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The road to low carbon vehicles

Join us along this road »

The University of Warwick has been engaged in automotive engineering research for nearly thirty years and has a widespread reputation as a leader in this sector. Nearly all of our automotive team, approximately 70 people in total, have worked for commercial companies within the industry, and this gives us the edge in ensuring joint research and technology transfer is achieved both efficiently and effectively.

Since 2003, The School of Engineering, incorporating WMG, at The University of Warwick has attracted over £100m of funding for automotive engineering from a range of sources including private companies, Advantage West Midlands, the Technology Strategy Board and the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council. This has resulted in the successful delivery of several major R&D programmes of national importance. Through our extensive training programmes the expertise we have developed has been transferred to hundreds of companies regionally and nationally, including several major vehicle manufacturers.

It is clear that the automotive industry will have to constantly innovate to meet the technical, commercial and environmental challenges of tomorrow. The global momentum to develop vehicles with reduced carbon emissions is now growing. This challenge requires research and development programmes that draw together key pieces of knowledge from different areas to produce holistic solutions. The University of Warwick has proven experience in operating in this manner and this brochure highlights our expertise across a range of themes that will be critical to the design, production and widespread adoption of the next generation of vehicles.

» System Modelling, Simulation & Control » Energy Sources, Storage, Conversion & Recovery » Electrical Systems & Power Electronics » Ancillary Systems » Intelligent Transport Systems & Data Processing » New Generation Vehicles & The Environment » Human Machine Interface, Quality Perception & Driver Behaviour » Innovative Materials & Manufacturing Processes

The University of Warwick has extensive expertise in computer

modelling and control engineering. The following are examples of

recent work we have carried out in relation to hybrid-electric vehicles.

The tools developed can be used to assess technical performance as

well as indicate the commercial advantages of hybrid vehicles to public

consumers, fleet operators and manufacturers. The models can be

used at all stages of vehicle development, from concept through to

validation, and their usage considerably reduces timescales.

WARwick Powertrain Simulation Tool for ARchitectures (WARPSTAR) – this tool was developed in collaboration with over

50 partner companies during the four year £37m PARD programme. It

focuses on hybrid vehicle powertrain simulation to determine which

configuration, or architecture, offers the greatest technical benefits.

It has been actively used for provision of proof of concept, component

sizing and control strategy development by a number of vehicle

manufacturers, each with interests in differing markets.

Prof. Paul Jennings and Dr. Andrew McGordon

Hybrid Vehicle Cost/Benefit Analysis (CBA) framework – this tool

provides detailed whole-life costs, costs per mile, and expected CO2

emissions data for hybrid vehicles. It can be used for individual vehicles

or fleets and is suitable for use by both end-users and manufacturers.


Device Modelling for Electric/Hybrid Vehicles – the Warwick

team has, in collaboration with Toyota, developed a validated model

to evaluate the effectiveness of different electrical power converter

technologies utilising our expert knowledge of power electronics.

An innovative methodology was used to decouple the parameters

of this complex electro-mechanical-thermal system allowing greatly

accelerated simulation without compromising accuracy.

Prof. Phil Mawby and Dr. Angus Bryant

Multi-domain Modelling – the Warwick team is currently working on

several applications of multi-domain modelling of electro-mechanical

systems, including driveline systems and mechatronic components.

Dr. Peter Jones and Mr. Ross McMurran

The University of Warwick team has considerable expertise in building

complex computer models for simulating dynamic material behaviour.

These validated models have proved themselves to be essential tools

for delivering bottom line value to industry.

High Strength Steel and Aluminium Forming Simulation –

for vehicle designers to take full advantage of an increasing number

of new lightweight sheet metals it is important that their behaviour

during manufacture is well understood. The Warwick team has worked

with Jaguar Land Rover and major material suppliers to develop

sophisticated models to predict forming limit curves (FLCs), springback

levels and cosmetic surface defects for a range of new materials.

Prof. Rajat Roy and Mr. David Williams

Product Complexity Modelling – we have developed a suite of tools

that analyse the effects of product variety. These tools are invaluable

when considering the cost implications of developing a range of low

carbon vehicles.

