bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
After Treatment Sensors Positioning for BS6.2 Diesel Engine
Authors: Vinaya Murthy Vijayendra , Rengaraj Chandrasekaran , Dharan R Bharani , Sasikumar M
Published: January 2024

BS6.1 emission standards were implemented in India in 2020 followed by BS6.2 which added more controls on emission limits. For BS6.2 OBD (On Board Diagnostics) and RDE (Real Driving Emission) were added on to the existing BS6.1 emissions. Emission control changes usually need addition of new parts, calibration changes and durability requirements. For the current 1.5L, 3-cylinder diesel engine an pSCR (Passive Selective Catalytic Reduction) brick was added for control of NOx for meeting RDE. For meeting OBD requirements PM (Particulate Matter) and NOx sensors were added in the cold end pipe along with calibration changes to meet the BS6.2 norms.

In this paper we will discuss on the design aspects of sensors and pSCR only. The sensor and pSCR positioning plays vital role in meeting the legislative requirements and to ensure the ease of assembly and durability of the parts. We discuss on the various options explored for positioning, the constraints of sensor application and the importance of positioning on the emission compliance. Post the sensor positioning, parts were made, and successful testing and validation was completed demonstrating the emission compliance and sensor durability.
Development of Low Viscosity Fuel Economy Engine Oil for Commercial Vehicles
Authors: Tyagarajan Sethuramalingam , Singh Samsher , Thanapathy Saravana Raja , Bondre Sushil , Pollington Mark , Lim Pei Yi , Madan Lalit
Published: January 2024

Sustainability has evolved from being just a niche engagement to a fundamental necessity. The reduction of carbon emissions from aspects of human activity has become desirable for its ability to mitigate the impact of climate change. The Transportation industry is a critical part of the global economy – any effort to curb emissions will have a significant impact on CO2 reduction. Engine lubricant can play an efficient and key role to enhance powertrain performance that have undergone significant hardware changes to reduce emissions.

As part of a significant collaborative programme between Tata Motors and Infineum, a new engine oil formulation SAE 5W-30 API FA-4 has been developed and commercially introduced for use in the modern Bharat Stage 6 Phase 2 engines. Introduction of SAE 5W-30 API FA-4 engine oil for Tata Commercial Vehicle application is a step towards delivering a sustainable option beyond improved fuel economy, longer drain interval and enhanced engine wear protection, resulting in reduced carbon footprint of Tata commercial entire fleet. This is the first such comprehensive step towards sustainability in India that sets the trend for a strong quality upgrade in engine oils for commercial vehicles.

Development of lubricants towards this must address many challenges of today’s world. Modern Commercial Vehicle engines operate at higher temperatures than before, promoting both oxidation and nitration of the lubricant. At the same time, higher levels of fuel economy require usage of lower viscosity engine oils, which must then be formulated in a manner that protects the engine and maintains hardware durability despite the presence of a thinner lubricant. Theoretical analysis depicting Minimum Oil Film Thickness using simulation software confirmed oil’s capability to provide adequate hardware protection. The formulation uses innovative additive and viscosity modifier technologies together, with base oil systems that enable higher levels of engine fuel economy without compromising durability. The new formulation has been tested extensively both on engine dynos and through field trials in India under varied conditions.
Weight and Drivetrain Optimization via Fuel Pump & Vacuum Pump Drive Integration on Engine Camshaft in a Pushrod Type Valve Actuated Engine
Authors: John Shijino Shaji , Sasikumar K
Published: January 2024

In the realm of modern powertrains, the paramount objectives of weight reduction, cost efficiency, and friction optimization drive innovation. By streamlining drive trains through component minimization, the paper introduces a groundbreaking approach: the integration of fuel pump and vacuum pump drive systems into the main camshaft of a two-valve-per-cylinder push-rod actuated 4-cylinder diesel engine. This innovation is poised to concurrently reduce overall weight, lower costs, and minimize drive losses. The proposed integration entails the extension of the camshaft with a tailored slot, accommodating a three-lobed cam composed of advanced materials. This novel camshaft configuration enables the unified propulsion of the oil pump, vacuum pump, fuel pump, and valve train, effectively consolidating functions and components. The integrated camshaft design is subject to meticulous evaluation, ensuring its capacity to manage higher power transmission and accommodate multiple connected drives. Design verification simulations encompassing high cycle fatigue and timing drive dynamics validate its functionality and safety. Physical validations, including overload and cyclic load testing, confirm the enhanced camshaft's robustness and reliability. The iterative refinement of the design throughout development bolsters fatigue life and strength, meticulously addressing critical failure modes. This rigorous approach culminates in substantial weight reduction ~58% in drive train alone, reflecting in cost savings, while concurrently diminishing service costs. The integration's broader impact encompasses the elimination of a significant sub-assembly station, streamlining manufacturing and aligning seamlessly with design-for-manufacturing principles. In summary, the integration of fuel pump and vacuum pump drives into the main camshaft stands as a groundbreaking innovation, addressing weight, cost, and friction while modernizing a typical conventional engine. The synergy of design innovation, simulation validation, and manufacturing enhancement marks a transformative stride in the automotive industry.
Oil Aerosol Emission Optimization Using Deflectors in Turbo Charger Oil Drain Circuit
Authors: M Velshankar , Dharan R Bharani , Dhadse Ashish , Permude Ashok , Loganathan Sekar
Published: January 2024

