economy and lower emissions.

The development vehicle is based on an Opel Corsa 1.2l petrol automated manual transmission, in which the control and actuation system of the original Easytronic system has been replaced with Ricardo’s patent-pending electromagnetic linear actuator technology which can be multiplexed in order to operate both the clutch control and gear selection functions.

Continue reading…

System stops drivers putting the pedal to the metal

Aug 5th, 2008 | Filed under: Automotive, Design | 0 Comments

Drivers that try and push their cars to the limit, could find they start to push back.

Nissan Motor Co’s ‘ECO Pedal’ system, promoted as both green and safe – makes the accelerator pedal press upwards when it senses motorists are speeding up too quickly.

The system, which Nissan says will be available next year, calculates the most efficient rate of acceleration in a vehicle based on how fast fuel is being burned among other factors, when it deems the motorist is exceeding the most efficient rate, the accelerator pedal pushes back. A meter on the dashboard flashes and changes colours to alert the driver.

According to Nissan, the system is designed to help drivers become more fuel efficient; implementing it could help drivers improve fuel efficiency by five to 10 per cent.

There is an option for switching the system off.

Award-winning automotive coating system

Aug 4th, 2008 | Filed under: Automotive | 0 Comments

An emission-free and environmentally sustainable automotive coating system has been developed by Australia’s CSIRO and Dulux Powder Coatings.

The Australian automotive industry uses about 10 million litres of liquid paint a year to coat the surfaces of new vehicles, including putting decorative finishes on plastic components, however, traditional wet paints have disadvantages. They do not have a high rate of spray transfer onto plastic parts – around 70 per cent is lost as waste, and contain solvents that release volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) to the atmosphere.

The goal of the project was to overcome a long-term sustainability issue for the automotive, plastics and furniture industries by replacing wet paint finishes on heat-sensitive substances, such as plastic components, with zero-waste powder coating technology.

Continue reading…

TE material turns waste heat into electricity

Jul 28th, 2008 | Filed under: Automotive | 0 Comments

Researchers at Ohio State University have invented a new material designed to make cars more efficient by converting heat wasted through engine exhausts into electricity.

Scientists rate the efficiency of thermoelectric (TE) materials based on how much heat they can convert into electricity at a given temperature. To maximise the amount of electricity produced by a TE material, engineers would normally try to limit the amount of heat that can pass through it without being captures and converted to electricity. So the typical strategy for making a good TE material is to lower its thermal conductivity.

Project leader, Joesph Heremans took a different approach, focussing on how to convert the maximum amount of heat that was naturally trapped in the TE material. To do this he took embraced some new ideas in quantum mechanics.

Continue reading…

Three-way collaboration to advance PHEVs

Jul 23rd, 2008 | Filed under: Automotive | 0 Comments

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has entered into a collaboration with General Motors and 34 other utilities to facilitate the integration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the grid, a key step in providing the drivers with an alternative to petroleum fuels.

PHEVs use domestically produced electricity through the grid, with a lower cost to fuel the vehicles than that of petroleum fuels. Additional, research released last year by EPRI and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) pointed to the potential of PHEVs to lower greenhouse emissions.

The EPRI-GM-utility collaboration will work to accelerate large-scale deployment of PHEVs and create a blueprint for an electric fuel infrastructure.

Continue reading…

GM adds world’s largest solar installation to car plant

Jul 21st, 2008 | Filed under: Automotive | 0 Comments

General Motors is adding the world’s largest rooftop solar photovoltaic power installation to its car assembly plant located in Figueruelas, Zaragoza, Spain. When the project is completed in the fall of 2008, the Zaragoza solar installation will cover about 2,000,000 sq. ft. of roof at the plant and comprises about 85,000 solar panels.

When fully operational, the Zaragoza solar installation will generate about 12 megawatts of power at its highest output. The installation will generate about 15.1 million kWh of power annually, which is equivalent to the demand of 4,575 households with an average annual consumption of 3,300 kWh in Spain.

The Zaragoza project demonstrates proof that GM is actively accelerating our efforts to be part of the solution to the environmental issues and challenges facing our world,” said Gary Cowger, GM group vice president of Global Manufacturing and Labor Relations. “We are proud to be a global leader in the usage of renewable energy.”

GM currently has two of the largest solar power installations in the United States on the roofs of its Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana, California parts warehouses. The Rancho Cucamonga project was the first public solar project in the U.S. over 1 mega watt, when it began operating in the fall of 2006. The solar panels provide about 50 percent of the electricity to the facility.

The Fontana project, also 1 megawatt, became operational in December 2007. It generates about 1.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year, which is about the amount needed to power 200 homes yearly.

“As we develop new solutions in vehicle propulsion to reduce carbon emissions, we are also making significant progress in reducing the impact our facilities have on the environment,” said Elizabeth A. Lowery, GM vice president, Environment, Energy and Safety Policy. “Our commitment to expanding the usage of renewable energy sources is part of our coordinated global effort to reduce energy, water consumption, waste and CO2 emissions.”

High-tech windshield enhances drivers view

Jul 21st, 2008 | Filed under: Automotive | 0 Comments

A windshield from General Motors uses a camera, lasers and infrared sensors to enhance what’s happening on the road so aging drivers with vision problems can see more clearly.

GM says the new windshield will make objects stand out that could otherwise go unnoticed.

The technology enhances just a few objects in the dirvers view.

“You can see the difficulty of implementing technology like this,” GM researcher Thomas Seder said.

“They say, `That would be very frustrating or confusing, to have things on my windshield. I need to see the world,’ ” Seder said. “I’m enhancing the world. I’ll take a feature that should be important to you, like the edge of the road, and paint a line over the real edge.”