Date of Award

2014

Degree Type

Thesis

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Sawicki, Jerzy

Subject Headings

Motorcycles -- Motors, Motorcycles -- Fuel consumption, Motorcycle fuel economy

Abstract

Rising fuel costs and concerns over fossil fuel emissions have resulted in more stringent fuel economy and emissions standards globally. As a result, motor vehicle manufacturers are constantly pushed to develop more efficient engine and drivetrain systems. Along with advances in hardware, the development of highly fuel efficient engine oils and driveline lubricants can have a significant impact on total system efficiency. Recently motorcycle fuel economy and emissions have come under increased scrutiny. While the passenger vehicle and heavy duty vehicle industries employ a variety of American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standardized tests to measure fuel economy and exhaust emissions, the motorcycle industry has very little standardization and no industry standard fuel economy engine tests. The objective of this work is to fill this void with the development of a motorcycle fuel economy test methodology. The developed testing methodology is demonstrated experimentally using a Honda PCX150 motorcycle engine, which is commercially available and of a size and architecture which is representative of a wide range of motorcycles throughout the world. The fuel economy test is developed to incorporate four unique, steady-state stages in which engine load and speed are controlled while fuel consumption is measured. Each stage is tailored to produce lubrication in different operating regimes. After suitable test conditions are determined, three oils are prepared and tested. Each test oil was prepared and selected to investigate differences in both oil viscosity and chemical additives. The developed test is shown to have the ability to quantitatively evaluate test oils based on each oil's effect on fuel consumption

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