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EV-STS Confidential

Project Presentation Slides and Executive

Summaries

Efficient Vehicles and Sustainable Transportation Systems

An NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center-in-Planning

EV-STS Planning Meeting June 15-16, 2015

Seelbach Hilton Hotel Louisville, Kentucky

Center for Efficient Vehicles and Sustainable Transportation Systems

National Science Foundation WHERE DISCOVERIES BEGIN

Planning Meeting Project Presentations

This Page Intentionally Blank


Contents

Electrified Vehicle Powertrains Proposal Presentations (EPW)

EPP1 High Energy Density and Durable Battery System for Electric Vehicles, Mahendra Sunkara

(presenter) and Gamini Sumanasekera, University of Louisville ........................................... 5

EPP2 Design of High-Density Converter using Wide Band-Gap Seminconductors and Advanced

Magnetics, Andrew Lemmon (presenter) and Yang-Ki Hong, University of Alabama ....... 11

EPP3 High Frequency Efficient DC-DC Converters for High Power Density Applications, Raja

Ayyanar, Arizona State University ....................................................................................... 17

EPP4 Comprehensive Design and Operation Paradigm for Wide-Bandgap Inverters in Electric

Vehicles, Daniel Costinett (presenter), Leon Tolbert, Fred Wang, Benjamin Blalock, and

Burak Ozpineci, University of Tennessee ............................................................................. 23

EPP5 High-Energy, High-power Lithium-Sulfur Batteries, Arumugam Manthiram (presenter: Ron

Matthews), University of Texas at Austin ............................................................................ 29

EPP6 High Voltage-High Power Electronic Devices for HEV and EV Applications, Srabanti

Chowdhury and Hongbin Yu (presenter), Arizona State University .................................... 35

EPP7 High Density Integration and Packaging for Efficient Power Electronics, Hongbin Yu, Arizona

State University ..................................................................................................................... 41

EPP8 A Novel Hybrid Catalyst for Fuel Cell Vehicle Applications, Sam Park (presenter) and Gamini

Sumanesekera, University of Louisville ............................................................................... 47

Advanced Conventional Powertrain and Alternative Fuel Proposal Presentations (CPP)

CPP1 Natural Gas Engines: Emissions and Efficiency, Ron Matthews, University

of Texas at Austin ................................................................................................................. 53

CPP2 Model-Based Control and Optimization of Powertrain Systems and Construction

Equipment, Hwan-Sik Yoon, University of Alabama .......................................................... 59

CPP3 Multi-Physics Modeling and Simulation of Flow in High Performance Direct

Injection CNG Engines, Yongsheng Lian, University of Louisville .................................... 63

CPP4 Direct-Injection Spray Enleanment during Deceleration Phase, Paul Puzinauskas,

University of Alabama .......................................................................................................... 69

CPP5 Improving Heavy-Duty Engine Efficiency, Ron Matthews, University of Texas at

Austin .................................................................................................................................... 75


Contents - Continued

Non-Powertrain Vehicle Systems Proposal Presentations (VSP)

VSP1 Next-Generation Telematics via 5G and Low-Profile Multiband Magnetic and 5G Telematics

Antennas, Yang-Ki Hong (presenter) and Fei Hu, University of Alabama .......................... 81

VSP2 Low Cost, Renewable/Sustainable Materials and Smart Architectures for High Performance,

Lightweight Automotive Composites, Jagannadh Satyavolu (presenter) and Thad Druffel,

University of Louisville ........................................................................................................ 87

VSP3 Multi MHz DC-DC Converters for Automotive Power Management, Raja Ayyanar, Arizona

State University ..................................................................................................................... 93

VSP4 Integrated Multi-Function Power Conversion for Reduced Weight Vehicle Power Systems,

Daniel Costinett (presenter), Leon Tolbert, Fred Wang, Benjamin Blalock, and Burak

Ozpineci, University of Tennessee ....................................................................................... 99

Ground Transportation Systems and Infrastructure Proposal Presentations (TSP)

TSP1 Urban Parcel Pickup and Delivery Services using All-Electric Trucks, Rajan Batta,

SUNY-Buffalo ................................................................................................................... 105

TSP2 The Role of New EV Options in US Fleet Evolution, Kara Kockelman (presenter: Ron

Matthews), University of Texas at Austin ......................................................................... 111

TSP3 Store Fulfillment for Online Orders: Optimization Models in a Collaborative Store

Environment, Qing He, SUNY-Buffalo ............................................................................. 117

TSP4 Lightweight Electric Vehicle (LEV) Influence on Traffic Mode Choice, Trip Purposes

and Driving Behavior in Multimodal Transportation System, Christopher Cherry,

University of Tennessee ..................................................................................................... 123

TSP5 Optimal EV Charging Schedule to Stabilize Both Transportation and Electric Power,

HyungSeon Oh, SUNY-Buffalo ........................................................................................ 129

TSP6 Driver-Specific Fuel Economy Estimates: Using Big Data and Information Science to

Create Accurate, Personalized MPG Estimates, Asad J. Khattak (presenter) and David L.

Greene, University of Tennessee ....................................................................................... 135

TSP7 eSTAT: Improving the Efficiency of Electric Taxis with Transfer-Allowed Rideshare,

Chungming Qiao, SUNY-Buffalo ...................................................................................... 141

Presentation Executive Summaries ....................................................................................................... 147

EVP1 - High Energy Density and Durable Battery System for Electric Vehicles

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Slide 1EV-STS Planning Meeting, June 15-16, 2015

High Energy Density and Durable Battery System for

Electric Vehicles (EVP1)

Mahendra Sunkara and Gamini Sumanasekera

Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research

University of Louisville

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EV-STS Planning Meeting, June 15-16, 2015 Slide 2

Focus of Project / Need and Industrial Relevance

Focus of Project

High energy density Li-hosting nano-structuresd anodes and durable sulfur

cathode using traditional electrolyte with an additive that will improve sulfur

retention at cathode.

Need and Industrial Relevance

• Need new battery chemistries that will reduce the costs ($/kWh) and

increase the energy density (Wh/Kg) by two or three times to make a

transformational impact on electric vehicles.

• Realization of 40 km range (for EV & PHEV) high energy battery using Li-

S technology by achieving specific energy of 400 Wh/kg.

• Realization of energy capacity better than 250 mAh/g for 200 cycles at C/3

recharging rate with proven safety at low cost and capability for large

scale production.

• Need high energy density anode materials for current lithium ion battery

technology to replace currently used low energy density and potentially

unsafe, carbon anodes.


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Project Purpose and Goals

High Energy Density and Durable Prelithiated Anodes

Here we propose to develop high energy density anode materials (Si, SnO2 etc.)

based on lithiated nanowire architectures (nanowire arrays or nanowire powders)

on copper foils. Lithium will be incorporated into the anode by either (i) direct

reaction with Li salts under controlled conditions or (ii) electrochemical means

during first cycle discharge against Li metal. Nanowire surfaces will also be

modified with ultrathin layers of titania or alumina for reducing the irreversible

capacity loss during initial cycles and improving the cycle durability. Lithiated

nanostructured anode will be incorporated in the coin cell full cell configuration.

Novel Sulfur Cathode Formulation

We propose a new cathode formulation based on metal-poly-sulfides and

encapsulation procedures for improving durability of sulfur cathode through

improved conductivity and sulfur redox chemistry. Elemental sulfur is essentially

nonpolar and non-conductive, and we expect the metal polysulfide species with

increasing sulfur content to also be poorly conductive. Thus, high surface area

conductive mesoporous carbon materials (e.g., graphitic fibers, carbon nanotubes,

graphenes, reduced graphene oxides) and appropriate binders (PVDF, PEO) will

also be formulated into the cathode composition. Such encapsulation facilitates

mitigation of the polysulfide shuttle to extend the cycle-life of Li-S batteries.

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Project Purpose and Goals - Continued

Fabrication and Testing of Full Li-S Cells

In this objective, we propose to optimize full Li-S cells using our high energy

density anode and cathode using special liquid and ionic-liquid based solid

polymer electrolytes. In the case of liquid electrolyte, polysulfide shuttling will be

reduced by using additives (such as P2S5, LiNO3) to the electrolyte. By using the

solid polymer electrolyte in our Li-S batteries, we plan to completely eliminate the

polysulfide shuttling between the electrodes. All-solid Li-S battery configuration will

have added benefits to limit the detrimental effects such as dendritic growth of

lithium, SEI formation, sulfur cathode dissolution, and self-discharge etc.


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Primary Project Objectives

This research attempts to overcome

important shortcomings in present Li-S

battery chemistry through use of:

• High capacity nanostructures to host Li

replacing lithium metal anode;

• Sulfur supporting microporous

nanostructures with high surface area to

trap sulfur/polysulfides;

• Proper additives to the electrolyte to

mitigate polysulfide shuttling.

A.Martinez-Garcia et al., “High rate and durable, binder free anode based on silicon loaded MoO3 nanoplatelets”, Scientific

Reports (Nature), 5, Article Number 10530, doi:10.1038/srep10530 (2015).

P. Meduri et al., “Hybrid Tin Oxide Nanowires as Stable and High Capacity Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries”, Nano Lett., 9(2),

612 (2009).

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Novel Aspects of Project

• Use of prelithiated anode materials to prevent the use of lithium metal

anode when using sulfur cathode and also to reduce irreversible capacity

in the first two cycles.

• Innovations in electrode architectures for durability and high capacity

retention for both anodes and sulfur cathode.

• Optimized electrolyte/membrane for improved lithium transport and

reduced transport of sulfur cross-over and additives for reducing sulfur

loss to enhance durability.


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Approach and Methods

Proven high capacity anodes: tin/tin oxide

nanowires; Lithiated molybdenum oxide compounds;

prelithiated Silicon nanostructures.

Innovative sulfur cathode: coated

nanoscale sulfur.

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Outcomes/Deliverables

• In the first 6 months of the project, we will

develop and screen several of our anode

and cathode materials with different

electrolytes and additives to achieve our

target capacity.

• In the next six months we will demonstrate

a 4 mAh full cell for more than 100 cycles

at a 1C rate at a capacity of 350 Wh/kg

and a 1.4 kW rating.


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Expected Impacts

• Significant progress on the improvement of Li/S cells will lead to efficient

hybrid/EV development.

• Low cost, non-toxic, environmentally benign batteries for automotive

applications.

• Battery pack specific energy for 300 mile range: 300 Wh/kg (EV target).

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Project Administration

Project Duration One year.

Estimated Budget $50,032 in center funds, $66,841 in institutional match, $116,873 total funding.

Personnel One research faculty member, one doctoral level graduate research assistant, one

undergraduate research assistant, senior faculty oversight and mentoring.

Item EV-STS Request Matching Funds Net Funding

Salaries and Stipends 27,667 20,000 47,667

M. Sunkara (0.1/1.0) 1,000 10,000 11,000

G. Sumanasekera( 0.1/1.0) 22,000 0 22,000

Graduate Research Assistant (6.0/0.0) 3,667 0 3,667

UG Research Assistant (2.0/0.0) 1,000 10,000 11,000

Fringe Benefits 12,817 8,166 20,983

Other Direct Costs 5,000 0 5,000

Supplies and Equipment 3,000 0 3,000

Travel 2,000 0 2,000

Total Direct Costs 45,484 28,166 73,650

Indirect Costs (10% Request/50% Match) 4,548 14,083 18,631

I/UCRC Indirect Cost Waiver (40%) --- 18,194 18,194

Items Not Charged F&A 0 24,592 24,592

GRA Tuition 0 24,592 24,592

Budget Totals $50,032 $66,841 $116,873

Note Salary lines parenthetically list in person-months the effort level

covered by the center request and matching funds, respectively.


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Questions?

EPP2 - Design of High-Density Converters using Wide Band-Gap

Semiconductors and Advanced Magnetics

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Design of High-Density Converters using Wide Band-Gap

Semiconductors and Advanced Magnetics (EPP2)

Andrew Lemmon and Yang-Ki Hong

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

The University of Alabama

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Project Focus, Need, and Industrial Relevance

Focus

Enable improved efficiency and power density of power electronics

subsystems within EV’s.

Need

The performance of the power electronics subsystem within EV

architectures is directly linked to consumer acceptability and ROI – leading

to increased market adoption for EV’s.

Relevance

The proposed work is directly relevant to entities within the EV supply

chain, but particularly to OEM vehicle manufacturers, suppliers of motor

drives, DC/DC converters, and plug-in chargers.



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• Explore the use of advanced materials & devices for EV power electronics:

– Quantify the EV performance gain available through adoption of wide band-

gap (WBG) technology

– Study one prominent technical factor limiting WBG adoption in EV’s:

EMI generation

Purpose and Goals

Low on-Resistance

Increased

Efficiency

Increased

Power Density

Fast Switching

Low conduction loss

Low switching loss

High

Frequency Operation

Small Filter /

MagneticComponents

Reduced

Thermal MGT

Reduced

WasteHeat

WBG-Si Switching loss comparison [1] Device performance >> converter performance

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• Develop constraint-aware optimization strategy for the use of WBG technology

within dominant EV power-trains

– Optimize for weight or optimize for efficiency?

– Which converter(s) to migrate to WBG technology?

• Identify conditions for an optimized usage scenario, under realistic system

constraints for a selected architecture

• Explore mitigation of EMI effects under these conditions using advanced

magnetic materials

Increased Efficiency

Increased Power Density

High Temp Operation

Increased

Electric

Range

Lighter Weight

Converter performance >> EV performance Notional EV/HEV power-train

Mech.XT

ICE

MDrive Inverter

BoostConverter

DC

AC

Mech.



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Approach and Methods (1)

1. Develop multi-tier EV power-train modeling tool in conjunction with EcoCAR

team @ UA:

– Evaluate EV topologies and identify optimization space for WBG technology

– Quantify system-level performance benefit available for WBG adoption in a

selected EV architecture

2. Characterize scale-relevant WBG module(s) using operating conditions derived

from M&S exercise:

– Validate basis of projections with empirical measurements

– Extract EMI signature at realistic operating conditions for “WBG switching cell”

Cap Bank

Contactors - Isolation

Hot Plate

Gate-Drive Board

CAS100H12AM1Module (Under GD Board)

Switching Characterization Test Stand @ UA [2] 1.2 kV, ~200 A SiC MOSFET

Full-Bridge Module (APEI)

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3. Utilize advanced magnetic materials

designed at UA to improve EMI signature of

WBG switching cell

– Leverage EMI characterization results to

design magnetic filter to suppress

spurious emissions

– Leverage FEA simulation to manage

magnetic properties of filter during design

cycle

4. Feed back results of this detailed EMI

suppression study into the system-level

simulation to identify performance impact &

suggest alternative design conditions

Example under-damped ringing caused by fast-

switching WBG semiconductors

FEA simulation of high-power

inductor designed at UA



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Year 1

– Multi-tier simulation environment of EV power-trains for trade-study use

– Projection of performance advantage for one relevant EV power-train

design by adopting WBG technology

– Model validation through empirical characterization of a scale-relevant

WBG module

– Generation of EMI signature for WBG-based “switching cell”

Year 2

– Identification of optimized magnetic materials & geometry for EMI filter

– Implementation of a small, light EMI filter / choke

– Demonstration of improved EMI signature for WBG switching cell

– Determination of performance penalty for EMI signature improvement

Outcomes / Deliverables

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• Hierarchical EV simulation exercise incorporating empirical validation

• Ability to evaluate trade-off between EMI performance vs. electrical

performance & estimate system impact

• Consideration for realistic constraints on WBG adoption

• Opportunity to close the loop – adjust EV system architecture parameters to

balance:

– Benefit derived from utilization of WBG technology

– Integration challenges associated with EMI / electrical emissions



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Administration

• Project duration: Two years.

• Budget: $50,000/year in center funds.

• Personnel: One doctoral-level graduate student (6 p-months).

Faculty oversight and mentoring.

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Expected Impacts

• Attacking the technical issues impeding adoption of WBG technology will

accelerate the integration of WBG technology into EV’s (as cost comes

down)

• Introduction of WBG technology into EV power-trains will lead to a direct

consumer-relevant EV system-level performance gain

• Ultimately, this will improve market penetration of EV’s due to increased ROI

• Relevant example: SiC plug-In charger demonstration for Toyota Prius

recently demonstrated by ARPA-E, Cree, & APEI [3]:

– 10x power density improvement

– 95% efficiency a full load



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Questions?

Selected References

1. K. Speer, R. Schrader, D. Sheridan, A. Lemmon, J. Gafford, C. Parker, M. Mazzola, J. Casady, "High-

Temperature Characterization of a 1200 V, 450 A Power Module with 36 mm2 of SiC VJFET Area," In

Proc. International Conference on High Temperature Electronics (HiTEC), 2012.

2. A. Lemmon, R. Graves, and J. Gafford, “Evaluation of 1.2 kV, 100A SiC Modules for High-Frequency,

High-Temperature Applications,” in Proc. IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition

(APEC), 2015, pp. 789-793.

3. B. Whitaker, A. Barkley, Z. Cole, and B. Passmore, “A High-Density, High-Efficiency, Isolated On-

Board Vehicle Battery Charger Utilizing Silicon Carbide Power Devices,” IEEE Transactions on Power

Electronics, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 2606–2617, 2014.

EPP3 - High Frequency, High Performance Power Converters for Electric Vehicles

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High Frequency, High Performance Power Converters for

Electric Vehicles (EPP3)

Raja Ayyanar

School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering

Arizona State University

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Focus of Project

To develop high power density and high efficiency power converters for the

different stages of electric vehicle propulsion motor drive exploiting the game-

changing features of wide bandgap devices


• Power density by weight and volume for the power converters is a critical

metric for electric vehicles which is addressed by a combination of high

frequency switching, new devices and novel topologies/PWM/control

• Thermal management is a major challenge which is addressed through

significant improvement in power conversion efficiency

• Tremendous interest in SiC and GaN devices for automotive applications,

but several issues need to be still addressed before widespread adoption

including gate drive, EMI and high dv/dt issues, lack of significant field

experience/data with new devices, and new topologies that can better

utilize the characteristics of these devices


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• Identify optimal architecture for propulsion drive systems and optimize the

specifications for each stage of the power train

– Considering the current state of wide bandgap devices and the specifications of

commercial products and emerging products, current state of battery

technology and specifications

• Design and develop high efficiency and high frequency, bi-directional dc-dc

converter for interfacing batteries to optimal dc-link based on high voltage SiC

devices

• Design and develop novel, hybrid space vector PWM methods for modular

SiC/GaN based three-phase dc-ac inverters for motor drive

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This research attempts to achieve high power density and high efficiency in

power conversion for propulsion drives through:

• High switching frequencies (frequency to be optimized but expected to be

>500 kHz for dc-dc stage and 100-200 kHz for dc-ac stage)

• Use of high voltage SiC and GaN devices for high efficiency (>98%) at

high switching frequencies

• Novel soft-switching topologies and advanced PWM and control methods


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• Formal optimization of switching frequency (while pushing the wide

bandgap devices to their performance limit) considering losses in power

devices and magnetics, and power density

• Novel (patent pending) zero voltage transition (ZVT) technique for the bi-

directional dc-dc stage to achieve high efficiency and to address EMI

issues

• Advanced hybrid space vector PWM methods (enhancements to a

patented technique) that simultaneously result in reduced switching

losses and improved power quality (in terms of total harmonic distortion)

• Low filter requirement (solving high dv/dt issues) due to both high

frequency switching and enhanced PWM methods

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• DC-DC stage (for example, 300 V battery to 800 V dc-link, bi-directional)

– Multi-phase synchronous buck with 1200 V SiC

– ZVT with low-loss auxiliary circuit*; resonant current only during the

transitions (~ 20 ns) keeping the size and losses of aux circuit minimal

– Coupled resonant inductor for further loss reduction

– Optimal connection of the auxiliary circuit

Conventional pole ZVT pole*

An example ZVT adaption*

R. Ayyanar, “ZERO-VOLTAGE TRANSITION IN POWER CONVERTERS WITH AN AUXILIARY CIRCUIT,” US patent application, January 2014.


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– Novel sequences in SVPWM

– Improved loss and THD

characteristics

– Optimally variable switching

frequency over a line cycle

– Multiple phase-shifts in

interleaved modular converters

– Use of optimal sequence

and optimal phase-shift at

any given operating condition*

– An example hybrid PWM with

14 combinations optimized

for THD

40% THD reduction in single converter

Up to 67% THD reduction in interleaved converter

DC- AC inverter stage

* X. Mao, R. Ayyanar, A.K. Jain, “Hybrid Space Vector PWM Schemes for Interleaved Three-phase Converters,” US Patent 8,649,195, February 2014

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• In the first year we will develop the optimal

architecture and demonstrate high performance

dc-dc converter stage

- Switching frequency >500 kHz (each phase)

- Efficiency >98%

- Zero voltage switching

• In the second year we will develop and

demonstrate high performance dc-ac three-phase

inverter stage with advanced PWM methods

- 100-200 kHz switching frequency

- Use of LC filters with 3X-5X filter size reduction

- Efficiency >98.5%

0 2 4 6 8 10

x 104

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Frequency (Hz)

Mag (

% o

f F

undam

enta

l)

Fundamental (60Hz)= 3.81 , THD= 8.34%

Spread spectrum withvariable frequency scheme


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Expected Impacts

• Significant reduction in power loss in the propulsion drive system will

simplify thermal management, and improve range for EV

• Coupled with reduction in size/weight of the converters will offer design

flexibility

• Validation of performance entitlements of wide bandgap devices leading to

widespread adoption

• Significant synergy with other centers

(Power America, FREEDM)

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Project Duration Two years.


Personnel One doctoral level graduate, partial support for a post-doctoral scholar, faculty

oversight and mentoring.



R. Ayyanar 0 5,000 11,000

Post-doctoral scholar 22,000 0 22,000






Travel 2,000 0 2,000





GRA Tuition 0 24,592 24,592

Budget Totals $50,032 $66,841 $116,873




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EPP4 - Comprehensive Design and Operation Paradigm for

Wide-Bandgap Inverters in Electric Vehicles

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Comprehensive Design and Operation Paradigm for Wide-

Bandgap Inverters in Electric Vehicles (EPP4)

Daniel Costinett

Leon Tolbert, Fred Wang, Benjamin Blalock, and Burak Ozpineci

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

University of Tennessee Knoxville

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• Significant, across-the-board advancements in power electronics required for

consumer acceptance of EVs 1

1 "EV Everywhere Grand Challenge Blueprint," U.S. Department of Energy, 2013.



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• Complexity of comprehensive design often treated as intractable

• Design and performance limited by scope of analysis

• Need for a comprehensive model-based design methodology considering all

variations in operating conditions

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• Characterize and model all aspects of system

• Model-based design to reduce required margins and increase vehicle

performance

• Adaptively alter traction drive operation to maintain performance in the presence

of lifetime variations



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• Emergence of wide-bandgap semiconductors requires an increase in

analysis

• SiC diodes have gained commercial drop-in adoption, but SiC FETs require

redesign

• Faster switching speeds improve performance, but cause EMI issues if not

specifically designed for

• Full utilization of WBG devices requires revolution in approach to design

and operation

Si-vs-SiC Diode switching

performance 1

Si-vs-SiC MOSFET switching performance 2

1 B. Ozpineci, L. Tolbert, “Comparison of Wide-Bandgap Semiconductors for Power Electronics Applications”, ORNL, 20032 Rohm, “The Next Generation of Power Conversion Systems Enabled by SiC Power Devices,” 2013

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Characterization

• Reduce uncertainty through holistic

characterization of device performance across

– Temperature

– Voltage / Power

– Internal/External Parasitics

• Develop models of switching power devices which

remain valid across application and operating

point variations

• Simplify models to form suitable for embedded

application



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Design

• Use comprehensive models to develop

optimal adaptive switching function control

• Design converter based on optimized control

to reduce necessary design margins

Operation

• Embed models for lifetime performance

optimization and prognostics

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• Demonstrate 100 kW,

comprehensively-designed traction

drive inverter

– 55% reduction of total energy

loss

– 45% reduction in cost

– 50% increase in power density

compared to comparably rated

commercial inverters

• Deliver an intelligent,

comprehensive design approach

and adaptive control methodology

• Paradigm shift in analysis and

design techniques allowing full

utilization of new devices and

technologies

– Applicable to alternate designs



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Expected Impacts

• Decrease system cost through reduced required component and cooling size

• Lower failure rate through adaptive lifetime operation

• Minimize weight and volume

• Increase system efficiency

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Potential Benefits



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Administration

• Project duration: Three years

• Budget: $50,000 in center funds per year, (approximately $30,000 in

institutional match)

• Personnel:

– One Ph.D. graduate research assistant

– One undergraduate researcher

– Faculty oversight and mentoring

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Questions?

