Variation analysis, or tolerance analysis as it is sometimes called, is typically used to predict variation in critical dimensions in assemblies by calculating the stack-up of the contributing component variations. It is routinely used in manufacturing and assembly environments with great success. Design engineers are able to account for the small changes in dimensions that naturally occur in manufacturing processes, in equipment, and due to operators and still ensure that the assemblies will meet the design specifications and required assembly performance parameters. Furthermore, geometric variation not only affects critical fits and clearances in static assemblies, it can also cause variation in the motion of mechanisms, and their dynamic performance. The fact that variation and motion analysis are both dependent upon the geometry of the assembly makes this area of study much more challenging. This research began while investigating a particular application of dynamic assemblies - automobiles. Suspension and steering systems are prime examples dynamic assemblies. They are also critical systems, for which small changes in dimension can cause dramatic changes in the vehicle performance and capabilities. The goals of this research were to develop the tools necessary to apply the principles of static variation analysis to the kinematic motions of mechanisms. Through these tools, suspension and steering systems could be analyzed over a range of positions to determine how small changes in dimensions could affect the performance of those systems. There are two distinct applications for this research, steering systems and suspension systems. They are treated separately, as they have distinct requirements. Steering systems are mechanisms, for which position information is most critical to performance. In suspension systems, however, the higher order kinematic terms of velocity and acceleration often are more important than position parameters.

No description available.

MSc (Mathematics) / Department of Mathematcs and Applied Mathematics / Magnetohydrodynamics ows have gained signi cant attention due to their importance in engineering applications. In this study, we numerically analysed the Dufour and Soret e ects on an unsteady MHD mixed convection ow past an in nite vertical plate with viscous dissipation. The governing non-linear partial di erential equations (PDEs) are transformed into a system of ordinary di erential equations (ODEs) by the suitable similarity transformations. The resulting equations consist of the momentum, energy and mass di usion equations. These resulting equations are solved using the Spectral Local Linearization Method (SLLM). Results obtained by the SLLM are in good agreement with the bvp4c technique. The e ects of di erent physical parameters entering into the problem are displayed graphically. The values of the Skin-friction (f0(0)), Nusselt number (􀀀 0(0)) and Sherwood number (􀀀 0(0)) are shown in tabular form for di erent values of the parameters. From the results, it is noted that the Soret number (Sr) and the Dufour number (Du) have negligible e ects on temperature pro le, whereas the decrease in the Soret number (Sr) leads to a decrease in both velocity and concentration of the uid, and the increase in Dufour number (Du) reduces the velocity and also has negligilbe e ect on the concentration pro le. / NRF

Exactly constrained (EC) design is a robust design method which can be used for mechanical assemblies. It entails using the minimum number of constraints to eliminate all desired motion. While found by some engineers in industry to have many benefits (including robust assembly, no binding or play, ease of assembly, and the ability to tolerate the wear of parts), EC designs remain somewhat unrecognized by academia. One reason for this minimal exposure may be the lack of a quantitative foundation for such designs. This thesis describes the history and current background for EC designs, and it also begins to develop a quantitative foundation for EC design based on several mathematical methods. EC designs can be analyzed quite simply by understanding that they are statically determinate. Because of this, the equations of equilibrium can be used to validate the rules and the nesting force window that have been defined by Blanding [1999]. In addition, a generalized method using the equations of equilibrium has been developed in this thesis to analyze an EC design based on the locations of the constraints and to find the nesting force window. The direct linearization method (DLM) is another mathematical method used to quantify information in an EC design. While EC designs provide many advantages, some EC assemblies may be "better" than others. A quantitative measure of goodness is developed in this thesis using the DLM. The goodness value assigned to each design through this process can either be used to make a decision on an individual design, or it can be used to compare similar EC designs. Finally, the robust nature of EC design is examined using a Monte Carlo simulation. In general, the results show that EC designs have a higher rate of assembly than similar designs that are over-constrained. They are more robust. In addition, EC designs have lower assembly error than the similarly over-constrained assemblies.

