Advertisement

ZF Sachs develops carbon fiber suspension damper

April 13, 2010 at 1:58 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Technology

Carbon fiber has been used in many exotic applications in cars but I’ve never seen a carbon fiber damper before! Unlike the Bose suspension system which is exotic in its own complicated way, ZF Sachs basically just aims at reducing weight with this new ultralight carbon fiber damper designed for use in A-segment cars.

It only weighs half the weight of today’s aluminum lightweight damper. Partially sprung and unsprung masses are reduced too, which according to ZF Sachs leads to better ride comfort.

According to ZF Sachs’ Head of the Powertrain and Suspension Components Dr. Peter Ottenbruch, the damper design is realistic in terms of feasibility and cost analysis and can easily be transferred to volume production.

Could we see carbon fiber dampers be used in premium A-segment cars like the upcoming BMW Megacity range of front wheel drive microcars?

38 Comments      

Ford’s Noise Vision Technology for quieter Fords

March 14, 2010 at 8:29 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Ford, Technology

Ford Noise Vision

I had the privilege of visiting Ford’s development centre in Dearborn, Michigan earlier this year during the Detroit Motor Show. Ford wanted to show us some of the technologies they used in their car development and one of them is Noise Vision, a system that they use to help reduce the interior noise levels of Ford vehicles.

We were lucky that we were allowed photography in the centre. Most manufacturers ban cameras in all of their facilities and it makes it really hard for us to tell a story once we are back at our workstations.

Ford Noise Vision

The black device you see is nicknamed Pythagoras by Ford employees, but its officially called the Noise Source Identification Tool, or Noise Vision. As you can see, it is a small black sphere and it is placed inside a vehicle cabin.

Covering the surface of Pythagoras are more than 30 highly sensitive microphones and 12 special cameras. The system of microphones are directional so they can measure the direction of sound as well as the volume of sound.

Ford Noise Vision

Placed outside the car in the lab area, this is the view that Pythagoras provides the Noise Vision’s computer system. It’s basically a 360 degree view of the place, which doesn’t really tell much at this point of time because the sound measurement hasn’t been activated yet. The Ford engineers who was demo-ing Noise Vision to us then placed a small sound generation device in the room – I think it was a metronome.

Ford Noise Vision

And this is what we were able to see on Noise Vision. The exact source of the sound has been pinpointed, and you also get to see the volume level of the sound here using graphics that simulate thermal imaging. I drive car that’s more than 10 years old and as you can expect, the interior has started to squeak and rattle here and there especially when I drive over the typical Semi-Value kind of roads.

But all I hear are squeaks and rattles and I can’t exactly pinpoint where the rattles are coming from. Using Noise Vision, I would be able to pinpoint the exact source of sound and try to fix it. That’s exactly what Ford’s engineers are doing.

Ford Noise Vision

So anyway, it was time to show give us a demo on how Noise Vision works. Before they do anything, the Ford engineers will tape up the obvious sound leak holes of the car such as the rubbers and seals at the doors and etc. This is to get the car interior down to the most silent condition that’s logically possible. Then Noise Vision is used to see where else the external noise leaks in.

Ford Noise Vision

I’m not sure what that device you see in the boot does (is it an industrial vacuum cleaner?) but for this exercise all it’s supposed to do is become a source of sound. The device was turned on and then we proceeded to look at what kind of data Noise Vision was giving us.

Ford Noise Vision

And this is the result generated by the 360 degree Noise Vision system inside the car. As you can see, there seems to be actually two predominant spots where the sound from the device in the boot is leaking through into the cabin. Both are somewhere around the rear speakerboard but one part seems to be leaking much more sound than the other.

Ford Noise Vision

The engineer can then zoom in to that particular area of the interior where you can see the sound sources clearer. Ford now knows that those two spots near the rear speakerboard are leaking sound into the interior, so it can work on perhaps some better seals in that area. In this case for demonstration sake, an engineer patched the two areas with something.

Ford Noise Vision

The Noise Vision test was ran again and here’s the new result – much less sound coming in through the boot. Basically this process is repeated and repeated with a cabin in its original state in a wind tunnel or on the road or whatever conditions they would like to test it in, and the interior sealing is refined until they get the noise levels down to the quietest possible!

