Public Funding for Ford Motor Company Limited

This collaborative research and development project, led by Ford Motor Company, is dedicated to accelerating the adoption of sustainable manufacturing practices in the electric vehicle sector. Working in partnership with leading UK-based organizations, including Brandauer, HSSMI, and the University of Nottingham, the project aims to develop and implement innovative technologies for the production of key electric vehicle components. By fostering a robust UK supply chain and driving technological advancements, this initiative contributes to Ford's global commitment to zero emissions and positions the UK as a leader in the transition to a sustainable future for mobility.

Currently, UK EV drive manufacturing uses Laser welding as a 'go-to' high-productivity joining process for copper and aluminium components. However, laser welding has shown many short comings, owing to the fundamental limitation of adsorption of laser energy into copper material, and thus greatly complicating the manufacturing processes of PEMD devices. This has encouraged Ford to explore alternative processes. Internal Ford evaluation and lab-based tests have shown that replacing laser welding with electron beam welding greatly impacts production efficiency and quality of the product. Lab-based proof of concepts has demonstrated that electron beam welding overcomes most issues associated with laser welding process. The electron beam welding process is efficient without needing pre-welding preparation, including trimming the parts before joining occurs. This eliminates scrap produced during the welding process. This process also doesn't require shielding gas and operates in a controlled vacuum machine instead of the atmospheric environment therefore has a significantly less negative impact on the environment. Cambridge Vacuum Engineering has joined Ford on the EB-eDrive project to automate and scale up the electron beam process to an industrial scale which requires gathering comprehensive data and creating a robust operational and quality assessment process. This project will develop and establish a world-class, UK-based, welding supply chain, ensuring continued UK leadership in Driving the Electric Revolution.

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In the drive to Net Zero the use of Hydrogen can play an important role in future UK transport. Whilst the majority of work looking at using hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles has been focused on fuel cell there is the potential to use hydrogen as fuel within a conventional internal combustion engine as a means of ensuring rapid market penetration of a ZEV in the LCV market. There is a large infrastructure in the UK dedicated to producing, servicing and recycling Internal Combustion Engines. It would be of significant benefit to the UK if these facilities could be repurposed to produce net zero internal combustion engines powered by hydrogen. However, there are significant hydrogen infrastructure, engine and vehicle technical challenges which would also need to be overcome before this could become reality. This project cannot address all these issues but is targeting coming up with cost effective optimised solutions to some of the fundamental issues associated with adapting an internal combustion engine to run on Hydrogen and be a zero emission engine. The project brings together a consortium of academic institutions, small and medium enterprises, large engineering consultancies, tier 1 part suppliers and a large OEM who specialises in the manufacture of light commercial vehicles. The focus of the project will be demonstrating that a Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine can be a viable alternative to the existing diesel powertrain for use in a Light Commercial Vehicle. The project will run in two phases, the first building on Brunel University and Mahle Powertrain's experience in running hydrogen powered engines to define the likely challenges and issues associated with running Hydrogen in an Internal Combustion Engine. The data generated by Brunel University will be used by Oxford Brookes University to develop a CAE tool set which will allow the consortium to simulate in cylinder hydrogen combustion and emissions. In Phase 2 using the tools and knowledge developed in Phase 1 the consortium will then design and manufacture several options for of single cylinder engine which will then be tested at Brunel. It is hoped that these engines will address the majority of issues associated with Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines. It is hoped that this project will form the basis of a larger project to put the multi cylinder hydrogen powered combustion engine into production.

Ford of Europe is launching many of its most popular models with hybrid and full battery electric powertrains. Present demand is imported from one global source. Over the coming years, demand is anticipated to support stand-alone manufacture of electric drives and transmissions in the region. The purpose of this feasibility study will be to ensure that the advantages of UK manufacture are clearly understood and quantified to support the site selection process. Funding will allow it to ensure a UK based engineering team gains experience and knowledge to provide local insight into this study and future iterations. They will have funding for expert advice and resource to investigate cost reduction opportunities. Future proofing the facility will be a key area of study as well as reducing uncertainty and contingency in any UK study. This project aims to ensure that all aspects underlining the commercial viability of a large-scale EDU facility in the UK are fully discovered and compelling going forward to our wider European and global plan.

