Numerical simulation of water and heat transport in the cathode channel of a PEM fuel cell

Cathode channel of a PEM fuel cell is the critical domain for the transport of water and heat. In this study, a mathematical model of water and heat transport in the cathode channel is established by considering two-phase flow of water and air as well as the phase change between water and vapor. The transport process of the species of air is governed by the convection-diffusion equation. The VOSET (coupled volume-of-fluid and level set method) method is used to track the interface between air and water, and the phase equilibrium method of water and vapor is employed to calculate the mass transfer rate on the two-phase interface. The present model is validated against the results in the literature, then applied to investigate the characteristics of two-phase flow and heat transfer in the cathode channel. The results indicate that in the inlet section, water droplets experience three evolution stages: the growing stage, the coalescence stage and the generation stage of dispersed water drops. However, in the middle and outlet sections of the channel, there are only two stages: the growth of water droplets, and the formation of a water film. The mass transfer rate of phase change in the inlet section of the channel varies over time, exhibiting an initial increase, a decrease followed, and a stabilization finally, with the maximum and stable values of 1.78 × 10^?4 kg/s and 1.52 × 10^?4 kg/s for Part 1, respectively. In the middle and outlet sections, the mass transfer rate increase firstly and then keeps stable gradually. Furthermore, regarding the distribution of the temperature and vapor mass fraction in the channel, near the upper surface of the channel, the temperature and vapor mass fraction first change slightly (x < 0.03 m) and then rapidly decrease with fluctuations (x > 0.03 m). In the middle of the channel, the temperature and vapor mass fraction slowly decrease with fluctuation.     

Nacre-Inspired,Liquid Metal-Based Ultrasensitive Electronic Skin by Spatially Regulated Cracking Strategy

The realization of liquid metal-based wearable systems will be a milestone toward high-performance, integrated electronic skin. However, despite the revolutionary progress achieved in many other components of electronic skin, liquid metal-based flexible sensors still suffer from poor sensitivity due to the insufficient resistance change of liquid metal to deformation. Herein, a nacre-inspired architecture composed of a biphasic pattern (liquid metal with Cr/Cu underlayer) as “bricks” and strain-sensitive Ag film as “mortar” is developed, which breaks the long-standing sensitivity bottleneck of liquid metal-based electronic skin. With 2 orders of magnitude of sensitivity amplification while maintaining wide (>85%) working range, for the first time, liquid metal-based strain sensors rival the state-of-art counterparts. This liquid metal composite features spatially regulated cracking behavior. On the one hand, hard Cr cells locally modulate the strain distribution, which avoids premature cut-through cracks and prolongs the defect propagation in the adjacent Ag film. On the other hand, the separated liquid metal cells prevent unfavorable continuous liquid-metal paths and create crack-free regions during strain. Demonstrated in diverse scenarios, the proposed design concept may spark more applications of ultrasensitive liquid metal-based electronic skins, and reveals a pathway for sensor development via crack engineering.     

Simplified anode architecture for PEMFC systems based on alternative fuel feeding: Experimental characterization and optimization for automotive applications

The need to reduce PEMFC systems cost as well as to increase their durability is crucial for their integration in various applications and especially for transport applications. A new simplified architecture of the anode circuit called Alternating Fuel Feeding (AFF) offers to reduce the development costs. Requiring a new stack concept, it combines the simplicity of Dead-End Anode (DEA) with the operation advantages of the hydrogen recirculation. The three architectures (DEA, recirculation and AFF) are compared in terms of performance on a 5-kW test bench in automotive conditions, through a sensitivity analysis. A gain of 17% on the system efficiency is observed when switching from DEA to AFF. Moreover, similar performances are obtained both for AFF and for recirculation after an accurate optimization of the AFF tuning parameters. Based on DoE data, a gain of 25% on the weight of the anodic line has been identified compared to pulsed ejector architecture and 43% with the classic recirculation architecture with blower only (Miraï).     