Prof. Rajat Roy and Mr. David Williams

High Speed Material Deformation and Crash Simulation – we have

used state-of-the-art high speed servo-hydraulic equipment to develop

new international testing procedures for gathering data on how

materials behave under extreme loading. This has enabled materials

and joint strength to be characterised in a consistent and effective

way. Results have been used to improve the accuracy of impact

simulation software within the automotive industry, consequently

reducing the amount of highly expensive physical crash testing

required for lightweight vehicles.

Dr. Paul Wood and Dr. Claus Schley

Modelling of Engine Combustion – considerable reductions in

vehicle CO2 emissions are possible by improving traditional IC engines.

Warwick has expertise in the thermofluid modelling of in-cylinder

flow, combustion, emission production and catalytic processes.

Dr. Alireza Vershagh

System Modelling, Simulation & Control

The University of Warwick 03

The active management of energy in any vehicle is critical to efficient

operation. The University of Warwick is currently expanding its

facilities to enable leading edge research in this area. The multi-million

pound Vehicle Energy Facility will be unique in Europe, and together

with the new power semi-conductor fabrication laboratory will offer

developers of hybrid-electric vehicles unparallelled opportunities for

advanced integrated engineering.

Vehicle Energy Facility (VEF) – comprises: linked dynamometers for

both internal combustion engines and electric machines; a battery

cycler able to simulate different battery chemistries; a Hardware-in-

Loop (HiL) system capable of virtual component and vehicle testing;

control and measurement equipment for electrical and mechanical

power and control strategy development; and emissions monitoring.

Prof. Paul Jennings

Mechanical Hybrid Powertrains – working in collaboration with

industrial partners, the Warwick team has researched the fuel

efficiency of a wide range of hybrid powertrains, with particular focus

on mechanical systems within public service vehicles. The results

from this research have provided a valuable understanding of system

potential to our industrial partners.

Dr. Alireza Vershagh

Electro-mechanical Energy Conversion – the Warwick team

has expertise in the design and optimization of energy converting

machines and drive systems. The tools we use consider the multi-

physical aspects (electrical, thermal, mechanical) of machine design,

and hence the motor/generator architecture of a vehicle can be

optimized for any given application. Furthermore, our techniques can

facilitate advanced integrated modelling of the design of machines and

power electronics.

Dr. Annette Muetze and Dr. Angus Bryant

The University of Warwick possesses world-class expertise in

automotive electrical and electronic system development. Our

extensive range of equipment includes fully integrated ‘Lab Cars’

allowing evaluation of prototype and production vehicles, real-time

simulation platforms, network analysers, low-voltage transient testing

equipment, machine vision systems, diagnostic tools and support

systems. The following examples of work demonstrate our capabilities

in this area:

Software Integration – many of the technologies to deliver reduced

CO2 emissions require a much higher level of interaction between

systems under software control (e.g. Hybrid Electric Drive). In this

context it is vital to have techniques for planning and managing

software delivery and integration to allow the assessment of the

complete system performance to be done at a sufficiently early stage

of a vehicle development programme. These techniques have been

applied within Warwick’s largest partner Jaguar Land Rover and

several of their key suppliers.


Evolutionary Validation of Complex Systems (EVOCS) – we have

developed sophisticated tools for validating the design of automotive

electronic systems at a ‘system of systems’ level. Key areas of

development have included: robustness testing (including low voltage),

interaction modelling and analysis, multi-domain physical modelling,

test case generation and coverage, flexible HiL platforms, test

automation, machine vision, and static code analysis.


Diagnostics & Condition Monitoring – the Warwick team has

developed a variety of innovative techniques for condition monitoring

and for on-board and off-board diagnostics at component, system and

cross-system levels. A current project with industrial partners Jaguar

Land Rover, IBM and Autotxt is working towards the vision of a ‘self-

healing vehicle’.


Integrated Power Control Electric Vehicles (IPCEV) – working in

partnership with Zytek and Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems, we

have investigated the impact of emerging technologies on the design

and application of power electronic converters in the field of electric

and hybrid-electric drivetrains.