Closed crankcase ventilation prevent harmful gases from entering atmosphere thereby reducing hydrocarbon emissions. Ventilation system usually carries blowby gases along with oil mist generated from Engine to Air intake system. Major sources of blowby occurs from leak in combustion chamber through piston rings, leakage from turbocharger shafts & leakage from valve guides. Oil mist carried by these blowby gases gets separated using separation media before passing to Air Intake. Fleece separation media has high separation efficiency with lower pressure loss for oil aerosol particles having size above 10 microns. However, efficiency of fleece media drops drastically if size of aerosol particles are below 10 microns. Aerosol mist of lower particle size (>10 microns) generally forms due to flash boiling on piston under crown area and from shafts of turbo charger due to high speeds combined with elevated temperatures.

High power density diesel engine is taken for our study. It produces aerosol mist of low particle size (below 10 microns) & has fleece media for separation. Aerosol emission of test Engine is reaching till 3.0 gm/hr when operated at rated speed. Particle size measurement using light refraction technique reveals high count of aerosol particles having size below 10 microns. To understand formation of lighter size aerosol mist, turbo charger lubrication is disconnected from engine during measurement. 20 % improvement in aerosol emission observed without turbo charger lubrication. Deflectors are designed in turbo charger oil drain circuit which help the small size oil droplets to coalesce & covert to bigger droplets (above 10 microns) which can be separated more efficiently in the fleece separator. Oil aerosol emission improvement of 20 % observed with introduction of deflectors in turbo charger oil drain circuit. Improvement can be seen across all Engine speed load conditions. Oil aerosol emission optimized without making any change in standard oil separator system.
SUV Multi-Link Rigid Axle Control Links Optimization for Ride and Handling Improvement
Authors: Hussain Inzamam , Jani Harshil , Rasal Shraddhesh , Asthana Shivam , Ahire Manoj , Jadhav Prashant , Lenka Visweswara , Vellandi Vikraman
Published: January 2024

In automotive world role of suspension system is to absorb vibrations from the road, and to provide stability while vehicle is going over bumps or uneven roads, cornering, acceleration and braking etc. For body on frame SUVs which are typically characterized by high center of gravity, it is quite critical to find best balance in ensuring stability of the vehicle and having comfortable ride performance. Rigid axle rear suspension is quite a typical choice in such vehicles, wherein lower and upper control links are two important components subjected to lateral, longitudinal, and vertical loads. These links allow the vehicle to move smoothly throughout the entire range of suspension travel. Kinematics and compliance optimization of these links is a major factor in definition of ride-handling performance of the vehicle. The present study describes key challenges and methodology to define position as well as orientation of control links, where-in multiple inter-related handling and comfort metrics defined to perform sensitivity study. Multi-body dynamics model developed with correlation of physical kinematics and compliance as well as full vehicle ride-handling data is utilized to perform sensitivity analysis. Key contributors such as roll steer and wheel recession have inverse relationship depending on side swing arm length and angle, leading to requirement of investigation techniques to optimize these parameters. The result shows that proposed investigation methodology provides the best suitable ride-handling full vehicle performance metrics.
Effect of Lift Axle Suspension Design on Heavy Commercial Vehicle Handling Performance
Authors: Vichare Chaitanya Ashok , Raval Chetan , Patil Sudhir
Published: January 2024

The cost of fuels used for automobile are rising in India on account of high global crude oil prices. The fuel cost constitutes major portion of total cost of operation for Heavy commercial vehicles. Hence, the trend is to carry the goods transport through higher payload capacity rigid/straight trucks that offer lower transportation cost per unit of goods transported. This is driving the design of multi-axle heavy trucks that have lift axles. In addition, improved network of highways and road infrastructure is leading to increase in average operating speed of heavy commercial vehicles. It has made increased focus on occupant as well as road safety while designing the heavy trucks. Hence, the analysis of lift axle suspension from the point of view of vehicle handling and stability is essential. There are two basic kinds of lift axle designs used in heavy commercial vehicles: self-steered lift axle having single tire on each side and non-steered lift axle with dual tires on each side. The effect of these lift axles on handling performance of heavy trucks is analyzed using multibody dynamics simulations in MSC-ADAMS. The roll stiffness of lift axle simulation models is validated using axle articulation test on vehicle. The change in steady state handling performance parameter with respect to baseline vehicle is compared for two designs of lift axle. Further, the amount of benefit obtained using stabilizer bar is calculated through simulation.
An Integrated Approach Using Multi-Body Dynamics Simulation & Driving Simulator towards Chassis Development for an SUV Vehicle
Authors: Hol Pranav , Prasad Tej
Published: January 2024

