Automotive testing facility to aid fuel-wise vehicle design
[ UniNews Vol. 15, No. 18
2 - 16 October 2006 ] By Rebecca Scott
The University of Melbourne, the Victorian Government and Ford Australia have joined forces to develop the biggest Advanced Centre for Automotive Research and Testing (ACART) facility in the Southern Hemisphere.
The University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor John McKenzie, Minister for Innovation John Brumby, and President of Ford Australia Tom Gorman, turned the project’s first sod at Lara recently for the first of three new automotive test facilities.
ACART, a collaboration between the University of Melbourne and Ford Australia, is aimed at developing streamlined processes between researchers and Victorian car manufacturers to create fuel efficient cars.
With support from a $6.7 million grant under the Victorian Government’s Science and Technology Innovation (STI) infrastructure scheme, the project has the potential to significantly impact Victoria’s manufacturing industry.
“The research and testing sites to be developed under the ACART initiative are complementary and allow collaborative projects between Ford Australia and the University of Melbourne,” says Professor McKenzie.
“The University of Melbourne node will provide the fundamental research for applied initiatives by Ford Australia, which will be tested at the Lara Proving Ground.”
Professor McKenzie says the University’s research and teaching will benefit enormously from collaborative projects in ACART.
“Strong ties between the University, industry and Government in ACART will enhance knowledge transfer through commercialisation of the University’s IP, as well as through advice on industry strategy and policy development,” he says.
Research at the University, led by Dr Michael Brear (Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering), will focus on reducing the running cost and environmental impact of automotive vehicles. This research builds on the pioneering work of Professor Harry Watson and colleagues.
Dr Brear says the STI funding will allow for the building of a new research facility in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, involving installation of an engine dynamometer and an emissions bench to allow simulation of real world driving conditions in the laboratory.
He says this state-of-the-art equipment will verify how pollution generated during real driving conditions can be minimised using advanced control and optimisation of engines running on any fuel. Studies of petrol, diesel, biodiesel and hybrid engines are currently underway or planned for the next three years.
“The research is strongly multidisciplinary and collaboration with several other University departments is already underway or planned.
“Application of control theory and optimisation complements Mechanical Engineering’s ties with Electrical Engineering, ultra violet laser diagnostics used to visualise fluid motion and combustion involves collaboration with Chemistry, and high performance computation is planned to involve computational facilities in Physics,” he says.
ACART also plans to draw on the expertise of a new Federation Fellow in Mechanical Engineering, Professor Ivan Marusic, who has expertise in wind tunnel design and research.
An ACART testing laboratory at the Ford factory at Lara will be able to replicate conditions ranging from -40C to +55C, wind speeds of up to 250km/h, as well as create humidity.
The laboratory will also have the capacity to produce snow and rain conditions – climatic extremes previously available only at facilities outside Victoria.
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