The Measurement of Component Friction Losses in a Fired Engine: Part 1 — Experimental Method

Author(s):  
Riaz A. Mufti ◽  
Martin Priest

The direct relationship of frictional loss and fuel economy in an internal combustion engine has resulted in increasing interest in understanding the performance of the engine at the component level. Also for the development of new engine lubricants it would be better to have an in-depth analysis of the interaction of lubricants with each individual engine component under fired conditions. With the advances in data acquisition system and sensor technology, extensive study of the main engine components i.e. valve train, piston assembly and engine bearings has been possible resulting in the development of a versatile engine friction measurement system. Total engine and component friction measurement was carried out on a single cylinder Ricardo Hydra gasoline engine under fired conditions at various lubricant temperatures, engine speeds and loads. The engine was fitted with more than fifty different sensors and to sample/log data from such a large number of transducers, an advanced high-speed synchronised data acquisition system was designed/developed. Experiments are reported for total and component friction at a range of engine operating conditions with SAE 0W20 and friction-modified SAE 5W30 lubricants. Due to the nature of the research work, the findings are presented in two parts. The first part, which is this paper, explains the complex measurement methods used to measure component friction whereas the results are discussed in the second part. This system can be used as a powerful tool for screening engine oils and studying the effect of different additives on the performance of each component under realistic conditions.

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (24) ◽  
pp. 9092
Author(s):  
Edson L. Meyer ◽  
Oliver O. Apeh ◽  
Ochuko K. Overen

This paper centers on the design and installation of a robust photovoltaic (PV)-based microgrid data acquisition system (DAS) that can monitor different PV systems simultaneously. The PV-based microgrid consists of three solar systems: off-grid, hybrid and grid-assisted systems, each with 3.8 kWp located at SolarWatt park, Fort Hare Institute of Technology (FHIT), South Africa. The designed DAS is achieved by assembling and connecting a set of sensors to measure and log electrical and meteorological parameters from each of the three power plants. Meteorological parameters use a CR1000 datalogger while the electrical output parameters use a DT80 data logger. Calibration was done by voltage signal conditioning which helps to reduce errors initiated by analogue signals. The designed DAS mainly assist in assessing the potential of solar energy of the microgrid power plant considering the energy needed in the remote community. Besides, the simultaneous monitoring of the three systems ensures that the outdoor operating conditions are the same while comparing the logged data. A variable day and a week, data were used to verify the reliability of the system. The back of the array temperature was observed to be 42.7 °C when solar irradiance was 1246 W/m2. The ambient temperature and relative humidity were obtained at 21.3 °C and 63.3%, respectively. The PV current in all three systems increases with the solar irradiance and is highest around midday. The results obtained show that the designed DAS is of great interest in PV system developments.


Author(s):  
Sajjad Z. Meymand ◽  
Milad Hosseinipour ◽  
Mehdi Ahmadian

This paper discusses the development of a state of the art single-wheel roller rig for studying contact mechanics and dynamics in railroad applications. The use of indoor-based simulation tools has become a mainstay in vehicle testing for the automotive and railroad industries. In contrast to field-testing, roller rigs offer a controlled laboratory environment that can provide a successful path for obtaining data on the mechanics and dynamics of railway systems for a variety of operating conditions. The idea to develop a laboratory test rig started from the observation that there is a need for better-developed testing fixtures capable of accurately explaining the relatively unknown physics of the wheel-rail contact mechanics and dynamics. Developing a better understanding of such physics would assist with designing faster, safer, and more efficient railroad systems. A review of the existing roller rigs indicated that many desired functional requirements for studying contact mechanics are not readily available. The Virginia Tech Railway Technologies Laboratory (RTL) has embarked on a mission to develop a state-of-the-art testing facility that will allow experimental testing for contact mechanics in a dynamic, controlled, and consistent manner. The VT roller rig is intended to allow for actively controlling all the wheel-rail interface degrees of freedom: cant angle, angle of attack, and lateral displacement. Two AC synchronous servomotors, accompanied with proper gearheads, accurately drive the rotating wheels. A novel force measurement system, suitable for steel on steel contact, is configured to precisely measure the contact forces and torques. The control architecture is developed based on the SynqNet data acquisition system offered by Kollmorgen, the drive-motor and actuator supplier. The Synqnet provides a unified communication protocol between actuators, drives, and data acquisition system; therefore eliminating any difficulty with data conversion among these units. Other auxiliary sensors and measurement systems are implemented to help with characterizing the contact mechanics and contact geometry. This paper will describe the main steps in the design process of the VT roller rig and the final design solution selected. It will also present the testing capabilities of the rig. The design analysis indicates that the rig can successfully meet the set requirements: additional accuracy in measurements, and better control on the design of experiments.


Author(s):  
Xingxing Yao ◽  
Blake Avery ◽  
Miljko Bobrek ◽  
Lisa Debeer-Schmitt ◽  
Xiaosong Geng ◽  
...  