Nowadays the developments of power supplies in military, industrial or commercial applications are growing rapidly, not only to achieve the highest efficiency but also to focus on the size and weight minimization which are playing a major role in this area. Therefore, the research trends in dc-dc, ac-dc, dc-ac, ac-ac topologies are still continuously developing into the direction of new topologies, new control concepts, new materials and devices to achieve highest efficiency and smallest size. The cost per unit is also one of the most important points of power supplies. Also, with new control methods and new ways of manufacturing, for example, the cost per unit might be reduced. Also, a simplified control concept might help to avoid discrete circuits, especially, at low power levels. The last mentioned statement is demonstrated, for instance, by the concept of the Link-Switch of the company Power Integration where an extremely small number of components are necessary. With the target of minimization, this research work explores the possibility to replace conventional electromagnetic transformers considered as the most bulky devices in power supplies by piezoelectric transformers (PT) for innovative off-line power supplies. Several control methods for a load resonant converter focusing on class-E topology utilizing PT, were developed in order to investigate and to select an appropriate control method capable of improving the efficiency and reducing the size of the converter. Efficiency should be understood in this way as maximum reliability at minimum power losses. Different controllers were evaluated for optimizing the effect of disturbances of line and load variations. The ZVS condition for a wide input voltage range and a wide output load range can be achieved by a method called duty-cycle tracking. Further, with an improved design of the PT containing an auxiliary tap, the ZVS condition can be obtained by a method called turn-on synchronization. The controlled output voltage, current or power is achieved by a variable frequency control. Further, the dynamic modeling for open loop and closed loop of load resonant converters, focused on the class-E topology, was introduced. The transient behavior of the output voltage of the open loop against perturbations such as the input voltage change, the switching frequency change, and the output load change is treated by replacing the complete circuit of the class-E converter by simple equivalent circuit models. The results from the analysis of the open loop dynamic behavior are applied to modeling the closed loop class-E converter with several control methods. The methods of linearization for exact solution and heuristic approximation for the steady state analysis were purposed. These models of linearization were implemented with the controller in its topologies to investigate the sufficient accuracy of obtained results of the regulation. Besides, the linearization models were used to observe the stability condition of the proposed control loops. Finally, the evaluation of a well-known classical control such P, I, PI, PD, PID and a simplified controller for a fixed load application by matching an appropriate switching frequency according to the input voltage, into the load resonant converter, considering class-E topology, were presented. Also, the optimum design of the controller for a load resonant converter was discussed and derived. / Die Entwicklung von Stromversorgungen in militärischen, industriellen und kommerziellen Anwendungen nimmt bis heute tendenziell stark zu. Nicht nur zur Erzielung höchster Wirkungsgrade, sondern auch im Hinblick auf Baugrößen- und Gewichtsminimierung, welche eine vorrangige