Driveline engineering consultancy Drive System Design (DSD) has partnered with software specialists Altair and FluiDyna to develop and enhance FluiDyna’s computer modeling technique, nanoFluidX, that significantly improves the analysis of lubrication flow. nanoFluidX utilizes a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) methodology and increases the accuracy of analysis while reducing the simulation... Read more →


Ronald Grover, staff researcher at General Motors (GM) Research and Development and GM colleagues Jian Gao, Venkatesh Gopalakrishnan, and Ramachandra Diwakar are using the Titan supercomputer at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (LCF), a US Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory... Read more →


Argonne researchers develop ReCell model to gauge impact of recycling batteries from EVs

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have developed a novel model that allows industry, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and others to gauge the impact of recycling batteries in electric vehicles. From cathodes to anodes and electrolytes, Argonne’s understanding of batteries, combined with ReCell, a closed-loop battery recycling model, offers... Read more →


Sendyne Corp., a leading provider of sensing, modeling/simulation, and control products, has introduced CellMod, the first Li-Ion battery simulation tool that can predict cell and pack behavior with a percentage of error of less than 5% under a wide range of test conditions. Unlike empirical models often used today, CellMod... Read more →


Sandia National Laboratories mechanical engineer Jackie Chen and colleagues Alex Krisman and Giulio Borghesi recently identified novel behavior of a key, temperature-dependent feature of the ignition process called a cool flame in the fuel dimethyl ether. The researchers used a two-dimensional direct numerical simulation (DNS) to provide a fully resolved... Read more →


In a new study, a team from the University of Central Florida and MIT has found that the US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards is an effective policy solution that does increase the adoption of EVs, whether it is implemented alone or in conjunction with another policy such as... Read more →


Groupe Renault is taking a 35% stake in a new joint venture, Autonomous Vehicle Simulation (AVS), formed together with Oktal, a subsidiary of Sogeclair, a French aerospace and simulation company based in Toulouse, France. This step will allow Renault and the Renault-Nissan Alliance to continue delivering a menu of advanced... Read more →


Ricardo developing advanced simultation capability for IMPERIUM project for HD emissions reductions

Current state-of-the-art heavy duty diesel engines are both highly efficient and offer low emissions. However, in real-world driving, fuel efficiency and emissions aftertreatment technologies interact with each other and also vary according to the vehicle application, its prevailing operating conditions and its mission. The IMPERIUM project (IMplementation of Powertrain control... Read more →


The global automaker Ford used the combustion modelling tool CONVERGE CFD software package from Convergent Science for the development of its new EcoBlue range of high-efficiency diesel engines. Dr. Werner Willems, Ford technical specialist for combustion systems, said that the Ford team used CONVERGE to refine a number of features... Read more →


Sandia team develops autoignition model designed for efficient, accurate engine simulations

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a model for how diesel engines autoignite. Understanding the fundamental processes that produce autoignition can lead to designs that improve engine efficiency and reduce emissions by optimizing the timing and location of ignition. Sandia postdoctoral researcher Layal Hakim, working with mentors and Sandia... Read more →


Ricardo Software will partner with Modelon to expand Ricardo’s IGNITE product capabilities. IGNITE is a physics-based system simulation package operating in Modelica (earlier post) focused on complete vehicle system modeling and simulation. With comprehensive powertrain and thermofluid component libraries, users can quickly and accurately model conventional to highly complex vehicle... Read more →


Argonne VERIFI team improves code to enable up to 10K simultaneous engine simulations; paradigm shift in engine design

A team of scientists and engineers with the Virtual Engine Research Institute and Fuels Initiative (VERIFI) (earlier post) at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory recently completed development of engineering simulation code and workflows that will allow as many as 10,000 engine simulations to be conducted simultaneously on... Read more →


TriboForm Engineering launches tribology simulation software for metal-forming processes; Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Škoda launch customers