The project's aim is to create complimentary engineering capabilities and skills for ultra-high volume manufacture of next generation powertrains. The consortium brings together collective capabilities from manufacturing engineering, the machine tool industry and supply chain, augmented with a cross sector digital visualisation partner. The consortium will develop new processes and validate their suitability for high volume production. They will integrate new manufacturing concepts deploying Industry 4.0, where applicable , with the aim to create a factory digital clone. The ambition of the consortium is to merge new process and powertrain technologies with the latest advancements in digital manufacturing. They will also identify repurposing opportunities for conventional powertrain manufacturing equipment. The project will be a key project to anchor the high volume manufacturing engineering capabilities and its supply chains in the UK

The automotive industry is heaviliy being driven towards weight reduction as a means of achieving ever more demanding emissions (CO2 and fuel economy) requirements. Lower weight solutions for traditional steel and aluminium chassis components are failing to deliver the step improvements required to give lighter LCVs or the required weight reductions for Hybrid Vehicle Architectures. This project focuses on the development of hybrid composite/steel material solutions; used in a optimised way to save weight via step reductions in material weight but also via reduction of parts and interfaces across a full Transit van chassis. This will be done by using some of the latest Design and Process optimisation tools available on the market today. An essential part of the project is the selection and development of a reliable, robust and cost effective composite manufacturing process since rapid, repeatible and productive processese are key to accelerate the use of composites for mass production vehicles. The aim of the project is to achieve a 37% weight saving (circa 25Kg) over the existing full steel Transit Van chassis without reducing any of the vehicles perfomance attributes

"Additive Manufacturing (AM) has been used in prototyping and manufacturing one-off parts. The overall objective of the program is to deploy High Speed Sintering technology (HSS) in a high-volume production environment in series production. Our vision for the High Volume Additive Manufacturing (HVAM) program is to lead in deploying AM technology in a high-volume production environment to deliver outstanding value and knowledge for sustainable manufacturing. The project aims to develop HSS technology suitable for series production. The project aims to develop a decision-making tool will be used to compare and contrast AM against conventional manufacturing techniques. A systematic process of material selection to develop materials suitable for HSS, along with identifying the right process parameters and a test strategy for validation and benchmarking will be the followed. The project is unique as it will focus on developing a design for integrating the HSS technology in series production. In addition, a data driven approach will be taken in decision making which is a key focus of the program. The key objectives include 1\. Reduction in tooling costs 2\. Quality improvement for high value parts (Part Geometry) 3\. Improving Resource Efficiency (raw material use reduction) 4\. Faster demand fulfilment 5\. Secure and create high skilled jobs and attracting new investment. The project is novel as it aims to develop proprietary materials suitable for HSS. The program will also focus on creation of a bespoke tool to identify parts that are suitable for AM. This will provide valuable knowledge to manufacturers and designers to ensure readiness for digital manufacturing processes. In addition, the HVAM project is unique as it will focus on generating a design for integrating HSS in high volume production environment."

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Ford Motor Company (Ford), Composite Metal Technology (CMT) and M Wright &Sons (MWS) are collaborating on an Innovate UK funded project to develop a new manufacturing process for the production of aluminium castings reinforced with inserts manufactured from long-fibre aluminium matrix composite (AMC) materials, providing localised reinforcement and facilitating weight reduction. The project will deliver a new gravity die casting process for AMC-reinforced components, enabling higher production volumes at improved quality and reduced cost compared to the current sand casting process. MWS will support this development with a novel 3D fibre preform design concept, manufactured using a new adaptive weaving system that will allow flexible transverse reinforcement of preforms, modified according to component performance requirements. These developments will be demonstrated via the manufacture of a redesigned prototype powertrain bracket, with reduced weight and improved stiffness versus the standard aluminium component. The project will address one of the remaining inhibitors to widespread adoption of AMC reinforcement for aluminium components, and unlock the technology potential for customers in a broad range of industrial sectors.