Rolle spielen, ist diese Tendenz zu verzeichnen. Diesbezüglich gehen die Forschungstrends bei DC-DC, AC-DC, DC-AC und AC-AC Topologien in Richtung neuer Topologien, neuer Regelungskonzepte, sowie neuer Materialien und Bauelemente, um den höchsten Wirkungsgrad bei kleinster Baugröße zu erreichen. Die Gerätekosten sind ebenso ein sehr wichtiger Punkt bei Stromversorgungen. Auch durch neue Regelungsmethoden und durch neue Herstellungsverfahren können die Gerätekosten beispielsweise reduziert werden. Ebenso kann ein vereinfachtes Regelungskonzept dazu verhelfen, dass diskrete Schaltungen, speziell im unteren Leistungsbereich, vermieden werden. Letzteres wird beispielsweise beim Konzept des Link-Switch der Firma Power Integration verdeutlicht, indem extern wenige Bauelemente benötigt werden. Mit dem Ziel der Miniaturisierung wird in dieser Forschungsarbeit die Möglichkeit untersucht, konventionelle elektromagnetische Transformatoren, welche in Stromversorgungen als besonders voluminös gelten, durch piezoelektrische Transformatoren (PT) bei der Herstellung innovativer Netzstromversorgungen zu ersetzen. Verschiedene Regelungsmethoden für Lastresonanzkonverter, mit dem Fokus auf eine Klasse- E-Topologie mit PT, wurden hierzu entwickelt. Dies hatte zum Ziel, ein geeignetes Regelungsverfahren zu erarbeiten und auszuwählen, welches eine verbesserte Effizienz bei reduzierter Konverter-Baugröße aufzuweisen hat. Effizienz soll hierbei verstanden werden als maximale Zuverlässigkeit bei minimalen Leistungsverlusten. Verschiedene Reglertypen wurden entworfen um die Effekte der Störungen durch Netzspannungs-und Lastvariationen regelungstechnisch zu optimieren. Die Nullspannungsschaltungsbedingung (ZVS-Bedingung) über einen weiten Bereich der Eingangspannung und einen weiten Lastbereich kann durch einen sogenannte Duty-Cycle-Nachführung mit der Frequenz erreicht werden. Weiterhin kann durch eine verbesserte Ausführung des PT auf Basis einer Hilfsanzapfung die ZVSBedingung durch eine sogenannte Einschaltsynchronisation erreicht werden. Geregelte Ausgangsspannung, Ausgangsstrom oder Ausgangsleistung werden über eine Frequenzstellung erreicht. Die dynamische Modellierung der offenen und geschlossenen Regelschleife eines Lastresonanzkonverters, wieder im Hinblick auf die Klasse-E, wird im weiteren vorgestellt. Das transiente Verhalten der Ausgangsspannung der offenen Regelschleife gegenüber Störungen durch Eingangsspannungsänderung, durch Schaltfrequenzänderung oder durch Ausgangslaständerung, wird durch den Ersatz der Klasse-E-Schaltung durch einfache Äquivalenzmodelle behandelt. Die Ergebnisse der Analyse des Verhaltens des offenenen Regelkreises werden verwendet, um den Klasse-E-Konverter mit geschlossener Regelschleife unter Verwendung verschiedener vorgestellter Regelungsmethoden zu modellieren. Methoden der Linearisierung für die exakte Lösung und für eine heuristische Approximation der statischen Analyse des eingeschwungenen Zustands werden vorgeschlagen. Diese Methoden der Linearisierung werden zusammen mit den Reglermodellen in deren jeweilige Topologie implementiert um die ausreichende Genauigkeit der erhaltenen Resultate des Regelungsverhaltens zu beurteilen. Weiterhin werden diese Linearisierungsmodelle dazu verwendet, die Stabilitätskriterien der vorgeschlagenen Regelschleife zu überwachen. Schlussendlich wird die Bestimmung der bekannten klassischen Regler (P, I, PI, PD, PID), sowie eines vereinfachten Konstantlaststellers durch geeignete Anpassung der Schaltfrequenz an die Eingangsspannung, für Lastresonanzkonverter, wieder mit Blick auf die Klasse-E, vorgestellt. Außerdem wird der optimierte Reglerentwurf für Lastresonanzkonverter diskutiert und abgeleitet.