Driving dynamics performance is one of the key customer attributes to be developed during product development. In the vehicle development process, freezing the hardware of the chassis aggregates is one of the major priorities to kick off the other vehicle development activities. The current work involves the development of a multilink suspension for an SUV class vehicle. Typically, each OEM performs several product development loops for maturing the vehicle design. The driving dynamics performance evaluation and tuning happens on a physical vehicle with the driver in Loop. Tuning of suspension parameter on the physical vehicle entails actual replacement of parts/components. This encompasses multiple tuning cycles in product development associated with increased cost and test time.

To reduce the product development time and cost while delivering first time right chassis configuration, we took an approach of getting driver-in-loop through driving simulator in the concept phase. The driving simulator is a driver-in-loop system which can simulate real-world driving conditions in a digital domain. A few vehicle configurations matured through CAE were assessed on the driving simulator. One of the best configurations was finalized leading to freezing the hardware of the chassis aggregates. This configuration underwent fine-tuning online wherein no physical tuning hardware samples were required to be developed. This helped us perform objective and subjective evaluations of the vehicle being developed. The use of a driving simulator enabled freezing the chassis hardware and also arrive at the best possible tuned vehicle configuration. This final configuration is signed off for proto development.
Methods to Enhance Vehicle Handling by Improving Steering on Centre Feel and Return Ability in Commercial Vehicles Equipped with Hydraulic Assisted Steering System
Authors: K Arun Kumar , Chikate Abhishek , Kumar Ganesh
Published: January 2024

With rapid improvement in the road infrastructure the average turnaround time of the cargo vehicles has been reduced by 25%.New generation commercial vehicles has better power to weight ratio by integrating high horse power engines. With this latest vehicle configuration average speed of fleet is increased by 30% and more focus is provided towards vehicle safety and handling. Driver confidence on vehicle handling improves with better on Centre feel and return ability, these two parameters are easily tunable with modern electric power assisted steering system, whereas with hydraulic power assisted system these parameters optimization have adverse effect on other steering performance. This paper covers study of following parameters of hydraulic assisted steering system and its optimization on vehicle handling.

1. Steering Gearbox torsion bar stiffness

2. Steering pump flow

3. Caster angle

4. Steering Gearbox valve curve

5. Steering components compliance

Base vehicle level objective measurements is carried out to set the acceptance criteria. Above parameters optimization done in isolation and in combination, rig trails conducted to have optimized combination. Following this vehicle performance trials carried out to verify the improvements. These techniques can be used for enhancing vehicle handling of hydraulic power steering assisted commercial vehicles.
Vehicle Dynamics Simulation Correlation: Impact of Flexible Tyre and Flexible Frame in Comfort Prediction of Two Wheelers Motorcycles and Scooters
Authors: Govindula Srikanth , Pandey Pradyumn , Saraswat Udit , Mishra Ashish
Published: January 2024

For any two wheeler vehicle development, rider and pillion comfort while driving the vehicles over different kinds of road perturbations holds high importance.

Designing a vehicle for comfort starts at the very beginning of its layout definition through vehicle geometric parameters, key hardpoints, mass-inertia distribution of subsystems and suspension characteristics. There is a need for highly reliable simulation models for comfort predictions as any change in layout during subsequent design stages is a very costly affair.

Accurately predicting comfort using a full vehicle model is a challenging task though as it depends on how realistic the Simulation Model is to that of actual vehicle. While suspension stiffness and damping characteristics remain critical parameters for the comfort, selection of tyres are known to hold equal importance in vehicle comfort. The details to which the tyres are captured in the simulation model and the formulation of tyre interaction with roads in a dynamic condition govern the dynamic forces going on the vehicle and hence decide the accuracy of comfort predictions as well.

More often conventionally used tire models and rigid body representation of frame are used in simulation models and don't result in good correlation with test data primarily because of the tire formulation, tire-road interaction and missing dynamics behavior of the frame itself. This paper talks about stage wise incorporation of a Flexible Tire and Flexible Frame in the simulation model and successive improvements in correlation with test data and the weightage of these changes in correlation improvement. The final simulation model is correlated with a physical test on a Prototype Vehicle where the vehicle has been driven over various road obstacles and the same has been simulated in the multi body simulation model. Various parameters like suspension displacements and accelerations are captured for establishing the correlation.
Impact of Toe and Thrust Angle Misalignment on Roll Behaviour of a Heavy Commercial Road Vehicle
Authors: Chandran Amarchand , Grandhe Roshan , Mukhopadhyay Arko , Sharma Mitanshu , Shankar Ram C S
Published: January 2024

