Hydraulic Disc Brakes

Hydraulic disc brake uses brake fluid ( Ethylene Glycol HO–CH2CH2–OH) to transfer pressure from controlling mechanism to braking mechanism. It was first used in 1914 for racing cars.It is based on the principle of Pascal Law which states that "The pressure exerted anywhere in a mass of confined liquid is transmitted undiminished in all direction throughout the liquid".
It consists of pipeline containing fluid. One end of which is connected to the master cylinder fitted with a piston attached to the brake foot pedal and other end of the pipeline is connected to the wheel cylinder having two pistons attached to the brake shoes.Area of the cross section of the wheel cylinder is greater than the area of the cross section of master cylinder.

Why we need disc brakes?

Though both systems use hydraulic brakes but in drum brakes, braking system started to fade because of servo effect, this problem has been greatly reduced in disc brake.Moreover, their are other problems within the assembly line which cause braking strength weak.

How it works?

It works on the very simple principle, when force applied at one point, it is transmitted to another point using an in-compressible fluid.When the brakes are applied the foot pedal is pushed due to which pressure is exerted on the fluid in the master cylinder.This pressure is transmitted equally and undiminished throughout the fluid and to the pistons of the wheel cylinder, therefore pistons of the engine pushed outwards and the brake shoe get pressed against the rim of the wheel due to which motion retards and vehicle starts to slow down.

Related Projects:
Design of Mountain Bike Hydraulic Disc Brake System (HDBS) Uncertainty Analysis
Optimization of Mountain Bike Hydraulic Disc Brake System

Related Posts:

Hydraulic Projects
Automobile Engineering Projects

Electronic Fuel Injection system

Emission from the engine has been considered as the vital source of air pollution, as a result, governments of various countries starts to demand for a strict emission standard from Automobile companies. To achieve emission targets, companies need to optimize engine designs.As Fuel injection is an important step in engine, its too needs to improve. .

In this post, we will discuss how fuel injection system works,why it is required and how we can improve its working to make our engine fuel efficient?

Fuel injection is a system of admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It is a part of engine since automobile came into existence,though it is often used in Diesel or Gasoline engine only. Before ignition system, carburetor was used for fuel injection, where suction created by intake air accelerated through a Venturi tube to draw the fuel into the air stream.

So, how fuel injection is different from carburetor system?
In this system fuel is forced into the combustion chamber using atomizer nozzle at high pressure.It improves performance of engine considerably both in efficiency and performance.

Why Electronic fuel injection required?
In this system computers are used to calculate the amount of fuel requires by the engine at any given time.It is precise, reliable and cost effective system.It provides A/F ratio for all speed, load and temperature ranges.

Electronic Fuel Injection:
What is EFI ?
How electronic fuel injection works ?
The 22R-TE engine
Super Millage Team

Related PDF :
EFI Overfiew

Related Presentation :
Electronic fuel injection
Sensors used in EFI
Basic EFI

Hydraulic Regenerative Braking System

Regenerative Braking:
How regenerative braking Works ?
More about this braking

Relative PDF :
Regenerative braking system for bicycle
Development of Regenerative braking system using super capacitors for electrical vehicle
Hybrid RBS Presentation
Algorithm for these types of brakes


In hybrid cars, hydraulic regenerative braking system (HRBS) can play significant role to lower the fuel consumption.It recycles energy by converting kinetic energy into potential energy during deceleration using accumulator.A hydraulic accumulator is a pressure storage reservoir in which a non-compressible hydraulic fluid is held under pressure by an external source.And, in this case this external source is high pressure compressed air.

What's the use of storing energy?
This energy can be reused while acceleration which significantly lower the fuel consumption.Moreover, we all use stored energy in some or the other way. When we fill water tank on roof top using electric motors, we are actually storing electric energy in the form of potential energy and this energy can be used later to provide water inside our home.

Why its important?
Energy recycling is the energy recovery process of utilizing energy that would normally be wasted.The regenerative braking system can capture and recycle the normally wasted braking energy during vehicle drive cycle.
Projects:

• Model of a novel configuration for HRBS using MATLAB/Simulink environment
• Aftermarket Hydraulic regenerative braking system
• Bicycle Hydraulic Regenerative Braking System 

Useful Links:
How Regenerative braking system works?

Related Video:

Related:
Hydraulics projects

Nitro Powered mini RC Car

We have discussed RC Cars before with electric engine and stirling engine. Today we are going to talk about Nitro Car, which has more similarities with cars we use in our daily life.

So, what is Nitro Car?

In my own simple definition, it is a car which runs on fuel consist of methane, nitro methane and oil.It has small internal combustion engine which gets it spark from glow plug powered by batteries inside a car. For more detailed info you can anytime refer to Wikipedia.

What is Glow Plug?

It is similar to spark plug, a helical wire filament usually made up of platinum, but mostly used in small cars. It gets its spark from batteries, compression heat and catalyst effect of methane and platinum.


What’s the difference?

It gets it power from fuel unlike electric cars which use batteries.It has speed and torque which other small cars find difficult to match.

Why should I build one?