Nowadays the developments of power supplies in military, industrial or commercial applications are growing rapidly, not only to achieve the highest efficiency but also to focus on the size and weight minimization which are playing a major role in this area. Therefore, the research trends in dc-dc, ac-dc, dc-ac, ac-ac topologies are still continuously developing into the direction of new topologies, new control concepts, new materials and devices to achieve highest efficiency and smallest size. The cost per unit is also one of the most important points of power supplies. Also, with new control methods and new ways of manufacturing, for example, the cost per unit might be reduced. Also, a simplified control concept might help to avoid discrete circuits, especially, at low power levels. The last mentioned statement is demonstrated, for instance, by the concept of the Link-Switch of the company Power Integration where an extremely small number of components are necessary. With the target of minimization, this research work explores the possibility to replace conventional electromagnetic transformers considered as the most bulky devices in power supplies by piezoelectric transformers (PT) for innovative off-line power supplies. Several control methods for a load resonant converter focusing on class-E topology utilizing PT, were developed in order to investigate and to select an appropriate control method capable of improving the efficiency and reducing the size of the converter. Efficiency should be understood in this way as maximum reliability at minimum power losses. Different controllers were evaluated for optimizing the effect of disturbances of line and load variations. The ZVS condition for a wide input voltage range and a wide output load range can be achieved by a method called duty-cycle tracking. Further, with an improved design of the PT containing an auxiliary tap, the ZVS condition can be obtained by a method called turn-on synchronization. The controlled output voltage, current or power is achieved by a variable frequency control. Further, the dynamic modeling for open loop and closed loop of load resonant converters, focused on the class-E topology, was introduced. The transient behavior of the output voltage of the open loop against perturbations such as the input voltage change, the switching frequency change, and the output load change is treated by replacing the complete circuit of the class-E converter by simple equivalent circuit models. The results from the analysis of the open loop dynamic behavior are applied to modeling the closed loop class-E converter with several control methods. The methods of linearization for exact solution and heuristic approximation for the steady state analysis were purposed. These models of linearization were implemented with the controller in its topologies to investigate the sufficient accuracy of obtained results of the regulation. Besides, the linearization models were used to observe the stability condition of the proposed control loops. Finally, the evaluation of a well-known classical control such P, I, PI, PD, PID and a simplified controller for a fixed load application by matching an appropriate switching frequency according to the input voltage, into the load resonant converter, considering class-E topology, were presented. Also, the optimum design of the controller for a load resonant converter was discussed and derived. / Die Entwicklung von Stromversorgungen in militärischen, industriellen und kommerziellen Anwendungen nimmt bis heute tendenziell stark zu. Nicht nur zur Erzielung höchster Wirkungsgrade, sondern auch im Hinblick auf Baugrößen- und Gewichtsminimierung, welche eine vorrangige Rolle spielen, ist diese Tendenz zu verzeichnen. Diesbezüglich gehen die Forschungstrends bei DC-DC, AC-DC, DC-AC und AC-AC Topologien in Richtung neuer Topologien, neuer Regelungskonzepte, sowie neuer Materialien und Bauelemente, um den höchsten Wirkungsgrad bei kleinster Baugröße zu erreichen. Die Gerätekosten sind ebenso ein sehr wichtiger Punkt bei Stromversorgungen. Auch durch neue Regelungsmethoden und durch neue Herstellungsverfahren können die Gerätekosten beispielsweise reduziert werden. Ebenso kann ein vereinfachtes Regelungskonzept dazu verhelfen, dass diskrete Schaltungen, speziell im unteren Leistungsbereich, vermieden werden. Letzteres wird beispielsweise beim Konzept des Link-Switch der Firma Power Integration verdeutlicht, indem extern wenige Bauelemente benötigt werden. Mit dem Ziel der Miniaturisierung wird in dieser Forschungsarbeit die Möglichkeit untersucht, konventionelle elektromagnetische Transformatoren, welche in Stromversorgungen als besonders voluminös gelten, durch piezoelektrische Transformatoren (PT) bei der Herstellung innovativer Netzstromversorgungen zu