Computer Simulation of the Vehicle Fuel Consumption in Certain Operation Conditions

Abstract

The fuel economy of a motor vehicle is an operational propert , which shows its ability to employ the fuel rationally. It is usually estimated by the amount of fuel consumption in liters per 100 km traveling distance .In this regard, Fuel consumption is measured on the road or calculated by computer simulation. Here, the study has focused on the calculation method, which includes three major steps : dynamic modeling, mathematical modelin, and computer programming using Excel .

The basic purpose of this research is to show the influence of speed variation on the fuel consumption, during motion of the vehicle on a level road at a series of constant speeds. This study was applied on two different cases: petrol-powered vehicle and diesel-powered vehicle.

The results of comparison have shown that simulation of the two studied vehicles is achieved successfully. In both cases , the calculated fuel consumption was identical to the experimental value, which was given by the automaker at a constant cruising speed (120 km/h(. Finally, for the future studies, the simulation principles can be used to study the fuel economy of hybrid vehicles.