Tread Wear and Footprint Geometrical Characters of Truck Bus Radial Tires

Wear and mileage performance are the foremost performances for truck bus radial (TBR) tires. There are a lot of researches about the tire wear performance as well as the contact patch phenomenon by using finite element analysis (FEA) method or testing. But there is little published data on the correlations between the footprint geometry and the tread wear performance of tires. In this paper, an experiment on tire-ground performance of TBR tires is carried out by using Tekscan. The real-time changes of contact-area pressure distribution that occurred during the process of continuous load and unload are recorded. Three types of tires that act differently in behavior under normal usage are analyzed. A new method of researching in tire tread wear, which focuses on the geometrical characters of the footprint, is put forward. The experimental results of the three tires are described by using footprint geometrical characters. On the basis of studying the changing laws of footprint geometrical characters during the loading process and considering consumer survey and factory feedback information, the correlations between the geometrical character of footprints and tread destruction form are built. The analyzed results show that a greater contact area coefficient and a steady coefficient of contact result in a better wear performance for TBR tires. The footprint-shape coefficient changing laws in the process of loading are found to have a very good coincidence with the tread wear of the three types of tires. Tires with a smaller footprint-shape coefficient are likely to have an average tread wear while avoiding the shoulder wear first. The proposed research provides a new solution to predict tire-ground performance at the point of footprint and several useful references for improving tire design.

Concurrent topology optimization for minimization of total mass considering load-carrying capabilities and thermal insulation simultaneously

The present work introduces a novel concurrent optimization formulation to meet the requirements of lightweight design and various constraints simultaneously.Nodal displacement of macrostructure and effective thermal conductivity of microstructure are regarded as the constraint functions, which means taking into account both the loadcarrying capabilities and the thermal insulation properties.The effective properties of porous material derived from numerical homogenization are used for macrostructural analysis. Meanwhile, displacement vectors of macrostructures from original and adjoint load cases are used for sensitivity analysis of the microstructure. Design variables in the form of reciprocal functions of relative densities are introduced and used for linearization of the constraint function. The objective function of total mass is approximately expressed by the second order Taylor series expansion. Then, the proposed concurrent optimization problem is solved using a sequential quadratic programming algorithm, by splitting into a series of sub-problems in the form of the quadratic program. Finally, several numerical examples are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization method. The various effects including initial designs, prescribed limits of nodal displacement, and effective thermal conductivity on optimized designs are also investigated. An amount of optimized macrostructures and their corresponding microstructures are achieved.

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS AND EXPERI-MENT OF UNSTEADY THERMAL FIELD OF ROTOR PLATE FOR EDDY CURRENT RETARDER

The physical model based on heat transfer theory and virtual boundary method for analyzing unsteady thermal field of rotor plate for eddy current retarder used in automobile is established and boundary conditions are also defined. The finite element governing equation is derived by Galerkin method. The time differential item is discrete based on Galerkin format that is stable at any condition. And a new style of varying time step method is used in iteration process. The thermal field on the rotor plate at the radial and axle directions is analyzed and varying temperature at appointed points on two side-surfaces is measured. The testing and analytical data are uniform approximately. Finite element method can be used for estimating thermal field of the rotor plate at initial design stage of eddy current retarder.

Integrated Control of Lateral and Vertical Vehicle Dynamics Based on Multi-agent System