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The DYNAMO project is a Ford led collaborative research and development project that aims to significantly improve the fuel efficiency of two high volume passenger vehicle powertrains. The research will be conducted with six other UK based partners, who will help develop and mature new and upgraded advanced engine technology ready for commercialisation. During the project the team aims to revolutionise the process and methodology currently used to design and develop complex powertrains. It will demonstrate an analytical approach which enables multiple engine systems to be optimised to multiple objectives in parallel and under transient conditions to improve legislated and real world fuel economy, whilst drastically reducing development time and costs. The new approach will form the basis of a Virtual Product Development capability that aims to half the cost and time taken to get new powertrains to market.

Being able to precisely answer the question of "Where am I?" is critical for autonomous vehicle navigation - a function known as "localisation". There are a number of ways that a vehicle can localise: while GPS is an example of a localisation system, it is insufficiently accurate for autonomous driving systems, as well intermittently available and susceptible to jamming and interference. Lidar, a laser-based scanning technique, is commonly used to provide estimates of localisation to driverless cars, but lidar sensors are too costly for mass market vehicles. Cameras are significantly cheaper than lasers, but image-based localisation is challenging because of changes in lighting, weather, and scene structure. Taking into account the pros and cons of each of the above methods, this joint Ford-Oxbotica project utilises a suite of innovative techniques to perform camera-only localisation in spite of these environmental changes. The project will trial the software using low cost hardware to demonstrate the performance of affordable technology for mass market adoption.

The project will be placing 20 plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) Ford Transit customs into London during mid-2017. These vehicles will be an advanced proof of concept fleet aimed at evaluating the performance of the Hybrid in a commercial vehicle platform over a range of inner city operations with a range of operators. The projects outputs will allow confirm the air quality, CO2 benefits and operating costs from using the plug-in hybrid in the inner city environment. The project will support the optimisation of the hybrid systems allowing fine tuning to component sizing and systems balances via real world feedback. This is a strategically important project that will move the bench mark for commercial vehicle emissions and provide a technology path that offers zero emissions capability combined with excellent vehicle utility and an affordable cost model.

UK Autodrive - Milton Keynes leading the way in partnership with Coventry and the motor industry is a large programme of work aimed at exploring and demonstrating the potential for autonomous vehicles to become part of our everyday lives. The programme, which involves the demonstration of road-going cars and lightweight self-driving pods designed for pedestrianised spaces, will be delivered on behalf of the UK by the City of Milton Keynes working in association with the City of Coventry. The partners in the programme include JLR, Tata, Ford, RDM, Thales (UK), AXA, Wragge-Lawrence-Graham, Oxford University, Cambridge University, the Open University, and the new Transport Systems Catapult. Consulting group Arup has devised the programme and will provide programme management and technical co-ordination skills.

The automotive industry is being driven towards weight reduction as a means of achieving ever more demanding emissions (CO2 and fuel economy) requirements. Lower weight solutions for traditional steel and aluminium components are failing to deliver the step improvements required. This project focuses on the development of a wheel suspension component of composite materials to save weight via not only a step reduction in material weight but also via reduction of parts and interfaces. An essential part of the project is the selection and development of a reliable, cost effective composite manufacturing process since a rapid process is key to accelerate the use of composites for mass production vehicles. The aim of the project is to achieve a 50% weight saving over the existing steel component at no more than 10$ oncost for each kg weight saved.

In today's competitive market, Automotive Manufacturers and Suppliers must achieve faster time to market as well as improved quality and reliability. Additionally they must satisfy customer and regulatory demand for greater powertrain efficiency and refinement. Product development and design must be optimised and verified with limited number of available physical prototypes. This means much of the electronic control systems testing and verification must be carried out automatically through mathematical modelling and simulation. These models must cover multiple physical domains such as Mechanical, Electrical, Hydraulic and Thermal and satisfy sufficient accuracy to replace the real prototype. To validate the functional requirements of the real electronic control systems with embedded software one has to simulate these models in ‘real-time’, i.e. the responses of the model must have the same profile and take the same amount of time as the real system. MOdel-based Real-time Systems Engineering (MORSE) project tries to address some of the challenges in this approach, particularly the trade-off between accuracy and real-time capability of the generated models.