Prof. Phil Mawby, Dr. Annette Muetze and Dr. Angus Bryant

04 The road to low carbon vehicles

Energy Sources, Storage, Conversion & Recovery

Electrical Systems & Power Electronics

The University of Warwick team has carried out research into

improving the performance of a range of vehicle ancillary systems,

often combining knowledge from different fields including computer

modelling, electronics, hydraulics and materials.

Waste Heat Driven Vehicle Air Conditioning – the team at Warwick

has developed a vehicle air conditioning system driven by engine waste

heat, specifically the coolant circuit. The physical size of the equipment

developed is thirty times more compact than commercially available

units, and offers an estimated vehicle fuel saving of 8%.

Prof. Robert Critoph

Power Boosting of 12V Ancillary Systems – many vehicle

manufacturers are striving to find 12V solutions to cope with the

increasing platform loads from steering, suspension, safety, distributed

power and driver support systems. We have developed a method of

providing a transient high voltage and high current bus to supply the

motor drive stage of an electric power steering system. This could

be utilised in preference to a conventional hydraulic system to gain

fuel consumption efficiencies of up to 5%. Furthermore, the boosting

methodology can be applied across other vehicle ancillary systems

including active suspension.

Prof. Phil Mawby

Environmental issues are propelling research in many technical areas.

The Warwick team is leading the way in applying cross-functional

expertise to a number of research projects that stimulate engagement

between the scientific community and the general public. We have also

investigated and advised legislative bodies on the impact of choices

surrounding environmental concerns.

Environmentally Friendly Racing Cars – Warwick has developed and

showcased small racing cars which use natural materials in novel ways

including hemp fibre/plant resin matrix bodywork, biodegradable

plant fuels, cashew nut extract brake pads and potato starch tyres.

Development is currently taking place on a biodiesel powered Formula

3 car, and wider opportunities for routes to market are being explored

with industrial partners.

Dr. Steve Maggs and Dr. Kerry Kirwan

Axon 60: A Structural Carbon Fibre Car with Plug-in Hybrid Technology – this industry-led project brings together patented

lightweight carbon fibre technology, excellent aerodynamics and

hybrid propulsion. Warwick is contributing its expertise in modelling,

simulation and data gathering to enable appropriate specification,

selection and testing of hardware. Additionally, Warwick is further

developing its cost/benefit analysis tool to quantify the potential

commercial benefits, and provide inputs to a business case.


Wealth Out of Waste (WOW) – we are working to develop

lightweight and novel products from plant waste by utilising natural

mechanisms in a highly innovative biorefinery. The two-stage process

under development extracts material which potentially could be used

for fuels, polymers, lubricants and adhesives. Discussions are now

taking place with regards to automotive applications for this cutting

edge, environmentally friendly process.

Dr. Kerry Kirwan

Environmental Competence: Vehicle Interior Air Quality –

we have carried out research into detecting and measuring volatile

organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from materials within vehicle

interior cabins using state-of-the-art equipment. As polymer usage

within consumer products (in this case motor vehicles) is expected

to increase, the need to control VOC emissions will become critical to

avoid detrimental effects upon human health. Warwick has already

played a leading role in advising governing bodies on legislative

matters in this field.

Dr. Geraint Williams and Dr. Mark Pharaoh


Ancillary Systems

Intelligent Transport Systems & Data Processing

New Generation Vehicles & The Environment

ITS System Architecture – the University of Warwick team has played

a key part in recent UK ITS Projects, such as Co-Driver and facITS, and

has been particularly concerned with system design, data processing

and methods for ensuring the integrity of data and systems.

Mr. Ross McMurran

Sustainable Action on Vehicle Energy (SAVE) – we are currently

working with Ove Arup and Partners, Jaguar Land Rover and Froude

Hoffman to research the links between individual driver behaviour and

a prediction of fleet CO2 emissions. The outputs of particular journeys

are expressed in a common unit (energy per person km), enabling

meaningful comparison and evaluation. The linked vehicle and city

data models will be extended to incorporate investigation into the

wider issues associated with hybrid and electric vehicles, such as how

to best account for emissions at a power station when an electric

vehicle is plugged into the grid. Additionally, the project is researching

intelligent vehicle-to-grid energy control that could provide mutual

benefits to both the automotive and energy generation industries.