Selected References

[1] Z. Zhang, F. Wang, L. Tolbert, B. Blalock, and D. Costinett, “Evaluation of switching performance of sic devices in pwm inverter fed induction motor drives,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., 2014, in press.

[2] Z. Wang, X. Shi, L. Tolbert, F. Wang, Z. Liang, D. Costinett, and B. Blalock, “Temperature dependent short circuit capability and protection of silicon carbide (SiC) power MOSFETs,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron, 2015, in press.

[3] D. Costinett, D. Maksimovic, and R. Zane, “Circuit-oriented treatment of nonlinear capacitances in switched-mode power supplies,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 985–995, Feb 2015.

[4] Z. Zhang, F. Wang, D. Costinett, L. M. Tolbert, B. J. Blalock, and H. Lu, “Dead-time optimization of SiC devices for voltage source converter,” in Proc. Appl. Power Electron. Conf. (APEC), 2015, in press.

[5] Z. Zhang, F. Wang, L. M. Tolbert, B. J. Blalock, and D. Costinett, “Active gate driver for fast switching and cross talk suppression of SiC devices in a phase-leg configuration,” in Proc. Appl. Power Electron. Conf. (APEC), 2015.

EPP5 - High-energy, High-power Lithium-sulfur Batteries

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High-energy, High-power Lithium-sulfur Batteries (EPP5)

Arumugam Manthiram

Department of Mechanical Engineering

The University of Texas at Austin

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• The University of Texas at Austin has a long history with a profound track

record in the area of energy storage, particularly lithium-ion batteries.

• The current lithium-ion technology is based on insertion-compound

electrodes, which have limited charge-storage capacity, resulting in limited

user time for the battery between charges.

• There is immense need to develop alternative cell chemistries that can

provide longer user time between charges.


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• The purpose of the proposed project is to develop next-generation

batteries that can offer higher energy density at an affordable cost with

long cycle life.

• The goal of the project is to design and develop novel materials and cell

architectures that can enable next-generation high-energy density

batteries.

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• The objective of the proposed project is to develop rechargeable lithium-

sulfur batteries that can offer higher energy density than the current lithium-

ion battery technology.

Lithium-sulfur batteries suffer

from limited cycle life. The

primary goal of the proposed

project is to realize long-life

lithium-sulfur batteries without

sacrificing the energy and

power densities.

Sulfur

Carbon

Binder

(a) (b)


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• The limited cycle life of lithium-sulfur batteries is due to the poor electronic

conductivity of sulfur, the shuttling of dissolved polysulfide intermediates

between the two electrodes, and the degradation of the lithium-metal

anode.

• The proposed project aims to

overcome the persistent

problems of lithium-sulfur

batteries by developing novel

electrode architectures and

cell configurations.

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• Demonstration of high-energy density lithium-sulfur batteries with good

dynamic and static stability, i.e., with long cycle life and low or no self-

discharge.


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Expected Impacts

• Potential new battery technology at a lower cost with long user time between

charges.

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Duration 24 Months, budget represents Year 1, normal

indirect rate increases to 56.5% in Year 2.

Note Salary lines parenthetically list the effort level in person-month




Faculty – A. Manthiram (0.1/1.0) 2,378 23,778 26,156


UG Research Assistant (0.0/0.0) 0 0 0

Technical Staff Support (0.0/0.0) 0 0 0


Faculty and Staff 611 6,109 6,720

Student Research Assistants (27%) 6,075 0 6,075



Travel 1,568 0 1,568

Software 0 0 0




Items Not Charged F&A 11,355 0 11,355

GRA Tuition 11,355 0 11,355

Budget Totals $50,000 $43,336 $93,336


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Project Start

Y1

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8

Q1Assess the available

literature information

Q2Fabricate different

sulfur electrode

architectures

Q3Evaluate

electrode

performance

Q4Select the best

sulfur electrode

architecture

Y2

Q5Design novel cell

configurations

Q6Assess the

dynamic stability

(cycle life)

Q7Assess the static stability

(self-discharge)

Project End

Q8Complete cell

evaluation and

generate final report

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EPP6 - High Voltage-High Power Electronic Devices

for HEV and EV Applications

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High Voltage-High Power Electronic Devices for HEV and

EV Applications (EPP6)

Srabanti Chowdhury

(presented by Hongbin Yu)



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Focus of Project

to develop high power density and high efficiency switches for the inverter and

generator applications of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and electric vehicle

(EV) exploiting the game-changing features of Gallium nitride


• Current technology used in HEV and EV are based on Si, which although

has set the platform well, is not transformative enough to keep up with

the increasing demand of efficiency and power density.

• Si-based technology requires sophisticated thermal management, which

increases the cost and complexity of the system.

• GaN based transistors have the capability of radically improving the

performance of the switch making them more efficient.

• GaN based device has capability to run at higher temperature, owing to

the wide bandgap properties of GaN cooling requirements can be

minimized.



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This research attempts to achieve high voltage and high current

required by HEV and EV application through the design optimization

and fabrication of vertical GaN transistor.

Some of the key metrics for the GaN devices:

• high voltage: 1.2KV

• high current: ~100A and up

• normally off transistor

A Half bridge

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• This work will be using a vertical device topology on bulk GaN,

rather then conventional planar structure. This will enable high

voltage and high power devices required for EV and HEV

applications.

• The focus will be developing normally-off transistors using

various “gating” techniques and integrate them with appropriate

stage of the driver.



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S DG

Current

Blocking Voltage S G S

Current Blocking Voltage

Medium power (up to 15kW ) with lateral AlGaN/GaNtopology

High power (10KW-1MW) using GaNvertical topology

• Higher Blocking voltage

• Higher current density

• Smaller chip size and potentially lower cost

Vertical geometry is preferred over lateral geometry to enable

High power (10KW-1MW) requires vertical topology

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Up to 67% THD reduction in

interleaved converter

Design space of a Current Aperture Vertical Electron Transistor (CAVET)

n+GaN

Drift region

AlGaN

UID GaN

SourceGate

Source

CBL CBL

Drain

Thick drift region to block voltage

• Higher power density is provided by the

vertical device design which best utilizes

the high critical electric field of GaN and

related materials.

• High current density, enabled by the high

polarization charges of the material

system lowers the On-resistance making

these devices an ideal candidate to

become the next generation switches for

EV and HEV application.

• Design, Model and Fabricate single chip

normally off CAVETs

• Generate Large signal model and

compare it to SiC devices



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I D(kA

/cm

2 )

VDS(V)

I G(kA

/cm

2 )

1.00E-05

1.00E-04

1.00E-03

1.00E-02

1.00E-01

1.00E+00

1.00E-06

1.00E-05

1.00E-04

1.00E-03

1.00E-02

1.00E-01

1.00E+00

0 100 200 300

Al(Id)

Mg(Id)

Al(Ig)

Mg(Ig)

VGS=-16VMOCVDSiN

CAVETs demonstrated no dispersion with Mg CBL

offering a breakdown field >1MV/cm

-10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0 80 s VGS =-6Vto 0V, Step =1 V DC VGS = 0V to -6V, Step = -1V

I D (

kA

/cm

2 )

VDS

(Volt)

• Drift diffusion models

• Large Signal Models

• Devices (5-10 per quarter) for product grade

characterization and implementation in

circuits

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Expected Impacts

• Industry will gain a complete knowledge of how to

implement GaN based devices into the relevant

electronics.

• The full scope of GsN will be explored and a comparison

will be made with Si and SiC technology



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• Project duration: Two year.

• Budget: $150,000 in center funds, approximately $60,000 in


• Personnel: One doctoral-level graduate student (6 p-months).


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EPP7 - High Density Integration and Packaging for

Efficient Power Electronics

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High Density Integration and Packaging for Efficient Power

Electronics (EPP7)

Hongbin Yu



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Focus of Project

Integrate passive components such as inductors wide bandgap power devices

to enable multi-MHz power electronic converters with high power density, and

packaging methodology that will allow the sustained operation of the power

electronic device at high temperatures.


• Automotive power management features a very large number of dc-dc

converters where power density and efficiency are key metrics

• Motivation to increase switching frequencies above 1.6 MHz to avoid AM

band and ease requirements of EMI filters, and reduce the passive

components size and weight.

• Power electronic in automotive industry requires the operation at around

200C, therefore it needs solutions for the interconnects and heat

spreader structure ands materials that can operate reliably at such high

temperatures.



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Research Goal for integration of passives with power electronic devices such as

GaN or other wide bandgap devices:

• High power density; small form factor;

• Lower losses - high efficiency;

• Higher switching frequency – (MHz) miniaturization

• Efficient thermal dissipation through materials and structure optimization

• 3D system integration, minimize parasitic;

• Higher temperature operation in automotive

• Low cost, manufacturable integration process

Texas Instruments

TPS 82671 MicroSiP Step-Down Converter

Discrete inductor on mother board

Inductor on/in package

Inductor on Si chip

Package-Integrated VR with

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor

• Vin = 3V, Vout = 0~1.6V

• f = 10~100 MHz

• Current = 50 Amps / 75 Amps peak

• Size = 37.6 mm2, 130 nm CMOS

Surface mountinductor

Air core inductor

Direct integration of magnetic core?Advantages: Smaller footprint; low height profile Challenges: material compatibility; thermal effectGains from onGains from on--die magneticsdie magnetics

•• Energy density increasedEnergy density increasedr

A

M

W

Wm@

0

2

22

1

mm

uu

u r

M

BdHBW @×= òòò

rr

Magnetic SEM Cross section

25umCu

A

•• Energy density increasedEnergy density increased

•• Volume shrinksVolume shrinks

•• Power Loss decreasedPower Loss decreasedarmma WW umu @Þ@

AW

a

rm

m

a

m

a

l

l

P

P

R

R m»=

Energy density in thin film Energy density in thin film magnetics volume compared with air magnetics volume compared with air corecore

inductor is proportionalinductor is proportionalto permeability to permeability mmrr which is typically > 1000which is typically > 1000

Post CMOS: Intel

IntelHaswell

Slide 16 Slide 16

Click to edit Master title

Click to edit Master text styles

Slide 16 Slide 16

Interposer Design

! C4 connection to IC, bond wire

connection to BGA package (2.5D)

! Quick/cheap method to demonstrate

integrated power chip-stack

! Thru-Silicon-Vias (TSV) in future

interposer design (will be compatible

with C4 package)

Si interposer: IBM/Columbia

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• Detailed design and simulation of the

integration of inductor with power device,

using EM simulation tools such as HFSS, in

order to optimize the frequency response

and performance.

• Optimize the inductor design, both air core

and magnetic core inductor.

• Development and testing of high

temperature solder materials and design of

heat spreader structure.

• Simulation and optimization of the

integration of passives with wide bandgap

devices.

• Demonstration of integration of magnetic

core inductor with wide bandgap device.

• Demonstration of the integration of

packaging of the integrated power

electronics devices and their operation at

elevated temperatures.

DIEL

Glass/Epoxy core

Buildup layer

DIE

LGlass/Epoxy core

Buildup layer

In Package

On Package/backside of package



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• Significantly higher switching frequencies compared to existing

power electronics technology, in the multi MHz range,

• Employing new high voltage, high power density wide bandgap

devices.

• Integration of inductors with power device provides a pathway to

achieve the desired high frequency operation.

• Power electronic packaging will be explored such as various

interconnect materials will be studied, as well as heat spreader

materials and structure design, in order to achieve high

temperature operation.

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• Direct integration of inductors on top of the GaN

device;

• Co-packaging of inductors with GaN devices.

Both air core and magnetic core inductors will

be explored, depending on the required

inductor values in the applications.

• In both cases, we will start with air-core

inductors first to evaluate the feasibility and

issues before move on to integrate magnetic

cores materials.

• For packaging of power devices, explore

different solder materials that have high

temperature stability; design and

implementation of optical heat spreading

materials and topology

88 µm

160 µm



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• Optimal architecture and specifications for the integrated passives

with power devices.

- high frequency, multi MHz;

- high current density, >10A/cm2;

• Design details and device structure for the integrated passive with

power devices;

- high efficiency

- small size/low weight

• Design details and hardware results/validation of proposed

packaging materials and heat spreader materials and structures.

- reliable operation at 200°C

- efficient thermal dissipation

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Expected Impacts

• Multi MHz operation of power electronics and the integration of

passives with power devices can significantly reduce the

size/weight of power converters for EV motor drives.

• The exploration and optimization of packaging materials and

structure is critical for sustained operation of power electronics at

desired high temperatures.

• The project also validates the performance entitlements of wide

bandgap devices and can lead to its widespread adoption in the

automotive industry.



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Project Duration Two years.

Estimated Budget $150,000 in center funds, $60,000 in

institutional match.

Personnel One doctoral level graduate,, faculty oversight

and mentoring.

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EPP8- A Novel Hybrid Catalyst for Fuel Cell Vehicles

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A Novel Hybrid Catalyst for Fuel Cell Vehicles (EPP8)

Sam Park and G. Sumanasekera

Mechanical Engineering Department


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Focus of Project

Develop catalysts that will enable PEM fuel cell systems to penetrate the

commercial market in terms of catalyst performance, reducing Pt. catalyst loading,

develop non-Pt catalysts, and durability.


• Advance non-PGM electrode technology through the development and

implementation of novel materials and concepts for electrode catalysts with

ORR activity viable for practical fuel cell systems, improved durability, high

ionic/electronic conductivity within the catalyst layer, adequate oxygen mass

transport, and effective removal of the product water.

• Develop the new constructs including the protection of carbon supported

catalysts.

• Low PGM catalysts on novel carbon nanowires.

• Advanced microstructural catalyst layer for the

optimization of the support geometry.


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Hollowed Nitride-Doped Carbon Sphere (HNCS) Base Catalyst

Develop catalysts that will enable PEM fuel cell systems to penetrate the

commercial market in terms of catalyst performance, reducing Pt. catalyst loading,

develop non-Pt catalysts, and durability.

Sulfonate Graphene/Nafion Hybrid Membrane

Develop stable membranes for high temperature operation and eliminate the

need for pure hydrogen (lessen environmental effect).

Under low humidification process, mechanical stability with high current density.

Anhydrous Proton Conducting Hybrid Membrane

Develop hybrid membranes using inorganic compound (Silicate and Aluminate

Silicate) combined with Nafion to overcome limits of Nafion and make more

cost effective.

Hybrid Nanofiber, Nanotube, and Nanowire Electrocatalyst

Develop electrocatalysts to improve ORR activity using electrospun method,

RuO2-Co3O4 hybrid nanotubes, Ru-Re hybrid nanowires, and IrOx nanofibers.

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[1] Carbon nanocages: A new support material for Pt catalyst with remarkably high durability, Xiao Xia Wang,Zhe Hua Tan,

Min Zeng & Jian Nong Wang, Scientific Reports 4, Article number: 4437 doi:10.1038/srep04437.

This research attempts to overcome

important shortcomings in present PEM fuel

cells through use of:

• A novel support material based on hollow

carbon nanocages (nitrogen doping for

oxidation resistance interaction).

• 1-D metal oxide nanostructures

synthesized by the electrospinning

technique for its superior

electrocatalytic activity.


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Electrospun RuO2–Co3O4 Hybrid

Nanotube Electrocatalysts

RuO2-ReO3 Hybrid Nanofiber Electrocatalysts

Sulfonate Graphene/Nafion Hybrid Membrane:

• Stablize performance with different

operating cycles for automotive applications.

• Reduce BOP and light systems.

• Enhance the water content in the

membrane.

Anhydrous Proton Conducting Hybrid Membrane:

• Low humidity operation

• Silicate & Aluminate Silicate

• Current density improvement

Nafion/TiO2 Hybrid Membrane


Morphology of Anahydrous Proton Conducting

Hybrid Membrane

Morphology of Sulfornate Graphene-Nafion

Hybrid Membrane

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Work Plan

Fabricate and characterize

• Sulfonated graphene/nafion hybrid membrane

• Anhydrous proton conducting hybrid membrane

Sulfonate Graphene Fabrication

Fabricate

• Hollowed nitride-doped carbon sphere

base catalyst.

• Hybrid nanofiber, nanotube, and nanowire

Electrocatalyst.

Evaluate the phase stability, electrical

conductivity, and ionic conductivity/diffusivity

of proposed material composition.

Analysis of triple-phase boundary

microstructure.

Fuel cell testing: electrochemical properties,

CV, Impedance, PD/CD, and durability

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• In the first 6 months of the project, we will

develop and screen several of our hybrid

nano electrocatalysts and hybrid

membranes with different additives to

achieve our target performance.

• In the next six months, we will demonstrate

a 85 mA/cm2 at 0.8 V using Non-Pt catalyst

(Fe-N-C).

• Specific power: 208 W/kg and Power

density: 170 W/L System

(b)

Power Density: 226 mW /cm2

Pt: 0.4 & 0.2 mg/cm2

Current Density: 0.68 A /cm2

(a)

Commercial Cell

Power Density: 232 mW /cm2

Pt: 0.5 & 0.5 mg/cm2

Current Density0.54 A /cm2


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Expected Impacts

• A highly active, durable, and

economically viable electrode material,

particularly if the technology is to meet

demanding automotive requirements.

• Low cost membrane, high

conductivity (100 mS cm-1) at

120 ℃ at 50 RH %; exhibits good

chemical, thermal and mechanical

stability and can operate the fuel cell

for 5,000 hours.

• Development of aromatic proton exchange composite membrane using novel

architecture inorganic oxides by the synergistic combination of polymer

exchange ionomers in order to overcome the technical barriers facing the

current state-of-the art fuel cell membrane.

• Novel membrane to have a high water holding on the membrane due to a high

density of sulfonic acid groups.

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Personnel One research faculty member, one doctoral level graduate, one undergraduate research assistant, senior

faculty oversight and mentoring.



S. Park (0.1/1.0) 10,000 1,000 11,000

G. Sumanasekera (0.1/1.0) 12,000 0 12,000






Travel 2,000 0 2,000





GRA Tuition 0 24,592 24,592

Budget Totals $50,032 $66,841 $116,873




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Questions?

CCP1 - Natural Gas Engines: Emissions and Efficiency

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Natural Gas Engines: Emissions and Efficiency (CPP1)

Ron Matthews and Matt Hall


The University of Texas

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The University of Texas has a long history in the alternative fuels area, with

emphasis on emissions.

Two of the issues facing heavy-duty gas engines are:

1) Low emissions technologies: lean/dilute limit extension, low NOx and HC

emissions technology, reducing particle number, etc.

2) Gas reforming technology for generating hydrogen for enhancing

combustion for highly dilute (lean and high EGR) operation.


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• The goal of the proposed project is to examine an “low temperature

combustion” emissions control strategy that incorporates an energy efficient

fuel reforming concept.

• The purpose for the proposed project is to provide heavy-duty gas engine

manufacturers a demonstration of a technology that is capable of

simultaneously improving emissions and fuel efficiency.

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• The objective of the proposed project is to demonstrate the emissions and

efficiency benefits of “dedicated EGR’ on a natural gas engine.

From SAE Paper 2015-01-0781 for a

turbocharged gasoline engine with 3

stoichiometric cylinders and a 3-way

catalyst. Unlike EGR from

stoichiometric cylinders, reforming

occurs in the rich cylinder. We plan to

demonstrate this for a CNG engine,

either for lean or stoichiometric

operation*.

* - per the member’s preference


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• Obtain a CNG engine and control system software

• Take baseline emissions and fuel efficiency measurements for engine

operating conditions of interest.

• Modify hardware to allow one cylinder to operate rich and to route all of the

exhaust from the rich cylinder into the intake for the remaining cylinders.

• Modify/reprogram the ECU or use

National Instruments/Driven engine

control hardware/software to control

one cylinder rich (with feedback

control and the other cylinders

stoichiometric or lean (with feedback

control).

• Take emissions and fuel efficiency

measurements with D-EGR CNG

engine.

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Quantitative comparison of emissions and fuel efficiency measurements for

the dedicated EGR CNG engine and the baseline CNG engine.


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Expected Impacts

Potential new technology for improvement of emissions and fuel efficiency

of heavy-duty natural gas engines.

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Project Administration - Budget





Faculty - R.D. Matthews (0.1/1.0) 1,261 12,612 13,874

Faculty - M.J. Hall (0.1/1.0) 1,117 11,165 12,282







Travel 1,568 0 1,568

Software 0 0 0





GRA Tuition 11,355 0 11,355

Budget Totals $50,000 $43,336 $93,336

Project Duration 24 months.

Estimated Budget $50,000 in center funds, $43,336 in institutional match, $93,336 total funding. Budget

includes an increase in indirect charges in year 2.

Personnel Two faculty members, one graduate research assistant.


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Project Administration - Expected Milestones

Project Start

Y1

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8

Q1

Acquire CNG engine

from member company

Q2

Install CNG engine on

dyno

Q3

Take baseline

measurements

Q4

Modify engine and

control system for D-

EGR operation

Y2

Q5

Complete engine and

control system mods

Q6

Begin D-EGR CNG

engine tests

Q7

Continue D-EGR testing

Project End

Q8

Completion of testing,

generation of final

report

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Questions?

CPP2 - Model-Based Control and Optimization of Powertrain

Systems and Construction Equipment

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Model-Based Control and Optimization of Powertrain

Systems and Construction Equipment (CPP2)

Hwan-Sik Yoon



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Focus

Computational frameworks for modeling, simulation, controller

development, and component optimization for internal combustion engine

and off-highway construction and mining equipment.

Need

For internal combustion engines, a high-fidelity 1D flow engine simulation

framework is needed for controller development and component

optimization and a graphic user interface (GUI)-based simulation and

analysis framework is needed for optimal architecture selection and energy-

efficiency evaluation for off-highway construction and mining equipment.

Relevance

The proposed works lie within the EV-STS design and analysis tools

research thrust area, and also make contributions to the powertrain

research area. Results will be of interest to OEM vehicle manufacturers

including off-highway construction equipment manufacturers, and part

suppliers.



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(1) High-fidelity 1D flow engine modeling framework: Tightening fuel-efficiency

and emissions regulations require advanced internal combustion engines be

highly optimized both in controls and geometric shape/dimensions. In order to

optimize an engine design for improved fuel economy, emissions, and

drivability characteristics, it is necessary to investigate the engine performance

in a larger design space including intake and exhaust manifold shapes. In order

to address these issues, this project will develop a high-fidelity engine

simulation module package in Matlab/Simulink. Since Matlab/Simulink offers a

computationally-powerful controller design and optimization toolboxes, the

engine calibration and design optimization processes can be greatly facilitated

for different operating conditions and driving cycles using the proposed tool.

(2) Construction and mining equipment design framework: Construction and

mining equipment such as excavators have both conventional powertrains and

hydraulic systems, which complicate the architecture design and component

selection processes. Thus, this project will develop a computational framework

that allows integration of high-fidelity component models and application of the

optimization toolbox in Matlab/Simulink for optimal architecture selection and

component optimization.

