MSc in Automotive Systems Engineering

Loughborough University
UK
Module Content
Body Engineering
Vehicle Loading
Design load cases (maximum braking, cornering and traction)
Lateral load transfer during cornering
Role of body compliance in lateral load transfer and vehicle handling
Suspension load calculations
Computational Continuum Mechanics
Fundamentals of continuum mechanics
Plate and lamination theory
Linear elastic finite element method
Non-linear continuum mechanics
The time dimension
Fatigue
Fracture
Vehicle crashworthiness
Traffic injury statistics.
Physics of crash injury causation and biomechanical tolerance of humans to crash
forces.
Principles of Passive Safety (occupant protection).
General crash performance requirements for the car body structure. Structural
crashworthiness for front and side impact
Integration of vehicle restraints and body structure for crashworthiness.
Real world challenges for structural crashworthiness

Calibration and Emissions

Characterisation
Principles of modelling: requirements, form of models, fitting and diagnostic methods;
use of computer tools; methods for selecting appropriate modelling techniques;
properties of algorithms and techniques used for model creation.
Design of experiments (DOE): statistical principles and methods including normal
and Student's t distributions, analysis of variance (ANOVA); the methods, structure
and progression of DOE; factorial, response surfaces and optimal methods.
Optimisation:
Formulation of the optimisation requirement; principles of optimisation; selection of
techniques and application of diagnostics; optimisation in practice.
Operating modes for engine and powertrain and the associated modelling and
optimisation techniques.

Emissions:
Overview of calibration tasks for both diesel and spark ignition including the
application of DOE, modelling and optimisation methods; techniques used for invehicle optimisation.
Application of optimisation to powertrain emissions including optimisation on the test
bed and in the vehicle.
Principles of diagnosis: methods and algorithms; use of embedded models; use of
observers and Kalman-Bucy filters. Application of diagnosis methods to emissions
controls systems and components.
Emissions legislation (performance and diagnosis); the consequential demands
placed on powertrain technical solutions; methods used to develop powertrain
solutions from legislation.

Manufacturing Systems and Integrated Design

Computer Control of Manufacturing Systems: The evolution of real-time control methods.

The meaning and importance of standards, open systems and inter-operability.
Hardware design and configuration including examples of decentralised control systems.
Sequence logic design and programming. Communications, networking and the use of
fieldbus based I/O systems.

Manufacturing layout; line-balancing; inventory management and control.

Computer Aided Manufacturing Systems: CNC machine tools, the major types, axis
labelling, design principles, operation of a controlled axis, types of machine tool, part
description, programming.

Manufacturing Processes: Introduction to Manufacturing Processes related to the

production of automotive components. Rapid prototyping, tooling and manufacturing
systems, processes and practices.

Integrated product/process development (IPPD) and systems engineering tools and

techniques. Approaches to flexibility and modularity for both product and process.
Application of some design to manufacture tools and techniques such as design for
dimensional control, DFMA. The control of dimensional variation on assembly build
through the methods of dimensional management including an introduction to
dimensional variation analysis (using VisVSA or CETol). Case study presentation and
work by way of examples of above.

Sustainable Vehicle Powertrains

Introduction to Advanced and Alternative Powertrain Technologies and future technology
road map
Advanced combustion engines:
Turbocharger: Fundamental theory and applications
Engine downsize: Performances and emission challenges
Advanced engine combustion technologies: HCCI, Miller cycle and other potential
combustion concepts
Alternative transport fuels: Overview of the benefits and characteristics of alternative
transport fuels

In-cylinder formation of pollutant emissions: Fundamentals of the in-cylinder

formation of pollutant emissions from Gasoline and Diesel IC engines.
Electrification:
Batteries: Basic electrochemistry, charging and discharging, battery management for
vehicle applications
Electric Machines: Electromagnetism, electromotive force, back EMF, commutation,
magnetic circuits and materials, conductors, principle sources of losses, motor types,
emerging concepts, efficiency, operating characteristics
Fuel cells: Chemistry, systems, management
Hybrid and electric vehicle powertrain integration: architecture, optimisation,
modelling case studies.