The existing research of the integrated chassis control mainly focuses on the different evaluation indexes and control strategy. Among the different evaluation indexes, the comprehensive properties are usually not considered based on the non-linear superposition principle. But, the control strategy has some shortages on tyre model with side-slip angle, road adhesion coefficient, vertical load and velocity. In this paper, based on belief, desire and intention(BDI)-agent model framework, the TYRE agent, electric power steering(EPS) agent and active suspension system(ASS) agent are proposed. In the system(SYS) agent, the coordination mechanism is employed to manage interdependences and conflicts among other agents, so as to improve the flexibility, adaptability, and robustness of the global control system. Due to the existence of the simulation demand of dynamic performance, the vehicle multi-body dynamics model is established by SIMPACK. And then the co-simulation analysis is conducted to evaluate the proposed multi-agent system(MAS) controller. The simulation results demonstrate that the MAS has good effect on the performance of EPS and ASS. Meantime, the better road feeling for the driver is provided considering the multiple and complex driving traffic. Finally, the MAS rapid control prototyping is built to conduct the real vehicle test. The test results are consistent to the simulation results, which verifies the correctness of simulation. The proposed research ensures the driving safety, enhances the handling stability, and improves the ride comfort.

Coupling dynamic analysis of spacecraft with multiple cylindrical tanks and flexible appendages

This paper is mainly concerned with the coupling dynamic analysis of a complex spacecraft consisting of one main rigid platform, multiple liquid-filled cylindrical tanks,and a number of flexible appendages. Firstly, the carrier potential function equations of liquid in the tanks are deduced according to the wall boundary conditions. Through employing the Fourier–Bessel series expansion method, the dynamic boundaries conditions on a curved free-surface under a low-gravity environment are transformed to general simple differential equations and the rigid-liquid coupled sloshing dynamic state equations of liquid in tanks are obtained. The state vectors of rigid-liquid coupled equations are composed with the modal coordinates of the relative potential function and the modal coordinates of wave height. Based on the Bernoulli–Euler beam theory and the D'Alembert's principle, the rigid-flexible coupled dynamic state equations of flexible appendages are directly derived, and the coordinate transform matrixes of maneuvering flexible appendages are precisely computed as time-varying. Then, the coupling dynamics state equations of the overall system of the spacecraft are modularly built by means of the Lagrange's equations in terms of quasi-coordinates. Lastly, the cou-pling dynamic performances of a typical complex spacecraft are studied. The availability and reliability of the presented method are also confirmed.

Dynamics of electromagnetic slip coupling for hydraulic power steering application and its energy-saving characteristics

To improve high-speed road feel and enhance energetic efficiency of hydraulic power steering(HPS) system in heavy-duty vehicles, an electromagnetic slip coupling(ESC) was applied to the steering system, which regulated discharge flow of steering pump to realize variable assist characteristic as well as uniquely transfer on-demand power from engine to steering pump. The model of ESC was established and the dynamic characteristics of ESC were presented by the way of simulation and experiment. Upon the layout of the assist characteristics, output torque of ESC was derived. Based on the ESC model, the output torque characteristics of ESC were simulated under steering situation and straight driving situation, respectively. The consistency of simulated ESC output torque and the one deduced from assist characteristics verifies the correctness of the ESC dynamic model. To illustrate energy saving characteristics of ESC-HPS, energy consumption comparison of ESC-HPS and conventional HPS was carried out qualitatively and quantitatively. It follows that the energy consumption of ESC-HPS decreases by 50% compared with that of HPS.

Joint optimization of sampling interval and control for condition-based maintenance using availability maximization criterion

Most of the maintenance optimization models in condition-based maintenance(CBM) consider the cost-optimal criterion, but few papers have dealt with availability maximization for maintenance applications. A novel optimal Bayesian control approach is presented for maintenance decision making. The system deterioration evolves as a three-state continuous time hidden semi-Markov process. Considering the optimal maintenance policy, the multivariate Bayesian control scheme based on the hidden semi-Markov model(HSMM) is developed, the objective is to maximize the long-run expected average availability per unit time. The proposed approach can optimize the sampling interval and control limit jointly. A case study using Markov chain Monte Carlo(MCMC)simulation is provided and a comparison with the Bayesian control scheme based on hidden Markov model(HMM), the age-based replacement policy, Hotelling's T^2, multivariate exponentially weihted moving average(MEWMA) and multivariate cumulative sum(MCUSUM) control charts is given, which illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Dispersion of the Mechanical Parts Performance Indicators Based on the Concept of Random Vector