“The key to world-class interior quietness is to pinpoint the source and location of every unwanted sound, no matter how subtle it is. We used to rely on trial and error to make a vehicle quieter. It was a process of elimination that often led us to mask the issue with thicker glass or more sound insulation. Noise Vision litreally shows us where the noise is and allows us to eliminate it once and for all. Noise Vision already is paying off for Ford, with the new 2010 Taurus, Fusion, Flex and F-150 achieving the quietest interiors in their class,” said Bill Gulker, Ford’s leader of Wind Noise Engineering.

Noise Vision is not revolutionary. Some other manufacturers use such a system as well and I managed to dig out at least two names – Mazda and Nissan. But of all the big three US automakers, Ford is the first to use such a system. I can’t believe there are still some companies using trial and error? But in any case it has allowed Ford’s North American NVH engineers to reduce 200 hours of wind tunnel testing time a year which translates into US$300,000 in testing costs. It may not be unique but there you have it – an insight into the R&D process of achieving better interior NVH thanks to Ford!

17 Comments      


How does the Proton EMAS hybrid system work?

March 3, 2010 at 3:30 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Proton EMAS Concept, Technology

Lotus Range ExtenderLet’s have a look at the very heart of the Proton EMAS Concept cars – the Lotus Range Extender Engine. There has been a lot of concerns from readers about the range which has been rated at 50km. First of all, the car is still a concept at this point of time, so these figures are generally quite meaningless unless the car gets closer to production.

Concept cars are generally done as a ‘what if’ exercise and to gauge public perception and interest before moving ahead with the production version. This is why the one big question put forth at the Proton Concepts microsite is “would you like this to be the future of Proton”. According to Datuk Syed Zainal, it may take another 2 years before we can see a production version of the Proton EMAS on the roads.

But in any case, one of the most common comparisons in the comments so far is between the EMAS and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. After all, the i-MiEV is somewhat similar – raised floor, compact size, rear motor and rear wheel driven. But the key difference between the two cars is that the i-MiEV is a pure electric car while the Proton EMAS Concept is a series-hybrid. But what exactly does series-hybrid mean? Does it mean it is not an electric car thus is not as ‘clean’ as an i-MiEV?

A series hybrid is basically an electric car, as long as you have enough juice in the battery packs for the electric motor to function. The Proton EMAS Concept has a range of 50km, which is shorter than the i-MiEV’s 160km range. But note that it isn’t an apple to apple comparison – the i-MiEV’s 160km range is calculated based on the Japanese 10-15 urban mode driving cycle, while Proton’s 50km range is not specified. It might be a mixed mode range or a ‘best effort’ range.

The difference is range can be quite easily explained – it is simply because the i-MiEV has a larger battery. It needs to have a larger battery because the battery is its only source of energy. Once you’re out of juice, you’re a sitting duck. With the Lotus Range Extender system, you do not need to have such a large battery – only one that is large enough to complete most city trips. That means less weight and less cost in terms of battery costs. Let’s say your office is about 15km to 20km from your home. You’ll hopefully be able to complete a to and fro trip on a single charge. When you get home, you plug the EMAS into your wall socket again to fully charge it up (3 hours on our 240V voltage – longer in 120V countries), and repeat the cycle the next day.

What happens when you need to travel further than 50km? The internal combustion engine will turn on and run to generate power. Because it only generates power and does not drive the wheels, Lotus can optimize it to run only at certain RPM points, so there is no need for costly variable valve timing, or this or that. The engine is a very simple 1.2 litre 3 cylinder single cam engine with only 2 valves per cylinder and a 10.0:1 compression ratio. It does not have to be built to withstand high RPM speeds so it can be lighter and cheaper to manufacture. The Range Extender engine only runs at 2 points – 1,500rpm and a higher 3,500rpm when you need to generate power a little faster. Peak torque is 107Nm at 2,500rpm, while peak power is quoted at 51hp at 3,500rpm.

Thus the Proton EMAS is hybrid in the sense that the electricity that its electric motor requires can be obtained through 2 ways – either a wall socket, or by the range extender engine burning fuel to generate electricity. As long as you do not exhaust the 50km battery capacity, your EMAS is technically as good as an electric vehicle and there won’t be any exhaust gas coming out of your exhaust pipes. But we don’t know yet how the battery management system works so the range extender engine might kick in earlier to ensure the battery does not get too weak in order to preserve battery life.

What I want to know now is how efficient the engine is in burning petrol to generate electricity. How many km can the car go on the electricity generated by 1 litre of petrol? That will give us a “km per litre” measurement for when the car is not running on plug-in power. Look after the jump for 4 pix of the engine.
[Read more...]