It gives you first hand expertise in building a car which has strong resemblance to real world cars. Its combustion cycle is similar to petrol cars. It uses glow plug to ignite a fuel, parallel to spark plug in petrol engines.

Because of all above likeness, it would be great learning curve for all those interested in automobiles.

Problems:

• Some time engine gets overheated and can damage itself. We should keep our close eyes on engine temperature. 
• Tires wear down quickly, because of car speed and drift. Moreover, they are expensive too.

Engineering Branches:

Mechanical and Automobile

Things I need?


Related Video:



Related Projects:

Stirling Engine Mini RC Cars
Computer Controlled Car

Car monitoring System

How many times you heard about car accident caused just because of tire burst or due to break fail?
Have you ever imagined that these accidents not only cause harm to car passengers but also to innocent people on the streets. Even though these accidents are random and can happen with anyone but they can be avoided with the help of modern engineering and technology.

What is the solution?

We can place Sensors throughout a car that wirelessly send data back to a central terminal.And whenever anything awkward happens, driver would be alarmed about that information and its sources through dashboard monitor.


Advantages :

Avoiding traffic accidents due to under-inflated tires by early recognition of the malfunction of tires
Reducing CO2 emission and reducing tire abrasion by an optimal inflation
Avoid Engine Maintenance Cost
Lesser Battery related Problems
Car Alignment and Balancing could be done at right time so increase tire life cycle.

Related Presentation :

Car Monitoring System ppt : Presentation about how to use Zigbee technology to measure different components  (Tyre  Pressure, Temperature, Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor or Car Battery Voltage) of a car and display the data on a main LCD screen.

Related Video :

Hydraulic Car Lift

We all have heard about Hydraulic lifts sometime in our life, but some of you may think that how it works or how to build one for ourselves.

Today we are going to discuss about lifting cars using Hydraulics, which is based on Pascal concept.

Why understanding Hydraulics important?
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties.


Concept:
Pascal's law states that the pressure applied at one point of the liquid is transmitted equally in all direction. This principal is applied in hydraulic lift, for lifting heavy objects.

We know 

Force = Pressure x Area

Therefore Pressure = Force / Area

P1 = P2 (if pressures are equal throughout).

Formula becomes F1/A1 = F2/A2

Using above formula we can lift heavy materials using little force. For e.g. here we are lifting 10 pound using 1 pound.

1 pound / 1 square inches = 10 pounds / 10 square inches

So, to lift a car we should produce force(F1) which is more than F2(car force)

F1(force applied)
F2(Car force)
A1(Area below F1)
A2(Area below Car)

F1/A1 = F2/A2

F1 = F2 * A1/ A2

Therefore value of F1 is dependent on A1/A2 Ratio. Lesser it is lesser the force required by us.


 
Related Links :

How Hydraulic Machine Works ?

Fluid Power (pdf)

Flying Cars

A flying car is an aircraft that can also travel along roads. All the working examples have required some manual or automated process of conversion between the two modes of operation.
Some of you thinking that why I have discussed this project now. The main reason behind is that it recently revealed car at Holland. A flying car, which can fly for up to 315 miles at speeds of 110 mph, has been produced in Holland.

Is it possible to build one?
Yes it is possible but not commercially viable till date. Henry Ford tried to build one for everyone but was unsuccessful.But, with today's technology we can think about it more seriously. Recently, DARPA has awarded 988 Thousand dollars contract to Carnegie Mellon University for the developing the same.Read More.

We all know that aircraft is almost like a car before taking of from the runway but it can't be used as a car because of its wide wingspan , complicated design and costly manufacturing? These bottlenecks has not been sorted out, if we can find ways to solve these problems, we would be able to build one as one company from Holland is trying to do.

Concept :
To build flying car you should read about Parajet Skycar now in production, developed by British para-motor manufacturer Parajet.

automatic parallel parking cars

What is Automatic Car Parking ?

Automatic parking is an autonomous car maneuvering from a traffic lane into a parking place to perform parallel parking, perpendicular or angle parking.

What's the importance of this topic? 

Parking is one of the challenging thing for humans in Car Driving. Even though , lot of solutions available for smooth and safe driving such as car collision avoidance system, but very less focus is given to the the automatic parking system till recently. Although,many cars are now available with this feature such as Toyota Prius , still there is a long way to go.

For Whom :
Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics and Computer Science , almost all branches.

Level : Difficult
It is not an uncomplicated task to build up automatic parking expertise for a car. First of all, the car must be able to sense the surroundings, to find a free parking space and to detect obstacles in the car park.
Secondly, it should have the capability to plan the movement itself from the input of sensitivity system.
Lastly, it should be able to go after the premeditated motion sequences and to make sure that a goal position is reached, regardless of noise and errors.

Useful Links

How Self Parking Works ?
Camera based intelligent parking system

Related Video : 



Source Code :

Java  : Vehicle Parking

car collision avoidance

 

A collision avoidance system is a system of sensors that is placed within a car to warn its driver of any dangers that may lie ahead on the road.Ford announces new radar based collision avoidance system.This project idea is for Mechanical , Electronics and Physics students.