To solve the precision and reliability problem of various machinery equipments and military vehicles,some military organisations,the industrial sector and the academia at home and abroad begin to pay attention to the statistical distribution of machining dimensions,material properties and service loads,and the system reliability optimization design with constraints and reliability optimization design of various mechanical parts is studied in this way.However,the above researches focus on solving the strength and the life problem,and no studies have been done on the discrete degree and discrete pattern of other performance indicators.The concept of using a random vector to describe the mechanical parts performance indicators is presented;characteristics between the value of the vector variance matrix determinant and the sum of the diagonal covariance matrix in describing the performance indicators of vector dispersion are studied and compared.A clutch diaphragm spring is set as an example,the geometric dimension indicator is described with random vector,and the applicability of using variance matrix determinant and variance matrix trace of geometric dimension vector to describe discrete degree of random vector is studied by using Monte-Carlo simulation method and component discrete degree perturbation method.Also,the effects of different components of diaphragm spring geometric dimension vector on the value of covariance matrix determinant and the sum of covariance matrix diagonal of diaphragm spring performance indicators vector are analyzed.The present study shows that the impacts of the dispersion of diaphragm spring cone angle on every performance dispersion are all ranked first,and far exceed that of other dimension dispersion.So it must be strictly controlled in the production process.The result of the research work provides a reference for the design of diaphragm spring,and also it presents a proper method for researching the performance of other mechanical parts.

Determination method of permafrost table in seasonal frozen soil areas under“Water-Heat-Salt”coupling

The permafrost table is an important index for the design and construction of roads in cold regions,so it is necessary to find a convenient,accurate and fast judgment method to determine the permafrost table.In this study,a three-field coupled model was established based on the hydrothermal salt coupling within the permafrost and the similarity theory,and the changes of the permafrost table under different temperature,moisture and salt conditions were numerically simulated by considering the transient temperature change and the influence of the permafrost layer on the seasonally thawed layer.In addition,an accelerated permafrost table test method was designed based on the time-domain variation and hydrothermal salt coupling by the similarity theory,which rapidly simulated the permafrost table change under different temperatures,moisture,and salts in the natural environment.Comparing the simulation and test results with the measured values in the field,the errors are less than 3%,which verified the feasibility of the method for determining the permafrost table,and the simulated results are better than the test results.Results show that the results of determining the permafrost table with a single index have different degrees of deviation,and the permafrost table obtained by the temperature index is the most accurate in general,and it is more accurate to use the average value of the three indexes as the permafrost table compared with a single index.

New algorithm of shape-finding of suspension bridge with spatial cables

A new algorithm is proposed to solve the problems of shape-finding of suspension bridge with spatial cables what include tedious iteration,slow convergence speed and even no convergent under some circumstances.In this paper,the stress analysis of the main cable is carried out,and the relationship between the slope change and the coordinate change is found.This paper also discussed how to find the minimum slope point of symmetrical or asymmetric main cable,and the deformation compatibility equation is established and solved to obtain the shape of main cable.The algorithm in this paper can ensure the convergence of the solution for the suspension bridge with spatial cables.The calculation accuracy is high through the demonstration of the calculation examples.

Simulation and Experimental Study on Load-bearing Deformation Characteristics of 11R22.5 Vehicle Retreaded Tire