In an effort to upgrade and provide a unified and improved instrument control and data acquisition system for the ORNL SANS instrument suite (Bio-SANS, EQ-SANS, GP-SANS), beamline scientists and developers teamed up and worked closely together to design and develop a new system. We began with an in-depth analysis of user needs and requirements, covering all perspectives of control and data acquisition based on previous usage data and user feedback. Our design and implementation were guided by the principles from the latest user experience and design research and based on effective practices from our previous projects. In this article, we share details of our design process as well as prominent features of the new instrument control and data acquisition system. The new system provides a sophisticated Q-Range Planner to help scientists and users plan and execute instrument configurations easily and efficiently. The system also provides different user operation interfaces, such as wizard-type tool Panel Scan, a Scripting Tool based on Python Language, and Table Scan, all of which are tailored to different user needs. The new system further captures all the metadata to enable post-experiment data reduction and possibly automatic reduction and provides users with enhanced live displays and additional feedback at the run time. We hope our results will serve as a good example for developing a user-friendly instrument control and data acquisition system at large user facilities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 781-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
James BW Roeber ◽  
Santosh K Pitla ◽  
Roger M Hoy ◽  
Joe D Luck ◽  
Michael F Kocher

Abstract. Matching agricultural tractors to implements towed by the drawbar is one of the important aspects of machinery management for ensuring optimum performance and fuel cost savings. A field deployable tractor draft force measurement and data acquisition system was developed and evaluated as part of this research project. A drawbar instrumented to measure draft force in field operating conditions was developed and statically calibrated. The drawbar was calibrated by applying loads from 4.45 to 134 kN using a hydraulic cylinder connected to a 444.8 kN load cell. Testing was conducted with the drawbar installed on a tractor on a concrete track. The Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory (NTTL) load car was used for applying draft loads to evaluate the instrumented drawbar. The track test consisted of seven loads corresponding to maximum power in seven gears. The draft forces as measured by the drawbar were compared to the draft measurements recorded by the load car. The error between draft force measurements of the instrumented drawbar and the load car measurements ranged from 0.21 kN (0.27%) to 0.99 kN (2.88%).There were no statistically significant differences between drawbar and load car measurements confirming that the drawbar force measurement and data acquisition (DAQ) system developed as part of this research can be used for field use. Keywords: Data acquisition, Draft load, Drawbar, LabVIEW, Strain gages, Tractor.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (20) ◽  
pp. 6647
Author(s):  
Piotr E. Srokosz ◽  
Ireneusz Dyka ◽  
Marcin Bujko ◽  
Marta Bocheńska

With the accelerating progression of global climate change, switching to renewable energy sources is inevitable. Wind energy is a fast-growing branch of this industry, and according to the 2021 Global Wind Report, this trend must continue in order to limit the increase in global average temperature. While onshore wind turbines still dominate and account for most recent growth, offshore wind turbines are becoming a promising alternative for geographical, power density-related or even aesthetic reasons. Offshore wind turbines are subjected to more complex loading conditions and proper foundation design is very challenging, however, this is crucial for ensuring and maintaining the structure’s reliability. Soil dynamic tests are one of the bases for wind turbine foundation design. Technical regulations in many countries require such tests to be carried out in a Resonant Column (RC). In this study, a modification of the RC sensors and data acquisition system was introduced in order to conduct in-depth analysis of vibrating soil specimens. The new set of sensors contained five additional accelerometers (Analog Devices ADXL345) attached to the surface of a soil specimen that was subjected to dynamic loading. These accelerometers sent the data to a new data acquisition system, an ARM microcontroller with software developed by authors. The software was able to process test results synchronously with the original software of the RC device. Additionally, the load control system was supplemented with a current pulse generator, which makes it possible to observe the propagation of high-frequency mechanical waves in the tested materials. The modified dynamic testing equipment allowed for the measuring of accelerations and displacements at specific selected points located along the height of the sample, with sampling frequency more than three times higher than that offered by the sensors originally built into the RC device. As a result, some additional dynamic phenomena (i.e., disturbances in the uniformity of vibrations of non-cohesive materials, specimen–device contact imperfections) were observed in the tested soil specimens which remained undetected in standard RC test.


2011 ◽  
Vol 311-313 ◽  
pp. 2430-2433
Author(s):  
Chao Fan Zhang ◽  
Lin Lou ◽  
Hong Wei Huang

In accordance with the present status of real –time measurement for agricultural machine in the field with burdensome in labors, unsafe in testing and backward in testing method.Wireless data acquisition system for testing based on LabVIEW is introduced in the paper. This system integrates sensor technology, WLAN technology, virtual instrument technology and measurement technology. Compared with running cables test, the Wireless Data Acquisition system becomes safe and easy for moving machine. This system can provide a robust, two –way, TCP/IP connection, which can be linked to the networks of Internet easily. For mobile test or bad- condition measurement, a wide application is pointed out in the end.


Author(s):  
Jose Antonio Gutierrez Gnecchi ◽  
Antonio de Jesus Valencia Herrejon ◽  
Adriana del Carmen Tellez Anguiano ◽  
Arturo Mendez Patino ◽  
Daniel Lorias Espinoza

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