Grinding and fine finishing of future automotive powertrain components

The automotive industry is undergoing a major transformation driven by regulations and a fast-paced electrification. A critical analysis of technological trends and associated requirements for major automotive powertrain components is carried out in close collaboration with industry – covering the perspectives of OEMs, suppliers, and machine builders. The main focus is to review the state of the art with regard to grinding, dressing, texturing and fine-finishing technologies. A survey of research papers and patents is accompanied by case studies that provide further insights into the production value chain. Finally, key industrial and research challenges are summarized

Performance and Safety Enhancement Strategies in Vehicle Dynamics and Ground Contact

Recent trends in vehicle engineering are testament to the great efforts that scientists and industries have made to seek solutions to enhance both the performance and safety of vehicular systems. This Special Issue aims to contribute to the study of modern vehicle dynamics, attracting recent experimental and in-simulation advances that are the basis for current technological growth and future mobility. The area involves research, studies, and projects derived from vehicle dynamics that aim to enhance vehicle performance in terms of handling, comfort, and adherence, and to examine safety optimization in the emerging contexts of smart, connected, and autonomous driving.This Special Issue focuses on new findings in the following topics:(1) Experimental and modelling activities that aim to investigate interaction phenomena from the macroscale, analyzing vehicle data, to the microscale, accounting for local contact mechanics; (2) Control strategies focused on vehicle performance enhancement, in terms of handling/grip, comfort and safety for passengers, motorsports, and future mobility scenarios; (3) Innovative technologies to improve the safety and performance of the vehicle and its subsystems; (4) Identification of vehicle and tire/wheel model parameters and status with innovative methodologies and algorithms; (5) Implementation of real-time software, logics, and models in onboard architectures and driving simulators; (6) Studies and analyses oriented toward the correlation among the factors affecting vehicle performance and safety; (7) Application use cases in road and off-road vehicles, e-bikes, motorcycles, buses, trucks, etc

Machine Learning in Tribology

Tribology has been and continues to be one of the most relevant fields, being present in almost all aspects of our lives. The understanding of tribology provides us with solutions for future technical challenges. At the root of all advances made so far are multitudes of precise experiments and an increasing number of advanced computer simulations across different scales and multiple physical disciplines. Based upon this sound and data-rich foundation, advanced data handling, analysis and learning methods can be developed and employed to expand existing knowledge. Therefore, modern machine learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (AI) methods provide opportunities to explore the complex processes in tribological systems and to classify or quantify their behavior in an efficient or even real-time way. Thus, their potential also goes beyond purely academic aspects into actual industrial applications. To help pave the way, this article collection aimed to present the latest research on ML or AI approaches for solving tribology-related issues generating true added value beyond just buzzwords. In this sense, this Special Issue can support researchers in identifying initial selections and best practice solutions for ML in tribology

Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1980

This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes over 780 research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses resulting from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1980. All the publications were announced in Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports and/or International Aerospace Abstracts

Atomic Force Microscopy to evaluate the effect of concentration and reciprocal position on ZDDP tribofilm topography and an assessment of its ability to determine tribofilm durability

ZDDP has been used in most vehicles since the early 1950s; however, it has been proven to reduce the efficiency of catalytic converters. The incoming Euro 6 legislation introduces a stricter restriction on harmful emissions, increasing the importance of achieving maximum efficiency from catalytic converters. Therefore, it is necessary to remove ZDDP from cars. However, ZDDP is an effective anti-wear additive, without which modern cars, with tight design tolerances, are unable to function. Previous work has shown that the morphology of ZDDP tribofilms can relate to their anti-wear efficacy; however, no previous work has undertaken a robust characterisation, considering both the topography and durability, of ZDDP tribofilms. This research activity has shown that the concentration of ZDDP within a base oil affects the resultant pad topography in the tribofilm, with higher concentrations resulting in smaller but more evenly distributed pads. It has also shown that for lower concentrations the position along a reciprocating stroke influences the topography, with regions that experience lower lambda ratios displaying topography similar to that seen for higher concentrations. This effect is understood to occur as a result of increased shearing of the ZDDP resulting in the adherence of more, but shorter, polyphosphate chains to the surface and a hypothesis for how this occurs is presented. This thesis also demonstrates the potential of AFM for use in assessing the durability of ZDDP tribofilms. It has been shown that the AFM can be used to conduct a semi-quantitative assessment, with the potential for further improvements to be developed. It has also been shown that there can be an effect of the ZDDP concentration used to form a ZDDP tribofilm on its durability. The upper layer of the ZDDP tribofilm can be easily manipulated by the AFM tip, and two hypotheses are presented to explain this phenomenon