ersetzen. Verschiedene Regelungsmethoden für Lastresonanzkonverter, mit dem Fokus auf eine Klasse- E-Topologie mit PT, wurden hierzu entwickelt. Dies hatte zum Ziel, ein geeignetes Regelungsverfahren zu erarbeiten und auszuwählen, welches eine verbesserte Effizienz bei reduzierter Konverter-Baugröße aufzuweisen hat. Effizienz soll hierbei verstanden werden als maximale Zuverlässigkeit bei minimalen Leistungsverlusten. Verschiedene Reglertypen wurden entworfen um die Effekte der Störungen durch Netzspannungs-und Lastvariationen regelungstechnisch zu optimieren. Die Nullspannungsschaltungsbedingung (ZVS-Bedingung) über einen weiten Bereich der Eingangspannung und einen weiten Lastbereich kann durch einen sogenannte Duty-Cycle-Nachführung mit der Frequenz erreicht werden. Weiterhin kann durch eine verbesserte Ausführung des PT auf Basis einer Hilfsanzapfung die ZVSBedingung durch eine sogenannte Einschaltsynchronisation erreicht werden. Geregelte Ausgangsspannung, Ausgangsstrom oder Ausgangsleistung werden über eine Frequenzstellung erreicht. Die dynamische Modellierung der offenen und geschlossenen Regelschleife eines Lastresonanzkonverters, wieder im Hinblick auf die Klasse-E, wird im weiteren vorgestellt. Das transiente Verhalten der Ausgangsspannung der offenen Regelschleife gegenüber Störungen durch Eingangsspannungsänderung, durch Schaltfrequenzänderung oder durch Ausgangslaständerung, wird durch den Ersatz der Klasse-E-Schaltung durch einfache Äquivalenzmodelle behandelt. Die Ergebnisse der Analyse des Verhaltens des offenenen Regelkreises werden verwendet, um den Klasse-E-Konverter mit geschlossener Regelschleife unter Verwendung verschiedener vorgestellter Regelungsmethoden zu modellieren. Methoden der Linearisierung für die exakte Lösung und für eine heuristische Approximation der statischen Analyse des eingeschwungenen Zustands werden vorgeschlagen. Diese Methoden der Linearisierung werden zusammen mit den Reglermodellen in deren jeweilige Topologie implementiert um die ausreichende Genauigkeit der erhaltenen Resultate des Regelungsverhaltens zu beurteilen. Weiterhin werden diese Linearisierungsmodelle dazu verwendet, die Stabilitätskriterien der vorgeschlagenen Regelschleife zu überwachen. Schlussendlich wird die Bestimmung der bekannten klassischen Regler (P, I, PI, PD, PID), sowie eines vereinfachten Konstantlaststellers durch geeignete Anpassung der Schaltfrequenz an die Eingangsspannung, für Lastresonanzkonverter, wieder mit Blick auf die Klasse-E, vorgestellt. Außerdem wird der optimierte Reglerentwurf für Lastresonanzkonverter diskutiert und abgeleitet.

No description available.

A main thrust of this thesis is to develop and explore linearization-based numeric-analytic integration techniques in the context of stochastically driven nonlinear oscillators of relevance in structural dynamics. Unfortunately, unlike the case of deterministic oscillators, available numerical or numeric-analytic integration schemes for stochastically driven oscillators, often modelled through stochastic differential equations (SDE-s), have significantly poorer numerical accuracy. These schemes are generally derived through stochastic Taylor expansions and the limited accuracy results from difficulties in evaluating the multiple stochastic integrals. We propose a few higher-order methods based on the stochastic version of transversal linearization and another method of linearizing the nonlinear drift field based on a Girsanov change of measures. When these schemes are implemented within a Monte Carlo framework for computing the response statistics, one typically needs repeated simulations over a large ensemble. The statistical error due to the finiteness of the ensemble (of size N, say)is of order 1/√N, which implies a rather slow convergence as N→∞. Given the prohibitively large computational cost as N increases, a variance reduction strategy that enables computing accurate response statistics for small N is considered useful. This leads us to propose a weak variance reduction strategy. Finally, we use the explicit derivative-free linearization techniques for state and parameter estimations for structural systems using the extended Kalman filter (EKF). A two-stage version of the EKF (2-EKF) is also proposed so as to account for errors due to linearization and unmodelled dynamics. In Chapter 2, we develop higher order locally transversal linearization (LTL) techniques for strong and weak solutions of stochastically driven nonlinear oscillators. For developing the higher-order methods, we expand the non-linear drift and multiplicative diffusion fields based on backward Euler and Newmark expansions while simultaneously satisfying the original vector field at the forward time instant where we intend to find the discretized solution. Since the non-linear vector