Jaguar Land Rover, in partnership with Ford Motor Company Ltd, European Thermodynamics Ltd and Nottingham University, will launch a 3-year program of research in which conventional concepts of engine management of thermal energy will be re-examined using state-of-the-art simulation tools and a novel test engine which will allow the heat available to be directed to the most import components such as the cylinder liner walls. Some of the heat that will inevitably escape down the exhaust will be converted into electricity using a Thermo Electric Generator. In the longer term, if all the project targets are met, it is believed that a 5% improvement in fuel economy is possible through the conversion and management of heat energy. This research programme, scheduled to start in early 2014, is enabled by a £2 million grant from the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB), and builds on an earlier programme which was also co-funded by the TSB.

The ACTIVE project is a collaborative R&D project that accelerates the introduction of advanced low carbon technologies into main stream vehicle applications targeting very substantial CO2 savings. This is a UK centred project focused on the Engineering skills needed to develop and apply these technologies and aims at increasing the UK's capabilities in this area. The project will bring Ford's Global Advanced R&D and some of Europe's top Tier 1 suppliers to the UK to develop the technologies for this project alongside the engineers at Ford's Dagenham and Dunton Engineering Centres and four of the countries leading automotive research Universities. This will strengthen further Ford UK engineering as the "Centre of Powertrain Excellence" for the application of advanced inline powertrain technologies within Ford and increase the capabilities within the UK's Universities. A key aspect of the project is to engage with the UK supply chain and this project presents an excellent opportunity for several participating UK based component and equipment supplier partners.

The project focuses on the development of a novel augmented manufacturing reality, which will enable the automation of the design, configuration, re-configuration and use of manufacturing automation systems. The aim is to overlay and integrate digital data (e.g. CAD, Scans, video) and physical data acquired from sensors (e.g. power usage, temperature) into a virtual reality environment. The main objectives of the project to a) create a generic toolkit to enhance servicing and maintenance of automation systems b) combine digital data and physical data to include feedback from the use phase into the design and simulation stages, c) optimise production efficiency and d) decrease set-up times and maintenance downtime. The project consortium consists of a major end user (Ford Motor company), three innovative SME as technology providers for the virtual environment (FDS), distributed sensor integration (i.e. InotecUK) and specialist engineering knowledge (DBR Associates), a major technology provider of CAD and digital data systems (Autodesk) and two major research organisations with extensive experience in manufacturing research, automation systems and virtual reality (High Speed Sustainable Manufacturing Institute and WMG).

HyBoost 2 takes on the benefits shown from the original TSB HyBoost “Intelligent Electrification” project and moves to the next generation of electrification of mild hybrid technology to deliver a Diesel engine Ford Focus vehicle to less than 70 g/km as measured on European Drive Cycle CO2 with at a cost still significantly lower than a Hybrid Electric Vehicle. Application of 48V technology combined with synergistic 48V ancillaries and advanced thermal systems and waste heat recovery technologies will enhance base engine efficiency and assist in achieving extremely challenging emissions targets. Vehicle driveability and performance attributes will be optimised through effective application of BSG torque assist and IP around driving modes enabled with 48V mild hybrid technology.

Caterpillar UK Engines Company Ltd, in partnership with Ford Motor Company Ltd, BP, Oxford Lasers Inc. and Nottingham University, will launch a 2-year program of research in which the basic principles of friction will be re-examined using a novel test rig which will replicate conditions in conventional powertrains, specifically, between the piston rings and the cylinder liner walls. The consortium aims to extend the capabilities of this novel, but practical, test rig to fully validate the new friction models that will be derived. Further, the outcome of this work will include the development of a lubricant formulated to interact with the topography and material of the cylinder and piston rings. In the long term, if all powertrain bearing surfaces are considered, it is believed that a significant improvement in fuel economy is possible by the reductions in friction that will be demonstrated in this project. This research programme, scheduled to start in late 2013, is enabled by an £812,000 grant from the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB), and builds on an earlier programme, led by Ford, which was also co-funded by the TSB. The programme of research will be performed across the consortium members' facilites in Peterborough, Basildon, Reading, Oxford and Nottingham.

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The key challenge for development of viable, mass market low carbon vehicles is delivering new, lightweight platforms at affordable investment levels. Ford Motor Company and Gordon Murray Design will collaboratively explore lightweight vehicle structure and investment reduction enablers for small vehicles via a 2 year project based in the UK.

To apply visual inspection techniques, advanced manufacturing technologies (including micro/nanotechnology derived tools) and supply chain analysis for effective identification and management of engine components.