225 Comments      

Prodrive set to be “India’s tech consultant”

January 7, 2010 at 4:05 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under International News, Technology

British motorsport and technology specialist, Prodrive, has established a partnership with India’s Opti Engineering to help bring its engineering skills and technologies to the subcontinent. Prodrive, which also has operations in China and Australia, will assist Indian manufacturers who want to own the IP (Intellectual Property) that underpins their cars and to understand those systems to allow in-house development.

Opti Engineering will provide mechanical and electronic design, analysis, supply chain expertise and workshop facilities. The company has working relationships with major automotive companies in the country.

Prodrive has also worked with several local manufacturers. The company’s AMT gearbox for example, has recently been applied to a number of vehicles for the Indian market. Famous for its links to Subaru’s WRC exploits, Prodrive also majors in developing control systems, vehicle dynamics and suspension systems. Remember the Prodrive P2? It was a tool to showcase in house tech such as Active Torque Dynamics (ATD) and ALS anti lag system for turbo cars.

“We help our clients through the challenges of applying unfamiliar technology. Ultimately, they gain technical independence and the insight to adapt each technology to their specific market requirements. Working with Prodrive is a strategy that delivers long-term value for our clients,” said Tony Butcher, Prodrive’s MD.

10 Comments      

Santa retires his reindeers this Christmas with the Vauxhall slEigh-REV – ho ho ho!

December 17, 2009 at 3:17 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Laughs, Technology, Vauxhall

Vauxhall slEigh-REV

Stressed at work? Here’s some news to cheer you up. According to GM’s UK outpost Vauxhall, Santa Claus has been in contact with them to request “swift and ultra-clean transport” for his annual blast around the world to deliver presents on December 24.

The jolly fat man said: “The ’08 Model Year reindeers have taken a rest this Christmas. In their old age they’re becoming more flatulent and their increasing methane emissions just can’t be good for the environment – never mind the fact I have to sit behind them.

“I’m as pleased as punch with my new slEigh-REV supplied to me by those kind people in Luton (Vauxhall’s HQ). They tell me it uses specially adapted E-REV (extended range electric vehicle) technology from their upcoming Ampera electric car, which means I won’t have to worry about re-charging as I do my chimney drops around the world on Christmas Eve.”

The slEigh-REV is propelled by an electric motor, and if juice is running low, Santa can count on a gasoline engine – just like the Opel/Vauxhall Ampera which goes on sale in early 2012. The Ampera is the European version of the Chevrolet Volt, which differs from hybrids by having electric to power its wheels at all times and all speeds – its 75 bhp 1.4-litre engine only works as a generator to supply the car electricity should the batteries go weak. The plug-in Volt’s battery-only EV range is 64 km and the total extended range is “over 480 km”.

6 Comments      

CPT’s RegEnBoost system – how it works?

December 10, 2009 at 9:23 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Technology

VTESRemember CPT’s VTES electric supercharger? It was installed onto a 1.2 litre turbo engine to complement the turbo and results were pretty impressive. The VTES has been positioned as a motor assist system similar to the Honda IMA system.

In the Honda IMA system, an electric motor positioned between the combustion engine and the gearbox provides a boost of power when needed. The VTES electric supercharger is presumably lighter than an electric motor and can provide a similar boost of torque at low engine RPMs as it is able to kick in really fast – 0 to 700,000rpm in less than a third of a second. Like the electric motor, VTES is also powered by battery.

The VTES component is already being trialed as a piece of the puzzle in various systems currently being designed by automotive parts companies. Ricardo is currently using the VTES in a project they’ve christened HyBoost. But CPT has a little project of its own and VTES works as part of a system called RegEnBoost.

RegEnBoost combines three devices developed by CPT – the VTES electric supercharger, a liquid-cooled integrated starter generator (start-stop system) called SpeedStart, and a turbo-generator called TIGERS. TIGERS is somewhat like a turbocharger except it isn’t. It uses exhaust gas to generate electricity instead of providing boost, so it’s more of a dynamo in a way.

The three devices are integrated into a system which also incorporates a DC to DC converter and a lead acid battery optimised for fast energy storage and release. This same system also provides the regular 12V needed by the car’s electrical systems, but also delivers short bursts of power to the 2kW VTES supercharger when extra acceleration is needed. It also powers the SpeedStart starter when the engine is needed to restart. Conversely, SpeedStart can recharge the battery during deceleration. So the battery can be charged by two sources – SpeedStart and the TIGERS exhaust generator.