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• High-fidelity 1D flow engine modeling framework

– Develop a high-fidelity 1D engine simulation module package named

ALabama Powertrain simulator in Hierarchical Architecture (ALPHA) in

Matlab/Simulink to facilitate engine calibration and design optimization.

– Develop a Graphical User Interface (GUI) program to expedite

modeling, controller development, and design optimization processes.

– Validate the ALPHA framework by constructing a four-cylinder IC

engine model and comparing the simulation results with those obtained

from commercially available simulation software such as GT-POWER.

• Construction and mining equipment design framework

– Develop a computational framework to ensure seamless integration

and optimization of various component models for construction and

mining equipment.

– Develop a GUI program to expedite modeling, controller development,

and design optimization processes of construction equipment, as well

as post processing of the simulation results for fuel economy,

emissions, and operability for various operation cycles.



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Optimization of geometrical shape and dimension of

combustion chamber and intake/exhaust manifold

A single-cylinder engine model developed in ALPHA

framework

• With advancements in computer-aided

design, engine simulation has become a

vital tool for product development and

design innovation.

• To leverage design optimization and

controller development capabilities of

Matlab/Simulink, a Simulink-based 1D flow

engine modeling framework will be

developed. The framework allows engine

component blocks to be connected in a

physically representative manner in the

Simulink environment, therefore reducing

model build time.

• Once completed, built-in toolboxes in

Matlab/Simulink can be used for controller

development and engine optimization.

• Customized user interface (GUI) will also

be developed to expedite the design

optimization and performance analysis

processes.

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Excavator Model for Design Optimization and

Controller Development

• A new computational modeling framework

specialized in controller development and

design optimization is needed to ensure

seamless integration of various component

models and design optimization for off-

highway construction and mining

equipment.

• A Simulink-based modeling framework will

be developed to leverage design

optimization and controller development

capabilities of Matlab/Simulink.

• Once completed, geometrical dimensions

and power capacities of all components in

powertrain, hydraulic system, and kinematic

system will be optimized for various

operation cycles such as dig-and-dumping

or grading.

• Customized user interface (GUI) will also be

developed.Graphical User Interface (GUI) of the proposed

computational tool for construction and mining equipment



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• A Simulink-based 1D flow engine modeling framework in

Matlab/Simulink together with comprehensive documentation of the

modeling and simulation methodologies and design optimization

examples.

• A new computational modeling framework for controller development

and design optimization for off-highway construction and mining

equipment. Comprehensive documentation of the modeling and

simulation methodologies and design optimization examples will also be

provided to participating industrial members.

• Customized user interface to expedite the design optimization and

performance analysis processes.

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Expected Impacts

• By allowing high-fidelity engine modeling and simulation in Matlab/Simulink,

the ALPHA framework will help the automotive industry develop advanced

internal combustion engines with optimized components and control

algorithms. The ALPHA framework will allow design optimization and

controller development capabilities of Matlab/Simulink to be directly applied

to a constructed engine model.

• The new computational modeling framework for construction and mining

equipment will also help the related industry develop advanced systems

optimized in all design aspects: powertrain, hydraulic system, and kinematic

system. By leveraging design optimization and controller development

capabilities of Matlab/Simulink, the product development process will be

expedited with reduced development cost.



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Administration

• Project duration: One year.

• Budget: $50,000 from membership fee

• Personnel: One doctoral-level graduate student (12 months).


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Selected References

Sweafford, S., Yoon, H.-S., Wang, Y., and Will, A., 2012, “Co-simulation of Multiple Software Packages for Model Based

Control Development and Full Vehicle System Evaluation,” SAE 2012 World Congress, Apr. 24 – 26, Detroit, MI.

McGehee, J. and Yoon, H.-S., 2015, “Optimal Control of a Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle using Genetic Algorithms,”

Proceedings of Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering , 229(7), pp.875-884, DOI:

10.1177/0954407014548739.

Thompson, B. and Yoon, H.-S., 2014, “Development of High-Fidelity 1D Physics-Based Engine Simulation Model in

MATLAB/Simulink,” SAE 2014 World Congress, Apr. 8 – 10, Detroit, MI.

Thompson, B. and Yoon, H.-S., 2015, “Continued Development of a High-Fidelity 1D Physics-Based Engine Simulation

Model in MATLAB/Simulink,” SAE 2015 World Congress, Apr. 21 – 23, Detroit, MI.

Thompson, B., Yoon, H.-S., Kim, J., and Lee, J., 2014, “A Swing Energy Recuperation Scheme for Hydraulic Excavators,”

SAE 2014 Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress, Oct. 7 – 9, Rosemont, IL.

Xu, J., Thompson, B. and Yoon, H.-S., 2014, “Automated Grading Operation for Hydraulic Excavators,” SAE 2014

Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress, Oct. 7 – 9, Rosemont, IL.

Questions?

CPP3 - Analysis and Optimization of Compressed Natural Gas Direct Injection Engines

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Analysis and Optimization of Compressed Natural Gas

Direct Injection Engines (CPP3)

Yongsheng Lian

Mechanical Engineering Department


502-852-0804, [email protected]

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Focus

Develop a framework for the simulation and optimization of compressed

natural gas direct injection engines.

Need

Reduce the design cycle and cost in the preliminary design stage. Improve

the performance of existing design.

Relevance

The proposed work lies within the EV-STS EV powertrain research thrust

area, and also makes contributions to the analysis/design tools area. Results

will be of interest engine manufacturers.


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• Natural gas is an attractive alternative fuel to internal combustion engine

(ICE) due to its rich resources, low emissions and comparable thermal

efficiencies.

• The flame propagation velocity is slow during the combustion process due to

its physiochemical properties.

• The developed framework can be used to explore different designs to remedy

shortcoming of existing compressed natural gas engines.

• External partners for the project include Cummins, Inc.

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• Develop a flow simulation module based on high fidelity detached eddy

simulation to investigate the influence to turbulence on the flame propagation.

• Investigate the mixture formation at different crank angles.

• Integrate a chemical reaction model into the flow module to investigate heat

release rate and emissions.

• Perform design optimization to improve the engine performance.


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Approach and Methods-Detached Eddy Simulation

• Detached eddy simulation (DES) will be adopted to simulate in-cylinder

flows. Our previous study demonstrated the DES can capture turbulence

phenomena missed in the RANS based simulation.

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Approach and Methods - Genetic Algorithm

• We have developed a framework to perform design optimization based on

genetic algorithm and surrogate models. The framework has been applied to

the optimization of aircraft engine.

• The optimized compressor has high compression ratio due to reduced flow

separation


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• A validated simulation tool to predict the performance of a genetic CNG

engine.

• A design optimization toolbox to improve CNG engine design.

• Comprehensive documentation showing the impact of geometry, injection

timing, and ignition timing on CNG engine performance

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Administration

Duration Two year.

Budget $80,000 in center funds, approximately $76,000 in

institutional match).

Personnel One doctoral-level graduate student. Senior faculty oversight

and mentoring.


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CPP4 - Direct-Injection Spray Enleanment during Deceleration Phase

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Direct-Injection Spray Enleanment during

Deceleration Phase (CPP4)

Paulius V. Puzinauskas



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Project Focus and Relevance

• Direct Injection Spray Structure

Reaction Zone (Diesel)

• Phases

– Acceleration (Early)

– Psuedo-Steady

– Deceleration

• Relevance of Deceleration

Phase

– Ambient Entrainment 2-4X

– Fuel-Air Distribution

– Post-Injection Combustion

• GDI

• LTC Diesel


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• Purpose: Improve understanding and provide data for model development of

post-injection mixing in direct-injected engine combustion systems.

• Goals:

– Determine Effect of Ambient Conditions and Injector Characteristics on

Deceleration Phase Entrainment

– Correlate Results and Disseminate to Investigators Working on

Analytical and Computational Models of Direct-Injection Process

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• Characterize Flow Characteristics of Test Platform Under Defined Test Matrix

– Bulk Flow

– Turbulence

• Quantify Variations of Spray Characteristics During Deceleration Phase

– Vary:

• Injection Pressure

• Injector Geometry

• Ambient Conditions and Flow

– Spray Characteristics:

• Atomization

• Droplet Size Variations

• Liquid Length

• Spreading Angle


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• Test Platform (Existing)

• Characteristics

– Non-Reacting Only

– Maximum Ambient Conditions

• 13.5 Atm

• 200oC

– Injection

• Axial

• Pressure up to 2000 Atm

Approach and Methods: Test Platforms

• Test Platform (Pending)

• Characteristics

– Reacting or Non

Reacting

– Maximum Ambient

Conditions

• 80 Atm

• 800oC

– Injection

• Axial or Offset

• Pressure up to

2000 Atm

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Approach and Methods: Diagnostics

• High-speed CMOS cameras (Photron SA5, Phantom v7.3) Direct Imaging

– Liquid Length

– Spreading Angle

• 2D PDPA (TSI)

– Droplet Size

– Droplet Velocity

• High Speed PIV (TSI)

– Ambient Flow Field

– Injection Flow

• Time-Resolved PLIF (TSI)

– Air-Fuel Mixing

– Vaporization


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Data Characterizing Injection Parameter Influence on Deceleration

Phase Entrainment

• Data

– Liquid Length

– Spreading Angle

– Droplet Size

– Air Entrainment

• Parameters

– Ambient Conditions

• Temperature

• Pressure

– Injection Parameters

• Pressure

• Nozzle Diameter

• Closing Rate

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Expected Impacts

• Improve understanding of deceleration phase entrainment and its impact

on subsequent combustion processes in direct-injected engines and

pulse combustors.

• Facilitate qualitative description and quantitative modeling of this

phenomenon.

• Allow engine designers to more precisely control fuel-air mixing

– Improve engine efficiency

– Decrease emissions


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Administration

• Project duration: Two years.

• Budget: $100,000 in center funds, approximately $60,000 in

institutional match).

• Personnel: One doctoral-level graduate student (24-months).


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CCP5 - Improving Heavy-Duty Engine Efficiency

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Improving Heavy-Duty Engine Efficiency (CCP5)

Ron Matthews and Matt Hall


The University of Texas

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Improving the mechanical efficiency of heavy-duty engines is important due to:

1) Federal requirements that some heavy-duty engines meet new fuel

efficiency standards (it should be expected that the list of vehicles will

expand).

2) Consumer demands/expectations.

3) Decreased frictional losses yield improved fuel efficiency and generally

translate into decreased emissions on a g/bhp-hr basis


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• The goal of the proposed project is to apply a concept for decreasing internal

engine friction to a heavy-duty engine.

• The purpose for the proposed project is to provide heavy-duty engine

manufacturers a demonstration of a technology that is capable of

simultaneously improving performance, emissions, and fuel efficiency.

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• The objective of the proposed project is to demonstrate the emissions and

efficiency benefits of rotating the cylinder liner on a heavy-duty engine.

Piston assembly friction

dominates frictional losses in

piston engines (>60%). Thus,

much of the “useful” work

produced during the cycle is lost

to overcoming friction, esp.

piston assembly friction. Ring

profiles, coatings, etc., can

decrease piston assembly

friction but only for a short

period of time.

0.001

0.010

0.100

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Fri

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Co

eff

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[-]

Duty Parameter = spee d x viscosity/(surface pressure )

boundary

mixed

hydrodynamic


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• Modify baseline engine for cylinder pressure analysis.

• Obtain baseline engine data: imep, bmep, emissions, and fuel efficiency for

engine operating conditions of interest

• Swap to rotating liner engine.

• Take imep, bmep, emissions and fuel efficiency measurements with

rotating liner engine.

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Quantitative comparison of frictional losses, emissions, and fuel

efficiency for the rotating liner medium-/heavy-duty Diesel and the

baseline engine.


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Expected Impacts

Potential new technology for improvement of emissions, fuel efficiency, torque,

and wear of heavy-duty Diesel engines.

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Item EV-STS RequestMatching

FundsNet Funding


Faculty - R.D. Matthews (0.1/1.0) 1,261 12,612 13,874

Faculty - M.J. Hall (0.1/1.0) 1,117 11,165 12,282


UG Research Assistant (0.0/0.0) 0 0 0

Technical Staff Support (0.0/0.0) 0 0 0






Travel 1,568 0 1,568

Software 0 0 0





GRA Tuition 11,355 0 11,355

Budget Totals $50,000 $43,336 $93,336

Duration 24 Months, budget represents Year 1, normal

indirect rate increases to 56.5% in Year 2.


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Project Start

Y1

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8

Q1

Mount baseline

engine on dyno with

control system

Q2

Take baseline

measurements

Q3

Continue

baseline

measurements

Q4

Swap engines

Y2

Q5

Complete engine and

control system mods

Q6

Begin rotating liner

engine tests

Q7

Continue rotating

liner testing

Project End

Q8

Completion of testing,

generation of final

report

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Questions?

VSP1 - Next-Generation Telematics via 5G and Low-Profile

Multiband Magnetic and 5G Telematics Antennas

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Next-Generation Telematics via 5G and Low-Profile

Multiband Magnetic and 5G Telematics Antennas (VSP1)

Yang-Ki Hong and Fei Hu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering


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Focus

5G-Based Vehicle Telematics: To design the next-generation vehicle telematics

system based on the latest wireless networking standard 5G that offers higher

throughput, ubiquitous connectivity, and intelligent traffic engineering

Low-Profile Multiband Magnetic and 5G Telematics Antennas: Develop antennas

for next-generation vehicle telematics system and low-loss magneto-dielectric

antenna substrate for high frequency applications

Need

This project is to address the following need: To build the future vehicle

telematics with dynamic route learning for inter-vehicle communication, multi-path

vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-roadside-infrastructure communication, and

optimized allocation of resources for end-to-end user quality of experience. In

order to realize the future vehicle telematics system along with current vehicle

wireless communication system, telematics antenna development is required.

Relevance

The proposed work lies within the EV-STS Non-Powertrain Vehicle Systems

(NPS) research thrust area. Results will be of interest to OEM vehicle

manufacturers, antenna manufacturers, and magnetic material manufacturers.



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5G-Based Vehicle Telematics The purpose is to offer higher throughput in vehicle information

networks, enable ubiquitous network connectivity, and achieve intelligent traffic engineering.

Therefore, our goal is to establish the next-generation vehicle telematics system based on the

latest wireless networking standard 5G.

Low-profile Multiband Magnetic and 5G Telematics Antennas Recently, wireless communication

technology becomes one of vehicle’s key technologies. More and more wireless communication

technologies are demanded and expected to be integrated into future vehicles. Consequently,

large number of antennas are required for multiservice operation. Therefore, we will develop low-

profile multiband antenna and 5G antenna for the next-generation vehicle telematics system.

Potential external partners for the projects: Mercedes-Benz LLC, Hyundai Motor Co.,

Galtronics Corp. Ltd.1.575 GHz

GPS receiver2.4-2.48 GHz &

5.15-5.25 GHz Wireless LAN

5.85-5.925 GHzMulti-application antenna

800-900 MHz & 1.8-1.9 GHzCellular phone antenna

909.75-921.75 MHzToll & Parking OBU

Infrared OBU(Add-on when needed for

super high data rates)

5.85-5.925 GHzMulti-application OBU

(connected to the in-vehicle data bus)

Interface devices(Built-in display, annunciator, microphone, keypad, etc. connected to the computer of in-vehicle data

bus)

1.8-1.9 GHz 2G PCS phone

(connected to in-vehicle data bus)Computer

(connected to the in-vehicle data bus)

87.5-108 MHz FM antenna

OBU: On-Board Unit

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Primary Project Objectives5G-Based Vehicle Telematics

• Build a complete vehicle telematics system that can use the following communication

infrastructures in 5G: a multi-hop wireless network, Wi-Fi, roadside Wi-Max, cellular network,

Internet of Things (IoT) network, intra-vehicle sensor network (to detect vehicle status),

and inter-vehicle network

5G and Low-profile Multiband Telematics Antennas

• Design antennas for the next-generation vehicle telematics system using 3D high frequency

structure simulator (HFSS)

• Develop a high-performance magneto-dielectric substrate for antenna at operation frequency

bands

Low-profile Antenna for

Existing Bands Application

MIMO Beamforming Antenna Array

for Future 5G Application

• Beamforming antenna array by phase shifting

• High antenna gain > 12 dBi

• Radiation characterization: wide coverage and

reliable – Directional with beamforming

• Polarization: vertical or circular / dual-polarization

• Antenna Diversity: spatial diversity (MIMO) and/or

polarization diversity

– Low correlation coefficient: ≤ 0.05

• Antenna height < 6 mm (current bands

application)

• Antenna gain > 2 dBi at all operating

frequency

• Radiation characterization: wide coverage

and reliable – Omnidirectional in the

azimuth plane

• Polarization: vertical or circular

polarization

• Multiband operation: ≥ 3 operation bands



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Approach and Methods (1)5G-Based Vehicle Telematics

• Reliable intra-vehicle sensor data collection: the vehicle

needs to use wireless or wired short-range network to

aggregate all sensors’ data, and then send the data to a

remote control center for remote diagnosis purpose. Those

sensors need to be designed as highly reliable hardware

units and the sensor network must be error-free.

• Vehicle-to-Internet real-time communications: vehicle needs

to use advanced hardware real-time communication

protocols to send the sensor data to Internet (or any network

that connects the control center). Proper 5G infrastructures

need to be selected, and data relay protocols should be

designed to achieve network-to-network data transition.

Content streaming to vehicle will be rate-distortion optimized

to maximize the quality of experience of the user.

• Accurate vehicle status analysis and diagnosis software: a

set of intelligent vehicle data analysis software tools need to

be designed in order to accurately find the vehicle issues

such as safety issues. Such software should utilize the

machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to

deduce the vehicle status.

• Comprehensive vehicle assistance system: The telematics

network(s) should be able to deliver as much as possible

useful information to the drive to assist his driving and in-car

experience, i.e., the road and weather conditions, navigation

information, etc

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Low-profile Multiband Magnetic and 5G Telematics

Antennas

• Design vertical or circular polarized low-profile antenna

with omnidirectional radiation patterns for wide coverage

for low frequency applications (cellular phone, GPS, Wi-

Fi, etc) with 3D finite element method (FEM) simulation

tool (HFSS).

• Develop high gain antenna for 5G wireless

communication with HFSS: High gain – beam steered

array and MIMO design (diversity gain)

• Antenna miniaturization by antenna design and loading

magneto-dielectric antenna substrate – effective

wavelength is reduced by magneto-dielectric material

• Develop low-loss magnetic materials for antenna

substrate by developing high anisotropy constant (Hk)

and moderate saturation magnetization (Ms) material -

Exchange coupled materials: control Ms and Hk

• Antenna diversity: reliable wireless communication due

to multipath loss mitigation


Ferrite substrate

Electric field distribution of low-profile multiband antenna

and magnetic field distribution on magnetic substrate by

3-D finite element method (FEM) simulation

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5-1500

-1000

-500

0

500

1000

1500

MnAl

Fe70

Co30

Fe70

Co30

/MnAl

Mag

net

izat

ion

(em

u/c

c)

Applied field (kOe)

Soft (Hard)phase

Measured hysteresis loops of exchange-

coupled core(hard)-shell(soft) magnet and

schematic view of core-shell particle

rreff fc /0

ksr HMf 4

22 4/)( RfcGGPPLFP RTTR



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Novel Aspects of ProjectNext-Generation Telematics System

• Design of 5G-based vehicle telematics system

• Connection to Internet of Things

• Develop system with integration of sensor networks and Internet

• Collaborative research among the NVP for real-time performance characterization

5G and Low-profile Multiband Telematics Antennas

• Discovery on new low-loss with high permeability magneto-dielectric material for high

frequency application

• Novel design of 5G and low-profile multiband telematics antenna with developed magneto-

dielectric antenna substrate

• Collaborative research among the NVP for real-time performance characterization

Multi-hop

wireless

Nearby

Wi-Fi

Roadside

WiMax

Cellular

Phones

Internet of

ThingsIn-Vehicle Sensor

Network and Vehicle-

to-Vehicle Network

Internet Cloud

Warranty Tracker

Fluid Level Notification

Accident Notification

Emergency Services

Airbag Deployment

Locations; Directions;

Navigation

Remote Unlock;

Port Activation;

Vehicle Tracking

Brake by GPS

Intelligent Driving

Vehicle Telematics based on 5G

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5G-Based Vehicle Telematics

• Comprehensive vehicle telematics testbed with in-

car sensor networks, short-distance Wi-Fi, long-

distance cellular (via mobile phones)

transmissions

• Reliable software tool with remote car status

monitoring, car safety notification, and traffic

situation reporting

• Provide performance measurement metrics:

vehicle data collection accuracy, real-time

transmission capability, driving safety, and context

awareness

• Conference and peer-reviewed journal papers

Low-profile Multiband Magnetic and 5G Telematics

Antennas

• Low-profile multiband and 5G wireless

communication antennas models

• Experimental static and dynamic properties of

antenna substrate materials

• Antenna prototypes

Measurement Setup

Side View

Pins

Feeding

Antenna prototypes and characterization in in-

lab anechoic chamber



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Expected ImpactsTechnical Impact

• Latest wireless access: Our vehicle telematics design will fill out the research blanks in

terms of using 5G networks to link vehicles into central information system.

• High-quality communications: It will change current simple cell-phone based connection to

high-speed, high-quality, anywhere connections.

• Impacts on the extension of Internet of Things to highway

• The developed low loss magneto-dielectric materials will further miniaturize antenna.

• The developed low-profile multiband telematics antenna will provide the freedom in the

automotive aesthetical design.

• 5G wireless communication will be realized by developed 5G antenna.

Economical Impact

• The developed next-generation telematics system and antennas will impact on the

extension of telematics market ($49.12 billion by 2020; Allied Market Research).

• The successful project will drive economical revival in telematics and wireless

communication related industry.

Educational Impact

• The project will stimulate the development of tools to share research results and train

engineering and science students. The undergraduate and graduate students will be

learning collaborative research and also broadening their knowledge. The students will

have opportunities to present their research results with collaborators at international

conferences.

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Potential Benefits

• The benefits of the projects for VSP will be provided to EV-STS members via a cost-free

and royalty free license.

• The benefits of the projects for VSP will be provided to EV-STS researchers for use in

other design and analysis tools projects.

• The project will have strong interdisciplinary and international collaborations and include

collaborations with well-developed expertise in VSP.

• IP disclosures US patents & WO Patents



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Project Start Project End

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Q1

Design Telematics Antenna

Q4

Prototype Antenna

Q3

Optimization of Antenna Design

and Synthetic Process of the

Antenna Substrate

Q2

Develop Magnetic Antenna Substrate

Project Start Project End

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Q1

In-Car Sensor Networks &

Sensor Data Mining

Q4

Comprehensive

Telematics with Antennas

Q3

Vehicle Status Analysis and

Diagnosis Software

Q2

Vehicle-to-Internet Real-Time Communication

5G-Based Vehicle Telematics

• Project duration: 12 months

• Budget: $50,000

• Personnel: Two doctoral-level graduate student and two faculties (0.3 summer months each)

Low-profile Multiband Magnetic and 5G Telematics Antennas

• Project duration: 12 months

• Budget: $50,000

• Personnel: One doctoral-level graduate student

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Questions?