Numerical analysis of fatigue crack growth in welded joints with multiple defects

In the case of welded steel structures (such as pressure equipment), welded joints are often critical location for stress concentrations, due to different mechanical properties and chemical composition compared to the parent material, and due to changes in geometry. In addition, the presence of imperfections (defects) in welded joints can contribute to the increase in local stress, resulting in crack initiation. Recently, standards that are related to acceptable dimensions of various types of defects in welded joints started taking fatigue loading into account as well. For the purpose of this research, a 3D numerical model was made, of a welded joint with different types of defects (linear misalignment and a crack in the weld metal), based on the previous work, which involved static loading of the same specimen. In this case, fatigue was taken into account, and the simulation was performed using ABAQUS software, as well as Morfeo, an add-on used for determining the fatigue behaviour of structures via XFEM (extended finite element method). The welded joint was made using steel P460NL1 as the parent material, and EPP2NiMo2 wire was used for the weld metal. An additional model was made, whose defects included a crack and an overhang. Fatigue crack growth analysis was performed for this model as well, and the results for stress intensity factors and stress/strain distribution were compared in order to obtain information about how different defects can affect the integrity of a welded joint

The influence of oxide deposits on the remaining life and integrity of pressure vessels equipment

In this paper is presented the principle of application of fracture mechanics parameters in determining the integrity of rotary equipment. The behavior of rotary equipment depends on presence of cracks and basically determines the integrity and life of such equipment. The locations of stress concentration (i.e. radius changes) represent a particular problem in rotary equipment, and they are the most suitable places for the occurrence of microcracks i.e. cracks due to fatigue load. This problem is most common in the shaft of relatively large dimensions, for example, turbine shafts in hydropower plants made of high-strength carbon steel with relatively low fracture toughness, and relatively low resistance to crack formation and growth. Having in mind that rotary equipment represents the great risk in the exploitation, whose occasional failures often had severe consequences, it is necessary detail study of their integrity. For this purpose, it is necessary application of parameters of linear-elastic fracture mechanics, such as stress intensity factor, which range defines the rate of crack growth (Parisian law), and its critical value (fracture toughness) determines the critical crack length. The procedures for determining the critical crack length will be described using the fracture mechanics parameters

Using the fracture mechanics parameters in assessment of integrity of rotary equipment

In this paper is presented the principle of application of fracture mechanics parameters in determining the integrity of rotary equipment. The behavior of rotary equipment depends on presence of cracks and basically determines the integrity and life of such equipment. The locations of stress concentration (i.e. radius changes) represent a particular problem in rotary equipment, and they are the most suitable places for the occurrence of microcracks i.e. cracks due to fatigue load. This problem is most common in the shaft of relatively large dimensions, for example, turbine shafts in hydropower plants made of high-strength carbon steel with relatively low fracture toughness, and relatively low resistance to crack formation and growth. Having in mind that rotary equipment represents the great risk in the exploitation, whose occasional failures often had severe consequences, it is necessary detail study of their integrity. For this purpose, it is necessary application of parameters of linear-elastic fracture mechanics, such as stress intensity factor, which range defines the rate of crack growth (Parisian law), and its critical value (fracture toughness) determines the critical crack length. The procedures for determining the critical crack length will be described using the fracture mechanics parameters