AutoMotive News

How Energy is Stored using a Flywheel                Flywheel Energy Storage is a potential energy storage system of the future. They leave a smaller carbon footprint and are one of the most important upcoming technologies of the future in the field of mechanics. Energy Storage Using Flywheels What is Flywheel Energy Storage?                Flywheel Energy Storage is a technique in which energy in the system is stored for future use, just as batteries are used to store energy for future use today.                In batteries, initially, energy is stored by other electrical energy sources or energy is stored from a result of some chemical reaction.                Flywheel energy storage can be compared to the battery in the same way. The flywheel energy storage system uses electrical energy and stores it in the form of kinetic energy. When energy is required from the flywheel energy storage system, the kinetic energy in the system is transformed into electric energy and is provided as o

Tire The tire’s  INNERLINER  -- keeps air inside the tire. The  CASING  (or CARCASS) – the internal substructure of the tire. The tire’s  BEAD  -- assures an airtight fit with the wheel and efficient transfer of forces from the wheel to the carcass of the tire. BEAD FILLER  – reduces flex and aids in deflection. A Tire’s  BODY PLIES  – withstands the forces of the tire’s inflation pressure, provides the mechanical link from the from the wheel movement to the tread are and flexibility to supplement the vehicle’s suspension system. The  SIDEWALL  -- protects the side of the tire from road and curb attack from atmospheric degradation. A tire’s  BELTS  -- stabilize and strengthen the tread, allowing forces to be efficiently transferred to thetread area. Its  BELT EDGE INSULATION  – helps to reduce friction. The  TREAD  -- provides the frictional coupling to the road surface to generate traction and steering Forces. Ribs  are a pattern that includes grooves around the tire in the direction

Electromagnetic Brake                Electromagnetic brakes are the brakes working on the electric power & magnetic power. The works on the principle of electromagnetism. These are totally frictionless. Due to this they are more durable & have a longer life span. Less maintenance is there. These brakes are an excellent replacement on the convectional brakes due to their many advantages. The reason for implementing this brake in automobiles is to reduce wear in brakes as it frictionless. Therefore there will also be no heat loss. It can be used in heavy vehicles as well as in light vehicles.                The electromagnetic brakes are much effective than conventional brakes & the time taken for the application of brakes are also smaller. There is very few need for lubrication. Electromagnetic brakes give much better performance with less cost which is today’s need. There are also many more advantages of Electromagnetic brakes. That’s why electromagnetic brakes are an excel

What Is Nvh ? Noise:                Noise is defined as an unpleasant or unexpected sound created by a vibrating object. Vibration:                Vibration is defined as any objectionable repetitive motion of an object, back-and-forth or up-and-down. Harshness:                Harshness is defined as an aggressive suspension feel or lack of “give” in response to a single input. Noise and Vibration Theory:                A vibrating object normally produces sound, and that sound may be an annoying noise. In the case where a vibrating body is the direct source of noise (such as combustion causing the engine to vibrate), the vibrating body or source is easy to find. In other cases, the vibrating body may generate a small vibration only. This small vibration may cause a larger vibration or noise due to the vibrating body’s contact with other parts. When this happens, attention focuses on where the large vibration or noise occurs while the real source often escapes notice.                 A

Safety Systems in Vehicles | Seat Belts | Air Bags Seat belts                The function of the seat belts is to restrain the occupants of a vehicle in their seats when the vehicle hits an obstacle:                Three-point seat belt: In motoring history, this is the single most significant advance. All credit goes to Volvo’s Nils Bolin for devising it and to Volvo for introducing it in 1959. The three-pointer afforded unrivaled restraint. Its use was a quick, easy one-handed operation. Many improvements have been made to the webbing, mountings, latches, and inertia reels and belts have got smarter in relating to accident severity and occupant weight. In the present day vehicles, seat belts have become mandatory for the driver and front passenger. Some vehicles have seat belts for rear passengers also.                Seat belt pre-tensioner: A spring-loaded or explosive device that reacts to a severe frontal impact by automatically snugging the seat belt tight for fully effective re