Selected References

• W. Lee, Y. K. Hong, et al., “Omnidirectional Low-Profile Multiband Antenna for Vehicular

Telecommunication,” Prog. Electromagn. Res. Lett., 51, p.53 (2015)

• W. Lee, Y. K. Hong, et al., “Dual-polarized hexaferrite antenna for unmanned aerial vehicle

(UAV) applications,” IEEE Antennas and Wirel. Propag. Lett., 12, p.765 (2013)

• G. S. Abo, Y. K. Hong, et al., “Hexaferrite slant and slot MIMO antenna element for mobile

devices,” Microw. Opt. Techn. Lett., 55, p.551 (2013)

• J. Lee, Y. K. Hong, et al., “Miniature Long-Term Evolution (LTE) MIMO ferrite antenna,” IEEE

Antennas and Wirel. Propag. Lett., 10, p.603, (2011)

• S. Bae, Y. K. Hong, et al., “Miniature and higher-order mode ferrite MIMO ring patch antenna

for mobile communication system,” Prog. Electromag. Res. B, 25, p.53, (2010)

• W. C. Lee, Y. K. Hong, et al., “Low-Loss Hexaferrite for GHz Antenna and RF Applications,” to

be submitted

• Y. K. Hong and W. C. Lee, “Dual-polarized Magnetic Antennas,” US20140159973 A1 / WO

2014085659 A1, 2014.

• Y. K. Hong and W. Lee, “Low Profile Multiband Antennas for Telemetric Applications,”

approved for protection on July 21, 2014 (UA 14-0010 / H0166028)

VSP2 - Low Cost, Renewable/Sustainable Materials and Smart Architectures

for High Performance, Lightweight Automotive Composites

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Low Cost, Renewable/Sustainable Materials and Smart

Architectures for High Performance, Lightweight Automotive

Composites (VSP2)

Jagannadh Satyavolu, Gamini Sumanasekera, and Thad Druffel

Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research


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Focus

Facilitate the use of renewable/ sustainable materials and smart architectures to

supplement or complement existing materials and technologies for light-weight

composites, with an emphasis on low cost and high performance for structural

and non-structural automotive applications.

Need

Vehicle weight reduction is one of the strategies available to automotive

manufacturers to address:

• Upcoming EPA and NHTSA standards to reduce greenhouse gases and

improve fuel economy.

• Changing societal expectations for environmental stewardship, including CO2

reduction and resource efficiency.

Industrial Relevance

• Wider use of lightweight composites can reduce body structure weigh, which in

turn results in better fuel efficiency and GHG reductions.

• Increased use of advanced materials, including composites, can also result in

reduced cost, improved safety and crashworthiness, and enhanced recycling.



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Project Purpose and

Goals (1)

Source: Dieffenbach et.al (1996a). “other” includes the costs

of maintenance, overhead, labor, building, and capital.

1. Reduce production cost of lightweight

composites through the use of low cost

and unique filler and fiber materials.

University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering website.

http://www-materials.eng.cam.ac/mpsite/interactive_charts/spec-spec/basic/html

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Project Purpose and Goals (2)

2. Increase the crash worthiness and other strength properties of the

composites.

• Automobile body structures with advanced polymer composites can

be made at least 50% lighter than a conventional steel body structure

of the same size.

• However, the most efficient composite designs cost 60 - 70% higher

than the conventional steel unibody design

• As low cost fillers and fibers are introduced to reduce the cost of

composites, the crash worthiness of the composites still needs to be

maintained.

• 3-dimenstional distribution of fillers / fibers in the composite structure

and a novel structure architecture using the composites to make auto

body parts are keys to maintain / increase the crash worthiness using

composites.



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Approach and Methods - Cost Reduction (1)

• Light weight modified carbon fibers from

“captive” agricultural biomass

– Nanofibers

• Metal nanowires.

• Low cost fly ash from coal-fired powerplants.

– The largest type of waste generated with

over 100 million tons produced in the USA

every year.

– The fly ash contains: (i) oxides of a wide

chemical composition range, and (ii)

minerals of alumosilicate glasses

containing quartz, mullite, hematite,

magnetite, ferrite spinel, anhydride and

alumina.

– The combination of composition, low price

and low density makes the fly ash an

attractive material applicable for the

synthesis of composites.

SEM showing particles of fly ash

Kishore, et al. (2002)

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Approach and Methods - Cost Reduction (2)

Fly ash

Metal nano wires

carbon nano fibers



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Approach and Methods - Improved Crashworthiness/Strength (1)

Adoption of corrugated architecture:

• Architecture similar to fluted and layered structure for high crush strength

(example: high burst strength packaging board).

• The structure can be of single face or double face.

• Sandwich structures, made of thin face sheets and corrugated cores

demonstrated superior bending stiffness and strength compared to a

monolithic structure of equal weight (Kazemahvazi et al., 2010).

Single Face Corrugated (A Flute)

Single Face (Double Face) Corrugated (A Flute)

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Approach and Methods - Improved Crashworthiness/Strength (2)

• Use mechanical and chemical techniques to improve directionality and

strength.

• Use architecture of textile with impregnation and reinforcements in the

through-the-thickness direction

Chemical

A Surface functionalities to bridge the

inorganic-organic boundary improving the

homogeneity of the composite.

Mechanical

B High shear deposition techniques to align

high aspect ration nanocomposites.

C Electromagnetic and acoustic processes

for 2D and 3-D alignment /orientation of

inorganic fillers within the organic matrix.

Properties

D Results in a stand-alone multi-layered

films with directional material properties

lamination into a final product.

Druffel et al. (2006)



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Expected Impacts

• Methods to understand distribution / alignment of nano-material in a

polymer composite:

– Carbon nanofibers

– Metal nanowires

– Fly ash

– Mixture of the above

• Implementation of the methods to produce composite samples

– Flat and corrugated

• Relate the distribution aspects to mechanical properties of the

composites.

• Design sandwich structures for crash worthiness.

• Follow-up work will use the experimental data and FEA results for

optimization.

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Personnel Two research faculty members, one teaching faculty, and one doctoral level

graduate student.



J. Satyavolu 4,000 6,000 10,000

G. Sumanasekera 2,000 8000 10,000

T. Druffel 4,000 6000 10,000

Graduate Research Assistant 22,000 0 22,000



Supplies, Software, and Equipment 2,500 0 2,500

Travel 2,000 0 2,000


Indirect Costs (10%) 4,562 12,850 17,412

I/UCRC Indirect Cost Waiver (40%) 0 18,248 18,248


GRA Tuition 0 24,592 24,592

Budget Totals $50,182 $63,142 $113,324



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Questions?

VSP3 - Multi-MHz DC-DC Converters for Automotive Power Management

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Multi-MHz DC-DC Converters for Automotive

Power Management (VSP3)

Raja Ayyanar



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Focus of Project

To develop high power density and high efficiency dc-dc converters operating

at an effective frequency of several MHz using GaN devices and soft-

switching topologies


• Automotive power management features a very large number of dc-dc

converters where power density and efficiency are key metrics

• Motivation to increase switching frequencies above 1.6 MHz to avoid AM

band and ease requirements of EMI filters

• Recent movement towards mild hybrids, 48V (Li-ion) power net and

48V/12V dual voltage power systems spurred by stringent emissions

standards (start-stop technology, kinetic energy recovery much more

effective at 48 V) opens up several new applications for dc-dc converters

including a relatively high power converter to interface the 48 V and 12 V

systems.

• Tremendous interest in SiC and GaN devices for automotive applications,

but several issues need to be still addressed before widespread adoption


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• The project aims to demonstrate feasibility and significant advantages of multi-

MHz dc-dc converters for different automotive power management functions

• GaN devices while achieving fast switching speeds can still benefit from soft-

switching, from the loss point of view as well from EMI stand point; hence, the

goal is to develop Zero Voltage Transition circuits suitable for the identified

automotive power management

• High frequency magnetics is emerging to be the key challenge for MHz

conversion; project focus is on identifying most suitable magnetic material,

optimized magnetics design in terms of core and winding geometry and

configurations

• The specific goal in Year 1 is to develop a

high performance multi-MHz, bi-directional

dc-dc converter for interfacing

the 48V and 12V dual voltage systems

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This research attempts to achieve high power density and high efficiency in

dc-dc converters for automotive power management through:

• Effective switching frequencies at a few MHz

• Zero-voltage transition circuits (different designs) employing low voltage

GaN devices

• R&D on magnetics design and optimization, including integrated

magnetics structures and new winding techniques to reduce high

frequency losses

• First application targeted is 48V-12V

bi-directional converter at

3 kW with an efficiency goal of

>97% over a wide load range

• Power management IC functional

requirements / specifications


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• Formal optimization of switching frequency (while pushing the wide

bandgap devices to their performance limit) considering losses in power

devices and magnetics, and power density

• Novel (patent pending) zero voltage transition (ZVT) technique for the bi-

directional dc-dc stage to achieve high efficiency and to address EMI

issues

• New winding configurations and magnetics design for the filter and

resonant inductor (including coupled inductors for different topologies)

• High performance control (active filter mode) to ensure the voltage

magnitudes of the dual voltage systems are within narrow limits during

load dump and cold cranking conditions

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• 48V to 12 V bi-directional dc-dc converter with 10 to 12 interleaved multi-

phase converters each with a switching frequency of 1 MHz for an

effective frequency of 10 to 12 MHz

• 100 V (or lower) GaN MOSFETs with low-loss gate drive circuitry

• Finite element analysis based magnetics design/optimization

• Two approaches for the dc-dc ZVT topology

(a) ZVT with low-loss auxiliary circuit*

- Resonant current only during the short switching transitions

- Zero current switching for auxiliary switches

- Coupled resonant inductor for further loss reduction

R. Ayyanar, “ZERO-VOLTAGE TRANSITION IN POWER CONVERTERS WITH AN AUXILIARY CIRCUIT,” US patent application, Jan 2014


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• 48V to 12 V bi-directional dc-dc converter with 10 to 12 interleaved multi-

phase converters each with a switching frequency of 1 MHz for an effective

frequency of 10 to 12 MHz

• Two approaches for the dc-dc ZVT topology

(b) Active-clamp ZVT synchronous buck

- ZVS for all three switches (of each phase)

- Coupling resonant and filter inductor for further loss reduction

- Optimal switch timing to minimize body diode conduction

- A 2.1 MHz 5V/5A wide input range converter demonstrated recently

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• Topology comparison through detailed simulation

- Resonant pole based ZVT scheme

- Active clamp synchronous buck

• FEA-based magnetics design optimization

methods and results

• Hardware validation of 48V/12V converter at

3 kW comprising of 10 to 12 phases with an

effective switching frequency of > 10 MHz and

targeted efficiency of 97%

• Modeling and controller design including for

active filter mode of operation


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Expected Impacts

• Though only a single application (48V/12V conversion) is targeted for

hardware prototype development the proposed multi-MHz concept and new

topologies and magnetics design have widespread applications in general

automotive power management

• Validation of performance entitlements of GaN devices leading to their

widespread adoption

• Significant synergy with other centers (Power America, FREEDM)

• Filter inductance values can be reduced to the extent that practical

integrated inductors can be explored in Year 2

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VSP4 - Integrated Multi-Function Power Conversion for

Reduced Weight Vehicle Power System

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Integrated Multi-Function Power Conversion for Reduced

Weight Vehicle Power System (VSP4)

Daniel Costinett

Leon Tolbert, Fred Wang, Benjamin Blalock,

and Burak Ozpineci

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

University of Tennessee Knoxville

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1 Peter Savagian, “Barriers to the Electrification of the Automobile,” Plenary session, ECCE 2014

WPT



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• Design and demonstrate hybrid, multi-

function power electronics

• Integrate conversion stages using

shared components for cost, size,

weight reduction

Commercial EV power module and boost inductor

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• Active balancing in BMS largely cost prohibitive

• Combining functionality with HV-to-LV power converter reduces solution cost

• Original work funded under ARPA-e AMPED

Traditional balancing topology Combined active balancing topology

R. Zane, M. Evzelman, D. Costinett, D. Maksimovic, R. Anderson, K. Smith, M. S. Trimboli, and G. Plett, “Battery

control,” U.S. Patent 14/591,917, 2012.



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Expected Impacts (1)

• Implementation of research-stage

advanced functionality

• Active balancing BMS realized with “zero-

wire” communication through shared DC

bus

• Reduced total size and complexity of

wiring harness

• Reduced lifetime mismatch between cells

– Longer lifetime for the same pack size

– Reduced number of cells for the same

10-year lifeCell capacity variation with active balancing vs.

passive top balancing

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Traditional 2-stage drivetrain topology

Combined isolated/non-isolated topology

• Combined drivetrain DC-DC and

isolated battery charger

• Shared magnetics, capacitors, power

switches

• Highly efficient, low power isolation

converter used as drivetrain converter

at low power

Scaled-down converter prototype



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Expected Impacts (2)

• Reduce total solution size and cost for boost + onboard charger by 40%

• Decrease drive cycle energy losses by 20% using DCX operation at high

efficiency points

• Complete onboard charger at > 95% charging efficiency when coupled

with motor-integrate PFC 1

1 L. Tang and G.-J. Su, “A low-cost, digitally-controlled charger for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles,” in Energy

Conversion Congress and Exposition, 2009. ECCE 2009. IEEE, 2009, pp. 3923–3929.

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Year 1

• Analysis and modeling of cost/weight/efficiency of hybrid converter employing

both SiC and GaN devices

• Developed design methodology to address tradeoffs between functions

• Construction and demonstration of ~2.5kW proof-of-concept

Year 2

• Complete design methodology design tradeoffs dictated by vehicle-level

performance metrics

• Construction and demonstration of full-scale converter, including packaging

and thermal design, incorporating a level-II isolated charger and >30kW boost

converter



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Administration

• Project duration: Two years

• Budget: $50,000 in center funds per year, (approximately $30,000 in


• Personnel:

– One Ph.D. graduate research assistant

– One undergraduate researcher

– Faculty oversight and mentoring

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Questions?

Selected References

[1] D. Costinett, K. Hathaway, M. Rehman, M. Evzelman, R. Zane, Y. Levron, and D. Maksimovic, “Active

balancing system for electric vehicles with incorporated low voltage bus,” in Proc. Appl. Power Electron.

Conf. (APEC), March 2014, pp. 3230–3236.

[2] Z. Wang, X. Shi, L. Tolbert, F. Wang, Z. Liang, D. Costinett, and B. Blalock, “A high temperature silicon

carbide mosfet power module with integrated silicon-on-insulator-based gate drive,” IEEE Trans. Power

Electron., vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 1432–1445, March 2015.

[3] W. Zhang, S. Anwar, D. Costinett, and F. Wang, “Investigation of high power density boost converter for

electrical vehicle using cost-effective sic based hybrid switches and improved inductor design

approach,” in SAE 2015 World Congress, April, 2015

TSP1 - Urban Parcel Pickup and Delivery Services using All-Electric Trucks

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Urban Parcel Pickup and Delivery Services using All-

Electric Trucks (TSP1)

Rajan Batta, Changhyun Kwon and Nan Ding

Industrial & Systems Engineering

University at Buffalo

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• Challenges of electric vehicles routing problem (E-VRP)

– Limited driving ranges of electric vehicles

– Limited charging infrastructure

– Congestion and waiting at the charging station

• Limited charging infrastructure of all-electric trucks

– Adoption barrier of all-electric trucks in parcel delivery service industry

• We will seek for the optimal charging-station locations and capacities for

urban package delivery vehicles and to contribute to enabling urban parcel

delivery using all-electric trucks by providing appropriate charging

infrastructure.


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• New E-VRP formulation

– Consider capacity and potential waiting at the charging station

• Make strategic decisions

– Formulate a joint location-capacity-routing decision model

– Location and capacity decisions in upper level

– Routing plans of delivery vehicles in lower level

• Make operational decisions

– Apply E-VRP model and location-capacity-routing model to a specific

area with real industrial data

– Find out how the technological advancements would affect the optimal

locations and capacities of charging stations

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• Electric vehicle routing modeling with considerations of

– Customer delivery time window

– Capacity of charging stations and potential waiting at a the charging station

while another truck is charging

• Strategic decision problem to incorporate

– Bi-level location-capacity-routing problem (LCRP)

– Optimal locations and capacities of charging stations

– Estimation of customer delivery locations

• Operational decision problem to

– Incorporate charging stations obtained from LCRP

– Develop a case study in Buffalo metropolitan area

– Consider dynamic customer delivery locations and different types of

packages

– Solve daily routing plan for all-electric delivery trucks


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Mathematical optimization model that incorporates location decisions,

capacity decisions, electric vehicle routing, time windows, and charging time

• Electric vehicle routing with charging-station capacities and customer

time windows

• Different charging capacities affect vehicle routing plan for all-electric

delivery trucks

• Dynamic customer delivery locations affect daily routing plan

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• E-VRP formulation considering capacity of charging station

– Node-based approach

• Heuristic solution generated from uncapacitated problem

• Tweak the solution by incorporating waiting to meet the capacity constraint

at charging stations

– Segment-based approach

• Segment-based network representation to incorporate capacity and waiting

time at charging station

• Mixed integer linear programming (MILP)

• Bi-level location-capacity-routing model

– Upper level determines locations and capacities of charging stations

– Lower level determines routing, which depends on the solution generated

from upper level, by using proposed E-VRP model

• Case study

– Data collection of customer locations and time windows

– Test both strategic and operational decision making

– Various scenarios of driving range and charging technologies


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• Electric vehicle routing modeling

– New E-VRP model suitable for urban parcel delivery services

– Computationally efficient algorithm for the E-VRP model

• Strategic decision problem

– Bi-level optimization model for joint location-capacity-routing decision

– Computational method for the joint decision model

• Operational decision problem

– Sample delivery requirement data in Buffalo metropolitan area

– Case study in Buffalo metropolitan area with computational results

• Timely deployment of research results

– Publication of papers on journals and conferences

– Progress and final reports

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Expected Impacts

• Tackle challenges of electric vehicle routing problem due to limited driving

range, congestion and waiting at charging station to

– Route the delivery vehicles efficiently

– Help planning for charging infrastructure properly

– Accelerate the adoption of all-electric trucks for urban delivery


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Project Duration/Budget Estimate

• One year project

• Requested support for

– One graduate students for one year

– PIs

– Travel to deploy the research results in conferences and review

meetings

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Potential Benefits

• Electric vehicle routing modeling

– Traditional vehicle routing problem does not consider visits to charging

stations

– In this proposal, both visits to charging stations and capacities of

charging stations are modeled

• Bi-level location-capacity-routing modeling


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TSP2- The Role of New EV Options in US Fleet Evolution

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The Role of New EV Options in US Fleet Evolution (TSP2)

Kara Kockelman

Department of Civil, Architectural, & Environmental

Engineering

The University of Texas at Austin

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Focus of Project / Need & Industrial Relevance

• U.S. has experienced slow adoption of plug-in electric vehicles

(PEVs), with possible exception of CA.

• What’s the impact of coming low-cost & high-range battery-only

EVs (like Chevrolet Volt & Tesla Model III) on nation’s light-duty

vehicle fleet?

• What are coming sales numbers & fleet mix, under different

policies/incentives & prices?

• This is an important question for manufacturers, policymakers, &

planners.


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Project Purpose and Objectives

• Define different vehicle technology scenarios (availability, pricing,

provision, & production) & fuel-cost (electric power & gasoline)

scenarios over the next 25 years.

• Anticipate PEV & BEV purchases, light-duty vehicle fleet’s

composition, & electrified-mile shares, over the next 25 years,

under these scenarios.

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• Assemble data set from our recent EV & vehicle-adoption surveys,

as well as the American Community Survey (by US Census).

• Analyze data to deliver behaviorally defensible econometric

models for vehicle transaction decisions, vehicle preferences, &

vehicle disposal, among others.

• Micro-simulate household & vehicle fleet evolution year by year,

over 25 years, to anticipate energy impacts & fleet evolution under

different scenarios.


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Household & Vehicle Fleet Evolution Framework

(Musti & Kockelman 2011)

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Data sets + models + forecasts + report describing econometric

specifications, forecasted vehicle-fleet composition, share of

electrified miles, & impacts of incentives (e.g., leasing policies) over

25 years.


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Expected Impacts

The forecasted impact of various incentive & leasing policies will help

OEMs, policymakers, and planners better select policies to achieve

more sustainable fleet operations, with higher rates of PEV

adoption in coming years.

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Project Start

Y1

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8

Q1

Acquire American

Community Survey

(ACS) & other data

Q2

Assemble previous

survey datasets & ACS

data

Q3

Define vehicle

technology &

pricing scenarios

Q4

Develop data summary

statistics &

econometric model

specifications

Y2

Q5

Define micro-simulation

framework for

household & vehicle

fleet evolution

Q6

Estimate econometric

models (as input to

micros-simulations)

Q7

Program & apply

simulation across

various scenarios

Project End

Q8

Develop final report


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Thank you for your time & attention.

Are there any

Questions or Suggestions?

TSP3 - Store Fulfillment for Online Orders: Optimization Models

in a Collaborative Store Environment

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Store Fulfillment for Online Orders: Optimization Models in a

Collaborative Store Environment (TSP3)

Qing He

Industrial and Systems Engineering


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• Status quo of online retailers

– Rapid expanding distribution network

– Race to fast online order fulfillment

• Recent practices for store fulfillment of online orders

– Typically occur in holiday shopping seasons

– Temporal horizon: one to two months

– Spatial horizon: nationwide orders

– Ease the pressure of distribution center for the surging amount of

online orders

• This work will seek to incorporate same day oriented souring and

delivery problem into store fulfillment planning and operation. The

numerical examples are derived from same day delivery from a real-

world retailer store network.



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• Online order fulfillment

– Improve order fulfillment speed.

– Utilize the facilities before only as local retailing outlets.

– Omni-channel shopping experience

• Pack of solutions for same day oriented store fulfillment

– Steps and methods in supply chain planning

– Optimize the fulfillment operations

– Help to overcome the financial barrier of store fulfillment

• Benefits to stores

– Real time inventory update

– Spare benefits from booming online retailing

– Improve the efficiency of retail floor space

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• The work aims to identify the seasonal planning and daily operation

dimensions from local retailing outlets perspective

• Construct optimization models and heuristic algorithms which solve fleet

sizing, store selection, order assignment and vehicle routing problems to

construct the supply chain plans

• Propose solution algorithm and heuristic methods for the optimization

models

• Synthesize the models for different supply chain stages



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Same Day Delivery Optimization Modeling Factors

Store related

• Initial replenishment

• Inventory assignment

• Product assortment

• Online order fulfillment function setup

Customer demand

• Correlation between product demand and orders

• Features extraction from order information

• Merchandise hierarchy

Shipping options

• Continuous approximation of VRP for fleet sizing

• Third party parcel carriers

Store related

• Monte Carlo approach or

• Moving horizon technique

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Same Day Delivery Optimization Seasonal Planning Modeling

1. Optimization model by mix integer programming

2. Paths to make the solution scalable

• Provide heuristic steps to improve from preliminary solution

• Decompose the problem by

- Dynamic programming

- Column generation

Same Day Delivery Optimization Daily Operation Modeling

1. Dynamic programming

2. Linear programs to do approximation

3. Online Order Assignment Model

4. Vehicle routing model



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Same Day Delivery Optimization Seasonal Planning Modeling

• Inventory assignment

• Fleet sizing

• Store list with fulfillment function

• Under sale and above sale demand lost

Same Day Delivery Optimization Daily Operation Modeling

• Vehicle routing plan

• Orders sourcing plan

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Expected Impacts

• Proposed work will incorporate two supply chain stages – planning and

operation to provide a pack of solutions with respect to continuity and

comprehension

• This work focuses on same day delivery from store fulfillment in supply

chain perspective

• Oriented by the revenue and costs, it will help to overcome the financial

barrier of store fulfillment



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• Two year project

– Year 1: Seasonal planning problem

– Year 2: Same day delivery problem

• Requesting support for:

– One graduate students for two years

– One month support to cover Summer of PI


meetings

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Potential Benefits

Store fulfilment is still incipient in retailing industry. Despite of its high

potentials in online retailing competition, there is very limited literature

available today. This work focuses on this area and intends to fill the gap in

supply chain perspective. Oriented by the revenue and costs, it will help to

overcome the financial barrier of store fulfillment.



