Title: Experimental analysis of liquid movements in automotive fuel tanks

Authors: Assunta Andreozzi; Luigi Di Matteo; Francesco Fortunato

Addresses: DII – Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio 80, 80125, Napoli, Italy ' Fiat Chrysler Automobile, Via Ex Aeroporto, 80038, Pomigliano d'Arco (Na), Italy ' Fiat Chrysler Automobile, Via Ex Aeroporto, 80038, Pomigliano d'Arco (Na), Italy

Abstract: Nowadays, a complex activity is taking place to enhance design and validation of automotive fuel tanks. It includes track tests, new bench tests and fluid-dynamic simulations. The target is to prevent issues with vapour pressure build up and fuel spill to vapour canister, operating as early as possible in the design process. A new test bench has been developed by Moog Inc. based on Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) specification and experience, which allows simulating vehicle accelerations using a combination of tank motion and tilt on all axes. Accelerometric measurements have been conducted. A comparison between results obtained by means of the '8-DOF' innovative test bench (also called 'Fuel Tank Test System') and the ones obtained by means of a simpler '6-DOF' bench has been carried out. Moreover, the experimental results are compared with the ones obtained when the fuel tank is mounted on a vehicle running on a test track.

Keywords: fluid dynamics; automotive fuel tank; slosh; vibration control; experimental analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2017.090920

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2017 Vol.75 No.1/2/3/4, pp.154 - 167

Received: 27 Feb 2017
Accepted: 21 Sep 2017
Published online: 03 Apr 2018 *

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