TriboForm Engineering, a spin-out from the University of Twente in The Netherlands, introduced its TriboForm software at Triboforum 2016, a triennial industry conference. Tribology is a branch of mechanical engineering that describes the contact between materials under different conditions. In metal-forming processes, tribology plays a key role through the relative... Read more →


Federal-Mogul Powertrain has developed a simplified transient dynamic simulation model of valve closing action in order to predict dynamic loading on engine valves. By improving the accuracy of calculated deformation and stress under load, the technique enables valve fatigue life to be estimated more reliably and helps to ensure optimum... Read more →


Researchers led by Ashley Weaver, assistant professor at the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University Center for Injury Biomechanics, have developed a method to compute crash injury metrics and risks as functions of precrash occupant position. The process allows for quantification of the sensitivity and uncertainty of the injury risk predictions based... Read more →


The National Science Foundation will provide $2.42 million to develop a unique facility for refining complex, physics-based computer models with big data techniques at the University of Michigan. The university will provide an additional $1.04 million. The focal point of the project will be a new computing resource, called ConFlux,... Read more →


New Argonne engine simulation project investigating effects of uncertainties on engine function; targeting gasoline compression ignition

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory are launching a new simulation project from the Virtual Engine Research Institute and Fuels Initiative (VERIFI) (earlier post) to investigate how multiple variables—uncertainties—interact simultaneously to impact the functioning of an engine. A primary focus of the research will be enabling... Read more →


CONVERGE code optimization yields three-fold increase in engine simulation speed

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory are partnering with Convergent Science, Inc. (CSI), to speed up a key piece of modeling and simulation software to ensure those cycles are used as effectively as possible, reducing product development time and resulting in better engines and savings for... Read more →


RAPTOR, a turbulent combustion code developed by Sandia National Laboratories mechanical engineer Dr. Joseph Oefelein, was selected as one of 13 partnership projects for the Center for Accelerated Application Readiness (CAAR). CAAR is a US Department of Energy program located at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility and is focused... Read more →


Scientists at Rice University and the University of Minnesota recently identified, through a large-scale, multi-step computational screening process, promising zeolite structures for two fuel applications: purification of ​ethanol from fermentation broths and the hydroisomerization of alkanes with 18–30 carbon atoms encountered in petroleum refining. (Earlier post.) To date, more than... Read more →


VIBE provides an open architecture framework for pre-experimental design simulation as part of the CAEBAT program. Click to enlarge. As part of the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) CAEBAT (Computer Aided Engineering for Batteries) activities (earlier post), scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a flexible, robust, and... Read more →


Using a materials genome approach, a collaboration between EPFL, the University of California at Berkeley, Rice University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has searched for high-performance adsorbent materials to store natural gas in a vehicular... Read more →


Researchers at Sandia and Argonne national laboratories have demonstrated, for the first time, a method to successfully predict pressure-dependent chemical reaction rates. It’s an important breakthrough in combustion and atmospheric chemistry that is expected to benefit auto and engine manufacturers, oil and gas utilities and other industries that employ combustion... Read more →


Simulation of injector. Graphic from GM, Edwards AMR 2014 presentation. Click to enlarge. As part of its 2014 ASCR Leadership Computing Challenge (ALCC) awards of processor time (totaling more than 3 billion processor hours), the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science has awarded 15 million hours on Oak... Read more →


Argonne VERIFI researchers applying GSA to investigate combustion engine parameters; seeking cleaner and more efficient engines

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, as part of the new Virtual Engine Research Institute and Fuels Initiative (VERIFI) (earlier post), are using global sensitivity analysis (GSA)—a specific form of uncertainty analysis which breaks down the uncertainty into constitute parts—to investigate a number of parameters in the internal combustion process. By... Read more →


IBM launches $3B, 5y research initiative on chip grand challenges; 7nm and beyond and post-silicon

IBM is investing $3 billion over the next 5 years in two broad research and early stage development programs to push the limits of chip technology needed to meet the emerging demands of cloud computing and “Big Data” systems. Bandwidth to memory, high speed communication and device power consumption are... Read more →