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TSP4 - Lightweight Electric Vehicle (LEV) Influence on Traffic Mode Choice,

Trip Purposes and Driving Behavior in Multimodal Transportation System

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Lightweight Electric Vehicle (LEV) Influence on Traffic Mode

Choice, Trip Purposes and Driving Behavior in Multimodal

Transportation System (TSP4)

Christopher Cherry

Associate Professor

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

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• Focus: Investigating use and operational parameters through instrumented

and connected LEVs (lightweight and low speed electric vehicles) and

assessing impact on key aspects of urban mobility

• Industrial relevance: Various sectors are entering the urban mobility space

from bicycle to car manufacturers. LEVs have disrupted urban transport in

Asia, have made a large impact in Europe, and are poised to influence NA

urban mobility options

2

Pilot electric bike sharing

system on UTK campus

BugE three-wheeled LEV

student project at UTK



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Integrate LEVs into upcoming urban mobility paradigm.

• Improve safety and performance

• Assess market drivers

• Improve energy efficiency of the transportation system

• Develop naturalistic methods to assess use

3

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• Assess four main theme areas

1) Market Behavior

2) System Impacts (safety and sustainability)

3) Physical Activity and Health

4) Urban freight

• Enabling system development

1) Deploy instrumented LEVs on a broad scale

2) Identify opportunities for connected vehicles to improve market and

system impacts

4



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• LEVs are disruptive technology in Asia and EU – most research is less than a

decade old and focused outside the US context

• This research focuses on the convergence of multiple technologies; LEVs,

naturalistic data collection methods, and connected vehicles to overcome

main barriers (i.e., safety)

5

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Approach

• Develop and deploy instrumentation for LEVs to assess market behavior, use

characteristics, physical activity and health, and safety performance. Utilize

partnerships with market leaders to deploy nationwide instrumentation study

• Supplement instrumented (naturalistic) LEVs with connected LEVs to

improve safety and utility. Evaluate and optimize the connected system with

field tests and infrastructure

• Conduct market analysis of LEVs with and without connected technology

using choice models

6



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Approach & Methods

7

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• Optimized hardware and software to support wider adoption of LEVs

• Optimized software to coordinate connected vehicle and LEVs.

• Market analysis of the use of existing LEVs and the potential increase in

utility of LEVs in the context of connected vehicle frameworks.

8



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Expected Impacts

• Detailed understanding of market drivers for a spectrum of LEVs.

• Behavioral models will allow industry members to assess the potential

impacts of improvements in technology through revealed- and stated-

preference modeling.

• Long term, connected vehicles can potentially overcome main barriers and

increase penetration into broader markets

9

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• Year 1: Expanded instrumentation development and prototyping, pilot

test, to a broad set of LEVs ($77k)

10

ItemEV-STS

RequestMatching Funds Net Funding


Faculty – C. Cherry (one month) 1,700 10,000 11,700

Graduate Research Assistant (half time) 11,000 11,000 22,000

Fringe Benefits 5,696 0 5,696

Faculty and Staff (34%) 3,978 0 3,979

Student Research Assistant 1,718 0 1,718



Travel 2,000 0 2,000





GRA Tuition 14,299 0 14,299

Budget Totals $45,535 $31,500 $77,035



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Potential Benefits

• Widespread adoption = Vast energy improvements (2-10x more energy

efficient than E-car).

• Some LEVs (e-bikes) provide added health benefits

• Market opportunity for new urban personal mobility vehicle that appeals to

new demographics.

• Can be well integrated into shared mobility platforms (bike/car share).

• Safety improvements can be large if safety-oriented technologies developed.

11

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Questions?

12



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Lightweight Electric Vehicle (LEV) Influence on Traffic Mode

Choice, Trip Purposes and Driving Behavior in Multimodal

Transportation System (TSP4)

Christopher Cherry

Associate Professor



Nati

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nce F

ou

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ati

on

Where

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coveries B

egin



• Focus: Investigating use and operational parameters through instrumented

and connected LEVs (lightweight and low speed electric vehicles) and

assessing impact on key aspects of urban mobility

• Industrial relevance: Various sectors are entering the urban mobility space

from bicycle to car manufacturers. LEVs have disrupted urban transport in

Asia, have made a large impact in Europe, and are poised to influence NA

urban mobility options

2

Pilot electric bike sharing

system on UTK campus

BugE three-wheeled LEV

student project at UTK



Nati

on

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nce F

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ati

on

Where

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coverie

s B

egin



Integrate LEVs into upcoming urban mobility paradigm.

• Improve safety and performance

• Assess market drivers

• Improve energy efficiency of the transportation system

• Develop naturalistic methods to assess use

3

Nati

on

al

Scie

nce F

ou

nd

ati

on

Where

Dis

coveries B

egin



• Assess four main theme areas

1) Market Behavior

2) System Impacts (safety and sustainability)

3) Physical Activity and Health

4) Urban freight

• Enabling system development

1) Deploy instrumented LEVs on a broad scale

2) Identify opportunities for connected vehicles to improve market and

system impacts

4



Nati

on

al

Scie

nce F

ou

nd

ati

on

Where

Dis

coverie

s B

egin



• LEVs are disruptive technology in Asia and EU – most research is less than a

decade old and focused outside the US context

• This research focuses on the convergence of multiple technologies; LEVs,

naturalistic data collection methods, and connected vehicles to overcome

main barriers (i.e., safety)

5

Nati

on

al

Scie

nce F

ou

nd

ati

on

Where

Dis

coveries B

egin


Approach

• Develop and deploy instrumentation for LEVs to assess market behavior, use

characteristics, physical activity and health, and safety performance. Utilize

partnerships with market leaders to deploy nationwide instrumentation study

• Supplement instrumented (naturalistic) LEVs with connected LEVs to

improve safety and utility. Evaluate and optimize the connected system with

field tests and infrastructure

• Conduct market analysis of LEVs with and without connected technology

using choice models

6



Nati

on

al

Scie

nce F

ou

nd

ati

on

Where

Dis

coverie

s B

egin


Approach & Methods

7

Nati

on

al

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nce F

ou

nd

ati

on

Where

Dis

coveries B

egin



• Optimized hardware and software to support wider adoption of LEVs

• Optimized software to coordinate connected vehicle and LEVs.

• Market analysis of the use of existing LEVs and the potential increase in

utility of LEVs in the context of connected vehicle frameworks.

8



Nati

on

al

Scie

nce F

ou

nd

ati

on

Where

Dis

coveries B

egin


Expected Impacts

• Detailed understanding of market drivers for a spectrum of LEVs.

• Behavioral models will allow industry members to assess the potential

impacts of improvements in technology through revealed- and stated-

preference modeling.

• Long term, connected vehicles can potentially overcome main barriers and

increase penetration into broader markets

9

Nati

on

al

Scie

nce F

ou

nd

ati

on

Where

Dis

coveries B

egin



• Year 1: Expanded instrumentation development and prototyping, pilot

test, to a broad set of LEVs ($77k)

10

ItemEV-STS

RequestMatching Funds Net Funding


Faculty – C. Cherry (one month) 1,700 10,000 11,700

Graduate Research Assistant (half time) 11,000 11,000 22,000

Fringe Benefits 5,696 0 5,696

Faculty and Staff (34%) 3,978 0 3,979

Student Research Assistant 1,718 0 1,718



Travel 2,000 0 2,000





GRA Tuition 14,299 0 14,299

Budget Totals $45,535 $31,500 $77,035



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on

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nce F

ou

nd

ati

on

Where

Dis

coverie

s B

egin


Potential Benefits

• Widespread adoption = Vast energy improvements (2-10x more energy

efficient than E-car).

• Some LEVs (e-bikes) provide added health benefits

• Market opportunity for new urban personal mobility vehicle that appeals to

new demographics.

• Can be well integrated into shared mobility platforms (bike/car share).

• Safety improvements can be large if safety-oriented technologies developed.

11

Nati

on

al

Scie

nce F

ou

nd

ati

on

Where

Dis

coveries B

egin


Questions?

12

TSP6 - Driver-Specific Fuel Economy Estimates: Using Big Data and Information

Science to Create Accurate, Personalized MPG Estimates

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Driver-Specific Fuel Economy Estimates: Using Big

Data and Information Science to Create Accurate,

Personalized MPG Estimates (TSP6)

Asad J. Khattak

Beaman Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Coordinator of Transportation Engineering

and Science Program

David L. Greene

Faculty Research Professor,



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Focus

Prediction of on-road fuel economy based on driver and vehicle attributes.

Need

• Uncertainty about fuel economy in actual driving

• EPA’s dynamometer tests vs real highway conditions• Vehicle purchase/use accurate fuel economy consumers experience

Relevance

• EPA labels based on “test cycles” for vehicle make, model, engine

• City and highway; A/C, high speed, cold temp

• Fuel economy estimates determine manufacturers’ compliance with

regulations



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Purpose and Goals

• Increase car buyers’ willingness to pay for techs that increase fuel economy

• Accurate & personal MPG estimates reduce uncertainty in fuel savings

• “your mileage may vary” vs. “one size fits all”

Project Importance

1. Consumers need accurate and unbiased fuel economy informed choices

2. Government needs it to enforce CAFE and GHG emissions regulations

Window Sticker Label

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• Project combines 1) information technology, 2) big data, 3) modeling to

develop personalized fuel economy estimates

• Individual’s own drive cycle and driving environment for every vehicle

• Prediction of on-road fuel economies based on driver and vehicle attributes

• Eliminate uncertainty about the value of future fuel savings.

Source: DOE/EPA website (www.fueleconomy.gov) – “My MPG”.



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We will demonstrate at least 2 alternative

pathways (methods) for:

• developing individual driving cycles and

• estimating vehicle fuel use over driving

cycles

OBD-based Individual Driving Cycle

• Data directly obtained from travelers

about driving patterns-GPS and OBD

devices

• Vehicles generate data that can

describe individual driving behavior &

environmental variables

Case-based Driving Cycle

• Case-based data: Behavioral data (survey) + GPS data customized driving

cycles

• Observable vehicle and driver attributes Accurate driving cycles?

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Fuel economy estimates from the drive cycles:

Generalized Vehicle Simulation Model Approach

• Models calibrated for individual vehicles using available data on mass,

aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance

• Drivetrain efficiencies chosen based on type of engine and

transmission

Statistical Vehicle Simulation Approach

• Second by second fuel consumption and other data generated during

emissions and fuel economy certification testing used to calibrate

statistical models for vehicles.

• Work with the EPA to acquire such or ORNL for sample data

Project evaluates feasibility of the alternative methods for

1) generating personal drive cycles and

2) simulating make, model and configuration fuel economy to generate

accurate fuel economy estimates for individuals



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Document the findings:

• A report summarizing results of analysis will be provided + data used for

analyses

• Scientific paper for submission to a conference and journal.

Personal driving cycle generator:

• Software program for generating personal driving cycle for sponsors.

• Program written for extracting, processing and learning the OBD/sensor

driving data, to generate individualized driving cycles for users (including

drivers and manufacturers).

Smartphone application for personal fuel economy :

• Smartphone app for individualizing fuel economy and fuel cost estimates

for alternative fuel vehicles.

The smartphone application will provide useful feedback to users in

terms of accurate MPG information during a trip.

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Novel Aspects & Impacts

• About 16.5 million light duty vehicles purchased in the US; 250 million

vehicles consume approximately 125 billion gallons of petroleum

• Accurate fuel economy info

– More informed consumer choices Purchase of (AFV) technologies

whose lifecycle fuel savings equal or exceed their costs

– More closely align consumer demand with the requirements (CAFÉ)

imposed on manufacturers increased investment in energy efficiency

R&D

• If consumers’ willingness to pay for the energy savings of advanced,

energy efficient technologies could be approximately doubled, then this

would be equivalent to several thousand dollars in “subsidies” per vehicle

• “Subsidies” of that magnitude can have a dramatic impact on market uptake

of advanced technologies! (NRC, 2013).



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Administration

• Project duration: One year.

• Budget: $150,000 in center funds (approximately $25,000 in

institutional match

• Personnel: One doctoral-level graduate student (6 months) +

Faculty oversight and mentoring

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Potential Benefits

1) Accurate MPG information provided to consumers

2) Tool development that can be eventually be incorporated in websites

potentially helping consumers and increasing purchase and use of fuel

efficient vehicles

3) A project with a national impact, and improved public image of sponsors at

a low cost



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Questions?

• Wang X., A. Khattak, J. Liu, G. Amoli, & S. Son, What is the level of volatility in instantaneous driving decisions?

Forthcoming in Transportation Research Part C, 2015. DOI:10.1016/j.trc.2014.12.014

• Liu J., A. Khattak, X. Wang, The role of alternative fuel vehicles: Using behavioral and sensor data to model

hierarchies in travel, Forthcoming in Transportation Research Part C, 2015. DOI:10.1016/j.trc.2015.01.028

• Wang X, J. Liu, and A. Khattak, Generating Fuel Economy Information to Support Cost Effective Vehicle

Choices: Comparing Standard and Customized Driving Cycles, TRB paper # 15-4548, Presented at the

Transportation Research Board, National Academies, Washington, D.C., 2015.

• Khattak A. & J. Liu, Supporting Instantaneous Driving Decisions through vehicle trajectory data, TRB paper #

15-1345, Presented at the Transportation Research Board, National Academies, Washington, D.C., 2015.

• Liu J., A. Khattak & X. Wang, Creating Indices for How People Drive in a Region: A Comparative Study of

Driving Performance, TRB paper # 15-0966, Presented at the Transportation Research Board, National

Academies, Washington, D.C., 2015.

Project Presentation Executive Summaries

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eSTAT: Improving the Efficiency of Electric Taxis with

Transfer-Allowed Rideshare (TSP7)

Presented by : Yunfei Hou, Ph.D Candidate

PI: Prof. Chunming Qiao, IEEE Fellow

Computer Science and Engineering


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• Need/Motivation

– Improve taxi service without adding more taxis

• It can be difficult to hail a taxi in large cities, especially during rush hours

• Challenges in Electric Taxi Systems

– Mediate/offset the negative impact of frequent charging

• An electric taxi with full battery can only travel about 60 miles, compared

with 300 miles with a full tank

• Charging takes at least 30 minutes, with latest DC Quick Charging

Systems

– User acceptance and economic incentives (price) to shared taxi and

transfer between taxis.

• New opportunities:

– Automated taxis are emerging

– A quick response and affordable taxi-sharing system can reduce/eliminate

the need to own vehicles

– Electric vehicles and charging stations are more accessible


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Nearby Charging Stations

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• Electric Sharable and Transfer-

Allowed Taxis (eSTAT)

– One taxis serves more than

one customer (shared ride)

– Two taxis collaboratively

serve one passenger (via

transfer)

– Utilize charging station and

waiting time for charging to

support carpooling

• Making the business case

– Design a price model that

benefits both passengers and

taxi drivers

An example illustrating Non-Transferable Taxi-

sharing and eSTAT

Passenger B

B’s Destination

Taxi 1

Taxi 2

A’s Destination

Passenger A

NTT Route

eSTAT Route

Taxi Route

Charging Station


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• Design dispatch algorithm for eSTAT

– Given:

• Passenger requests and their tolerable waiting time

• Taxis’ location, load status and planned route

• Charging station locations and availability

• Real-time traffic information

– Find

• Taxi schedule (including: when & where to pickup/dropoff passengers)

and charging plan

• Passenger’s itinerary with at most one transfer

– Objective

• Maximize the number of passengers served by the taxi fleet within a

given time period

• Design price mode with considerations of

– Overlapped route distance, Cost of detour, and Transfer related issues

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• Solutions for eSTAT problem

– Mathematical formulation

• Network flow based formulation that model vehicle route and passenger

itinerary as separate flows

• Mixed Integer Programing

– Heuristic Algorithm

• A greedy strategy to: 1) decide the order for serving the passengers, and

2) find potential rideshare plans, which may cause changes on the exiting

plans.

• Consider charging issues (including charging during waiting for transfer

passenger) and battery constraints

• Case study

– Simulation with real-world taxi demand (taxi traces are publicly available for

NYC and Shanghai etc.)

– Various scenarios with different passenger requirement, price model and

charging technologies


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Pilot Study*

* Hou, Y., Li, X., Qiao, C. (2012). TicTac:From transfer-incapable carpooling to transfer-allowed carpooling. IEEE

GLOBECOM 2012.

(a) Performance comparisons with (TAC) and

without (TIC) transfer

(b) Result Composition with different number of

transfer

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• Dispatch strategy for the eSTAT system

– Mathematical model

– Efficient heuristic solutions

• Price model

– Taxi fare model for all parties

– Case study with real-world taxi demand

• Deployment of research results

– Publication of papers on journals and conferences

– Final and progress reports


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Expected Impacts

• Introduce a new business model for electric taxis

– Increase the chance of taxi-sharing

– Alleviate the negative impact of frequent charging

– Promote taxi-sharing and adoption of electric taxis

– Increase environmental benefits

• Extend current NSF projects and facilitate technology transfer

– NSF-CPS: Addressing Design and Human factors Challenges in Cyber-

Transportation System

– NSF-CHS: Modeling Cyber Transportation and Human Interaction in

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles

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• One year project

• Request supports for

– One graduate students for one year

– PI for one month


meetings


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Questions?



Electrified Vehicle Powertrains Proposal Presentations (EPW)

EPP1 High Energy Density and Durable Battery System for Electric Vehicles ........................... 148

EPP2 Design of High-Density Converter using Wide Band-Gap Seminconductors… ................ 149

EPP3 High Frequency Efficient DC-DC Converters for High Power… ...................................... 150

EPP4 Comprehensive Design and Operation Paradigm for Wide-Bandgap Inverters... .............. 151

EPP5 High-Energy, High-power Lithium-Sulfur Batteries, Arumugam Manthiram ................... 152

EPP6 High Voltage-High Power Electronic Devices for HEV and EV Applications .................. 153

EPP7 High Density Integration and Packaging for Efficient Power Electronics .......................... 154

EPP8 A Novel Hybrid Catalyst for Fuel Cell Vehicle Applications ............................................ 155

Advanced Conventional Powertrain and Alternative Fuel Proposal Presentations (CPP)

CPP1 Natural Gas Engines: Emissions and Efficiency ................................................................. 156

CPP2 Model-Based Control and Optimization of Powertrain Systems… .................................... 157

CPP3 Multi-Physics Modeling and Simulation of Flow in High Performance… ........................ 158

CPP4 Direct-Injection Spray Enleanment during Deceleration Phase .......................................... 159

CPP5 Improving Heavy-Duty Engine Efficiency ......................................................................... 160

Non-Powertrain Vehicle Systems Proposal Presentations (VSP)

VSP1 Next-Generation Telematics via 5G and Low-Profile… .................................................... 161

VSP2 Low Cost, Renewable/Sustainable…, Lightweight Automotive Composites .................... 162

VSP3 Multi MHz DC-DC Converters for Automotive Power Management ................................ 163

VSP4 Integrated Multi-Function Power Conversion for Reduced Weight… ............................... 164

Ground Transportation Systems and Infrastructure Proposal Presentations (TSP)

TSP1 Urban Parcel Pickup and Delivery Services using All-Electric Trucks ............................. 165

TSP2 The Role of New EV Options in US Fleet Evolution ........................................................ 166

TSP3 Store Fulfillment for Online Orders: Optimization Models… ........................................... 167

TSP4 Lightweight Electric Vehicle (LEV) Influence on Traffic Mode Choice,… ..................... 168

TSP5 Optimal EV Charging Schedule to Stabilize… .................................................................. 169

TSP6 Driver-Specific Fuel Economy Estimates: Using Big Data… ........................................... 170

TSP7 eSTAT: Improving the Efficiency of Electric Taxis... ....................................................... 171


Planning Meeting Project Presentation Executive Summary

National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for

Efficient Vehicles and Sustainable Transportation Systems (EV-STS)

June 15-16, 2015

University/Site: The University of Louisville

PI Name: Mahendra Sunkara and Gamini

Sumanasekara Phone: 502-852-8574 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: High Energy Density and Durable Battery System for Electric

Vehicles (EPP1) Budget: $50,000 for 1 year

Project Description (200 words) The current state of the art Li-S batteries are exemplified by: poor electrode rechargeability and low rate capability owing to the

insulating nature of sulfur and the solid reduction products (Li2S and Li2S2); fast capacity fading results with the generation of various

soluble polysulfides Li2Sn (3 ≤ n ≤6) intermediates, which give rise to shuttle mechanism; and a poorly controlled Li/electrolyte

interface. The use of lithium metal as anode is problematic due to potential for dendrite formation. Our approach is centered on using

high energy density and durable anodes based on Si, Sn, MoO3 or MoS2 which operate through alloying-dealloying reactions. On the

cathode side, we will introduce mesoporous high surface area carbon supported novel, metal polysulfides with protective oxide

nanostructures. Formulation of appropriate additives into the cathode composition will also facilitate the mitigation of the polysulfide

shuttle. Finally we plan to completely eliminate the polysulfide shuttling between the electrodes by using all-solid Li-S battery

configuration which will have added benefits to limit the detrimental effects such as dendritic growth of lithium, SEI formation, and

self-discharge etc.

Research/Experimental Plan

Use UofL’s well proven tin, MoO3 and silicon anodes for hosting high capacity of lithium to avoid problems associated with

pure lithium metal, safety, improve sulfur tolerance during cycling and avoid dendrite formation.

Use of novel metal-polysulfide cathode and nanocomposite/encapsulation approaches along with an unique electrolyte additive

for dissolving Li2S will allow for an increase in cyclability at high capacities (>400 mAh/g) due to enhanced sulfur scavenging

and improved Li-S redox chemistry.

Search for mechanically robust, solid membranes with significantly higher lithium ion conductivity provide several advantages

to the batteries of the proposed project. The solid electrolyte would hinder the diffusion of the lithium polysulfide species

formed at the cathode, toward the anode. Diffusion coefficients of the polysulfides through the solid membrane would be

significantly lower than that through the conventional liquid electrolytes.

Related Work Elsewhere?

Prior research has focused on the optimization of sulfur cathodes with metallic Lithium anodes. Comprehensive study of the full cell

level performance with prelithiated, high energy density and durable anodes has not been performed.

How This Project is Different?

Use of prelithiated nanowires as the anode material instead of Li metal to prevent the use of lithium metal anode when using

sulfur cathode and also to reduce irreversible capacity in the first two cycles.

Innovations in electrode architectures for durability and high capacity retention for both anodes and sulfur cathode.

Optimized electrolyte/membrane for improved lithium transport and reduced transport of sulfur cross-over and additives for

reducing sulfur loss to enhance durability.

Project Benefits to Industry

New battery chemistries that will reduce the costs ($/kWh) and increase the energy density (Wh/Kg) by two or three times to make a

transformational impact on electric vehicles; Realization of 40 km range (for EV & PHEV) high energy battery using Li-S technology

by achieving specific energy of 400 Wh/kg; Realization of energy capacity better than 250 mAh/g for 200 cycles at C/3 recharging rate

with proven safety at low cost and capability for large scale production; Novel high energy density anode materials for current lithium

ion battery technology to replace currently used low energy density and potentially unsafe, carbon anodes.