Heavy Commercial Road Vehicles (HCRVs) may be more susceptible to rollover incidents due to their higher centre of gravity position than passenger vehicles, and rollover is one of the significant causes of HCRV accidents. Therefore, variation in vehicle roll behaviour becomes crucial to the safety of an HCRV. Toe misalignment is a commonly observed phenomenon in HCRVs, and studying its impact on roll behaviour is important. In this study, the impact of the symmetric toe and thrust misalignment on the roll behaviour of an HCRV is analysed using IPG TruckMaker®, a vehicle dynamics simulation software. A ramp steer manoeuvre was used for the simulations, and the toe misalignment on a wheel was chosen from the range [-0.21°, 0.21°]. Variation in roll behaviour was quantified using the steering wheel angle at which one-wheel lift-off (OWL) occurred (SWAL). Additionally, an analytical model was formulated to predict OWL and the model predictions were compared with the results from IPG TruckMaker®. The data synthesised from IPG TruckMaker® showed that OWL occurred at the same lateral acceleration (0.3g) but at a lower or higher steering angle, depending on the magnitude and configuration of misalignment. Front axle thrust misalignment had the highest impact, leading to a maximum of 3.4% variation in SWAL, followed by a 2.6% variation for rear axle thrust misalignment and a 2.1% variation for symmetric toe misalignment. The formulated analytical model predicted OWL-Axle (axle on which wheel lift-off occurs first) and the corresponding lateral acceleration (0.32g), which agreed well with those from IPG TruckMaker®. The study identified conditions under which symmetric toe and thrust misalignment impact the roll stability of an HCRV.
A Comparative Study of Vehicle Handling Characteristics of Commercial Vehicle with Innovative Nonlinear Stiffness Mono-Leaf Suspension & Parabolic Spring Suspension through Simulation
Authors: Pandhare Vinay Ramakant , Tiwari Chaitanya , Deore Yogesh , Khandekar Dhiraj
Published: January 2024

In recent years due to significant increased cost of raw material, fuel and energy, vehicle cost is increased. As vehicle cost is one of the major factors that attracts prospective buyers, it has created specific demand for low weight and low-cost components than traditional components with better performance to meet customer expectations. Suspension is one of the critical aggregates where lot of material is used and reduction in weight tends to give lot of cost benefit. As suspension system derives vehicle’s handling performance, it has to be ensured that handling performance of vehicle is maintained the same or made better while reducing weight of the suspension.

Advancements in simulation capabilities coupled with manufacturing technology has enabled development non-traditional leaf springs. One of such springs is mono-leaf spring without shackle. This type of leaf spring provides advantages such as low weight and nonlinear stiffness. Hence, this type of spring can cater the need of soft spring and hard spring depending upon loading conditions to get better ride performance. As this type of spring doesn’t have constant stiffness; understanding kinematics and compliance of such suspension system along with its dynamic performance is very critical at design stage and it can’t be predicted easily by traditional formulas and calculations. Such system can be built in MBD software to predict its stiffness and kinematics of suspension & steering system. In this paper we’ve presented MBD model development process for new nonlinear stiffness mono leaf spring suspension using ADAMS and studied its effects of such spring compared to traditional leaf spring on kinematics and compliance of suspension. Also, studied handling performance of the vehicle through handling simulations in Truck Sim software with nonlinear leaf spring. At the last we have compared handling performance of vehicle with nonlinear leaf spring and vehicle with traditional parabolic leaf spring.
Adopting Pothole Mitigation System for Improved Ride, Handling and Enhanced Component Life
Authors: Mishra Satyakam , Prasad Tej , Maruenda Sanz Javier
Published: January 2024

Potholes are a major cause of discomfort for riders and vehicle damage. The passive suspension systems which are used in the passenger vehicles are primarily reaction based. These can’t adapt to the changing road conditions which means the best ride quality and handling characteristics cannot be ensured for different driving situations. Passive suspension system also needs more maintenance due to its inability to reduce the impact of the road irregularities. In recent years, semi-active suspension systems have been developed to improve ride comfort and vehicle safety. This paper covers the integration of a semi-active suspension system with a road preview mechanism with a TATA car model to investigate its impact on ride comfort, handling characteristics and component loads in digital domain.

A quarter car vehicle model is used to compare different active damping control strategies. The best strategy is selected and integrated in a full vehicle MBS model to gain deeper insight on ride and loadpaths.

The simulation results show that the proposed system reduces the vertical acceleration and displacement of the vehicle during pothole impacts. The system also improved the vehicle's pitch, roll and other critical characteristics. Loads on different suspension components also reduced.

