Saiful A. Zulkifli

Impact of Motor Size & Efficiency on Acceleration, Fuel Consumption & Emissions of Split-Axle Through-the-Road Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicle

A split-axle parallel hybrid drive-train with in-wheel motors allows for existing combustion-engine-driven vehicles to be converted into a hybrid vehicle with minor mechanical modification, resulting in a retrofit-conversion hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). This is achieved by placing electric motors in the hub of the otherwise non-driven wheels. Due to the wheel hub’s size constraint, the allowable size and power of the electric in-wheel motor that can be installed is severely restricted to less than 10 kW per wheel, which raises the concern of lack of improved performance compared to the original vehicle. This work analyzes the influence of motor sizing and efficiency on acceleration performance, fuel consumption and emission levels of three different converted hybrid vehicles, through simulation. Results provide insight into sensitivity of different-sized vehicles with varying-size engines, to the size and efficiency of the retrofitted electric motor.

Development of a retrofit split-axle parallel hybrid electric vehicle with in-wheel motors

One configuration of a hybrid electric vehicle is the split-axle parallel architecture, which enables existing ICE-powered vehicles to be retrofitted into a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) with minimal modification - achieved by placing electric motors in the hub of the non-driven wheels. This paper describes benefits of a hybrid drive-train and presents development work of an experimental prototype of the retrofit hybrid system, implemented on a Proton WAJA. It explains operation of the retrofit vehicles energy management system and describes a dynamic simulation model for the HEV. Preliminary simulation studies show a fuel reduction of 25% compared to the ICE only-powered vehicle. Economic consideration requires further improvement of the fuel reduction, for the system to be commercially viable. This paper suggests for further research, an improvement to the simple retrofit system and investigation of various energy management strategies, to improve the fuel economy. Finally, this work describes experimental set-up for field testing and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation of the retrofit HEV.

Hybrid fuzzy-fuzzy controller for PWM-driven induction motor drive

This paper represents a method for the designing and developing of a hybrid fuzzy-fuzzy control (HFFC) scheme to gain control over the speed of an induction motor (IM). The fuzzy frequency control and fuzzy current amplitude control are studied in a closed-loop current amplitude input model for an induction motor. A combination of both controllers forms the hybrid controller. The principle of HFFC is to control the rotor speed during acceleration-deceleration stage using fuzzy frequency controller and during steady-state stage using fuzzy stator current magnitude controller to overcome the drawback of field oriented control (FOC) method. The two features (frequency and current) of FOC are employed to design a scalar controller. The software, MATLAB/Simulink is used for the simulation to determine the performance of the controller. A series of tests has been conducted to study the performance of the controller and the results shown that the controller is more reliable and insensitivity to the parameters of the motor changes as compared to the classical indirect field-oriented control (IFOC).

Modeling and simulation of a moving-coil linear generator

This paper presents the flux analysis of moving coil linear generator using finite element method (FEM). Two generators, 6 poles and 8 poles are used to analyse and compare the flux distribution for air gap. The EMF for both generators are also analyzed. These generators will be used for free piston linear engine. A moving permanent-magnet linear generator has drawbacks of thermal and impact force demagnetization, in addition to requiring complex control strategies. To overcome these limitations, one of the solutions is to have a moving-coil linear generator. This paper presents the flux analysis using finite element method (FEM) for a moving-coil linear generator. The flux varies with a peak-to-peak value of 0.006 Wb with the movement of a single-turn coil. Flux density in the air gap changes sinusoidally with the addition of a DC component. EMF generated in the single-turn coil has a range of ± 2 Volts for a 1-mm air gap and ±1.5 volts for a 2-mm air gap. The analysis is performed to consider replacing the moving permanent-magnet by a moving-coil for a linear generator whose prime-mover is a free-piston linear combustion engine.

Modeling and Simulation of Moving Iron Linear Generator (MILG)

Moving permanent magnet linear generator has some limitations such as thermal and impact force demagnetization, and complex control strategies. To overcome these limitations one of the solution is moving iron linear generators. This paper presents the analysis of flux using FEM for moving iron linear generator. The flux density varies with peak value of 0.85 for 6/1, 0.98 for 6/2 and 1.27 for 6/4 MILGs with the movement of translator. The effect of air gap on different MILGs is studied. The FEM analysis indicates that air gap have direct impact on output of the generator. The analysis is performed to replace the moving permanent magnet by moving iron in a different applications.