The finite element bearing deformation simulation was implemented on 11.00R22.5 retreaded tires by ANSYS software in the paper in order to further clarify the bearing deformation characteristics of retreaded tires and improve the performance of retreaded tires effectively.The characteristic laws of bearing radial deformation and bearing lateral deformation of retreaded tire and new tires of the same model under different working conditions were obtained through load deformation tests.The radial deformation calculation results,simulation results and measured results of retreaded tires were comparatively analyzed.The calculation formula of bearing radial deformation of retreaded tires was proposed based on the linear regression principle.The difference of bearing deformation characteristics and ground area characteristics of retreaded tires and new tires were comparatively analyzed.The results showed that the radial and lateral deformation of retreaded tires and new tires is increased with the increase of radial load when the tire pressure was constant,and the increase trend is approximately linear.The radial stiffness of retreaded tires is similar to that of new tires under certain tire pressure and low load.The radial stiffness of retreaded tires is larger than that of new tires,and the stiffness difference is increased with the increasing of load under constant tire pressure and high load.Rubber aging phenomenon in retreaded tire carcass have an impact on the bearing deformation characteristics of retreaded tires,thereby producing great impact on the remaining service life of retreaded tires.

COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS(CFD) SIMULATIONS OF DRAG REDUCTION WITH PERIODIC MICRO-STRUCTURED WALL

Computational fluid dynamics(CFD) simulations are adopted to investigate rectangular microchannel flows with various periodic micro-structured wall by introducing velocity slip boundary condition at low Reynolds number.The purpose of the current study is to numerically find out the effects of periodic micro-structured wall on the flow resistance in rectangular microchannel with the different spacings between microridges ranging from 15 to 60μm.The simulative results indicate that pressure drop with different spacing between microridges increases linearly with flow velocity and decreases monotonically with slip velocity;Pressure drop reduction also increases with the spacing between microridges at the same condition of slip velocity and flow velocity.The results of numerical simulation are compared with theoretical predictions and experimental results in the literatures.It is found that there is qualitative agreement between them.

Optimal control system of the intermittent bus-only approach

To guarantee bus priority with a minimum impact on car traffic at intersections, an optimal control system of the intermittent bus-only approach(IBA) was proposed. The problems of the existing system are first solved through optimization: the judgment time of the IBA system was advanced to allow a bus to jump car queues if the bus was detected to arrive at the intersection, and the instant that the IBA lane became available to cars was controlled dynamically to increase the capacity of the IBA lane. The total car delay in one cycle was then analyzed quantitatively when implementing the optimal control system. The results show that in comparison with the existing system of the IBA, the car delay is greatly reduced and the probability of a car stopping twice is low after optimizing the IBA system.

Synthesis of Aligned Carbon Nanotubes by Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition

Single crystal silicon was found to be very beneficial to the growth of aligned carbon nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition with C2H2 as carbon source. A thin film of Ni served as catalyst was deposited on the Si substrate by the K575X Peltier Cooled High Resolution Sputter Coater before growth. The growth properties of carbon nanotubes were studied as a function of the Ni catalyst layer thickness. The diameter, growth rate and areal density of the carbon nanotubes were controlled by the initial thickness of the catalyst layer. Steric hindrance between nanotubes forces them to grow in well-aligned manner at an initial stage of growth. Transmission electron microscope analysis revealed that nanotubes grew by a tip growth mechanism.

Parallel Distributed Compensation/H∞Control of Lane‑keeping System Based on the Takagi‑Sugeno Fuzzy Model

Current research on lane-keeping systems ignores the effect of the driver and external resistance on the accuracy of tracking the lane centerline.To reduce the lateral deviation of the vehicle,a lane-keeping control method based on the fuzzy Takagi-Sugeno(T-S)model is proposed.The method adopts a driver model based on near and far visual angles,and a driver-road-vehicle closed-loop model based on longitudinal nonlinear velocity variation,obtaining the expected assist torque with a robust H∞controller which is designed based on parallel distributed compensation and linear matrix inequality.Considering the external influences of tire adhesion and aligning torque when the vehicle is steering,a feedforward compensation control is designed.The electric power steering system is adopted as the actuator for lane-keeping,and active steering redressing is realized by a control motor.Simulation results based on Carsim/Simulink and real vehicle test results demonstrate that the method helps to maintain the vehicle in the lane centerline and ensures driving safety.