Adoption of semi-active suspension systems in a TML passenger cars would lead to a transformation in the performance of ride comfort, handling dynamics and enhanced component life. The proposed system provides a practical and cost-effective solution to address the issue of potholes and has a positive impact on vehicle dynamics during pothole impacts. Overall, it will provide a more dynamic, comfortable and safer driving experience, making it a choice for a high performance car.
Fixed High Ground Clearance Tractor
Authors: A Gokila , Natarajan Saravanan , T Vimalraj , Subbaiyan Prasanna Balaji , RS Vijay , Redkar Dinesh , Gupta Sr Vishal
Published: January 2024

Row-crop intercultural activities are widely affected by unavailability of manpower & seasonal nature. Current tractors with lower ground clearance are unable to access field after certain crop stage, may damage crop after certain growth. Some limited mechanization options available (self-propelled boom sprayer) are of higher cost. Crop care activities are intensive and observed consistent increase in cost. To address these challenges and unlock significant business benefits, a novel retro-fit height attachment for tractors has been developed. This attachment empowers tractors to access row-crop fields with crops standing at a height of up to 3 feet, effectively eliminating ground clearance constraints. The benefits of this innovative solution include enhanced accessibility, cost-effective mechanization, heightened operational efficiency, crop preservation, and improved sustainability.
Development of a Fuel Efficiency Enhancement Module for Tractors
Authors: Arjun P. , Natarajan Saravanan , Chinnathambi Manikandan , A Radhakrishnan , Nabar Omkar
Published: January 2024

In farm tractors, the available drawbar power, and Power Take-Off (PTO) power are generally lower than the engine power due to parasitic losses. These losses are caused by engine-driven auxiliary loads such as cooling fans, hydraulic pumps for power steering, alternators, etc. Minimizing these parasitic losses can increase the available drawbar power and PTO power, resulting in direct fuel savings by reducing fuel consumption. The continuous increase in fuel costs and the environmental impact of emitted gases from burned fuel into the atmosphere have necessitated the replacement of hydraulic power steering and mechanical fans with Electric Power Steering (EPS) and electric fans, respectively, to improve efficiency. The existing battery has been replaced with a higher capacity battery to provide power to the electric fan, electric power steering, and other electrical components. Additionally, the existing alternator has been replaced with a higher capacity alternator to meet the increased power requirements. The developed system was installed on a 45 hp 2-wheel drive tractor, and its performance was evaluated. Field trials were conducted at three testing sites (Sindhanur, Jaitsar, and Tindivanam), resulting in an average fuel efficiency improvement of 8.34%. Haulage trials were completed at MSPT (Mahindra SUV Proving Track), Cheyyar, and achieved an average fuel efficiency improvement of 8.5%.
Viability of Alternative Fuels to Decarbonize the World’s Largest Agricultural Tractor Market
Authors: Hofer Franz Josef , Arnberger Anton , Kruth Ronald
Published: January 2024

India is the market with the highest sales of agricultural tractors and the market with the highest number of agricultural tractor park, as well. Even though taking into account the lower average power of Indian agricultural tractors compared to regions with considerably larger field sizes, their cumulated diesel fuel consumption reaches a significant size. The possible use of alternative powertrains like battery-electric, especially considering the lower power of the Indian tractor market, seems feasible, but might be struggling with challenges in terms of charging infrastructure and the possibly resulting lower productivity due to required charging times. Therefore AVL proposes to investigate the use of alternative fuels for internal combustion engines, a topic which is also being discussed by other global tractor OEMs. In that context the focus is typically on higher tractor powers due to current storage limitations of battery-electric systems and other alternatives.
Virtual Design Validation of Innovative High Ground Clearance Tractor Kit
Authors: Subbaiyan Prasanna Balaji , Nizampatnam Balaramakrishna , A Gokila , Kumar Yuvaraj , Jaiswal Sunny , Perumal Solairaj , Redkar Dinesh , Arun G , Londhe Abhijit , Mani Suresh , Natarajan Saravanan
Published: January 2024

An agricultural tractor is often modified for special farming applications such as horticulture where the standard design is not suitable or accessible. In such cases, farm equipment manufacturers are demanded frugal and cost effect Engineered farming solutions. One such design is the innovative High Ground Clearance Tractor (HGCT) kit offered to increase the Tractor height without damaging the crop during farming operations.

In this paper, the author proposes a durability assessment method to evaluate the HGCT kit attachments to meet the durability criteria. Road load data acquisition is done to measure the acceleration and strain levels for various horticulture operations such as tillage, spraying and transportation. Actual operating conditions are simulated with the help of four poster durability setups inside the lab which helps to reduce the field testing for design iterations. Multi-body dynamics simulation (MBS) is used to front-load the four-poster lab testing in virtual and extract the loads on the spindle for durability simulation.