Major Milestones Expected

Y1Q1: Development of pre-lithiated NW based anodes ; Y1Q2: Development of novel architectures for sulfur supporting/protecting

cathodes; Y1Q3: optimization of full cell assembly; Y1Q4: Fabrication full cells with of coin cell and pouch cell configuration

Expected Deliverables

In the first 6 months of the project, we will develop and screen several of our anode and cathode materials with different

electrolytes and additives to achieve our target capacity

In the next six months we will demonstrate a 4 mAh full cell for more than 100 cycles at a 1C rate at a capacity of 350 Wh/kg

and a 1.4 kW rating.

mailto:[email protected]





June 15-16, 2015

University/Site: The University of Alabama

PI Name: Andy Lemmon Phone: 205-348-2747 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Design of high-density converters using wide band-gap

semiconductors and advanced magnetics (EPP2)

Budget: $50,000/year for 2 years

Project Description (200 words) Wide band-gap (WBG) semiconductors have been demonstrated to significantly improve both the efficiency and power-density of

switch-mode power converters such as those used in EV’s. However, such demonstrations have not addressed the increased EMI

introduced by such architectures compared to traditional, Silicon-IGBT-based systems. This increase in electrical emissions is believed

to be one of the main factors currently limiting the adoption of WBG technology in EV systems (along with cost). In the current work,

we propose to develop a multi-tiered modeling & simulation environment to describe the EV power-train which will enable evaluation

of the achievable performance gain at the system-level including consideration of practical constraints related to EMI. This simulation

environment will contain provisions for evaluating the performance at the EV power-train at the device, converter, and system levels.

Projections made by this simulation environment will be empirically validated, and the EMI behavior of the system will be evaluated

through empirical analysis of a WBG “switching cell”, which represents the main source of EMI in a WBG-based converter.

Mitigation of the EMI signature of the switching cell will be accomplished by leveraging RF/EMI analysis capabilities and custom

magnetic material/component fabrication capabilities available through UA’s MINT center.


Develop multi-tier EV modeling & simulation environment by collaborating with UA's EcoCAR3 team

Characterize a representative high-power WBG module "switching cell" at operating conditions determined from the M&S effort

Evaluate the EMI signature of the WBG module switching cell, and utilize advanced magnetic materials designed at UA to

improve EMI signature of WBG switching cell

Feed results of this detailed EMI suppression study back into the system-level simulation to identify performance impact &

suggest alternative design conditions


Prior research has focused on the idealized performance entitlement of WBG device adoption for EV power-trains without regard for

the constraints imposed by the increased EMI which accompanies this system-level benefit. A holistic study of the system-level

performance gain opportunity which considers these practical constraints has not yet been performed.

How This Project is Different: The current proposed project brings together research from multiple disciplines in order to provide a realistic assessment of the benefit

opportunity for integrating WBG technology into EV power-trains. Leveraging the magnetic materials and EMI mitigation expertise at

UA's MINT center (historically an RF specialty) with the power electronics design capabilities of UA's mechatronics faculty is

expected to produce a more robust and realistic picture of the benefits and challenges associated with WBG adoption in the context of

emerging vehicle designs.

Project Benefits to Industry:

Attacking the technical issues impeding adoption of WBG technology will accelerate the integration of WBG technology into EV’s.

Aside from cost, integration challenges due to increased EMI are considered to be among the primary factors blocking widespread use

of WBG devices in EV architectures. Increased adoption of WBG technology will lead to increased EV system performance, increased

consumer acceptability, and ultimately to increased market penetration of EV’s.

Major Milestones Expected:

Y1Q1: Development of WBG-based converter model; Y1Q2: integration of WBG converter model with EV system-level model

framework; Y1Q3: Commissioning of WBG module switching cell test apparatus; Y1Q4: Empirical evaluation of WBG module

switching cell for model validation & EMI signature extraction; Y2Q1: Evaluation of relevant magnetic materials for suppression of

dominant EMI modes; Y2Q2: Down-selection to specific magnetic material and creation of material samples; Y2Q3: Fabrication of

custom EMI filter for integration into WBG switching cell; Y2Q4: Empirical evaluation of WBG module switching cell with EMI

counter-measures.


Multi-tier simulation environment of EV power-trains for trade-study use

EMI analysis results for WBG module "switching cell" without EMI counter-measures

Custom, magnetic-based EMI filter design targeted at dominant EMI modes for WBG switching cell

EMI analysis results for WBG module "switching cell" including EMI counter-measures






June 15-16, 2015

University/Site: Arizona State University

PI Name: Raja Ayyanar Phone: 480-727-7307 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: High Frequency, High Performance Power Converters for

Electric Vehicles (EPP3)

Budget: $100,000 (over 2 years)

Project Description (200 words) The project aims to develop high power density and high efficiency power converters for the different stages of electric vehicle

propulsion motor drive exploiting the game-changing features of wide bandgap devices. Thermal management is a major challenge in

the motor drive power converters which is addressed through significant improvement in power conversion efficiency by a

combination of wide bandgap devices, novel topologies and advanced PWM/control methods. Power density is a critical metric for

electric vehicles which is addressed by a high frequency switching and PWM methods that result in low filter requirement. Recently

there has been tremendous interest in SiC and GaN devices for automotive applications, but several issues need to be still addressed

before widespread adoption including gate drive, EMI and high dv/dt issues, lack of significant field experience/data with new devices,

and new topologies that can better utilize the characteristics of these devices, as attempted in this project. The project involves

optimization of the power conversion architecture, developing new zero voltage switching topologies for the dc-dc stage, and

development of hybrid space vector PWM methods for modular three-phase converters for the dc-ac stage, and demonstrating these

advanced concepts in hardware prototypes with scaled specifications.


Detailed simulation of the propulsion drive system in power electronics simulation tools such as PLECS/Simulink to derive the

optimum architecture and specifications of individual stages with the objectives of minimizing overall all system losses and size

corresponding to commercial and expected device and battery characteristics

Design of a new zero voltage transition topology for the bi-directional dc-dc stage that interfaces battery to an optimal dc link,

based on a patent pending technique with improvements suitable for the given automotive drive train application.

Demonstration of the performance of the proposed dc-dc topology at >500 kHz switching frequency using SiC (Year 1) devices

Development of advanced hybrid PWM techniques specific to the automotive power train considering the entire range of

operating conditions; this involves deriving the optimal space vector sequence and optimum phase shift among modular

converters to be applied for each of the possible operating conditions with the objective of simultaneously reducing switching

losses and THD in the line current

Demonstration of the three phase inverter stage with SiC and/or GaN (Year 2) devices using the advanced PWM concepts in a

scaled hardware prototype with switching frequency (per phase of the modular system) in the 100-200 kHz range


SiC and GaN based converters for different applications such as PV inverters and motor drives is a very active area of research in many

research centers and industry. Many of the EV inverter manufacturers also have internal R&D programs to develop SiC based

inverters and addressing some of the challenges.

How This Project is Different This work aims at significantly higher switching frequencies employing new soft switching topologies for wide bandgap devices. The

use of advanced PWM methods that employ novel sequences and the concept of hybrid PWM whereby the choice of different

sequences and phase-shifts are done dynamically are also main differences with potential for significant performance improvement.

This project also leverages work done in other related centers that ASU is part of.

Project Benefits to Industry The project significantly reduces the challenges in thermal management and size/weight of power converters for EV motor drives. The

soft switching topologies and advanced PWM methods can be used in other automotive applications as well. The project also validates

the performance entitlements of wide bandgap devices and can lead to its widespread adoption in the automotive industry.

Major Milestones Expected Year 1: Q1: Optimization of power conversion architecture for EV drives. Q3: Development and simulation validation of the proposed

ZVT topology for the dc-dc stage. Q4: Demonstration of the scaled hardware prototype of dc-dc stage at target frequency and

efficiency. Year 2: Q2: Simulation validation of proposed advanced hybrid PWM techniques and its implementation in digital

processors. Q4: Demonstration of the scaled hardware prototype of combined dc-dc and dc-ac power conversion system at the target

frequency and efficiency


Optimal architecture and specifications for the power conversion systems with simulation validation

Design details and hardware results/validation of proposed ZVT topology for the dc-dc stage using SiC devices

Design details and hardware results/validation of proposed advanced PWM methods and modular design for the three phase dc-ac

inverter stage with wide bandgap devices





June 15-16, 2015

University/Site: University of Tennessee Knoxville

PI Name: Daniel Costinett Phone: 865-974-3572 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Comprehensive Design and Operation Paradigm for Wide-

Bandgap Inverters in Electric Vehicles (EPP4)

Budget: $50,000/yr

Project Description (200 words) In order to accelerate adoption of EVs, and advance technology to meet consumer expectations, particularly system cost, this project

will develop a comprehensive design and control methodology which will make it possible to leverage the full capabilities of the

various technological advances made in individual EV traction drive component technologies in recent years. The methodology

considers the intrinsic capabilities and limitations of all elements in the switching converter across all operating points and

interdependencies of internal elements as well as with the motor load. The resulting knowledge will be employed to demonstrate a

traction inverter prototype which exhibits 55% less energy loss, and 45% lower cost relative to the 2012 state-of-the-art defined by the

US EV Everywhere Blueprint, while exceeding the 2020 DOE goals for power density and specific power. More importantly, the new

design and operation paradigms will be platform-agnostic. Applied to cutting-edge devices, materials, and topologies, these advances

will result in a 15% energy loss reduction and 20% reduction in cost compared to traditional methodologies even when future

technological advances are employed.


The methodology will reduce design uncertainty by analyzing and modeling the capabilities, operating behaviors, and design

tradeoffs of the inverter and powertrain system in a comprehensive manner, considering operation across all temperature,

voltage, and power levels present in the vehicle application, and taking into account all parasitic elements and behaviors.

Using the comprehensive models, switching functions will be derived that optimize converter performance and decrease

detrimental power loss, overvoltage, and EMI. Methods for dynamically controlling switching functions to drive the

converter towards this optimum will be employed via implementations of the models suitable for embedded operation.

The optimally formulated switching functions, and the resulting decrease in converter stresses, will be used to develop a

hardware design paradigm which leverages the new operating principles. This design process will result in reduced size,

weight, and cost of both the traction inverter and the cooling system due to the reduction in uncertainty and required

overdesign.

Employing the embedded model, techniques for sensing and responding to lifetime converter degradation will be developed,

leveraging the additional information present in the model. This process will improve reliability extending converter lifetime

or reducing cost for a fixed lifetime.


Commercial EV companies have recognized the value of wide-range characterization, but to date most have focused on fixed converter

implementations, improving performance through experimental efficiency characterizations.

How This Project is Different: To date, no work has presented a comprehensive model-based design and operation approach which

adequately addressed the varying operating conditions of the converter.

Project Benefits to Industry: The design paradigm is independent of converter implementation, and therefore applicable to

retrofitting existing designs or developing new products independent of component technologies. This methodology will link advances

in individual technologies to the achievable system benefit, allowing the full capabilities of future technologies to be fully leveraged in

practice.

Major Milestones Expected: Q1: Completion of comprehensive standalone device characterization. Initial high-order models

developed which accurately model a majority of converter behaviors. Q2: Reduced-order, comprehensive models developed which

accurately model all variations in operating conditions with reduced model complexity. Q3: Optimal switching functions derived

which allow control of converter behaviors and full utilization of component technologies. Q4: Models further simplified to suitable

form for embedded implementation. Initial converter demonstration showing adaptive operation and experimental verification of

proposed benefits.


Novel modeling approach to consider variations in conditions and lifetime performance of WBG switching devices, extensible to

complete modeling of traction inverter

New model-based design paradigm considering widely comprehensive analysis of converter behaviors; reducing margins through

elimination of unnecessary uncertainty

Demonstration prototype comprehensively-designed 50 kW three-phase VSI traction inverter with adaptive operation and optimal

switching functions





June 15-16, 2015

University/Site: University of Texas - Austin

PI Name: Arumugam Manthiram Phone: 512-471-1791 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: High-energy, High-power Lithium-sulfur Batteries (EPP5) Budget: $50,000

Project Description (200 words) The objective of the proposed project is to develop the next-generation of batteries that can offer higher energy density at an affordable

cost compared to the current lithium-ion battery technology. Specifically, the project focuses on developing rechargeable lithium-sulfur

batteries as a sulfur cathode offers an order of magnitude higher charge-storage capability compared to the currently used insertion-

compound-based electrodes and sulfur is abundant and inexpensive. However, the practical utility of lithium-sulfur batteries is

hampered by persistent problems, such as poor cycle life and shelf-life due to the poor electronic conductivity of sulfur, diffusion of

dissolved polysulfide species from the sulfur cathode to the lithium-metal anode through the separator, and instability of the lithium-

metal anode. This proposal aims to overcome these problems by developing novel electrode architectures and cell configurations.


Task 1. Fabricate different sulfur electrode architectures by incorporating conductive species or substrates

Task 2. Evaluate and compare the performance of different sulfur electrode architectures fabricated

Task 3. Design novel cell configurations for lithium-sulfur batteries that can suppress polysulfide diffusion

Task 4: Assess the dynamic stability (cycle life) of the assembled lithium-sulfur batteries

Task 5: Assess the static stability (self-discharge) of the assembled lithium-sulfur batteries


Lithium-sulfur batteries are pursued intensively around the world due to the abundance and lower cost of sulfur as well as the high

charge-storage capacity of sulfur cathodes. However, the practical utility of lithium-sulfur batteries is hampered by severe challenges.

Our research group at the University of Texas at Austin has developed unique strategies to overcome the problems, as evident from our

publications, and has made significant progress. Our group is in a leading position to overcome the problems and make the lithium-

sulfur batteries a viable technology.

1. Manthiram, Y.-Z. Fu, S.-H. Chung, C. Zu, and Y.-S. Su, “Rechargeable Lithium-Sulfur Batteries,” Chemical Reviews 114, 11751-

11787 (2014).

2. A. Manthiram, S.-H. Chung, and C. Zu, “Lithium-sulfur Batteries: Progress and Prospective,” Advanced Materials 27, 1980-2006

(2015).

How This Project is Different: Our strategy adopts a unique approach involving the use of a conductive carbon-paper interlayer

between the sulfur cathode and the separator or a carbon-coated separator to suppress the polysulfide diffusion from the sulfur cathode

to the lithium-metal anode.

Project Benefits to Industry: Realization of a high energy density battery system with a longer user time between charges at a lower

cost.

Major Milestones Expected: Q1: Assess the available literature information. Q2: Fabricate different sulfur electrode architectures.

Q3: Evaluate electrode performance. Q4: Select the best sulfur electrode architecture. Q5: Design novel cell configurations. Q6: Assess

the dynamic stability (cycle life). Q7: Assess the static stability (self-discharge). Q8: Complete cell evaluation and generate final report.


Demonstration of high-energy density lithium-sulfur batteries with good dynamic and static stability, i.e., with long cycle life and

low or no self-discharge .





June 15-16, 2015


PI Name: Srabanti Chowdhury Phone: 480-965-2831 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: High Voltage-High Power Electronic Devices for HEV and EV

Applications (EPP6) Budget: $150,000 (over 2 years)

Project Description (200 words) The project aims to develop high power density and high efficiency switches for the inverter and generator applications of hybrid

electric vehicle (HEV) and electric vehicle (EV) exploiting the game-changing features of Gallium nitride. Current technology used in

HEV and EV are based on Si, which although has set the platform well, is not transformative enough to keep up with the increasing

demand of efficiency and power density. Moreover, Si-based technology requires sophisticated thermal management, which increases

the cost and complexity of the system. GaN based transistors have the capability of radically improving the performance of the switch

making them more efficient . Added to that capability to run at higher temperature, owing to the wide bandgap properties of GaN

cooling requirements can be minimized. Higher power density is provided by the vertical device design which best utilizes the high

critical electric field of GaN and related materials. High current density, enabled by the high polarization charges of the material

system lowers the On-resistance making these devices an ideal candidate to become the next generation switches for EV and HEW

application.


Design, Model and Fabricate single chip normally off CAVETs

Generate Large signal model and compare it to SiC devices



research centers and industry. Many of the EV inverter manufacturers also have internal R&D programs to develop SiC based

inverters and addressing some of the challenges.

How This Project is Different: This work will be addressing the high voltage (1.2kV) and high current requirement (~100A and up) required by HEV and EV

application. The focus will be developing normally-off transistors using various “gating” techniques and integrate them with

appropriate stage of the driver.

Project Benefits to Industry: Industry will gain a complete knowledge of how to implement GaN based devices into the relevant electronics.

The full scope of GsN will be explored and a comparison will be made with Si and SiC technology


Year 1: Q1: DC model of the device. Q2: DC characterization of normally –ON device Q3 Devices scaled to 5A and 600V, Q4:

Devices scaled to 5A and 1200V

Year 2: Q1: Switching characteristics Q2: DC and Switching characterization of normally –OFF device Q3 Devices scaled to 5A

and 600V, Q4: Devices scaled to 5A and 1200V.


Drift diffusion models

Large Signal Models

Devices (5-10 per quarter) for product grade characterization and implementation in circuits





June 15-16, 2015


PI Name: Hongbin Yu Phone: 480-965-4455 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: High Density Integration and Packaging for Efficient Power

Electronics (EPP7) Budget: $150,000 (over 2 years)

Project Description (200 words) The objective of the proposed research is to integrate passive components such as inductors wide bandgap power devices to enable

multi-MHz power electronic converters with high power density. Inductor integration both at the device level, and at the package level

for higher power will be implemented, as well their packaging methodology that will allow the sustained operation of the device at

automotive industry desired operation temperature of 200C. Unlike in typical power electronics practice where semiconductor device

and subsequent inductor are placed separately on the motherboard, which created interconnect loss and parasitic that prevent the device

from high frequency operation, here the inductor will be directly integrated. While air core inductor will be integrated and tested,

magnetic core materials will be incorporated to significantly enhance the inductance density to achieve desired large inductance value

within limited area and space in the power electronics applications. For packaging of high power density electronics, solder materials

that can sustain prolonged high temperature operation as well as design and materials choice for heat spreader for the power device will

be explored.


Detailed design and simulation of the integration of inductor with power device, using EM simulation tools such as HFSS, in

order to optimize the frequency response and performance.

Optimize the inductor design, both air core and magnetic core inductor.

Development and testing of high temperature solder materials and design of heat spreader structure.

Simulation and optimization of the integration of passives with wide bandgap devices.

Demonstration of integration of magnetic core inductor with wide bandgap device.

Demonstration of the integration of packaging of the integrated power electronics devices and their operation at elevated

temperatures.


Integrated passives with Si ICs have received increasing interest. However, little, if any, has been carried out on the wide bandgap

power device such as GaN and SiC, where many new challenges exist, such as topology, integration and high operation temperature

compatibility.

How This Project is Different: This work aims at significantly higher switching frequencies compared to existing power electronics technology, in the multi MHz

range, employing new high voltage, high power density wide bandgap devices. Integration of inductors with power device provides a

pathway to achieve the desired high frequency operation. Further, power electronic packaging will be explored such as various

interconnect materials will be studied, as well as heat spreader materials and structure design, in order to achieve high temperature

operation.

Project Benefits to Industry: Multi MHz operation of power electronics and the integration of passives with power devices can significantly reduce the size/weight

of power converters for EV motor drives. The exploration and optimization of packaging materials and structure is critical for

sustained operation of power electronics at desired high temperatures. The project also validates the performance entitlements of wide

bandgap devices and can lead to its widespread adoption in the automotive industry.


Year 1: Q1: Optimization of design of integrated passives. Q2: Development and testing of high temperature solder materials and

design of heat spreader structure. Q3, Q4: Fabrication and optimization of inductor for high current and high power density.

Year 2: Q2: Simulation and optimization of the integration of passives with wide bandgap devices. Q3: Demonstration of integration

of magnetic core inductor with wide bandgap device. Q4: Demonstration of the integration of packaging of the integrated power

electronics devices and their operation at elevated temperatures.


Optimal architecture and specifications for the integrated passives with power devices.

Design details and device structures for the integrated passive with power devices;

Design details and hardware results/validation of proposed packaging materials and heat spreader materials and structures.





June 15-16, 2015

I/UCRC Executive Summary - Project Synopsis Date: 06-15-2015

University/Site: University of Louisville

PI Name(s): Sam Park Phone: 1-502-852-7786 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: A Novel Hybrid Catalyst for Fuel Cell Vehicle Applications (EPP8) Budget: $100,000

Project Description

The U.S. DRIVE (Driving Research and Innovation for Vehicle Efficiency and Energy sustainability) FCTT’s automotive fuel cell

system target is $40/kW (cost) by 2020 and 5,000 hours (equivalent to 150,000 miles of driving) with less than 10% loss of performance

(durability). The targets for durability and cost must be met simultaneously. There is a significant gap between the current cost estimate

and the target cost. The cost is highly dependent on the price of materials, which include precious metal catalysts. Reducing the amount

of high-cost materials in the fuel cell will reduce the overall system cost. The strategy to address durability involves identifying

degradation mechanisms and developing approaches for mitigating their effects. The fundamentals of aging should be studied at the

component and MEA levels using a combination of in situ tests and ex situ experiments to isolate and understand the different

degradation modes.

Experimental Plan Design the catalyst layer/MEA structure guided by computational modeling. Develop the catalyst support morphology, surface

functionality, and catalyst ink composition to be used for making the performance-optimizing cathode layer. Study of the dispersion of

Pt alloy/C catalyst aggregates and perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer particles in liquid media and the agglomeration of these

aggregates/particles during the evaporation process. Develop a solvent removal process that maintains the dispersion and agglomerate

structure of the ink.

Related Work Elsewhere? N/A

How this Project is Different In this project, a novel hybrid catalyst for fuel cell vehicle applications will be developed. This study will potentially improve the

durability and reduce costs, which are the primary challenges to fuel cell commercialization. The catalysts will be prepared in two

steps: (1) use of a low-cost chemical synthesis process to produce an ultra-high surface area and nano-tubular support materials; and (2)

the use of a novel wet-chemical process for incorporating highly-dispersed nanoscopic catalysts into the support materials.

Project Benefits to Industry The cost effective and high performance non-Pt. catalysts is essential for fuel cells to achieve operational reliability that is required for

near-term commercial implementation.

Major Milestones Expected 1. Investigate nanostructured alloy particles and dealloyed nanoparticles to try to obtain more stable and more active catalysts for PEM

fuel cells.

2. Develop alloy catalysts that protect the base transition metals from the corrosive fuel cell environment by forming nanostructured

materials in which Pt segregates to the surface.

3. Investigate the possibility of increasing the catalyst durability by adding oxygen evolution reaction catalysts to the cathode and anode

to decrease the local potentials seen during start-up/shutdown cycles.

4. Identify and quantify degradation mechanisms. Understand the impact of electrode structure on durability.

Expected Deliverables A model to better understand the water transport and local hydration level in the MEA. Methods to mitigate degradation of components

and models relating components and operation to fuel cell durability. Standardized experimental methodologies to measure conductivity

as a function of relative humidity and mechanical properties of the membranes. Experimental data using novel hybrid catalysts for PEM

fuel cells will be delivered.





June 15-16, 2015


PI Name: Ron Matthews and Matt Hall Phone: 512-626-7571 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Natural Gas Engines: Emissions and Efficiency (CPP1) Budget: $49,999

Project Description (200 words) The objective of the proposed project is to demonstrate the emissions and efficiency benefits of “dedicated EGR’ on a natural gas

engine. This concept, already proven effective for gasoline engines, operates with one cylinder rich and the remaining cylinders lean

or stoichiometric. The rich cylinder is sufficiently rich to match the torque from each of the remaining cylinders. All of the exhaust

from the rich cylinder is recirculated to the remaining cylinders. Unlike EGR from stoichiometric cylinders, reforming occurs in the

rich cylinder. We plan to demonstrate this for a CNG engine, either for lean or stoichiometric operation, per the EV-STS Center

member’s preference.


Task 1.Obtain a CNG engine and control system software

Task 2. Take baseline emissions and fuel efficiency measurements for engine operating conditions of interest

Task 3. Modify hardware to allow one cylinder to operate rich and to route all of the exhaust from the rich cylinder into the

intake for the remaining cylinders

Task 4: Modify/reprogram the ECU or use National Instruments/Drivven engine control hardware/software to control one

cylinder rich (with feedback control and the other cylinders stoichiometric or lean (with feedback control)

Task 5: Take emissions and fuel efficiency measurements with D-EGR CNG engine


Alger, T., and B. Mangold (2009), “Dedicated EGR: A New Concept in High Efficiency Engines”, SAE Paper 2009-01-0694; also in:

SAE Int. J. Engines, 2(1):620-631.