Real-Time Electrostatic Monitoring of Wear Debris for Wind Turbine Gearbox

Engineering practice has shown that early faults of gearboxes are a leading maintenance cost driver that can easily lower the profit from a wind turbine operation.A novel oil-lubricated electrostatic monitoring of wear debris for a wind turbine gearbox is presented.The continuous wavelet transform(CWT)is used to eliminate the noises of the original electrostatic signal.The kurtosis and root mean square(RMS)values of the time domain signal are extracted as the characteristic parameters to reflect the deterioration of the gearbox.The overall tendency of electrostatic signals in accelerated life test is analyzed.In the eighth cycle,the abnormal wear in the wind turbine gearbox is detected by electrostatic monitoring.A comparison with the popular MetalScan monitoring is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the electrostatic monitoring method.The results demonstrate that the electrostatic monitoring method can detect the fault accurately.

A Numerical Investigation of the Thermal Performances of an Array of Heat Pipes for Battery Thermal Management

A comparative numerical study has been conducted on the thermal performance of a heat pipe cooling system considering several influential factors such as the coolant flow rate,the coolant inlet temperature,and the input power.A comparison between numerical data and results available in the literature has demonstrated that our numerical procedure could successfully predict the heat transfer performance of the considered heat pipe cooling system for a battery.Specific indicators such as temperature,heat flux,and pressure loss were extracted to describe the characteristics of such a system.On the basis of the distributions of the temperature ratio of the battery surface,together with the heat flux and the streamlines around the heat pipe condenser,we conclude that the low disturbance of the coolant is the cause of the temperature gradient along the fluid flow direction.

Sheet material lifting mechanism of the manipulator

At present,machine fixed up and down repeatedly work is done by human.Although it is low cost and easy to change plate,there are many shortcomings of the work injury and the low work efficiency.Foreign automatic loading and unloading device has been developed,but the principle is more complex,the cost is higher,the energy consumption is larger,so the automatic loading and unloading robot came into being.Aiming at the transportation of mechanical raw material,an automatic device is designed to transport the scheduled raw materials to the specified position according to the processing requirements.The device has the characteristics of the simple operation,the rapid response and the large range of activities,and has obvious economic and environmental benefits.There is certain popularization value.

Design of transfer device for magnetic thin sheet material

In order to realize the processing and retrieval of magnetic thin sheet materials in industrial production, this paper proposed a kind of transfer device for magnetic thin sheet raw material, which uses rodless cylinders as the main motive device and the programmable logic controller(PLC) to achieve the required functions, and applies the finite element analysis method to analyze its main components in the end of the design.

Evolution of electrochemically induced stress and its effect on the lithium-storage performance of graphite electrode

The electrochemically induced stress is a key factor that affects the lithium-storage performance of electrode materials.In this study,the origin and evolution of the electrochemically induced stress of the graphite electrode were investigated by in situ experiments and simulations.An in situ optical experiment was performed to observe the electrode color to analyze the concentration and diffusion process of lithium ions inside the graphite electrode.An electrochemical-mechanical coupling model under the same experimental conditions was developed and verified by the experimental lithium concentration,and characterization of the spatiotemporal evolution of the potential,lithium concentration,and stress during the diffusion process was realized.The results showed that lithium intercalation leads to compressive stress,which presents a gradient distribution along the Li+diffusion path,and it exhibits a“piecewise”nonlinear growth trend with increasing lithiation time.In addition,as the potential decreases,the stress increases from slow to fast relative to the lithium-concentration increase,showing the characteristic of stages.The influence of stress on the lithium-storage performance is discussed using the local lithium-intercalation rate and phase-interface migration speed as the key parameters.The lithiation mechanism was analyzed from the perspective of the energy,and it was found that the two factors cause the slow diffusion in the late stage of lithiation,thus affecting the actual lithium-storage performance.This study will enhance the understanding of the electro-chemo-mechanical coupling mechanism and provide guidance for enhancing stress-regulated battery performance.