Magnomatics’ (MM) innovative magnetic CVT (mCVT) integrates a magnetic planetary gear and a highly efficient control motor/generator to enable a superior power-split HEV powertrain to be realised. A Proof of Concept mCVT has demonstrated excellent efficiency and robustness within a compact package. It has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars by 1.3Mtonnes p.a. by 2020. Ford UK will provide the specification, technical steer and CAE vehicle studies, MM will design, build and test an mCVT for a passenger car, Arnold Magnetic Technologies (AMT) will manufacture core magnetic components and Romax Technology (RT) will assist with determining optimum HEV architecture and control. A thorough assessment of performance benefits will enable OEMs to assess the market potential, enabling future advanced UK volume manufacturing of components.

To develop the capacity in resource efficiency and environmental performance through improvements in waste management and effluent treatment.

To apply simulation, intelligent optimisation and 'Fit' Manufacturing methods to engine manufacture, inspection and assembly, in order to investigate the impact of factors on production.

To develop a new data analysis capability to support comprehensive labour and overhead cost reporting and effective decision making in operation.

VIPER will demonstrate 4.5% NEDC CO2 emissions reduction, applicable to all internal combustion engine vehicles, by managing the thermal environment of vehicle sub-systems. New technologies and modelling techniques will be developed for effectively using thermal energy in the whole powertrain system. There is limited heat available during powertrain warm-up & by accelerating warm up friction, churning losses are reduced thereby improving fuel economy. Stop-start and hybrid technology exacerbates this, as reduced engine running delivers less thermal energy. Once fully warm excess heat is rejected & in the VIPER project this waste heat is recovered as electrical energy. Managing the transfer of heat around the vehicle systems and conversion to electrical energy will be enabled by development of an analytical tool for thermal environment optimisation. Further, VIPER investigates new technology in specific sub-systems enabled by the optimised thermal environment. VIPER takes the advanced capabilities of the suppliers, and uses academic expertise to optimally integrate these into a practical demonstrator with the vehicle manufacturers. VIPER will deliver: 1) A design study for minimum Powertrain thermal inertia and assessment of a demonstrator engine. 2) Driveline and lubricant technology for fast warm-up, with reduced friction & churning losses 3) Two complementary technologies for harvesting wasted thermal energy from the exhaust system. 4) A thermal analysis tool optimising heat distribution for CO2 emissions reduction. 5) A more efficient final drive unit 6) A prototype Land Rover vehicle demonstrating the benefits to CO2 emissions

CREO aims to improve and re-optimise the engine and after-treatment as a complete system, meeting legislative, customer and business requirements while minimising CO2 levels. This will be achieved through the use of novel after-treatment techniques, the on-board generation and use of hydrogen and the development and application of new optimisation tools.

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The UK Technology Strategy Board (TSB) sponsored HyBoost project was a collaborative research programme to develop an ultra efficient optimised gasoline engine concept with “Intelligent Electrification”. The basis of the concept was use of a highly downsized 1.0L boosted engine in conjunction with relatively low cost synergistic ‘12+X’ Volt electrical management system and electrical supercharger technologies to deliver better value CO2 reduction than a full hybrid vehicle. Project targets of 99 g/km CO2 as measured over the European Drive Cycle (EDC) in a standard 2011 Ford Focus whilst maintaining the same performance and driveability attributes as a 2009 production 2.0L version of the car were achieved, and a potential route through to

Demonstration of electric vehicles to understand customer journeys, charging behaviour, and perceptions using 21 vehicles mostly in the South East of England including working with members of the public in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The data will help to establish the size of the potential market for EVs in the UK and understand any implications for electricity generation and distribution. The project partners are Ford, SSE, the University of Strathclyde, and the London Borough of Hillingdon.