fields are conditioned on the solution we wish to determine, the methods are implicit. We also report explicit versions of such linearization schemes via simple modifications. Local error estimates are provided for weak solutions. Weak linearized solutions enable faster computation vis-à-vis their strong counterparts. In Chapter 3, we propose another weak linearization method for non-linear oscillators under stochastic excitations based on Girsanov transformation of measures. Here, the non-linear drift vector is appropriately linearized such that the resulting SDE is analytically solvable. In order to account for the error in replacing of non-linear drift terms, the linearized solutions are multiplied by scalar weighting function. The weighting function is the solution of a scalar SDE(i.e.,Radon-Nikodym derivative). Apart from numerically illustrating the method through applications to non-linear oscillators, we also use the Girsanov transformation of measures to correct the truncation errors in lower order discretizations. In order to achieve efficiency in the computation of response statistics via Monte Carlo simulation, we propose in Chapter 4 a weak variance reduction strategy such that the ensemble size is significantly reduced without seriously affecting the accuracy of the predicted expectations of any smooth function of the response vector. The basis of the variance reduction strategy is to appropriately augment the governing system equations and then weakly replace the associated stochastic forcing functions through variance-reduced functions. In the process, the additional computational cost due to system augmentation is generally far less besides the accrued advantages due to a drastically reduced ensemble size. The variance reduction scheme is illustrated through applications to several non-linear oscillators, including a 3-DOF system. Finally, in Chapter 5, we exploit the explicit forms of the LTL techniques for state and parameters estimations of non-linear oscillators of engineering interest using a novel derivative-free EKF and a 2-EKF. In the derivative-free EKF, we use one-term, Euler and Newmark replacements for linearizations of the non-linear drift terms. In the 2-EKF, we use bias terms to account for errors due to lower order linearization and unmodelled dynamics in the mathematical model. Numerical studies establish the relative advantages of EKF-DLL as well as 2-EKF over the conventional forms of EKF. The thesis is concluded in Chapter 6 with an overall summary of the contributions made and suggestions for future research.

This thesis essentially deals with the development and numerical explorations of a few improved Monte Carlo filters for nonlinear dynamical systems with a view to estimating the associated states and parameters (i.e. the hidden states appearing in the system or process model) based on the available noisy partial observations. The hidden states are characterized, subject to modelling errors, by the weak solutions of the process model, which is typically in the form of a system of stochastic ordinary differential equations (SDEs). The unknown system parameters, when included as pseudo-states within the process model, are made to evolve as Wiener processes. The observations may also be modelled by a set of measurement SDEs or, when collected at discrete time instants, their temporally discretized maps. The proposed Monte Carlo filters aim at achieving robustness (i.e. insensitivity to variations in the noise parameters) and higher accuracy in the estimates whilst retaining the important feature of applicability to large dimensional nonlinear filtering problems. The thesis begins with a brief review of the literature in Chapter 1. The first development, reported in Chapter 2, is that of a nearly exact, semi-analytical, weak and explicit linearization scheme called Girsanov Corrected Linearization Method (GCLM) for nonlinear mechanical oscillators under additive stochastic excitations. At the heart of the linearization is a temporally localized rejection sampling strategy that, combined with a resampling scheme, enables selecting from and appropriately modifying an ensemble of locally linearized trajectories whilst weakly applying the Girsanov correction (the Radon- Nikodym derivative) for the linearization errors. Through their numeric implementations for a few workhorse nonlinear oscillators, the proposed variants of the scheme are shown to exhibit significantly higher numerical accuracy over a much larger range of the time step size than is possible with the local drift-linearization schemes on their own. The above scheme for linearization correction is exploited and extended in Chapter 3, wherein novel variations within a particle filtering algorithm are proposed to weakly correct for the