Traffic alert CAS


Related PDF :

Airborne CAS
Decision making for CAS
Traffic alert and collision avoidance system
TCAS

Related Video :

Read More...

Related Projects :
Automatic Parallel Car Parking
Automobile Projects

Hydrogen powered vehicle

Hydrogen Vehicles use energy produced by fuel cells. A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts chemical energy from a fuel into electric energy. Electricity is generated from the reaction between a fuel supply and an oxidizing agent.This project idea is for mechanical and automobile engineering students.

How Fuel Cell Works ?



Hydrogen cars are not only the future, they are here, now.
Paper on Fuel Cell Cars 
How Hydrogen Car Works ?
Basics of Fuel Cells

How to build it ?

Hydrogen fuel cell

Build Hydrogen Generator Cell With Household Items - Free videos are just a click away

Related PDF :
Electric and Hydrogen Powered Vehicles

Related Video :


Related Projects :
Automobile Projects

Electronic Valve Actuator

An actuator is a mechanical device for moving or controlling a mechanism or system. It is operated by a source of energy, usually in the form of an electric current, hydraulic fluid pressure or pneumatic pressure, and converts that energy into some kind of motion.Actuators are used for the automation of industrial valves and can be found in all kinds of technical process plants: they are used in waste water treatment plants, power plants and even refineries.


This project idea is for Mechanical engineering students.University of Queensland report on Electronic valve actuator will guide you more about this project.

Explanation of above Diagram :

1.Motor

2.Limit and torque sensors

3.Gearing

4.Valve attachment

5.Manual operation

6.Actuator controls

7.Electrical connection

Related PDF :

Actuators
Valve Actuator

Related Company :

Rotork : Manufactures of all types of Actuator

Related Videos :


What Is a Valve Actuator? —powered by eHow.com

Vacuum and Power Brakes

Vacuum brakes are one of the oldest braking system exist. It was first introduced and employed on the trains in the mid-1860s. The most simplest way to explain it is that it uses vacuum power to stop the train. These brakes have been improved significantly over the years.

Vacuum or power brakes are used in all most all the railways and modern day cars. It consists of five major components:

1.Break Pedal

2.Intake Manifold

3.Seal

4.Hinge and

5.Spring

How Vacuum brake works?

This system has two chambers, one is always filled with vacuum(first) and other one has either vacuum or atmospheric air(second). Their is a link between two chambers, so vacuum can transfer from first chamber to second.

When we push the break pedals, it opens up the second chamber seal, which allows atmospheric air to enter into the second chamber. This air exerts lot of pressure on the first chamber filled with vacuum which eventually push the brake fluid and stops the vehicle. I am embedding very important video which will help you understand exactly how it works.



This project is good for the case study purpose.I am giving you some helpful links below  :
 
How power brakes Works ?

How Vacuum brakes Works from African Railways ?

Brake System used in IR 

Railway Technical 

Air powered bike

I get this idea from Planet Mechanics show of National Geographic Channel . I have embedded a clip of that show below. This project uses a similar concept as of air cars because both of them use compressed air as a fuel.

Concept :
In this project we compress gas into a cylinder. Compress air behaves like a spring,. more it get compressed, more force it generates. We can use this force for doing any mechanical work and most of the pneumatic projects use this concept.

How much it cost ?

It would not cost much if you have old bicycle and one cylinder in a scrap. All the other items such as engine (Which can be unrepairable motor pump  ) , pipe , valve are cheap and easily available in market.


How its work ?

Its upon you , how you want to use compressed air energy , but I suggest you to use old piston method which was used in steam engines, only difference is, here we use compressed air to push the piston downwards as shown in Video :



Related Projects :

Automobile Projects

Adaptive braking (ABS)

Details :
It provide better mechanism for braking and helps biker to control bike effectively. ABS (Anti lock braking system) generally offers improved vehicle control and decreases stopping distances on dry and slippery surfaces for many drivers; however, on loose surfaces like gravel or snow-covered pavement, ABS can significantly increase braking distance, although still improving vehicle control.


This system consists of four things:

1.Controller: It is one of the most important part of ABS System. It is just like a brain which controls everything. It keeps a close eye on speed sensors and open or close valve accordingly.

2.Valve

3.Pump  and

4.Speed Sensors : ABS gets all the information about the wheel movement included locked up info from these sensors. It is very important component of this system.

How it works?
It is very effective braking system. It produce the effect similar to as when we apply and release brake 15 times a second. I mean, when you apply a anti lock braking system, speed of the wheel start decelerating faster than usual, controller gets this information from sensor, to make the wheel acceleration at par with the vehicle speed controller reduces the pressure of break , once that happens controller increase the pressure again of brake chamber again. This process keeps repeating until vehicle or car stops completely. It happens very fast(15 times/s) and we get effective and fast braking experience.

What is Anti Lock Braking?
How ABS Works ?
More About Antilock Braking System

Related PDF :
Adaptive braking System (ABS)
Adaptive Control Braking System using Labview
ABS braking system effectiveness

Related Video :