CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 GENERAL
Lucas TVS was set up in 1961 as a joint venture of Lucas Industries
UK and T V SundaramIyengar& Sons (TVS), India, to manufacture Automotive
Electrical Systems. One of the top ten automotive component suppliers in the
world, Lucas Varity was formed by the merger of the Lucas Industries of the
UK and the Varity Corporation of the US in September 1996. The company
designs, manufactures and supplies advanced technology systems, products and
services to the worlds automotive, after market, diesel engine and aerospace
industries.
The combination of these two well-known groups has resulted in the
establishment of a vibrant company, which has had a successful track record of
sustained growth over the last three decades. TVS is one of Indias twenty large
industrial houses with twenty-five manufacturing companies and a turnover in
excess of US$ 1.3 billion. The turnover of Lucas-TVS and its divisions is US$
233 million during 2003-2004.
Incorporating the strengths of Lucas UK and the TVS Group, Lucas TVS
has emerged as one of the foremost leaders in the automotive industry today.
Lucas TVS reaches out to all segments of the automotive industry such as
passenger cars, commercial vehicles, tractors, jeeps, two-wheelers and offhighway vehicles as well as for stationary and marine applications. With the
automobile industry in India currently undergoing phenomenal changes, Lucas1

TVS, with its excellent facilities, is fully equipped to meet the challenges of
tomorrow.
Products:
Manufacturers of products in Indian Market: Starter Motor,
Alternator, Headlamp, Small Motor, Dynamo Regulator, Dynamo, Ignition Coil,
Distributor, Diesel fuel injection. Small Motor: Wiper Motor, Blower Motor,
Fan Motor.
US/European Market: Starter Motor, Alternator, Small Motor, Dynamo
Regulator, Dynamo, Auto Electricals. Small Motor: 14W Wiper Motor,
WindShield Wiper Motor (GM Range), LRW Products. Auto Electricals: Telco
Vehicles, Ashok Leyland Vehicles, Suzuki Vehicles.
Engine start is a very crucial phase in the operation of automotive
engines; the starter motor plays a vital role in this short transient period. Starter
motor is the key element of an automotive starting system which converts
electrical energy of the battery into mechanical energy to start the engine. The
quality of engine start influences emission and also the drivability of the
vehicle. The main function of the starter system is to supply cranking torque to
the crankshaft of the I.C. engine until a sustainable RPM is achieved due to
consecutive robust engine combustion events. The torque generated by the
starter motor is amplified through two or three stages of gear reduction so as to
be capable of cranking the engine shaft from zero to around 200 RPM.

Figure 1.1 Starter Motor

A series starter motor (SSM) was originally used to start an engine

because its series characteristic is the most suitable for starting. With the
development of permanent-magnet materials, SSM is now being replaced
gradually by ordinary permanent magnet starter motors (OPMSM) shown in
Figure 1.1. In comparison with SSM, OPMSM has many advantages, such as
high efficiency, simple structure, high reliability, compact volume, and small
commutation inductance.
The automobile industry uses two types of starter motors namely, Gear
Reduction Starter motor (GRS),and Direct Drive Starter motor. Testing of
starter motor plays a very important role as far as automobiles are
concerned.Testrigs are generally used for the above purpose.The objective of
the test rig is to conduct routine performance tests on starter motor as the motor
has to start against the various loads of the automotive.
1.2 LITERATURE SURVEY
Murugesan.V.M et al., (2011) discussed an approach to develop electronic
control unit based starting system to reduce the internal resistance of the battery
due to overloading, failure of mechanical components of starter motor and
pitting of electrical contacts of solenoid switch. A starting system model was
developed using Matlab Simulink R2007b. From the experiment it was inferred
that current drawn by the starter motor was increased when ECU is connected in
the starting circuit. Hence the sufficient torque is developed by the starter motor
thereby it reduces the internal resistance of the battery and improves its life.
V. Hajek et al., (2010) proposed a new type of starter motors to increase
the reliability and durability of motor vehicles, which is affected, to large extent,
by the starting characteristics of combustion engine, and also by the power and
energy characteristics of the starting system. The Czech automotive industry
presented a starter of a unique, so-called AXIAL concept the switch in one
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axis with the pinion, planet reducer and motor rotor. The starter uses excitation
by NdFeB-based permanent magnets. When making analyses, it was found that
the presented original concept employing a release mechanism and
electromagnetic rotation of the pinion enables to apply the system of two stage
engaging, which was until now used only for the starters of large combustion
engines, also for the passenger car engines.
Ping Wang et al., (2010) analysed the three dimensional complex forging
process using DEFORM-3D software which uses Finite Element Method. It
provides a virtual testing environment in which engineers can study the
influence of geometric parameters, process parameters and other factors on
forging process performance. This paper aims at forging process of automotive
starter motor ring gear, and suitable technology parameters have been
determined, which is combined with the numerical simulation by FEM method.
The variation of metal flow, stress and strain were obtained. This research plays
a guiding role on the optimal design of the forging processes and the dies
structure for similar parts.
Syed Sajjad H. Zaidi et al., (2009) listed a set of faults that can possibly
occur during a starter motors function and also the algorithms to detect their
occurrence. The various algorithms proposed were Multiple Discriminant
Analysis (MDA), a progressive trend can be identified in the time-frequency
domain features extracted from faults having increasing severity. As MDA
proved sensitive to training data, Linear Discriminant Classifier (LDC) analysis
was selected. A future state estimation method for the machine gear fault was
presented using Hidden Markov Models (HMM). A modified Viterbi algorithm
was used for estimation of the next state and its probability based on state
transition probabilities and observation probability distributions. Thus the
various fault occurrences and their intensities were predicted.
Xiu-He Wang et al., (2003) proposed a two-dimensional finite-element
method (FEM), with the effects of relative position and commutation taken into
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account, to improve the accuracy of performance analysis of permanent magnet

starter motor (PMSM). To reduce the cost of the magnetic pole to a minimum,
the optimization of the magnetic pole is performed by the proposed FEM.
Through optimization, the cost of the magnetic pole was greatly reduced, while
the starting torque and no-load speed are improved remarkably.
From the Literature Survey, the following observations were made and
were taken into consideration for this project:
Current drawn by the starter motor was increased when ECU is connected
in the starting system. Hence the sufficient torque is developed and
thereby the internal resistance of the battery is reduced.
A new AXIAL concept of starter motor is introduced to increase the
reliability and durability of motor vehicles.
Optimal design of the forging process for starter motor ring gear and
suitable technology parameters are determined using DEFORM-3D
software which uses Finite Element Method.
A set of gear faults in starter motor can be predicted and analysed using
the various algorithms like MDA, LDC and modified Viterbi algorithm.
Using FEM the accuracy of performance analysis of PMSM is improved,
the cost of the magnetic pole is reduced, while starting torque and no-load
speed are improved remarkably.

1.3 OBJECTIVE
To model andtoanalyzethe starter motor performance using the Industrial
testrigandLabview software.
1.4 ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS
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The thesis is organized into five chapters including this introductory

chapter. The descriptions about each of the chapters are as follows:
Chapter 1 deals with Introduction, Literature survey, Objective and the
chapter wise organization of the project thesis.
Chapter 2 explains the block diagram and components of a starter motor
performance test rig. This chapter gives an overview of modeling of starter
motor assembly.
Chapter 3 discusses the software implementation of performance of
starter motor using industrial test rig using a sample program in LabVIEW
software.
Chapter 4 deals with the hardware of the test rig and the obtained test
results were compared with specified test data.
Chapter 5 presents the conclusion and scope for future work.