linearization or integration errors that occur while numerically propagating the process dynamics. Specifically, the correction for linearization, provided by the likelihood or the Radon-Nikodym derivative, is incorporated in two steps. Once the likelihood, an exponential martingale, is split into a product of two factors, correction owing to the first factor is implemented via rejection sampling in the first step. The second factor, being directly computable, is accounted for via two schemes, one employing resampling and the other, a gain-weighted innovation term added to the drift field of the process SDE thereby overcoming excessive sample dispersion by resampling. The proposed strategies, employed as add-ons to existing particle filters, the bootstrap and auxiliary SIR filters in this work, are found to non-trivially improve the convergence and accuracy of the estimates and also yield reduced mean square errors of such estimates visà-vis those obtained through the parent filtering schemes. In Chapter 4, we explore the possibility of unscented transformation on Gaussian random variables, as employed within a scaled Gaussian sum stochastic filter, as a means of applying the nonlinear stochastic filtering theory to higher dimensional system identification problems. As an additional strategy to reconcile the evolving process dynamics with the observation history, the proposed filtering scheme also modifies the process model via the incorporation of gain-weighted innovation terms. The reported numerical work on the identification of dynamic models of dimension up to 100 is indicative of the potential of the proposed filter in realizing the stated aim of successfully treating relatively larger dimensional filtering problems. We propose in Chapter 5 an iterated gain-based particle filter that is consistent with the form of the nonlinear filtering (Kushner-Stratonovich) equation in our attempt to treat larger dimensional filtering problems with enhanced estimation accuracy. A crucial aspect of the proposed filtering set-up is that it retains the simplicity of implementation of the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF). The numerical results obtained via EnKF-like simulations with or without a reduced-rank unscented transformation also indicate substantively improved filter convergence. The final contribution, reported in Chapter 6, is an iterative, gain-based filter bank incorporating an artificial diffusion parameter and may be viewed as an extension of the iterative filter in Chapter 5. While the filter bank helps in exploring the phase space of the state variables better, the iterative strategy based on the artificial diffusion parameter, which is lowered to zero over successive iterations, helps improve the mixing property of the associated iterative update kernels and these are aspects that gather importance for highly nonlinear filtering problems, including those involving significant initial mismatch of the process states and the measured ones. Numerical evidence of remarkably enhanced filter performance is exemplified by target tracking and structural health assessment applications. The thesis is finally wound up in Chapter 7 by summarizing these developments and briefly outlining the future research directions

<div>Stoichiometric air-fuel ratio (AFR) and air/EGR flow control are essential control problems in today’s advanced spark-ignited (SI) engines to enable effective application of the three-way-catalyst (TWC) and generation of required torque. External exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) can be used in SI engines to help mitigate knock, reduce enrichment and improve efficiency[1 ]. However, the introduction of the EGR system increases the complexity of stoichiometric engine-out lambda and torque management, particularly for high BMEP commercial vehicle applications. This thesis develops advanced frameworks for sensing and control architecture designs to enable robust air handling system management, stoichiometric cylinder air-fuel ratio (AFR) control and three-way-catalyst emission control.