This paper presents experimental test results of a new compressed natural gas direct injection (CNG-DI) engine that has been developed from modification of a multi cylinder gasoline port injection (PI) engine. The major modifications done are (1) the injection system has been modified to gas direct injection using new high pressure gas injectors, (2) compression ratio has been changed from 10 t...

Research was undertaken to determine vehicle size parameters influencing driver fatality odds, independent of mass, in two-vehicle collisions. Forty vehicle parameters were evaluated for 1,500 vehicle groupings. Logistic regression analyses show driver factors (belt use, age, drinking) collectively contribute more to fatality odds than vehicle factors, and that mass is the most important vehicu...

Due to the complex nature of hybrid electric vehicles, control strategies based on engineering intuition frequently fail to achieve satisfactory overall system efficiency. This paper presents a procedure for improving the energy management strategy for a parallel hybrid electric truck on the basis of dynamic optimization over a given drive cycle. Dynamic Programming techniques are utilized to d...

OBJECTIVE This study examined 2-car crashes including one passenger car and one light truck (van, minivan, pickup truck, or sport utility vehicle) and investigated the likelihood of hospitalization, hospitalization charges, and the likelihood of fatality of an occupant by vehicle type differentiating between passengers and drivers. METHODS We used unique data from Minnesota's Crash Outcome Da...

The global development of fuel cell based propulsion has emphasized larger vehicles, with most manufacturers demonstrating a car, van or truck. However, the transportation market in many countries is dominated by smaller two and three wheeled vehicles. A fuel cell motorcycle could replace two stroke scooters that proliferate emissions, as well as, their electric counterparts that require long r...

a r t i c l e i n f o Given the recent trend of raising fuel cost and the increased time-sensitiveness of shippers, an extensive pressure is placed on the motor-carrier industry to meet the time-constrained customer demands at minimum fuel cost. We propose a decision support system that allows motor carriers to route each vehicle such that the vehicle not only visits all the customers in time (...