Prof. Paul Jennings, Dr. Peter Jones and Dr. Andrew McGordon

The University of Warwick has a world-class reputation for its

pioneering research in this area, particularly with regards to vehicle

interior sound quality. We’ve focused on better understanding the

relationships between the real world and controlled environments.

Vehicle Sound Quality – we have developed novel interactive

methods for investigating and creating the optimum interior sounds

for different vehicle types. Consideration is now also being given to

exterior sounds and how pedestrians will cope with quieter electric or

fuel cell powered cars. Without any sound cues when these cars are

approaching there are obvious dangers for pedestrians unless external

sounds can be artificially added. However, this must not be at the

expense of increasing general levels of annoyance.

Prof. Paul Jennings

APpropriate Product Representations for Assessment In Structured Evaluations (APPRAISE) – the Warwick team is currently

researching methods for the most effective and efficient means of

capturing the subjective and emotional responses of customers. Key to

this is understanding how ‘perception-forming’ processes vary in different

environments such as real vehicles on the road, in a static vehicle driving

simulator and in a listening laboratory. The results of this ‘experiential’

research will help vehicle manufacturers to produce products that are

viewed most positively by users, by setting targets for engineering

parameters based on the predicted subjective opinions of customers.

Prof. Paul Jennings and Dr. Rebecca Cain

Next Generation Human Machine Interface (HMI) for Intelligent Vehicles – we are currently researching the relationship between

people, vehicles and the environment. The goal is to develop HMI

solutions that will facilitate efficient and effective driver access to

complex information systems within the vehicles of the future, and

considers the physiological aspects of haptic, gesture and voice

recognition systems.

Dr. Mark Williams, Dr. Alex Attridge, Mr. Matthew Pitts and Mr. Tom Wellings

Quality Perception – for any new vehicle to be successful, it is vital

that customer expectations of build quality, comfort and refinement

are met. Innovative research in conjunction with nearly 50 companies

has been carried out over the past five years into translating

qualitative metrics into quantitative engineering specifications. This

has utilised equipment including a laser scanner capable of measuring

a full vehicle, a unique switch haptics laboratory, and a real-time

supply chain information database. A new state-of-the-art £7m

‘Product Evaluation Facility’ is currently being commissioned to lead

the next generation of research in this area.

Dr. Mark Williams and Dr. Alex Attridge

The University of Warwick has built up considerable expertise in the

development and application of new innovative materials, and has an

extensive range of equipment including injection moulding machines

(ranging from 30t to 500t), micro-machining and micro-moulding

machines, blow-moulding machines, extrusion and compounding

machinery. We have state of the art equipment for mechanical and

micro-structural characterisation, including a recently acquired

analytical high resolution scanning electron microscope.

We have carried out extensive research in the area of aluminium

vehicle structures, and have a range of automated equipment for

studying resistance spot welding, self-pierce riveting, cold metal

transfer, friction stir welding, remote laser welding, granular hot melt

adhesives and robotic taping.

Major research areas include:

Polymeric Automotive Body Systems through Dual Injection Moulding (PABS2K) – research carried out with industrial partners,

including TWI, JCB, Jaguar Land Rover and Lucite International, has

developed a number of different material and processing combinations

for lightweight glazing. This technology can deliver transparent panels,

with the potential to replace windows and sheet metal, which weigh

up to 40% less than equivalents, with considerable associated vehicle

fuel economy improvements.

Prof. Gordon Smith and Dr. Kerry Kirwan

Metal Forming for Advanced Material Applications – this

research, carried out with a number of Tier 1 automotive suppliers,

developed a series of mechanical and forming assessment techniques

to provide designers and manufacturing engineers with information

to facilitate appropriate selection of emerging new lightweight

materials and metal alloys. Facilities available include a sheet metal

tester to generate forming limit curves (FLCs), dedicated tooling for

forming evaluation under a range of different conditions as well as a

comprehensive suite of metallographic preparation and inspection

equipment.