</div><div><br></div><div><div>The first work in this thesis derives a physically-based, control-oriented model for turbocharged SI engines utilizing cooled EGR and flexible VVA systems. The model includes the impacts of modulation to any combination of 11 actuators, including the throttle valve, bypass valve, fuel injection rate, waste-gate, high-pressure (HP) EGR, low-pressure (LP) EGR, number of firing cylinders, intake and exhaust valve opening and closing timings. A new cylinder-out gas composition estimation method, based on the inputs’ information of cylinder charge flow, injected fuel amount, residual gas mass and intake gas compositions, is proposed in this model. This method can be implemented in the control-oriented model as a critical input for estimating the exhaust manifold gas compositions. A new flow-based turbine-out pressure modeling strategy is also proposed in this thesis as a necessary input to estimate the LP EGR flow rate. Incorporated with these two sub-models, the control-oriented model is capable to capture the dynamics of pressure, temperature and gas compositions in manifolds and the cylinder. Thirteen physical parameters, including intake, boost and exhaust manifolds’ pressures, temperatures, unburnt and burnt mass fractions as well as the turbocharger speed, are defined as state variables. The outputs such as flow rates and AFR are modeled as functions of selected states and inputs. The control-oriented model is validated with a high fidelity SI engine GT-Power model for different operating conditions. The novelty in this physical modeling work includes the development and incorporation of the cylinder-out gas composition estimation method and the turbine-out pressure model in the control-oriented model.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div>The second part of the work outlines a novel sensor selection and observer design algorithm for linear time-invariant systems with both process and measurement noise based on <i>H</i>2 optimization to optimize the tradeoff between the observer error and the number of required sensors. The optimization problem is relaxed to a sequence of convex optimization problems that minimize the cost function consisting of the <i>H</i>2 norm of the observer error and the weighted <i>l</i>1 norm of the observer gain. An LMI formulation allows for efficient solution via semi-definite programing. The approach is applied here, for the first time, to a turbo-charged spark-ignited (SI) engine using exhaust gas recirculation to determine the optimal sensor sets for real-time intake manifold burnt gas mass fraction estimation. Simulation with the candidate estimator embedded in a high fidelity engine GT-Power model demonstrates that the optimal sensor sets selected using this algorithm have the best <i>H</i>2 estimation performance. Sensor redundancy is also analyzed based on the algorithm results. This algorithm is applicable for any type of modern internal combustion engines to reduce system design time and experimental efforts typically required for selecting optimal sensor sets.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div>The third study develops a model-based sensor selection and controller design framework for robust control of air-fuel-ratio (AFR), air flow and EGR flow for turbocharged stoichiometric engines using low pressure EGR, waste-gate turbo-charging, intake throttling and variable valve timing. Model uncertainties, disturbances, transport delays, sensor and actuator characteristics are considered in this framework. Based on the required control performance and candidate sensor sets, the framework synthesizes an H1 feedback controller and evaluates the viability of the candidate sensor set through analysis of the structured</div><div>singular value μ of the closed-loop system in the frequency domain. The framework can also be used to understand if relaxing the controller performance requirements enables the use of a simpler (less costly) sensor set. The sensor selection and controller co-design approach is applied here, for the first time, to turbo-charged engines using exhaust gas circulation. High fidelity GT-Power simulations are used to validate the approach. The novelty of the work in this part can be summarized as follows: (1) A novel control strategy is proposed for the stoichiometric SI engines using low pressure EGR to simultaneously satisfy both the AFR and air/EGR-path control performance requirements; (2) A parametrical method to simultaneously select the sensors and design the controller is first proposed for the internal combustion engines.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div>In the fourth part of the work, a novel two-loop estimation and control strategy is proposed to reduce the emission of the three-way-catalyst (TWC). In the outer loop, an FOS estimator consisting of a TWC model and an extended Kalman-filter is used to estimate the current TWC fractional oxygen state (FOS) and a robust controller is used to control the TWC FOS by manipulating the desired engine λ. The outer loop estimator and controller are combined with an existing inner loop controller. The inner loop controller controls the engine λ based on the desired λ value and the control inaccuracies are considered and compensated by the outer loop robust controller. This control strategy achieves good emission reduction performance and has advantages over the constant λ control strategy and the conventional two-loop switch-type control strategy.</div></div>