The transient load's data from MBS on the spindle level is used in FEMFAT Channel MAX to predict the critical locations & component life and shows a good correlation with the test samples. Multiple design iterations are performed to meet the acceptance criteria. Finalized design cleared physical validation and implement successfully in the Tractor.
Experimental and Numerical Investigation of a Single-Cylinder Methanol Port-Fuel Injected Spark Ignition Engine for Heavy-Duty Applications
Authors: Singh Inderpal , Güdden Arne , Raut Ankit , Dhongde Avnish , Emran Ashraf , Sharma Vijay , Wagh Sachin
Published: January 2024

With the increasing focus on reducing CO2 emissions to combat global warming and climate change, the automotive industry is exploring near zero-emission alternative fuels to replace traditional fossil-based fuels like diesel, gasoline, and CNG. Methanol is a promising alternative fuel that is being evaluated in India due to its easy transportation and storage, as well as its production scalability and availability potential. This study focuses on the retro-fitment solution of M100 (pure methanol) SI port-fuel injection (PFI) mode of combustion. A heavy duty single-cylinder engine test setup was used to assess methanol SI combustion characteristic. Lean operation strategy has been investigated. At lean mixture conditions a significant drop in NOX and CO emissions was achieved. The fuel injection techniques and the impact of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on the conventional stoichiometric combustion process is highlighted. Increase of the EGR ratio at stoichiometric operation led to 3% improvement in the thermal efficiency. The typical knock behaviour of the premixed combustion systems is analysed with different ignition sweep and EGR ratio. A higher EGR ratio is found to be beneficial in suppressing the knocking tendency. Moreover, NOX emission well below 2 g/kWh were achieved, of adherence to the major emission legislations. The characteristics of engine aftertreatment are broadly discussed by analysing the engine out emission and operating condition. The article also focuses on development of the validated model using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach. The CFD investigation helps to understand and give insight of the evaporation challenges and wall-film formation at the critical engine components. Overall, the study provides an outlook into the combustion process and system layout of PFI methanol engines for retro fitment from base diesel engine, demonstrating their potential for improved engine performance and reduced emissions.
Dynamic Spark Advance Technology for Gasoline Fuel Blends
Authors: Tyagarajan Sethuramalingam , Kavekar Pratap , Suna Bhagyashree , Agarwal Nishant , Shaikh Wasim
Published: January 2024

Fuel efficiency is one of the most important customer requirement in Indian market as well as very crucial to meet the upcoming regulation like CAFÉ for Indian Automotive manufacturers. Most of the technology changes to meet this challenge, always come with a cost penalty with hardware addition. To counter the above challenge, a strategy has been identified in the EMS software that will dynamically adapt the spark timing based on fuel octane rating. This strategy has resulted in fuel efficiency improvement on Modified Indian Drive Cycle on chassis dynamometer test and as well as on real life road tests using fuels with various octane number.
Assessing the Potential of CBG as an Alternative Fuel: An Experimental Study on Vehicle Performance and Emissions in BS VI Compliant Three-Wheeler and Passenger Car
Authors: P Sakthivel , Mittal Neeraj , Sinha Prabhakar , Sithananthan M , Maheshwari Mukul
Published: January 2024

India's natural gas consumption reached 60.3 billion cubic meters (BCM) in the year 2022-23, with imports accounting for 44.2% of the total consumption. As India targets 15% of primary energy consumption from gas by 2030, the demand for natural gas is expected to grow significantly. In this context, CBG (bio-CNG) which can reduce dependence on imported natural gas, has emerged as a viable alternative to CNG. The government's SATAT (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation) initiative encourages entrepreneurs to establish CBG plants and supply CBG to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for use as automotive and industrial fuels. As of June 2023, 50 CBG plants have been set up, and 128 retail outlets in India are selling CBG as a transportation fuel. The quality requirements of CBG are governed by IS 16087, aligning with the specifications for automotive CNG defined in IS 15958.

To assess the impact of CBG on vehicle performance and emissions, an experimental study was conducted using unmodified BS VI three-wheeler and passenger car CNG vehicles. Commercial CNG served as a baseline fuel, while a commercial CBG sample was used as candidate fuel. The experiments followed the Indian driving cycle (IDC) and modified Indian driving cycle (MIDC) for three-wheelers and passenger cars, respectively. The results obtained from the commercial CBG fuel demonstrated comparable levels of carbon monoxide (CO) and total hydrocarbon (THC) emissions for CNG and CBG fuels. Notably, CBG led to a reduction of 14.6% in NOx emissions for three-wheelers and 9.4% for passenger cars, while non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) emissions decreased by 35.6%. Further, the fuel economy, vehicle power and acceleration of the test vehicles was found to be comparable for CNG and CBG fuels. These findings highlight the potential of CBG fuel, as a sustainable alternative to CNG fuel.
Effect of Natural Gas Composition and Rail Pressure on Injector Performance
Authors: Meena Deepesh , Sharma Rohan , Khandelwal Abhishek , Jadhav Praveen Singh , Pai Devananda
Published: January 2024

