Preface
In writing this book, we have aimed it at the needs of both students and practising engineers in the automotive industry. For engineering students, we hope we have provided a sound explanation of the principles behind the design of vehicle powertrain systems. For practising engineers, we have tried to provide a comprehensive introduction to the subject area, which will set the scene for more specialized texts on, for example, engines, transmissions or hybrid electric components.
The book has arisen from our combined teaching experiences at a range of institutions including the Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Tehran, and the Universities of Leeds, Sunderland and Cranfield. We have attempted to incorporate two important themes which distinguish our book from other texts:
1. The inclusion of numerous worked examples and the provision of a MATLAB® code for many of the problems.
2. A systems approach to powertrain design – focusing on the integration and interactions of all the components, e.g. engine, transmission final drive, wheels and tyres – in analyzing the overall vehicle performance.
Our experience of teaching engineering students suggests that one of the most useful ways of learning engineering principles is through actually doing problems oneself. Hence, we have tried to provide a wide range of examples together with worked solutions, often with an accompanying MATLAB code. We hope that readers will run these short programmes themselves and modify them to examine other performance issues.
The term ‘systems approach’ is widely used in engineering but is not always clarified in the particular context. Here, we simply mean that in order to understand vehicle performance, it is necessary to analyze all the powertrain components together and examine how they interact, and how the designer tries to integrate them in a coordinated way. Our experience suggests that there are relatively few texts which deal comprehensively with this critical aspect of integration.
At the time of writing, there is considerable pressure on the automotive industry to minimize energy consumption and reduce global emissions. This has led to a huge upsurge in interest in alternative powertrain systems – and the development of a range of electric and hybrid electric vehicles. However, consumers do not appear to be willing to compromise some of the traditional aspects of vehicle performance, e.g. acceleration, speed, etc. in the interests of overall energy consumption. Drivability remains a key commercial issue and there is a demand for vehicles which are ‘fun-to-drive’. Hence, the design challenge continues to involve a compromise between vehicle performance and energy usage. We have tried in this book to provide a comprehensive coverage of both these – often conflicting – aspects of vehicle behaviour.
Vehicle Powertrain Systems is accompanied by a website (www.wiley.com/go/mashadi) housing a solution manual with detailed explanations for the solution methods of more than a hundred exercises in this book. The solutions of the majority of the problems are carried out in MATLAB environment and the program listings are also provided. In addition to the worked examples of the book itself, the website offers invaluable guidance and understanding to students.
Finally, we would like to thank all our colleagues and friends over the years who have contributed in some way or influenced us in writing this text.