CARLETON UNIVERSITY

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

MECH 4006 – Vehicle Engineering I

ASSIGNMENT 4 (Performance IV)

1. A “coast-down” test was performed to estimate the aerodynamic resistance coefficient

CD and the rolling resistance coefficient fr of a road vehicle. The test was conducted
on a level road with a tail wind of 8 km/h. The vehicle was first run up to a speed
of 96 km/h and then the transmission was shifted to neutral. The vehicle decelerated
under the action of the aerodynamic resistance, the rolling resistance of the tires, and
the internal resistance of the driveline. The vehicle slowed down from 96 km/h to
88.5 km/h in a distance of 160 m, and from 80 km/h to 72.4 km/h in a distance of
162.6 m. The vehicle weighs 15.568 kN and has a frontal area of 2.32 m2 . Assuming
that the rolling resistance of the tires is independent of speed and that the internal
resistance of the driveline may be neglected, estimate the values of the aerodynamic
resistance coefficient CD and the rolling resistance coefficient of the tires fr .

(Answer: CD = 0.36, fr = 0.0173, Rr = 269.6 N. Note that these answers are sensitive
to the calculation sequence since only two points are used.)

2. A vehicle weighs 20.02 kN and has a wheelbase of 279.4 cm. The centre of gravity
is 127 cm behind the front axle and 50.8 cm above ground level. The frontal area of
the vehicle is 2.32 m2 and the aerodynamic drag coefficient is 0.45. The coefficient of
rolling resistance is given by fr = 0.0136 + 0.4 × 10−7 V2 where V is the speed of the
vehicle in kilometres per hour. The rolling radius of the tires is 33 cm. The coefficient
of road adhesion is 0.8. The vehicle is equipped with an engine having torque-speed
characteristics as shown in the following table. The gear ratios of the manual gearbox
are: first, 4.03; second, 2.16; third, 1.37; and fourth, 1.0. The gear ratio of the drive
axle is 3.54. The transmission efficiency is 88%. Estimate the maximum speed of
the vehicle on level ground and on a grade of 25%, as determined by the tractive
effort that the engine torque with the given transmission can provide, if the vehicle is
rear-wheel-drive. Plot the vehicle thrust in various gears versus vehicle speed.

Speed, RPM 500 1000 1750 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000
Torque, N m 339.0 379.7 406.8 393.2 363.2 325.4 284.8 233.2 189.8

(Answer: Vmax (0% grade) = 170 km/h ; Vmax (25% grade) = 68 km/h.)

1
3. A vehicle is equipped with an automatic transmission consisting of a torque converter
and a three-speed gearbox. The torque converter and the engine characteristics are
shown in Figures 1 and 2, respectively. The total gear reduction ratio of the gearbox
and the drive axle is 2.91 when the third gear is engaged. The combined efficiency of
the gearbox, propeller shaft, the drive axle is 0.90. The rolling radius of the tires is
33.5 cm. Calculate the tractive effort and the speed of the vehicle when the third gear
is engaged and the engine is running at 2000 rpm with an engine torque of 407 N m.
Also determine the overall efficiency of the transmission, including the torque converter.

(Answer: F = 4455 N, V = 50.5 km/h, ηt = 75.6%.)

Figure 1: Torque converter characteristic for use in Question 3

Figure 2: Engine characteristic for use in Question 3