INBOARD is a new and exciting technology for tracking electronics from PCB manufacturing to end of life. This collaborative research and development project involving several key UK electronics companies, a recycler and Loughborough University has demonstrated a new technology that enables information about an electronic product to be stored and accessed all the way from the initial printed circuit board manufacturing stage to end of life and recycling. The Technology Strategy Board supported INBOARD project has developed a novel product and process monitoring system with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) embedded into the Printed Circuit Board. This technology enables relevant information to travel with the product across the whole electronics manufacturing supply chain including printed circuit board manufacturing, assembly, and original equipment manufacturing (OEM), use and end of life /recycling. The RFID tags can be used to monitor and optimise manufacturing processes, track components, locally store life-cycle information and support dismantling and recycling. By using these embedded components, it will be possible to reduce the lifecycle costs of manufactured products radically by increasing observability.

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The AFRECAR (Affordable Recycled Carbon Fibres) project builds upon earlier research led by the university of Nottingham in the area of carbon fibre recyling. The most recent project was HIRECAR in which composite moulding compounds were developed using recycled carbon fibre for application in the automotive industry. There are now emerging commercial processes for recycling the carbon fibre from a composite but there are two problems that need solving: How to process the recycled carbon fibre to produce new products that can give the very best structural properties and:How to improve on the existing recycling processes to recover useful products from the polymer resin used to bond the carbon fibres together in the composite? The AFRECAR aims to focus on these two questions by developing high grade structual composite materials based on recycled carbon fibre for both the aerospace and automotive industries. It has two prime objectives: To develop low-cost, high-strength composite materials based on recycled carbon fibre with higher fibre content than has been previously achieved. These can be used as lightweight structural reinforcement in the aerospace and motor industries in non-critical applications such as seats, overhead lockers and other interior features on aircraft and body panels in cars. To develop and demonstrate, at larger scale, the use of supercritical fluid processing to produce high grade recycled carbon fibre and also to recover valuable chemicals from the polymer resin. The £900,000 project is funded by the Technology Strategy board. It is led by the University of Nottingham and the other partners are the aircraft makers Boeing, the Ford Motor Company, composite materials supplier advanced composites group, fibre processing company technical fibre products, carbon fibre manufacturer toho tenax, wind turbine manufacturer Vestas and Milled Carbon, a company leading the way in carbon fibre recycling.

The FHSPV (Flywheel Hybrid System for Premium Vehicles) project which bought together some of the UK’s most respected names in automotive engineering under the TSB umbrella has concluded its work to determine the viability of flywheel hybrids as a cost-effective and modular solution for production vehicle applications. The consortium, comprising Jaguar Land Rover, Flybrid Systems, Ford, engineering consultancies Prodrive and Ricardo, and transmission experts Torotrak and Xtrac investigated the benefits of flywheel hybrids in a number of applications. Compared to conventional electric hybrid systems, mechanical flywheel hybrids reduce the number of inefficient conversions during the recovery and re-use of braking energy. Instead of converting kinetic energy into electricity, energy is stored in a high-speed flywheel with power transfer controlled by a compact continuously variable transmission (CVT). The Jaguar XF premium saloon used as the research vehicle has the flywheel hybrid system integrated into the rear axle, occupying part of the space normally used by the spare wheel. Following conclusion of the programme the consortium has made the following statements with respect to outcomes: • The development vehicle has demonstrated that this technology can deliver significant CO2 reductions in real world conditions, building on established stop-start gains • In the industry-standard NEDC cycle, the flywheel hybrid and stop-start combined achieved an 11.9% percent benefit, a 6.4% improvement over start-stop alone. • In the new ARTEMIS test cycle, which represents typical real-world usage, the flywheel hybrid system yields an 11% improvement over stop-start only. • The system can be realised at significantly lower cost and weight than a typical HEV application. This is a positive outcome for an early development system. Further refinements and related optimisation of other vehicle systems are expected to yield additional gains.

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The VERTIGO project developed a virtual engineering tool-set capability for developing future low-emission combustion-engined vehicles and their control and diagnostic systems. The project built on existing state-of-the-art, system simulation, computational fluid dynamics, chemical kinetics modelling, combustion diagnostics, model-based control; and produced a validated, integrated tool-set and process tool applicable from concept level through the development cycle to control system virtual calibration. The tool-set was built in the framework of an integration tool with potential for applicability to any CAE software, while detail tools delivered more robust prediction of transient engine performance, fuel economy and emissions. Going forward, the project partners are applying the tool-set to achieve reductions in product development time/cost, while embracing the needs of future model-based controllers and diagnostic systems which are vital to environment-friendly vehicles.

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