Gukelberger, R., J. Gingrich, T. Alger, and S. Almaraz (2015), "LPL EGR and D-EGR® Engine Concept Comparison Part 2: High

Load Operation", SAE Paper 2015-01-0781; also in: SAE Int. J. Engines, 8(2):547-556.

How This Project is Different: Test concept on a medium- or heavy-duty CNG engine, possibly with the non-rich cylinders

operating lean (per member’s preference).

Project Benefits to Industry: Potential new technology for improvement of emissions and fuel efficiency of heavy-duty natural gas

engines.

Major Milestones Expected: (Q1 Acquire CNG engine from member company. Q2: Install CNG engine and control system plus P-

V analysis system on dyno. Q3: Take baseline measurements. Q4: Modify engine and control system for D-EGR operation. Q5:

Complete engine and control system mods. Q6: Begin D-EGR CNG engine tests. Q7 Continue D-EGR testing. Q8: Completion of

testing, generation of final report .


Quantitative comparison of brake specific fuel consumption and brake specific emissions of baseline engine and Dedicated EGR

engine, including the effects of system design and control parameters.





June 15-16, 2015


PI Name: Hwan-Sik Yoon Phone: 205-348-1136 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Model-Based Control and Optimization of Powertrain Systems

and Construction Equipment (CPP2) Budget: $50,000

Project Description (200 words) (1) High-fidelity 1D flow engine modeling framework

Tightening fuel-efficiency and emissions regulations require advanced internal combustion engines be highly optimized both in

controls and geometric shape/dimensions. In order to optimize an engine design for improved fuel economy, emissions, and drivability

characteristics, it is necessary to investigate the engine performance in a larger design space including intake and exhaust manifold

shapes. In order to address these issues, this project will develop a high-fidelity engine simulation module package in Matlab/Simulink.

Since Matlab/Simulink offers a computationally-powerful controller design and optimization toolboxes, the engine calibration and

design optimization processes can be greatly facilitated for different operating conditions and driving cycles using the proposed tool.

(2) Construction and mining equipment design framework

Construction and mining equipment such as excavators have both conventional powertrains and hydraulic systems, which complicate

the architecture design and component selection processes. Thus, this project will develop a computational framework that allows

integration of high-fidelity component models and application of the optimization toolbox in Matlab/Simulink for optimal architecture

selection and component optimization.

Research/Experimental Plan (1) High-fidelity 1D flow engine modeling framework

To leverage design optimization and controller development capabilities of Matlab/Simulink, a Simulink-based 1D flow engine

modeling framework will be developed. The framework allows engine component blocks to be connected in a physically

representative manner in the Simulink environment, therefore reducing model build time.

Once completed, built-in toolboxes in Matlab/Simulink can be used for controller development and engine optimization.

Customized GUI will also be developed to expedite the design optimization and performance analysis processes.

(2) Construction and mining equipment design framework

A new computational modeling framework specialized in controller development and design optimization is needed to ensure

seamless integration of various component models and design optimization for off-highway construction equipment.

A Simulink-based modeling framework will be developed to leverage design optimization and controller development

capabilities of Matlab/Simulink.

Once completed, geometrical dimensions and power capacities of all components in powertrain, hydraulic system, and kinematic

system will be optimized for various operation cycles such as dig-and-dumping or grading.

Customized user interface (GUI) will also be developed.

Related Work Elsewhere Although there exist commercial software packages for automotive powertrain system design and

construction equipment simulations, they are usually general purpose frameworks and thus computationally heavy.

How This Project is Different While commercially available software packages are general purpose and do not provide specific

application-oriented interface with limited design optimization capabilities, the proposed modeling framework will be targeted to

specialized applications such as components shape and dimension optimization using built-in functionalities of Matlab/Simulink.

Project Benefits to Industry By allowing modeling and simulation frameworks in Matlab/Simulink, this research will help the

automotive and construction equipment industries develop advanced systems with optimized components and control algorithms. The

modeling frameworks will allow design optimization and controller development capabilities of Matlab/Simulink to be directly applied

to constructed system models.

Major Milestones Expected Q1&Q2: Creation of basic component models: (1) 1D flow engine modeling components and (2) simple

excavator powertrain, hydraulic, and kinematic model components. Q3: Completion of GUI-based user interface programs and

connection to the modeling frameworks. Q4: Creation of optimization examples and documentation of the developed methodologies.


A Simulink-based 1D flow engine modeling framework in Matlab/Simulink together with comprehensive documentation of the

modeling and simulation methodologies and design optimization examples.

A new computational modeling framework for controller development and design optimization for off-highway construction and

mining equipment. Comprehensive documentation of the modeling and simulation methodologies and design optimization

examples will also be provided to participating industrial members.

Customized user interface to expedite the design optimization and performance analysis processes.






June 15-16, 2015

University/Site: The University of Louisville

PI Name: Yongsheng Lian Phone: 502-852-0804 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Analysis and Optimization of Compressed Natural Gas Direct

Injection Engine (CPP3) Budget: $40,200/year for 2 years

Project Description (200 words) Natural gas is an attractive alternative fuel to internal combustion engines due to its rich resources, low emissions and comparable

thermal efficiency. However, in current designs, compressed natural gas engines suffer from slow flow flame propagation, which

prevents the wide adoption of CNG engines. It is found that turbulence in the combustor can significantly enhance the flame

propagation velocity and significantly enhance CNG engine performance. To identify the right design and operating conditions, large

number of prototypes and numerous of tests are required, which is usually time consuming and costly. Numerical simulation offers an

alternative way for CNG engine design, which is fast and economic. In this work we propose to develop an analysis and optimization

toolbox based on the high-fidelity detached eddy simulation and evolutionary algorithm for CNG engine design. The proposed toolbox

can provide accurate prediction of CNG engine performance and identify optimal engine designs in an efficient manner.


Develop a simulation tool for CNG engine based on high fidelity detached eddy simulation (DES).

Investigate the impact of turbulence on flame propagation.

Perform design optimization using genetic algorithm and surrogate models to improve the CNG engine design.


Previous studies of CNG engines are based on RANS models, which cannot capture the critical unsteady turbulence which largely

determine the flame propagation velocity. The proposed DES method has shown to be able to accurately predict the turbulence

phenomenon. Previous optimization studies are based on gradient methods which can find the local optimal but often miss the global

optimal.

How This Project is Different? The high fidelity DES method can predict the unsteady turbulence flow that previous RANS models failed. The genetic algorithm can

find the global optimal instead of the local optimal. The integrated analysis and optimization toolbox offers the efficiency and ease of

use other studies have not provided.


The analysis and design toolbox can significantly reduce the design cycle and cost from the preliminary design. It allows industry to

explore larger design space based on simulation to identify the feasible designs. It can also improve the existing design at a much

reduced cost.


Y1Q1/Q2:Develop a simulation module based on high fidelity DES for genetic CNG engine; Y1Q3/4: Investigate the influence of

turbulence on flame propagation; Y2/Q1: Investigate the mixture formation at different crank angles; Y2Q2: Integrate a chemical

reaction model into the flow solver; Y2Q3/Q4: Perform design optimization to improve engine performance.


A validated toolbox to predict the performance of a genetic CNG engine under different operating conditions.

A design optimization toolbox to improve CNG engine design.

Comprehensive documentation showing the impact of geometry, injection timing, and ignition timing on CNG engine

performance.





June 15-16, 2015


PI Name: Paulius V. Puzinauskas Phone: 205-348-4794 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Direct Injection Spray Enleanment during Injection Deceleration

(CPP4) Budget: $160,000

Project Description (200 words)

A combustion-spray phenomenon receiving particular attention in recent years relates to enhanced mixing after end of fuel

injection. The fuel jet decelerates while the injector is closing and after the injector has closed. The associated enleanment

during this phase has expected benefits and detriments that depend on the ultimate local equivalence ratio and its ability to

support complete combustion. Observations made in single phase jets that have shown ambient entrainment rates can

increase by a factor of two or more during the deceleration phase have recently been seen in two-phase diesel-sprays.

Entrainment has obvious implications on fuel-air mixing processes in all types of engine platforms, but is particularly

significant for low temperature combustion strategies in diesel engines and any direct-injected spark-ignition engine, where

much, if not all, of the combustion process occurs after the end of injection.

This study will focus on the deceleration phase entrainment and its subsequent effect on the combustion using multiple

diagnostics in a cold-flow pseudo-steady flow spray vessel. Atomization, liquid lengths, spreading angle, droplet size and

velocities, equivalence ratios and mixing structures of the fuel jet will be characterized. Conditions relevant to low-

temperature diesel and lean-burn GDI applications will be investigated.


Characterize ambient flow conditions in the spray chamber.

Choose injector geometries to be tested and define test matrix parametric variations.

Set up, perform and analyze optical diagnostics of deceleration phase under conditions specified in test matrix.

Evaluate results and consider expansion or modifications to the test matrix


Experimental and modeling work has been done at Sandia, LLNL and elsewhere that has shown this phenomenon as

significant and has begun to identify the fundamental mechanisms that drive it. These efforts have qualitatively confirmed

the highly stochastic nature of the phenomenon but have yet to well-quantify this.

How This Project is Different: This project will more precisely quantify the spray characteristics and their response to

parametric variations in the injection process and statistically quantify the variability of these characteristics.

Project Benefits to Industry: This information will enable development of more comprehensive models of the injection

process that will ultimately lead to more efficient, cleaner engines.

Major Milestones Expected Q1:Administration, purchasing and preparation; Q2: Characterization of ambient flow in the

flow chamber; Q3: High speed imaging to quantify atomization, spreading angle and liquid length; Q4: Initiate PDPA

and PLIF measurements; Q5: obtain droplet size and velocity data using PDPA; Q6: Characterize fuel-air distribution

using PLIF; Q7: Perform additional PIV testing and consider modifications to test matrix based on results to date; Q8:

Complete desired tests and reporting.


High speed images of deceleration process analyzed to quantify atomization, spreading angle and liquid length.

Phase Doppler Particle Anemometry data quantifying droplet size and velocity variations.

Evolution of fuel-air distribution using PLIF





June 15-16, 2015


PI Name: Ron Matthews and Matt Hall Phone: 512-626-7571 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Improving Heavy-Duty Engine Efficiency (CPP5) Budget: $50,000 per year

Project Description (200 words) Improving the fuel efficiency and emissions of heavy-duty engines is important to owners, the U.S. economy, the competitive

advantage of the U.S. manufacturers. The objective of the proposed project is to provide heavy-duty engine manufacturers a

demonstration of a technology that is capable of simultaneously improving performance, emissions, and fuel efficiency. This concept

involves rotating the cylinder liner to decrease piston assembly friction, which dominates total engine friction. Although it seems

counter-intuitive that one can add moving parts and end up with decreased friction, there is historical evidence that this is possible if

the added components operate in the hydrodynamic (low friction) lubrication regime and eliminate components that operate in the

boundary (high friction) lubricating regime. UT-Austin has already quantified the friction benefits of rotating the cylinder liner on a

light-duty engine. We propose to apply this concept to the more challenging heavy-duty Diesel. In addition to improving friction and

wear, this concept should also improve emissions and fuel efficiency.


Task 1. Mount baseline engine on dyno with control system

Task 2. Take baseline fmep (imep-bmep), emissions, and fuel efficiency measurements for the baseline engine

Task 3. Swap engines, including the necessary additional hardware for the rotating liner engine

Task 4: Take fmep, emissions, and fuel efficiency measurements with rotating liner engine


Kim, M., D. Dardalis, R.D. Matthews, and T.M. Kiehne (2005), “Engine friction reduction through liner rotation”, SAE Paper 2005-

01-1652; also in CI and SI Power Cylinder Systems and Power Boost Technology, pp. 144-156, SAE Special Publication SP-

1964.

Dardalis, D., R.D. Matthews, T.M. Kiehne, and M. Kim (2005), “Improving heavy-duty efficiency and durability: the Rotating Liner

Engine”, SAE Paper 2005-01-1653.

How This Project is Different: We have performed tests on a light-duty engine but have only done simulations for heavy-duty

engines. We propose to apply the concept via experimental measurements a heavy-duty engine.

Project Benefits to Industry: Potential new technology for improvement of emissions, fuel efficiency, torque, and wear of heavy-

duty engines.

Major Milestones Expected: Q1 Mount baseline engine on dyno with control system. Q2: Take baseline measurements Q3: Continue

baseline measurements. Q4: Swap engines. Q5: Complete engine and control system mods. Q6: Begin rotating liner engine tests. Q7

Continue rotating liner engine testing. Q8: Completion of testing, generation of final report.


Quantitative comparison frictional losses, emissions, and fuel efficiency for the rotating liner medium-/heavy-duty Diesel and the

baseline engine.





June 15-16, 2015


PI Name: Fei Hu, Yang-Ki Hong Phone: 205-348-1436 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Next-Generation Vehicle telematics via 5G and Multi-band

Antennas (VSP1)

Budget: $50,000

Project Description (200 words) The problem we will target is how to build the next-generation vehicle telematics based on the latest 5G cutting-edge technologies and

our new designed wide-band antennas. Especially we will solve the entire information flow transmission issues from the in-car sensor

networks to long-distance wireless communication networks. We will make the vehicle achieve remote diagnosis, traffic awareness,

navigation intelligence, and safety assistance.

Our proposed vehicle telematics system can use the following communication infrastructures in 5G: a multi-hop wireless network, Wi-

Fi, roadside Wi-Max, cellular network, Internet of Things (such as sensors, RFID) network, and most importantly, intra-vehicle sensor

network (to detect vehicle status), and inter-vehicle network. The sensors inside the vehicle collect all vehicle parameters such as tire

pressure, fluid levels, battery life, airbag safety, GPS, etc., that can be used for remote diagnosis, car tracking, navigation control, etc.

Note that a vehicle can also use the available networks to learn about its road conditions, such as road congestion ahead, weather

conditions, pollution nearby, etc. A driver can also use the 5G network to access the Internet and download information.


Task 1: Reliable intra-vehicle sensor data collection

Task 2: vehicle-to-Internet real-time communications

Task 3: Accurate vehicle status analysis and diagnosis software

Experimental plan: We will test the whole system communication performance, including the in-car sensor networks interfaced with

roadside Wi-Fi and Wi-Max, and MIMO antenna based 5G communications. In the experiments, We will measure the following

performance metrics: (1) Vehicle data collection accuracy: Does the telematics system accurately collect the vehicle status (such as tire

pressure)? (2) real-time transmission capability: Does the system transmit the vehicle data without any visible delay? (3) driving safety:

can the system correctly notify the driver the safety issues (if any)? (4) context awareness: can the system make the vehicle always be

aware of road traffic profile?


There is no similar vehicle telematics system as our 5G-based platform. Other works focus on some small aspects of such a system,

such as in-car sensor network, cell phone based information collection, etc.

How This Project is Different: Unlike current cell-phone based vehicle information system, this project will study the design of the

next-generation vehicle telematics system based on the latest wireless networking standard 5G that offers higher throughput, ubiquitous

connectivity. Unique aspects of the project will be dynamic route learning for inter-vehicle communication, multi-path vehicle-to-

vehicle and vehicle-to-roadside-infrastructure communication, and optimized allocation of resources for end-to-end user quality of

experience.

Project Benefits to Industry: We expect that our investigations will advance the vehicle telematics products by using the latest 5G

technology. Their broader impact will manifest in making our roads safer and more effective to use, thereby making an impact on

quality of life and the economy.

Major Milestones Expected: Q1: In-car sensor networks: concept, model, and testbed; Q2: Long-distance vehicle data transmission

via WiFi and Cellular; Q3: Integrated hardware/software testbed for vehicle telematics; Q4: Comprehensive tesbed performance

measurement.


Deliverable 1: a comprehensive vehicle telematics testbed with in-car sensor networks, short-distance WiFi, long-distance cellular

(via mobile phones) transmissions.

Deliverable 2: a reliable software tool with remote car status monitoring, car safety notification, and traffic situation reporting.

Deliverable 3: conference and journal papers.





June 15-16, 2015

University/Site: University of Louisville

PI Name: Jagannadh Satyavolu Phone: 502-852-3923 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Low Cost, Renewable/Sustainable Materials and Smart

Architectures for High Performance, Lightweight Automotive Composites

(VSP2)

Budget: $50,000/year for 2 years

Project Description (200 words) Vehicle Weight Reduction is one of the key strategies by the automotive manufacturers to address the new EPA and NHTSA standards

to reduce greenhouse gases and improve fuel economy. Changing societal expectations for environmental stewardship and resource

efficiency are also pushing the auto manufacturers towards the weight reduction strategy. Using advanced polymer composites,

automobile body structures can be made at least 50% lighter than conventional steel body structures of the same size. However, the

most efficient composite designs cost 60 - 70% higher than the conventional steel unibody design. In this proposal, we propose to

reduce production cost of lightweight composites through the use of nanoscale fibers from agricultural biomass, metal nanowires, and

fly ash from coal burning power plants – their unique combination of composition, low price and low density makes them attractive for

the synthesis of composites. As low cost fillers and fibers are introduced to reduce the cost of composites, their crash worthiness still

needs to be maintained. 3-dimensioinal distribution of fillers and fibers in the composite structure, novel impregnation and

reinforcement techniques in the through-the-thickness direction and single / double face corrugated sandwich architecture are proposed

to maintain / increase the crash worthiness using the composites.

Research/Experimental Plan Task 1: Develop methods to understand distribution / alignment of nano-material in a polymer composite:

Task 2: Implement the methods to produce composite samples

Task 3: Relate the distribution aspects to mechanical properties of the composites.

Task 4: Design sandwich structures for crash worthiness.

Task 5: Follow-up work will use the experimental data and FEA results for optimization.


Prior research on fillers in polymer composites has focused replacing the more expensive binder material. A comprehensive study on

the role of unique nano scale fillers as strength boosters in glass / carbon fiber reinforced composites and the relationship of composite

mechanical properties to the alignment of fillers has not yet been performed.

How This Project is Different? Nano scale particles and fibers as fillers, when properly aligned / oriented in a polymer composite, are expected to improve mechanical

properties of the composite. We propose to use various proven chemical methods and mechanical techniques to improve directionality

and strength. An example chemical method is the modification of surface functionalities to bridge the inorganic-organic boundary that

would improve the homogeneity of the composite. Mechanical techniques such as high shear deposition techniques to align high aspect

ratio nanocomposites and electromagnetic/ acoustic processes for 2D and 3-D alignment /orientation of inorganic fillers within the

organic matrix will be used to produce the polymer composites containing the proposed fillers. Single / double face corrugated

sandwich structures prepared from the above composites are expected to improve crash worthiness.


The proposed work will have a strong impact on sustainable and economic production of light weight composites for structural and

non-structural automotive applications. This work is expected to bring down the cost of light weight composite designs – which are

currently 60-70% higher than conventional steel unibody design. Wider use of lightweight composites can reduce body structure

weight, which in turn results in better fuel efficiency and GHG reductions. Increased use of advanced materials, including composites,

can also result in reduced cost, improved safety and crashworthiness, and enhanced recycling. This Vehicle Weight Reduction strategy

using light weight composites can help the automakers meet the upcoming EPA and NHTSA standards to reduce greenhouse gases and

improve fuel economy as well as meet the global societal expectations for environmental stewardship.


Year – 1: Q2: Complete Task 1; Q3: Complete Task 2; Q4: Complete Task 3

Year – 2: Q2: Complete Task 4; Q4: Complete Task 5


Year – 1: Flat polymer nanocomposite sheets with designed mechanical properties.

Year – 2: Integrated structural components using the nanocomposite sheets in a sandwich structure.






June 15-16, 2015


PI Name: Raja Ayyanar Phone: 480-727-7307 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Multi-MHz DC-DC Converters for Automotive Power

Management (VSP3) Budget: $50,000

Project Description (200 words) The project aims to develop high performance dc-dc converters with multi-MHz switching frequency for automotive power

management, exploiting the game-changing features of GaN devices. Automotive power systems comprise of a very large number of

dc-dc converters where in addition to high power density another motivation for MHz switching frequency is to avoid the AM band,

easing the associated EMI filter design challenges. Emerging 48V power net and dual 48V/12V power system architecture open up

new applications for dc-dc converters. This project focuses on developing multi-MHz, bi-directional power flow, dc-dc converter for

interfacing the 48V and 12V dual power systems. This will be implemented using 10 to 12 interleaved phases each switching at 1MHz

yielding an effective ripple frequency above 10 MHz. Efficiency above 97% is targeted over a wide load range using 100 V GaN

devices. The research involves developing the most suitable soft switching topology – a ZVT scheme with low-loss auxiliary circuit

and an active clamp synchronous buck/boost converter are leading candidate topologies for this application. The research also focuses

on detailed finite element analysis to optimize the design of magnetic components, mainly the filter and resonant inductors. The

proposed topology, design and GaN performance will be demonstrated on a 3 kW hardware prototype.


Detailed simulation of two candidate soft-switching topologies – (a) a resonant-pole-based ZVT circuit with low-loss bi-

directional auxiliary circuit and (b) an active clamp synchronous buck converter. The simulations will be done using power

electronics simulation tools such as PLECS/Simulink with detailed and validated models of GaN devices

Finite element analysis using ANSYS to optimize the design of inductor core and winding configurations, and validation of the

design through several iterative designs of inductors

Design and implementation of a single phase to validate the performance of the topology and devices

Design and implementation of 10-12 phases/modules to achieve 3 kW with an effective frequency of 10-12 MHz

Small signal modeling and controller design including design for active filter mode of operation

Derivation of functional requirements and specifications for power management ICs for the chosen topology



research centers and industry. Many of the automotive power electronic industries also have internal R&D programs to develop GaN

based dc-dc converters and addressing some of the challenges.

How This Project is Different: This work aims at significantly higher switching frequencies employing new soft switching topologies for wide bandgap devices. The

use of patented ZVT topology and modified active clamp buck with coupled inductor for bi-directional power flow applications are

also main differences with potential for significant performance improvement. This project also leverages work done in other related

centers that ASU is part of.

Project Benefits to Industry: This research and development can lead to significant improvement in performance in terms of efficiency and EMI for high frequency

dc-dc converters in a wide range of automotive applications. It can directly impact architecture employing 48V/12V dual voltage

power system. The project also validates the performance entitlements of GaN devices and can lead to its widespread adoption in the

automotive industry.


Q1: Simulation and performance comparison of the two candidate soft-switching topologies, and finalization of topology for hardware

development. Q2: Finite element analysis of magnetics, design optimization and validation with several iterations of inductor design.

Q3: Design and performance evaluation of a single phase (about 300 W) of the high frequency dc-dc converter for 48V/12 interface.

Q4 Design and demonstration of the interleaved, multi-phase (>10 phases) converter system with target efficiency above 97% over a

wide load range with an effective switching frequency of > 10 MHz


Report on design methods, performance comparison and simulation validation for the two candidate topologies

Methods and results of finite element analysis, and tools for high frequency magnetics design and optimization

Design details and hardware results/validation of proposed multi-MHz topology for the given application

Recommendations for the functional requirements and specifications for power management ICs





June 15-16, 2015

University/Site: University of Tennessee Knoxville

PI Name: Daniel Costinett Phone: 865-974-3572 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Integrated Multi-Function Power Conversion for Reduced

Weight Vehicle Power System (VSP4) Budget: $50,000

Project Description (200 words)

Modern electric and hybrid electric vehicles consist of an increasing number of ancillary power electronics converters, separate from

the main drivetrain components. In order to reduce the impact on vehicle cost, size, and weight, these converters are often designed

with suboptimal components, limited to basic functionality, and warrant less design effort. Though significant advantage can be gained

from increasing their performance, overall vehicle design dictates that the improvements are not warranted. This project considers

select locations where the functionalities of multiple converters can be integrated into a single unit, allowing superior components,

advanced functionality, and improved performance where previously prohibitively costly to implement. Further, the integration allows

elimination of redundant components, additional cooling loops, separate packaging, wiring, and interconnections.