CPT claims that a 1.0 litre car with RegEnBoost can emit less than 100g/km of CO2 on average yet offer the same performance and in-gear acceleration of a 2.0 litre normally aspirated engine when needed – translated into horsepower and torque that’s about 130 to 150 horses and about 200Nm of torque, pretty decent from a 1.0 litre engine. CPT says RegEnBoost can easily be scaled up to support engines of up to 3.5 litres.

13 Comments      

Lotus Omnivore 2-stroke HCCI engine – details

December 10, 2009 at 7:02 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Lotus, Technology

lotus-omnivore-graph
Click for enlarged image

You remember the Lotus Omnivore project don’t you? We first heard word of this project back in August 2008 and Lotus exhibited a concept engine at the Geneva show earlier this year. It’s basically a monoblock (integrated block and head) engine that runs on a two-stroke operating cycle that Lotus says is more suited to flex-fuel operations than conventional 4-stroke engines.

There is a whole load of tech packed into the Omnivore. Other than being unusually 2-stroke in a world of 4-stroke car engines, its got variable compression ratio, direct fuel injection, and the ability to run on HCCI mode, which is basically diesel-like sparkless ignition, except that it isn’t a diesel engine.

omnivore-specs-1
omnivore-specs-2

“The automotive industry, including Lotus Engineering, has quite rightly advocated engine downsizing for four-stroke engines. This is as a result of the dominance of the four-stroke cycle in the automotive world and its generation of throttling losses at part-load, where vehicles run most of the time,” says Jamie Turner, Lotus Engineering chief engineer of powertrain research.

“The two-stroke cycle, conversely, does not suffer from significant throttling losses and in many ways is a more natural fit for automotive use. With the thermodynamic disadvantages of throttling losses removed, the two-stroke engine is free to be sized according to its improved part-load fuel consumption. Downsizing therefore isn’t vital and, due to the improved light-load efficiency and emissions performance we see with Omnivore, this technology approach and ‘upsizing’ could permit a more efficient engine,” adds Turner.

Look after the jump for a 6 page detailed technical description of the Omnivore.
[Read more...]

19 Comments      

BMW working on vehicle heat management to help reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions

October 21, 2009 at 9:23 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under BMW, Cars, Technology

BMW is currently working on new technologies to better manage heat released from its vehicles. By improving heat management, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions can be reduced. Even a very fuel efficient engine can only convert about one-third of the energy contained in fuel to actually propel a car.

The rest is lost as waste heat via the car’s exhaust and radiator. To be more specific the auto maker is working on three systems including technologies to eliminate cold starts, convert heat from a car’s exhaust into electricity and use waste heat for interior heating.

To eliminate cold starts, BMW is working on improving heat insulation of engines (pictured below) that can help prevent them from cooling down quickly and retain as much residual heat as possible for the next start. With the technology that is being developed, the engine will take longer to cool down and even after 12 hours, engine temperature can still be figured at about 40 degrees Celsius.

BMW claims that each degree Celsius above the ambient temperature can help reduce fuel consumption by 0.2%. To help achieve better heating, a vehicle will be surrounded by fully clad walls and panels using materials that are normally used in the car’s underfloor for insulation.

Heat can also be converted into electric power. The automaker says that between 3 and 8% of the total fuel consumed by modern cars is due to the rising number of electricity-dependent features. BMW is testing a component called a thermoelectric generator (pictured below).

This generator uses the effect of the temperature gradient in thermoelectric semi-conductor elements generating electrical voltage (the Seebeck Effect). The bigger the difference in temperature, the higher the voltage generated. Exhaust gas temperatures, which are usually between 300 and 900 degrees Celsius, are on the hot side of the generator, and engine coolant is used for the cold side.

Basically up to 250 W of energy can be produced by integrating the component with the exhaust gas recirculation cooler. 250 W equals to about half the on-board electricity consumption in a BMW 5 Series. This can help reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 2%.

The final technology of the heat management idea is an exhaust gas heat exchanger. This system can be placed close to the catalytic converter and it can convey heat to other components or areas like the interior. It can replace the need for electrical heating modules which consume additional fuel (by about 1 litre per 100 kilometers).

Furthermore, the feature can also be used to help warm up components like the transmission (example, oil in the automatic transmission). The above mentioned technologies are in testing stages hence it can take years before we can actually see them in production cars.