Streamlines showing intake process for an SI engine in a FORTE simulation. Source: ANSYS. Click to enlarge. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected ANSYS simulation solutions to model in-cylinder combustion to develop an advanced test engine that will demonstrate fuel-saving and emissions-reducing technologies. The EPA’s test engine will... Read more →


Caterpillar and Argonne’s VERIFI undertake cooperative virtual engine design, control project; first VERIFI CRADA

Low-temperature combustion regimes show great efficiency and emissions potential, but they present optimization and control challenges that must be addressed before they enter the engine mainstream. Caterpillar Inc. has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Argonne National Laboratory and its recently formed Virtual Engine Research Institute... Read more →


Gamma Technologies, in cooperation with Sendyne Corp., is introducing an advanced technology platform for comprehensive electric and hybrid vehicle simulation that combines Gamma’s GT-Suite vehicle simulator with Sendyne’s CellMod CPM and RTSim real-time solver. This new platform provides total electric and hybrid vehicle multi-physics simulation including engine, vehicle, electric machines,... Read more →


U Wisc.-Ford team develops more realistic multi-component surrogate diesel models for modeling of low temperature combustion

A team from the Engine Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ford Motor, and Ford Forschungszentrum Aachen have developed new multi-component surrogate models for three different diesel fuels, and then examined their fidelity in capturing the characteristics of a diesel engine operated under various conditions, including conventional and low-temperature... Read more →


Transition of flow to turbulence on a wind-turbine airfoil; isosurfaces of vorticity from a Large Eddy Simulation (LES). Credit: GE Global Research. Click to enlarge. GE Global Research, the technology development arm of the General Electric Company, recently completed a research project in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories that could... Read more →


Multi-body simulation of bogies which could be used for virtual certification. Source: TrioTRAIN. Click to enlarge. A four-year, €5.5-million (US$7.3-million) project that could enable manufacturers of rail vehicles to use virtual testing of trains in order to ensure safety standards throughout Europe while making huge savings on development costs is... Read more →


Different views of Modelica: Libraries of model components, models in textual or schematic view, model animation, and plots of model signals. Source: Modelica Association. Click to enlarge. Ricardo Software has joined the Open Source Modelica Consortium (OSMC), demonstrating the company’s commitment to Modelica-based CAE and paving the way for launch... Read more →


Screen shot of a Grid Command Distribution “heatmap” analysis for a neighborhood. Source: Battelle and AEP (data). Click to enlarge. Battelle recently unveiled its new Grid Command Distribution services and software for utilities. The software is a front-end for the open-source GridLAB-D, a distribution system simulation and analysis tool developed... Read more →


MacArthur Foundation grant supports Urban Center for Computation and Data

A new Chicago-based research center using advanced computational methods to understand the rapid growth of cities will receive a $500,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The funds help launch the Urban Center for Computation and Data (UrbanCCD), an initiative of the Computation Institute (CI) dedicated... Read more →


Static pressure. In-cylinder pressure contour after injection. Credit: SpeedSource Race Engineering. Click to enlarge. Earlier this year, Mazda Motorsports announced it would supply racing versions of the new SKYACTIV-D diesel engines (earlier post) to customer teams competing in GRAND-AM’s newly announced GX Class for advanced/clean technologies, beginning with the 2013... Read more →


Good fuel models are required for good predictions. Left: modeling using a reduced n-heptane model (34 chemical types) vs. data. Right: mofe accurate n-heptane model (174 chemical types) vs. data. Source: Reaction Design. Click to enlarge. Reaction Design is introducing the first volume of the industry’s most well-validated available Model... Read more →


Increasing complexity of vehicle design is driving the need for better simulation and more powerful computers. Wagner and Pannala. Click to enlarge. The complexity of new and future vehicles—driven by the need for increasing fuel efficiency and decreasing emissions with ever-changing drive-cycle demands and environmental conditions—is adding unprecedented flexibility in... Read more →