Wrinkling of corrugated skin sandwich panels

Compression wrinkling of composite sandwich panels with corrugated skins was investigated numerically, analytically and experimentally. Semi-circular and sine-wave shaped corrugations were studied. The corrugations significantly increased wrinkling strength when compared with equal mass flat panels. Semi-circular corrugations proved to be highly preferable to sine-wave shaped corrugations due to localized buckling in the latter. Over 40 fiberglass and foam core sandwich specimens were manufactured with semi-circular skin corrugations. These specimens were tested to failure, providing confirmation of the numerical and analytical results.     

Adaptive fuzzy sliding mode control for coordinated longitudinal and lateral motions of multiple autonomous vehicles in a platoon

In this paper, the platoon control problem of autonomous vehicles in highway is studied. Since the autonomous vehicles have the characteristics of nonlinearities, external disturbances and strong coupling, a novel adaptive fuzzy sliding coordinated control system is constructed to supervise the longitudinal and lateral motions of autonomous vehicles, in which the fuzzy system is employed to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions. Due to the low sensitivity to disturbances and plant parameter variations, the proposed control approach is an efficient way to handle with the complex dynamic plants operating under un-certainty conditions. The asymptotic stability of adaptive coordinated platoon close-loop control system is verified based on the Lyapunov stability theory. The results indicate that the presented adaptive coordinated platoon control approach can accurately achieve the tracking performance and ensures the stability and riding comfort of autonomous vehicles in a platoon. Finally, simulation test is exploited to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control approach.     

Efficient coordinated control of regenerative braking with pneumatic anti-lock braking for hybrid electric vehicle

Urban bus has to start and stop frequently due to typical urban traffic conditions, which, however, can be put to good use by regenerative braking. Regenerative braking is a key technology which not only improves vehicle’s fuel economy in mild braking, but also ensures vehicle safety in emergency braking conditions. Because of the inherent limitations of traditional braking system in recycling energy, it is necessary to change its structure to decouple the brake pressure and the brake pedal force. To solve this problem, a compromise design combining traditional pneumatic braking system with brake-by-wire (BBW) system is adopted in this paper on parallel hybrid electric bus. With the transformed braking system, an efficient coordinated control strategy is proposed to solve the problem caused by the different response speeds of pneumatic braking and regenerative braking. The proposed control strategy is carried out, where the road condition varies and different control methods are adopted. Results show that the adopted braking system and the proposed coordinated control strategy are suitable for different roads, and effective in recovering energy and ensuring vehicle safety. At the same time, shorter braking distance and better control of slip ratio verify the performance of MPC compared with a logical threshold-based control. Therefore, this study may offer a useful theoretical reference to the choice of braking system and braking control strategy design in hybrid electric vehicle (HEV).     

Optimal tracking control for automatic transmission shift process

In order to improve the shift quality, a linear quadratic optimal tracking control algorithm for automatic transmission shift process is proposed. The dynamic equations of the shift process are derived using a Lagrange method. And a powertrain model is built in the Matlab/Simulink and verified by the measurements. Considering the shift jerk and friction loss during the shift process, the tracking trajectories of the turbine speed and output shaft speed are defined. Furthermore, the linear quadratic optimal tracking control performance index is proposed. Based on the Pontryagin's minimum principle, the optimal control law of the shift process is presented. Finally, the simulation study of the 1-2 upshift process under different load conditions is carried out with the powertrain model. The simulation results demonstrate that the shift jerk and friction loss can be significantly reduced by applying the proposed optimal tracking control method.     

边界元法在汽车室内噪声建模中的应用

为探讨汽车室内噪声建模的方法,应用边界元法描述汽车车身室内的噪声水平。首先基于Hypermesh有限元软件建立汽车车室空腔有限元模型,然后以NASTRAN的格式导入到SYSNOISE环境中构建单区域边界元计算模型。引进车内座椅吸音材料对室内声场的影响,重新构建包含座椅的汽车室内多区域边界元计算模型。通过在车身室内安置一个点声源进行激励,分别采用单一和多区域边界元法模拟车身室内声场响应,获得在频率0~1 000 Hz范围内车身室内声场的频响函数。经试验验证,通过对比分析可知多区域边界元法计算结论与试验结果较好吻合,这表明多区域法比单区域法具有更高的精度。