13 Comments      

Xtrac: F1 R&D does pay off in road cars

October 14, 2009 at 1:35 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Formula 1, Technology

xtrac-transmission

Alot are of the opinion that F1 technology rarely makes it into road cars because of the completely different way of doing things when it comes to racecars, but with F1′s budget cuts forcing components to last longer (i.e. more than just one race), R&D to improve durability can definitely benefit road car usage, or at least transmission maker Xtrac strongly thinks so.

Xtrac is a name that alot of you will probably be familiar with. They make the 4WD gearbox that goes into our Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car. According to Xtrac’s chief metallurgist Steve Vanes, the latest specification of steel being required to significantly extend the life of a Formula One gearbox could be broadly applied to a wide range of vehicles to improve their driveline reliability and efficiency.

“From a cultural point of view the world of motorsport has changed considerably, and the costs and relevance of its technology to wider consumer markets has become more important. For example, the trend towards engine downsizing in road vehicles to improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions can be complemented by the downsizing of transmissions, requiring the intervention of new technologies and manufacturing processes for stronger and more lightweight components,” says Vanes.

According to Vanes, the recent cost-cutting measures in F1 have lead to the development of a brand new specification of steel necessary to extend the service life of gears, shafts, bearings, dog rings, hubs, selector forks, final drives and other highly stressed driveline components. Vanes claims that until recently the typical life of a set of gears for a main shaft was approximately 350,000 cycles. To quantify the improvement that this new Xtrac steel development as the result of F1 R&D is an extension of typical service life to more than 2.5 million cycles.

24 Comments      

CPT’s VTES electric supercharger shows impressive results in a Volkswagen Passat!

September 23, 2009 at 2:54 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Technology

VTESFor the longest time we’ve known the most common method of forced induction to be either supercharging or turbocharging. Supercharging uses a compressor that’s powered by the engine crank while a turbocharger uses the kinetic energy harvested from the flow of exhaust gas to do the same thing.

A company called Controlled Power Technologies is offering something new called a VTES, or Variable Torque Enhancement System. It’s basically an electric supercharger. There are alot of people who try to install fans in the middle of the car’s intake tract and try to call it a supercharger, but this is a proper compressor that can spin independently of crank speed at rotational speeds of up to 70,000rpm.

CPT has installed it on various test systems including a 1.2 litre turbocharged engine. The VTES electric supercharger is meant to complement the existing turbo. CPT reported an increase of over 50% in torque at engine speeds below 3,000rpm. I guess what it does is compensate for any turbo lag there is at low engine RPMs, allowing the turbocharger to be larger than it normally would have needed to be to spool up that quickly.

VTES
VTES electric supercharger on an AVL demo engine

One way that VTES has been positioned by CPT is an alternative to mild hybrid systems, like the units installed in the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Kia Forte LPI Hybrid. According to CPT senior engineering manager Mark Criddle, one method that car makers have been using to boost performance of downsized engines is integrating an electric motor between the engine and transmission to create a mild hybrid, but this is a costly exercise and can be difficult to package within a small car’s front wheel drive engine bay.

The VTES system can provide a viable low cost micro-hybrid solution, significantly increasing an engine’s air charge density over the critical first 10 combustion cycles of a low speed transient. The supercharger’s speed can increase from zero up to 70,000rpm in less than 1/3 of a second. Adding 25kW at the crank at low engine speeds via VTES costs significantly less than a 25kW assist electric motor. It uses standard 12V power.

VTES
Left: 1.2L turbo inline-3 direct injection engine
Right: 2.0 litre turbo inline-4 direct injection engine

It will be featured in the HyBoost system, a project led by Ricardo and supported by the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board. It will also be used in an engine project by AVL. AVL is an Austrian-based independent engine developer. The 1.6 litre engine that you can find in the Chery Tiggo here in Malaysia was developed by AVL and they are actually pretty good. Some time ago there was news that Fiat was interested in using Chery’s AVL-designed ACTECO family engines in Fiat cars in China.

AVL previously showcased a demonostrator engine using CPT’s electric supercharger. A 2.0 litre inline-4 direct injection engine was equipped with a regular single-scroll wastegated turbocharger, and CPT’s VTES electric supercharger. It resulted in 200 PS and 400Nm of peak torque. The engine also has auto stop-start and smart alternator control. They installed it into a Volkswagen Passat and the resulting CO2 emissions were 159g/km. Comparatively, the Passat’s original 200 PS 2.0 TSI petrol and 170 PS 2.0 TDI diesel engines gave out 194 g/km and 165g/km respectively.

22 Comments