Analyze and model the potential benefit of hybrid isolated battery charger and drivetrain boost converter, using both SiC and GaN

devices, in a typical EV application.

Develop a design methodology to address inherent tradeoffs in performance between the multiple intended purposes of the hybrid

converter.

Design proposed topology, considering tradeoffs, based on optimal design dictated from vehicle-level performance metrics,

considering use scenarios (i.e. drive cycle performance)

Construct and demonstrate scaled-down proof-of-concept hybrid converter to validate design methodology

Based on verified design approach, construct a full-scale converter, including packaging and thermal design, incorporating a

level-II isolated charger and >30kW boost converter


Hybrid converter topologies have been the subject of growing interest in recent years. ORNL in particular has developed novel

topologies reusing motor impedances as PFC inductor, which is used as a basis for the implementation of this topology.

How This Project is Different: To date, there has been no analysis of the design tradeoffs when significant portions of the drivetrain

converter (or the entire converter itself) are reused in a battery charger. Additionally, general design is focused on converter-level

outcomes, rather than vehicle system benefits.

Project Benefits to Industry: Integration of converter stages promises to reduce weight, cost, and construction complexity of vehicle

systems. Additionally, hybrid systems reusing or replacing existing components allow the incorporation of additional functionality at

reduced or zero incremental cost to the vehicle system.

Major Milestones Expected: Q1: Analysis and comparison of hybrid topology vs. traditional disparate converters. Q2: Design

approach for hybrid converter, and analysis of coupled parameters in each topology. Q3: Demonstrated scaled-down converter using

WBG devices; verification of design methodology and promise of full-scale converter to achieve perceived benefits. Q4: Full-scale

converter design completed and initial benchtop testing verifying design predictions


Design analysis showing benefit of hybrid converter topology to vehicle cost and weight, as well as performance under typical

usage scenarios

Demonstration of hybrid converter topology at scale

Methodology for continued integration of power electronics converters in EV applications





June 15-16, 2015

I/UCRC Executive Summary - Project Synopsis Date: 9/1/2015-8/31/2016

University/Site: University at Buffalo

PI Name(s): R. Batta and C. Kwon Phone: 716-645-0972 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Urban Parcel Pickup and Delivery Services using

All-Electric Trucks (TSP1)

Budget: $60,000

Project Description: With the increasing interest of green logistics strategies and operations, all-electric truck adoption becomes one of the main addressees of green logistic activities, especially for urban parcel delivery, because of its positive effects on reducing greenhouse gas emission and promoting urban sustainability. Both the limited driving range of all-electric trucks which necessitates visits to charging stations and long charging time of these trucks which causes congestion and waiting at the charging station become the challenges to route these trucks.

This project is proposed to tackle the challenges by developing a mathematical optimization model with consideration of location and capacity of charging stations, electric vehicle routing, time window, and charging time. This project has two closely related decision problems and corresponding objectives. One is a strategic decision problem that aims to determine the optimal charging-station locations and capacity with estimate of regular customers’ locations. The other is an operational decision problem that focuses on daily routing schedules of all-electric delivery trucks with actual dynamic delivery locations but fixed charging stations.

Experimental Plan: We will construct a bi-level optimization problem to determine the locations and capacities of charging stations, as well as daily routing schedules of all-electric delivery trucks; and develop

a mathematical model that incorporates location decisions, capacity decisions, electric vehicle routing, time window and charging time.

Related Work Elsewhere? There exist several works about optimal locations of refueling stations and electric vehicles routing with consideration of visiting to charging station and customer time window.

How this Project is Different: Proposed work will address the locations and capacities of charging stations for all-electric parcel delivery trucks, and it further applies to the daily routing schedules of all-

electric delivery trucks with optimal charging stations.

Project Benefits to Industry: The limited charging infrastructure holds back the widespread adoption of electric trucks in the parcel delivery service industry. This work finds the locations and capacities of charging stations in order to overcome the challenge of limited driving range of all-electric trucks. As a result, it will help to accelerate the adoption of environmentally sustainable all-electric trucks.


1. Electric Vehicle Routing Problem (E-VRP) incorporating the capacity of charging stations. 2. Strategic decision problem to determine optimal locations and capacities of charging stations for all-

electric delivery vehicles. 3. Operational decision problem to solve daily routing plan for all-electric delivery trucks with optimal

charging stations and dynamic customer delivery locations.

Expected Deliverables: 1. Model formulation and computational algorithms incorporating the major milestones. 2. Data collection and computational results for proposed problems in case study. 3. Publication of papers in major journal or conferences.

4. Final and progress reports.





June 15-16, 2015


PI Name: Kara Kockelman Phone: 512-471-0210 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: The Role of New EV Options in US Fleet Evolution (TSP2) Budget: $50,000 (1 yr approach) or $100,000 (2 yr

approach)

Project Description (200 words) Plug-in EV (PEV) adoption has been slow across the U.S., buts automakers have lower-cost, higher-range battery-only EVs planned

for roll-out, including the Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla’s Model III, with all-electric ranges (AERs) of 200 or more miles and take-home

costs around $35,000. This work will anticipate the light-duty vehicle fleet’s sales and evolution with the addition of these new EV

options, under different incentive policies. The 2-year project approach will design a new survey and obtain new data, in order to

calibrate new behavioral models for fleet evolution. The 1-year approach will work with data from 5 years ago. Both will simulate

fleet ownership and use behaviors, over the coming 2 decades, under multiple scenarios (for EV designs and pricing, energy costs, and

other variable factors).


Task 1. Assemble data sets from surveys conducted by Musti and Kockelman (2011) and Paul, Musti and Kockelman (2011) and

Census 2011, which includes respondents’ demographics, built-environment characteristics, travel characteristics, vehicle

transaction decisions, vehicle ownership and usage, preference for new vehicles (based on fuel economy, price, and body type).,

preference for plug in EVs under different fuel price, among many other attributes.

Task 2. Analyze data and estimate behaviorally defensible econometric models for vehicle transaction decisions, vehicle

preferences, and vehicle disposal, among many others.

Task 3. Microsimulate and anticipate fleet evolution, electrified miles traveled, and energy impacts under different energy pricing,

vehicle design, vehicle pricing & demand scenarios over 20-year horizons.

Task 4: Prepare publishable paper/report describing work & results.

Note: Two-year approach adds Survey Design (Task 1), Survey Distribution (Task 2), and Survey-Data Assembly (Task 3) tasks,

while removing need for assembling past data sets (currently shown as Task 1 above).


Evolution of the Household Vehicle Fleet: Anticipating Fleet Composition and PHEV Adoption in Austin, Texas. Transportation

Research Part A 45 (8): 707-720 (2011). With Sashank Musti.

Evolution of the Light-Duty-Vehicle Fleet: Anticipating Adoption of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Across the U.S. Fleet. Transportation Research Record No. 2252: 107-117 (2011). With Binny Paul & Sashank Musti.

Predicting the Market Potential of Plug-In Electric Vehicles Using Multiday GPS Data. Energy Policy 46: 225-233 (2012). With

Mobashwir (Moby) Khan.

How This Project is Different: Americans’ familiarity with EVs (including HEVs, PHEVs, & BEVs) has evolved significantly over

the past 5+ years, and battery prices have fallen, while OEMs have designed new EV options for the U.S. market. New data and

models are needed to anticipate fleet evolution, along with related behaviors, like electrified miles traveled, charging demand for

electricity, and related impacts.

Project Benefits to Industry: Demand & sales predictions for BEVs & PHEVs, and electric power delivery, at various price points

and vehicle-design styles, as well as U.S. demographics. Policymakers will also benefit, via related estimates of energy and possibly

emissions impacts, gas-tax revenue shifts, and other impacts.

Major Milestones Expected: One-year project will have Q1: Data assembly, Q2: Behavioral model specifications defined, Q3: Fleet

simulations, Q4: Report. Two-year project will have Q1: Survey design, Q2: Survey distribution & data acquisition, Q3: Data analysis,

Q4: Model calibration, Q5: Scenario specifications, Q6: Scenario simulations, Q7: Assembly of results, Q8: Preparation of final report.


One-year project will deliver behavioral model specifications (for vehicle ownership & use, including related statistics, like

charging times and locations), forecasted shares of different vehicle types in operation, forecasted levels of electrified miles, &

other estimates. (Two-year project will add survey design, data acquisition, and data analysis, for more complete & current

models, along with answers to new questions of interest.) Report describing all work performed & forecasts, across scenarios.





June 15-16, 2015

Summary - Project Synopsis Date: 9/1/2015-8/31/2017


PI Name(s): Qing He Phone: 716-645-3470 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Store Fulfillment for Online Orders: Optimization Models in a

Collaborative Store Environment (TSP3)

Budget: $100,000

Project Description: When the online retailers are stepping into the rapid evolution of shipping offers and race to fast order fulfillment,

how traditional retailing chains compete with them? One of the solutions is to use brick-and-mortar stores to fulfill online orders instead

of acting only as local retailing outlets. While potentials of store fulfillment is huge because of close distance from customers, planning

and operational cost could be the barrier.

Recent practices for store fulfillment of online orders frequently occur during holiday shopping seasons. The services includes home

delivery and pick up. The main purpose of it is to ease the pressure of distribution center for the surging amount of online orders. The

temporal horizon of the service is typically one to two months, and the spatial horizon is nationwide. In online retailing, customers have

limited control on how their demand will be served. Based on that, retailers are able to utilize all warehouses including stores to serve

customer demand. On the other side, the online retailers, like Amazon.com, are expanding their facilities and provide faster shipping

options for customer. Another competitive advantages of online retailers are the large scale discount and collection of customer

information.

This project will propose approach to tackle the challenges for store fulfillment to make it accessible and affordable. With expectation

of close distance between local stores and customers, we will address the order fulfillment as same day oriented souring and delivery

problem. Based on the practical challenges, two time horizon of the problem will be taken into consideration, for supply chain planning

and operation.

Experimental Plan: We will identify the seasonal planning dimensions which have influents on online order fulfillment from local

retailing outlets perspective. It will develop optimization models and heuristic algorithms which solve order assignment and fleet sizing

problems to construct the supply chain plan.

Related Work Elsewhere? There are several works to address order sourcing fulfillment plan problems from optimization and heuristic

perspective. Also some works contribute to tailor the methods of vehicle routing problem in order to apply to the scenario.

How this Project is Different: Proposed work will incorporate two supply chain stages – planning and operation to provide a pack of

solutions with respect to continuity and comprehension.

Project Benefits to Industry: Store fulfilment is still incipient in retailing industry. Despite of its high potentials in online retailing

competition, there is very limited literature available today. This work focuses on this area and intends to fill the gap in supply chain

perspective. Oriented by the revenue and costs, it will help to overcome the financial barrier of store fulfillment.

Major Milestones Expected: 1. Mathematic optimization models incorporating transportation and order sourcing assignment.

2. Propose solution algorithm for the optimization models.

3. Synthesize the models for different supply chain stages.

Expected Deliverables: 4. Patents

5. Paper publication






June 15-16, 2015

University/Site: University of Tennessee, Knoxville

PI Name: Christopher Cherry Phone: 865-974-7710 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Lightweight Electric Vehicle (LEV) Influence on Traffic Mode

Choice, Trip Purposes and Driving Behavior in Multimodal Transportation

System (TSP4)

Budget: $77,035

Project Description (200 words) Lightweight and low speed electric vehicles (LEVs) comprise a class of vehicles that are motorized, but do not fit under FMVSS

categories. As such, it is unclear how they are regulated and what impact they could have on urban mobility. Globally, the largest class

of LEVs, electric two-wheelers (or e-bikes) have 200 million sold in the last decade, most in Asia. In North America and Europe,

emerging classes of LEVs generate questions on how LEVs are used, barriers to use, and potential energy and environmental savings.

So far, most US research has relied on small datasets and questionnaire based analysis. It is understood that, in order to understand the

market and transportation system implications, more naturalistic analysis methods are required. The proposed research seeks to explore

the role of LEVs in two main areas: 1) market penetration and response and 2) multimodal system impacts that include safety and

sustainability. Secondary areas include 3) the role of LEVs in promoting active transportation and 4) LEVs and urban freight. To assess

the market penetration and system impacts, we propose the development of modular instrumentation packs that can be easily integrated

into existing LEVs across a diverse set of vehicles to collect naturalistic data of actual use to inform market and system impacts

analysis.


This research will rely on developing instrumentation to track and assess the use of LEVs in North America by developing

instrumentation packs that can be rapidly deployed into the existing fleet of LEVs to assess how first adopters are using these vehicles.

• In the first phase, we expect to build a series of flexible and modular devices and pilot test them in the first year of this study.

• In the second phase, we will deploy the instrumentation nationwide.

• The third phase will extend the instrumentation to include connected vehicle technology to improve the main barrier to LEVs,

safety and vulnerability in crashes in mixed flow. This instrumentation will provide user feedback to improve safety and avoid

risky routes and locations, and interact with surrounding connected vehicles (in the long term) to provide crash avoidance.


The PI developed an instrumented fleet of e-bikes for the UT e-bike sharing program that generated significant data, but was

geographically limited. Some European counterparts are assessing naturalistic e-bike use.

How This Project is Different: This project will be the first large scale, nationwide effort to assess LEV use across a class of vehicles

(from two- to four-wheel LEVs). This project will focus on the key question that feeds all other related questions, how do LEVs

substitute between other modes in a multimodal urban environment? The answer to this question informs safety, sustainability, and

market analysis.

Project Benefits to Industry: LEVs are an emerging technology and many industry members, from bicycle to car industry, are

watching and entering this market. Widespread LEV use has major impacts on urban transportation and environmental systems and on

vehicle markets, as demonstrated in Asia. Understanding the role of LEVs in North America will make a significant contribution to

how industry members position themselves with this new technology.

Major Milestones Expected: Q1: Identify technologies to instrument. Q2&3: Develop sensors and instrumentation for those LEV

technologies Q4: Perform pilot tests. Phase 2 (year 2) will include broad nationwide analysis and Phase 3 (year 3) will introduce

connected vehicle instrumentation.



We will report the findings of the sensor development through academic outlets, like IEEE journals. Results of the limited pilot

test can be presented in relevant transportation or energy journals and conferences.

Instrumentation IP:

The instrumentation development could result in new IP, either software licenses or patents. That IP could be licensed to broader

instrumentation companies or OEMs, or it could be released on open source platforms.





June 15-16, 2015



PI Name(s): H. Oh and J. Kang Phone: 716-645-1022 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Optimal EV Charging Schedule to Stabilize Both Transportation and

Electric Power Systems (TSP5) Budget: $120,000

Project Description: Recent deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) would help to enhance the reliability of the electric power grids

when the energy stored in the batteries inside EVs are optimally utilized. For example, an optimal charging/discharging schedule would

mitigate the impact of the resource variability introduced due to the renewable generation technologies. In the current “wait until the last

minute” charging schedule, however, the charging times of multiple EVs are overlapped, which negatively impact on the reliable

operation of the electric power grids. The disturbance to the grid also increases the cost to deliver the power from generation facilities to

the load centers. As a result, the cost associated with the EV charging is raised. This increased cost will make it difficult to recover the

upfront cost to the EVs, which can be a barrier to deploy EVs into the market.

This project will address the optimal charging schedule stabilizing both the operation of the electric power grids and the charging cost of

EVs. The optimal schedule will cover multiple charging throughout a day depending on the use of the individual vehicles.

Experimental Plan: We will develop a multi-level model for the transportation and for the electric power grids, and construct a

stochastic optimization problem to address the optimal charging schedule.

Related Work Elsewhere? There are several works to co-optimize energy and transportation sectors with highly simplified models to address the impact of EVs on

the electric power grids.

How this Project is Different: Proposed work will address the interdependence between two systems, and it further applies to the

financial impact of EVs during the charging process.

Project Benefits to Industry: While the high upfront cost of the EVs is a barrier to deploy them into the market, the future financial

benefit in charging the battery in EV is uncertain. This work finds the charging schedule utilizing the low-cost renewables, and therefore

the financial benefit is predictable. As a result, it will help to overcome the market barrier of EVs.

Major Milestones Expected 4. Multi-layer model incorporating the transportation and the electric power systems.

5. Stochastic optimization model to address the interdependency between two systems.

6. Solution algorithm to attack the problem formulated in the Milestone 2.

Expected Deliverables 7. Decision support tools incorporating the major milestones.

8. Publication of papers in major journal or conferences.

9. Timely deployment of the research progress on the PIs’ web sites.






June 15-16, 2015

University/Site: University of Tennessee, Knoxville

PI Name: Asad Khattak & David Greene Phone: 865-974-7792 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: Driver-Specific Fuel Economy Estimates: Using Big Data and

Information Science to Create Accurate, Personalized MPG Estimates (TSP6) Budget: $50,000

Project Description (200 words) The objective of this project is to approximately double car buyers’ willingness to pay for advanced technologies that increase fuel

economy, thereby magnifying market pull. It proposes to combine information technology, advanced modeling methods and big data

to develop personalized fuel economy estimates, based on an individual’s own drive cycle and driving environment for every vehicle

certified for sale in the U.S. Since 1975, the EPA has provided standardized fuel economy estimates for conventional light-duty

vehicles, and since 2008 based on 5 test cycles. The EPA ratings are a key source of information for vehicle purchase decisions.

However, the MPG ratings are based on standard driving cycles measured on dynamometers under laboratory conditions. It is a “one-

size fits all” approach that produces estimates that are unbiased for the nation as a whole but inaccurate for individuals. Accurate,

personal MPG estimates will greatly increase consumer confidence in future fuel savings by reducing the greatest source of uncertainty

in the value of fuel savings over the life of a vehicle: the fact that “your mileage may vary”. We propose to demonstrate the

practicality of personal fuel economy estimates.


The research on data modeling of individualized drive cycles will provide accurate MPG information to consumers for supporting

informed decisions about future fuel savings when purchasing a vehicle (e.g., conventional vs. AFVs) and vehicle use. Compared with

the currently fixed MPG estimates based on 5-test cycles, more accurate and customized MPG information can be generated by the

following methods:

Obtaining and analyzing detailed OBD data from individuals. We propose an OBD-based individual driving cycle using UT

campus-based resources. We will connect the OBD via dongles to on-board units that are being purchased by UT from

ARADA Technologies. We will then be able to download the data and analyze it for individuals and come up with

predictions for fuel economy.

Use data collected from behavioral surveys. We will use the California Household Travel Survey data (available through

NREL) to join together micro-trips for coming up with individualized predictions of drive cycles. An approach using case-

based reasoning was applied to extract micro-trips for conventional and PEVs. The drive cycles (for conventional vehicles

and PEVs) will be used to predict individual level fuel economy. The approach will be validated with real data.

Use a hybrid approach that combines the 2 methods above.


A program for generating individualized driving cycles has been developed, and tested using a small sample of travel survey data for a

pilot study.

How This Project is Different: This project will combine information technology, advanced modeling methods and big data to

develop personalized fuel economy estimates, based on an individual’s own drive cycle and driving environment for every vehicle

certified for sale in the U.S. The fuel economy will be predicted based on driving behaviors and vehicle attributes.

Project Benefits to Industry: Eliminating uncertainty about the value of future fuel savings could approximately double consumers’

willingness to pay for energy efficient technology. Increased willingness to pay for energy efficiency will also make it easier for

vehicle manufacturers to meet fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards and increase the incentive for investing in fuel

economy R&D.

Major Milestones Expected: Q1: OBD data collection. Q2: Integration and validation of OBD data and travel survey sensor data. Q3:

Individualization of driving cycles. Q4: Fuel economy estimates based on individualized drive cycles.



A report summarizing results of analysis will be provided along with data used for the analyses. A scientific paper will be

prepared for submission to a conference and journal.

Personal driving cycle generator:

A release version of software program, for generating personal driving cycle, will be provided to sponsors. This program will be

written for extracting, processing and learning the OBD/sensor driving data, to generate individualized driving cycles for users

(including drivers and manufacturers).

Smartphone application for personal fuel economy :

Smartphone app for individualizing fuel economy and fuel cost estimates for alternative fuel vehicles.

The smartphone application will provide useful feedback to users in terms of accurate MPG information during a trip.





June 15-16, 2015



PI Name(s): C. Qiao Phone: 716-645-4751 E-mail: [email protected]

Project Title: eSTAT: Improving the Efficiency of Electric Taxis with Transfer-

Allowed Rideshare (TSP7) Budget: $60,000

Project Description: Electric Taxis are emerging on the global market due to wide government supports. Each year, a taxi averages

55,000 miles of driving. Switching to electric taxis would lead to significant improvement on the sustainability. At the same time, the

rideshare community is growing as more and more people are willing to share taxis with others. However, there are two main challenges

of electric taxi-pooling. First, it is hard to find passengers with similar source and destination in an ad hoc manner (without reserving a

taxi hours before their trip). Second, electric taxis need to frequently charge their batteries which result in lost time for providing

service.

This project is proposed to tackle these challenges by introducing a new rideshare scheme for electric taxi rideshare. In the proposed

system, a passenger can transfer from one taxi to another before reaching her destination, which would significantly improve the

possibility of finding a rideshare plan. Transfers are restricted to only take place at the designated (safe and convenient) battery charging

stations that scattered around the city. Charging time are utilized to wait for pick-up/drop-off transfer passengers. We will also design a

price model that benefits both passengers and taxi drivers.

Experimental Plan: In this system, we address a new optimization problem called electric Sharable and Transfer-Allowed Taxis

(eSTAT), whose goal is to schedule an electric taxi service and find optimal rideshare and transfer plans so as to maximize the system

throughput in terms of the number of passengers served by the taxi service within a given time period.

We will formulate the problem with Mixed Integer Programming, and introduce effective rideshare planning strategies with practical

considerations. Besides large-scale simulation, we will also conduct a case study utilizing real taxi traces that are publicly available

(e.g., from New York City or Shanghai).

Related Work Elsewhere? To the best of our knowledge, no existing work has looked into transfer-allowed taxi-sharing paradigm with

electric taxis. For studies on either electric taxis or carpooling: Research on electric taxi dispatch system usually extends traditional

system with charging plan and consider constraints on the limited travel distance; Meanwhile, most of the existing works on taxi-

sharing and general carpooling looked into the problem by assuming that one request can only be served by one vehicle.

How this Project is Different: Proposed work will address the design issues of the transfer-allowed electric taxi-sharing system. We

will focus on two aspects: 1) design dispatch module that schedules taxis and provides rideshare itinerary for corresponding passengers;

and 2) design taxi fare model that fits the transfer scenario and provides incentives to promote adoption.

Project Benefits to Industry: Electric taxis are emerging on the global market, however, the charging and battery related issues holds

back it wide adoption. This work introduces a new business model that could mediate/offset the negative impact of the frequently

performed charging task. With a proper price model, the system could benefit both passengers (with reduced fare and the ease of finding

taxis) and taxi drivers (with increased income from taking more passengers), thus help to accelerate the adoption of environmentally

sustainable taxi services.

Major Milestones Expected: 7. Mathematical formulation of the eSTAT problem along with efficient heuristic solutions.

8. Design of the transfer-allowed taxi-sharing system and corresponding price model for calculating taxi fare.

9. Simulation study with real-world taxi traces.

Expected Deliverables: 11. Model formulation and computationally efficient algorithms incorporating the major milestones.

12. Data collection and computational results for proposed problems in case study.

13. Publication of papers in major journal or conferences.


national science foundation - ev-stsevsts.org/assets/project_presentations_r5.pdf · epp6 high...

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