Hybrid Drive Trains | Hybrid Vehicles Hybrid vehicles                The term Hybrid drive denotes such vehicle drives with more than one drive source. Hybrid drives can incorporate several similar or dissimilar  types  of energy stores and/or power converters. The goal of the hybrid drive developments is to combine different drive components, such that the advantages of each are utilized under varying operating conditions in such a manner that the overall advantages outweigh the higher technical and cost outlay associated with hybrid drives. Hybrid drive trains                Hybrid drive trains are broadly classified into series and parallel depending on the configuration of the power source. Series                In a series drive train, only the electric power is coupled to the wheels. The second power source converts fuel energy into electric power. This electric power is then passed in a series fashion through the electric drive and motor to the wheels. Typically an IC engine is

Power steering                In heavy-duty (dump) trucks and power tractors the effort applied by the driver is inadequate to turn the wheels. In this case, a booster arrangement is incorporated in the steering system. The booster is set into operation when the steering wheel is turned. The booster then takes over and does most of the work for steering. This system called power steering uses compressed air, electrical mechanisms, and hydraulic pressure. Hydraulic pressure is used on a vast majority of power steering mechanism today.                When the steering wheel is turned, the worm turns the sector of the worm wheel and the arm. The arm turns the road wheel by means of the drag link. If the resistance offered to turn the wheels is too high and the effort applied by the driver to the steering wheel is too weak, then the worm, like a screw in a nut will be displaced axially together with the distributor slide valve. The axial movement of the distributor slide valve in the cylin

Digital engine control systems                Traditionally, the term powertrain has been thought to include the engine, transmission, differential, and drive axle/wheel assemblies. With the advent of electronic controls, the powertrain also includes the electronic control system (in whatever configuration it has).                 In addition to engine control functions for emissions regulation, fuel economy, and performance, electronic controls are also used in the automatic transmission to select shifting as a function of operating conditions. Moreover, certain vehicles employ electronically controlled clutches in the differential (transaxle T/A) for traction control.                These electronic controls for these major powertrain components can either be separate (i.e., one for each component) or an integrated system regulating the powertrain as a unit.                This latter integrated control system has the benefit of obtaining optimal vehicle performance within the constr

Engine cylinder capacity:                Engine sizes are compared on the basis of total cylinder swept volume, which is known as engine cylinder capacity. Thus the engine cylinder capacity is equal to the piston displacement of each cylinder times the number of cylinders, VE = Vn / 1000 where        VE = engine cylinder capacity (liter)                     V = piston displacement (cm 3  ) and                       n = number of cylinders                Piston displacement is derived from the combination of both the cross-sectional area of the piston and its stroke. The relative importance of each of these dimensions can be demonstrated by considering how they affect performance individually.                The cross-sectional area of the piston crown influences the force acting on the connecting-rod since the product of the piston area and the mean effective cylinder pressure is equal to the total piston thrust;  F = pA Where      F = piston thrust (kN)                      p = mean e

Engine-performance terminology                To enable intelligent comparisons to be made between different engines’ ability to pull or operate at various speeds, we shall now consider engine design parameters and their relationship in influencing performance capability. Piston displacement or swept volume                When the piston moves from one end of the cylinder to the other, it will sweep or displace air equal to the cylinder volume between TDC and BDC. Thus the full stroke movement of the piston is known as either the swept volume of the piston displacement. The swept or displaced volume may be calculated as follows:  V = πd⌑2L / 4000 Where        V = piston displacement (cm3)                          π = 3.142                          d = cyclinder diameter (mm)                            L = cylinder stroke (mm) Mean effective pressure:                The cylinder pressure varies considerably while the gas expands during the power stroke. Peak pressure will occur just aft

Piston-engine cycles of operation The internal-combustion engine:                The piston engine is known as an internal-combustion heat-engine. The concept of the piston engine is that a supply of air-and-fuel mixture is fed to the inside of the cylinder where it is compressed and then burnt. This internal combustion releases heat energy which is then converted into useful mechanical work as the high gas pressures generated to force the piston to move along its stroke in the cylinder. It can be said, therefore, that a heat-engine is merely an energy transformer. To enable the piston movement to be harnessed, the driving thrust on the piston is transmitted by means of a connecting rod to a crankshaft whose function is to convert the linear piston motion in the cylinder to a rotary crankshaft movement.                 The piston can thus be made to repeat its movement to and fro, due to the constraints of the crankshaft crankpin’s circular path and the guiding cylinder. The backwards-