The demand for Compressed Biogas (CBG) as an alternative fuel to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is rapidly increasing due to its renewable nature and environmental benefits. However, CBG and H-CNG has variations in gas composition standards as compared to CNG, which may require hardware changes in fuel system to adapt to these variations while ensuring the same performance. Fuel delivery system of CNG vehicle comprises of fuel storage tank, fuel delivery circuit, pressure regulator, fuel rail and injector. Performance of a fuel injector and pressure regulator are critical factors in the efficient and effective delivery of gaseous fuel to engine. This paper theoretically examines fuel flow requirement of injectors with different gas compositions such as CNG, CBG, G25, G20, H-CNG and taking in consideration other factors impacting overall performance. This paper defines one of the approaches to accommodate the variation in fuel composition and rail pressure while targeting same engine performance.
Ammonia as a Green and Zero Carbon Dioxide Internal Combustion Engine Fuel
Authors: Khan Rizwan , Mulukutla Kiran
Published: January 2024

Most of the vehicles with internal combustion engines worldwide use fossil fuels. The widely used fuels available on the market are gasoline, diesel, and CNG. These fuels are getting costlier every year while at the same time generating pollutants through exhaust gases. Hence in the market, electric vehicles are effectively providing pollution-free solutions in the passenger car and lightweight carrier vehicle segments. However, the off-road, heavy-duty, and stationary applications with high load factors, are in general less favorable for battery electric scenarios since frequent charging will be mandatory and time-consuming. Hence, for these applications, the replacement of an internal combustion engine is quite difficult. There are various renewable fuels like ammonia, methanol, and biodiesel under research tests and study. As these are renewable fuels, the cost of these fuels can be lowered during mass production. Here, the idea of ammonia as an alternate fuel is discussed, which can solve the problem of scarcity of fossil fuel, generation of greenhouse gas (CO2) and instant electricity requirements. This technical paper covers the feasibility of ammonia fuel in the internal combustion engine based on the research studies and tests performed for analysis. This study will explain the ammonia fuel characteristics and compare them with other fuels, available technologies of combustion in large bore engines, storage and transport maturity, the impact of change in air fuel mixture on emissions during combustion and challenges in fuel handling due to the toxicity. This will comprise the internal combustion engine exhaust gas emission trend with ammonia fuel. Also, the scope of modification in the existing engines to adopt the ‘ammonia fuel’ with the help of modern design and simulation technology will be covered.
Methanol – As a Future Alternative Fuel for Indian Automotive
Authors: Bandyopadhyay Debjyoti , Sutar Prasanna S , Sonawane Shailesh Balkrishna , Jamadar Mohammad , Rairikar Sandeep , Thipse Sukrut S , Salunkhe Vikas
Published: January 2024

Methanol fuel has attracted global attention from engine researchers since the crude oil crisis and the rise in crude oil prices in the recent years. As it is one of the possible alcoholic fuels after ethanol in an automotive application that can reduce dependence on crude oil. India has also initiated research studies on methanol since the 1980s. NITI Aayog is encouraging the use of methanol as an automotive fuel for transport sector. This desktop study includes the potentiality of methanol as an automotive fuel and the methanol roadmap for India as a biofuel in the conventional gasoline application. It has been seen that Methanol has the potential to be used as a fuel in automobiles to replace gasoline or crude oil-based fuels in terms of engine performance. According to a study, India’s methanol promotion measures will encourage more enterprises to invest in the research and construction of methanol producing plants and development of methanol-fueled engines. However, in order to extract fuel-grade methanol, meeting demand and supply chain requirements, India must invest in additional research and development in cost-effective production processes employing abundantly available of raw materials.

This paper comprises highlights of the potential of methanol fuel in the automotive industry in terms of its quality, properties, impact on engine performance, emissions, material compatibility, production strategies currently in use worldwide and in India, current methanol scenario worldwide and in India, methanol economy and methanol market forecast, Methanol demand and supply for India, safety aspects of methanol handling, and challenges.
Vehicle Diagnostics and Vehicle to Infrastructure Communication through Visible Light Communication (VLC)
Authors: Ali Rifat , N Prem , Natarajan Akshay , Kashi Anitha
Published: January 2024