Vehicle Aerodynamics
Introduction to Vehicle Aerodynamics
Relevance, systems engineering approach in aerodynamic development process,
basic concepts, sign conventions, basic vehicle characteristics, aerodynamic design
philosophies, Influence of aerodynamics on vehicle performance. Legislative
considerations.
Origin of the aerodynamic forces: Pressure forces, skin friction, induced drag
General flow field around bluff bodies, front end flow, rear end flow, characteristics of
basic vehicle geometries
Cooling heating and ventilation requirements, basic internal flows
Cooling system optimisation
Crosswind stability: Sources of instability, full scale and model test techniques
Surface contamination
Experimental techniques
Tunnel design, blockage correction, ground plane simulation, scale model testing
Methods of measuring vehicle drag on a test track: Coast-down and steady state test
techniques.
Wind tunnel test methodologies, wind tunnel instrumentation, pressure
measurements, hot wire anemometry, flow visualisation, PIV
Computational methods
Review of computational methods for vehicle aerodynamics.
Governing equations, Numerical discretisation, Introduction to turbulence and
turbulence modelling, Boundary Condition Selection
CAD representation and grid generation, Post processing
Supporting fundamentals
Boundary layers and wakes, interpretation of aerodynamic data.
Origin of the aerodynamic forces: Pressure forces, skin friction, induced drag

Vehicle and Powertrain Functional Performance

Systems Engineering Overview: Introduction to Systems Engineering, contrast to component
engineering, relevance to the modern automotive industry.
Vehicle Performance and Economy: Subjective and objective measures of vehicle
performance, time to speed calculation - transmission efficiency, equivalent mass, launch
from rest, wheel spin, gear change time, design of gear ratios, fuel maps, use of CVT,
steady state fuel consumption, effect of engine type, simulation study in Simulink.

Transmission fundamentals: Drivetrain components; clutch, synchromesh, torque convertor.

Engines:

Thermodynamics: gases and gas laws, thermodynamic processes in reciprocating IC

engines, open and closed systems, engine cycles.
Engine design and operating parameters, engine performance parameters.
Combustion: fuel and chemical equations, combustion processes in SI engines,
combustion processes in CI engines.
Engine breathing and advanced valve-train-review of breathing theories, methods of
characteristics.
IC engines modelling techniques.
Fundamentals of engine mechanics.
Dynamometer measurements, engine dynamometers, chassis dynamometer.

Supporting fundamentals: Review of Matrices, Laplace transforms, eigenvalues and

eigenvectors.

Vehicle Dynamics and Control

VEHICLE DYNAMICS ANALYSIS

- introduction to modelling in the vehicle context

- modelling limitations
- use of signal analysis tools
- sources of ride excitation
- quarter vehicle ride model
- frequency response
- powertrain component modelling
- time to speed modelling
- objective testing methods
- vehicle test specification, data collection and analysis

AUTOMOTIVE CONTROL

Introduction to autonomous vehicle systems

- Recent developments
- System integration (sensors, actuators, communications, etc.)
Vehicle dynamics, control and simulation
- Modelling vehicle dynamics and their environment
- Classical and state feedback control
- Computer based design and simulation in MATLAB/Simulink
Autonomous vehicle path planning/following
- Path planning principles
- Path following algorithms
Sensor fusion and situation awareness
- Kalman filtering methods
- Vehicle localisation (position and orientation)

- External environment sensing (object detection and tracking)

Autonomous functions
- Applications and case studies

Vehicle Electrical Systems Integration

Vehicle safety and crashworthiness; use of passive and active safety systems
Requirements for vehicle electrical systems; analysis of circuits; basic design principles
for electromagnetic compatibility; design principles for systems integration; introduction
to vehicle electrical architecture; introduction to application of power electronics
Introduction to functional safety methods; principles of software design and application
Application of design methods to control of vehicle body functions
Introduction to state-transition methods.

Vehicle Systems Analysis

Vehicle Noise Vibration and Harshness
Single and multi-degree of freedom systems
Noise sources and transfer paths
Basic acoustics
Structural acoustics
Noise path analysis
Continuous systems
Signal analysis
Sound quality
Vehicle Braking Systems
Fundamentals of Braking Dynamics of single vehicles and vehicles with trailers.
Braking systems: Drum brakes, Disc brakes, actuation
Braking performance and friction material parameters
Advanced braking systems: Anti-lock, traction control, electronic braking distribution,
stability control, brake assist, electronic braking control
Introduction to Materials
Structures, Processing, Properties of Metals, polymers and composites.
Application of materials in Vehicles.