Prof. Gordon Smith and Dr. Geraint Williams

Manufacturing Processes: Advanced Body Joining and Low Volume/High Flexibility Manufacturing – we have achieved

significant improvements in researching and understanding the

technical issues and capabilities of the following processes when

applied to aluminium sheet material: self-pierce rivets, resistance spot

welding, remote laser welding, friction stir welding, granular hot melt

06 The road to low carbon vehicles

Human Machine Interface, Quality Perception & Driver Behaviour

Innovative Materials & Manufacturing Processes

The School of Engineering, incorporating WMG, at The University of

Warwick is highly experienced in managing and coordinating major

automotive R&D programmes. These include:

The Premium Automotive Research & Development (PARD) Programme (2003-2008)

This groundbreaking programme was launched in 2003 with the

aim of developing cutting edge technologies and working practices

within the West Midlands automotive industry. £37m of direct funding

was provided by Advantage West Midlands and this was matched by

contributions from several hundred companies.

The Premium Vehicle Lightweight Technologies (PVLT) Centre of Excellence (2008-2011)

This £6.4m project is working in partnership with a major vehicle

manufacturer and a number of key supply chain companies to research

and introduce a range of lightweight material and structural solutions,

with a focus on lower CO2 emissions.

The Premium Vehicle Customer Interface Technologies (PVCIT) Centre of Excellence (2009-2012)

This £4.3m project is working with a group of automotive companies

to research and introduce methods that will facilitate a better

understanding of customer product needs and expectations. It also

seeks to compliment the design and development process through the

use of state-of-the-art measurement and assessment facilities.

Birmingham Science City Project

The Warwick team is working with counterparts at Birmingham

University to develop energy efficient technologies as part of a

£10.6m initiative.

Sharing Our Knowledge

WMG at The University of Warwick is currently running a range of

short courses to facilitate specific automotive technology transfer.

These include: Hybrid Vehicle Technology, Electrical & Electronic

Automotive Engineering, Manufacturing Processes – Advanced Body

Joining, Simulation of Metal Forming & Joining, Building Craftsmanship

into Your Products, Business Process Re-engineering and Material

Emissions.

The Engineering Doctorate Programme

The University of Warwick currently has over 50 Engineering Doctorate

researchers working in collaboration with over 25 companies. The

EngD is the ideal programme for individuals and sponsoring companies

to economically reap the benefits of high quality, focused research.

adhesives, cold metal transfer (CMT) and MIG welding. Research has

also been carried out into novel low-cost flexible fixturing and self-

locating panels. The project results are already being utilised within

the main project partners including Jaguar Land Rover, Stadco, Sertec

and CovPress.

Prof. Ken Young, Mr. Richard Hewitt and Dr. Li Han

IN-mould Spray Painting Impact Reduced on the Environment (INSPIRE) – we have used granular injection technology to develop

a process whereby a product can be moulded and painted during a

single operation. Given that it is estimated that 70% of energy within a

vehicle assembly plant is generated by the paint shop, use of this type

of process could deliver huge cost and energy savings.

Prof. Gordon Smith

One-Step Assembly of SMART Mouldings by Multi-layer Technology – the team at Warwick is currently working to produce

mouldings that have integrated sensor and responsive capabilities. This

research has major applications in many industries but is significant

in the automotive sector where body panels could include additional

functionality such as electronic sensors, batteries or solar panels

Prof. Gordon Smith

Superplastic Forming of Automotive Body Panels – the new

engineering materials group led by Professor Dashwood has over

50 years combined experience in the superplastic forming of light

alloys. This work has led to the development of novel faster forming

aluminium alloys and a greater understanding of the behaviour of

conventional superplastic aluminium alloys. Current work is concerned

with the development of affordable superplastic magnesium

sheet and the application of friction stir welding to the field of

superplastic forming.

Prof. Richard Dashwood and Dr. Roger Grimes

Much of our research involves rapid prototyping and manufacturing

(RPM). Within Warwick there is a specialist facility capable of

stereolithography, concept modelling, plastic laser sintering, sand laser

sintering, electron beam melting (direct metal parts), 3D printing and a

range of rapid tooling processes.

Dr. Greg Gibbons


Major Programmes

For all enquiries about brochure content, please contact:

Gavin Bottrell International Automotive Research Centre University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL United Kingdom

e [email protected] +44 (0)24 7657 5978

Gordon Brown and Jack Straw visit WMG at the University of Warwick, May 2007

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