High Fidelity Communication has become a necessity in various sectors. Different wireless data transfer methods play a vital role in various far field and near-field communications. Wireless communication for transferring data through radio spectrum has been a continuous evolving trend, especially in Automotive Sector, with fleet monitoring, platooning and even connected vehicles. Some important parameters considered in selecting a wireless platform would be bandwidth, data transfer, speed and security. Some interesting advantages of communication over the visible spectrum has led to the evolution of Light Fidelity. Implementation of Visible Light Communication (VLC) in the automotive field might enable safer driving conditions through vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) communication with high data transmission rates and efficient-bandwidth usage. The principle of VLC is based on “line of sight” data transmission through modulation of the light source. Highly reliable vehicle-to-vehicle communication is possible with VLC through transmission and reception of data using visible light as the medium of communication. It also helps to reduce the downtime with on the fly diagnosis of the vehicle. In this paper, we propose a concept that uses VLC enabled vehicles and systems aimed at improved vehicle diagnostics, data handling and road safety. We shall also investigate possibilities of managing and reporting traffic violations accurately by means of deploying the VLC technology in real time applications. The paper also touches upon VLC in hybrid networks wherein it collaborates with the conventional networks to enable wireless communication across various scenarios and environments. Also, this paper would focus on the vehicle diagnostics through ECUs for faster data handling.
Structural Development and Improvement of SCR Assembly Design for Exhaust after Treatment System of a Construction Equipment off Highway Vehicle
Authors: Rahman Shahzer , Chakraborty Abhirup , Perumal Solairaj , Redkar Dinesh , Usulamarthi Ramwarun , Singh Rajendra
Published: January 2024

Construction equipment off highway vehicles are heavy industry vehicles that run on diesel engines. To meet the emission norms, these engines have the Exhaust After Treatment System (EATS) which includes two primary subassemblies, i.e., a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) subassembly to reduce the HC and CO emissions and a Selective catalytic Reduction (SCR) subassembly to reduce NOx emissions. Because of the excessive vibrations in the engine and continuous heavy-duty usage of the Construction equipment, any failures in the EATS system leading to escape of exhaust gas is a statuary non-compliance. Hence, understanding the effect of engine vibrations and proposing a cost-effective solution is paramount in designing the EATS system including the SCR assembly.

A field-testing failure of an SCR assembly has been taken in consideration for this study. Several use-cases were simulated for the baseline design using real world acceleration data and Frequency Response Function (FRF) Analysis was performed to capture the failure mode in virtual simulation. To build confidence in the design and CAE analysis, physical testing was performed, and frequency correlation was achieved along with capturing the failure mode in lab setup. Additionally, assembly strains were observed during lab testing and solution was provided for the same to increase the design robustness. Based on the results of the CAE analysis, design modification was performed to meet the CAE Acceptance criteria. The modified design was analyzed in CAE and Physical Testing and based on the confidence; it was implemented in physical vehicle.

Learnings from the virtual and physical testing have been captured, implemented in other similar designs and DVP enhancement has been done for future design validation.
Optimization of Charging Infrastructure for Fleet Customers
Authors: Munirajappa Chandrashekara , Shrivastava Himanshu , Prasad P Shilpa
Published: January 2024

In a rush to move towards a sustainable future, the number of electric vehicles has risen significantly in recent years. With this, the need for power to charge those vehicles has also increased. In any electric vehicle fleet location, there could be many vehicles with different arrival and departure times and energy requirements, which might vary every day. Depending on the geographical location, the available solar energy might differ. The electricity costs might change on an hourly basis. This in total can affect the charging costs. In addition, a non-optimal sizing of the energy components could result in an under-sized system, where the energy demands are not met, or it could result in an over-sized system, where the owner must invest more than required. Based on all the information related to vehicle charging load, electricity charges, energy intensity profile of renewable energy generation like solar and wind, an optimal size of components, operational cost, and investment required to operate the station can be determined by various optimization methods. The paper is a comprehensive study of a method of optimization that would result in benefitting the fleet managers to operate their vehicles with minimum costs considering load management, renewable energy investment as well as predictively calculating the energy demand of the fleet. This would then help developers, engineers, and OEMs to calculate the required investments to set up charging infrastructure for fleets.
An AI-Based Digital Twin of the Electric Vehicle (Induction Motor)
Authors: Jain Siddhant , Kumar Vedant , Soni Nimish , Saran Amitabh
Published: January 2024

For commercial vehicles, reliability is key since the vehicle is typically linked to the daily earnings of the owner. To ensure continuous vehicle operation, early diagnostics of critical issues and proactive maintenance are important. However, an electric vehicle is a complex and dynamic system consisting of numerous components interacting with each other and with external environments such as road conditions, traffic, weather, and driving behavior. Thus, vehicle operation and performance are highly contextual and for identifying an abnormal operation (diagnostics) the solution must consider the conditions under which it is driven.

To address this, the paper proposes an AI-based digital twin of an electric three-wheeler vehicle. TabNet a deep-learning based model is used to learn and generate near-ideal vehicle behavior. The focus of the paper is motor subsystem. The model is trained using appx 200 vehicles first 1500 km driven data. To ensure, the digital twin model learns near-ideal vehicle behavior, the vehicles used for training are the ones that did not report any issues during the initial and subsequent three months.

Results show that the digital twin model can faithfully reproduce good vehicle behavior with low error while vehicles with reported progressive issues in motor, show higher error earlier thus enabling the service team to do proactive maintenance for these key components.