Professor ANTONINO LA ROCCA's Outputs (29)

Enhanced thermal management of lithium-ion pouch cells via hybrid approach of phase change material-liquid cooling (2025)
Journal Article
Sen, S., Mahdi, J. M., Talebizadehsardari, P., La Rocca, A., & Cairns, A. (2025). Enhanced thermal management of lithium-ion pouch cells via hybrid approach of phase change material-liquid cooling. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 165(A), Article 108997

Effective thermal management is crucial for safe, high-performance operation of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles (EVs). However, conventional passive or active cooling methods alone struggle to provide sufficient heat dissipation while main... Read More about Enhanced thermal management of lithium-ion pouch cells via hybrid approach of phase change material-liquid cooling.

Design and Testing of a Direct Oil Cooled Homopolar Synchronous Generator with Dual DC-Link via Diode Rectifiers (2025)
Journal Article
Vannini, A., Di Nardo, M., La Rocca, A., Riccio, J., Korman, O., La Rocca, S., Marfoli, A., & Gerada, C. (2025). Design and Testing of a Direct Oil Cooled Homopolar Synchronous Generator with Dual DC-Link via Diode Rectifiers. IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, 11(4), 10099-10112. https://doi.org/10.1109/TTE.2025.3564349

The drivetrains of large transportation systems, such as aircraft or ships, are evolving towards hybrid configurations with DC primary power distribution thanks to their higher efficiency. In this context, synchronous homopolar machines equipped with... Read More about Design and Testing of a Direct Oil Cooled Homopolar Synchronous Generator with Dual DC-Link via Diode Rectifiers.

Holistic Design Optimisation of 350 kW High-Speed Permanent Magnet Assisted Synchronous Reluctance Machine for Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicle (2025)
Journal Article
Jiang, J., Zou, T., Di Nardo, M., Gallicchio, G., La Rocca, S., La Rocca, A., Gerada, D., Huang, H., Ren, X., Prystupa, D., Vakil, G., Degano, M., Gerada, C., & Paciura, K. (2025). Holistic Design Optimisation of 350 kW High-Speed Permanent Magnet Assisted Synchronous Reluctance Machine for Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicle. IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, https://doi.org/10.1109/TTE.2025.3557364

The widely adopted “high-speed machine + high-ratio gear” solutions for passenger electric vehicle (EV) drivetrains are yet to be explored for demanding heavy-duty applications. This paper will investigate 350kW level high speed traction motor develo... Read More about Holistic Design Optimisation of 350 kW High-Speed Permanent Magnet Assisted Synchronous Reluctance Machine for Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicle.

Investigating the Effect of Lubricating Oil Volatility and Ash Content on the Emission of Sub-23 nm Particles (2025)
Journal Article
Lagana, S., Pfau, S. A., Haffner-Staton, E., La Rocca, A., & Cairns, A. (2025). Investigating the Effect of Lubricating Oil Volatility and Ash Content on the Emission of Sub-23 nm Particles. Applied Sciences, 15(4), Article 2212. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15042212

Featured Application: This work highlights the critical role of oil formulation in minimizing sub-23 nm particulates; it is particularly relevant in emerging H2 and NH3 engines, crucial for meeting stricter SPN emission standards in decarbonized fuel... Read More about Investigating the Effect of Lubricating Oil Volatility and Ash Content on the Emission of Sub-23 nm Particles.

Analytical-Numerical Model for Synchronous Homopolar Machines (2024)
Journal Article
Vannini, A., Nardo, M. D., Marfoli, A., Riccio, J., Murataliyev, M., Rocca, A. L., & Gerada, C. (2025). Analytical-Numerical Model for Synchronous Homopolar Machines. IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, 40(2), 1288-1300. https://doi.org/10.1109/tec.2024.3468720

Synchronous homopolar machines represent a viable solution for applications requiring a robust electro-mechanical conversion system. Their diffusion is hindered by the low power density and by their complex three-dimensional magnetic behavior which r... Read More about Analytical-Numerical Model for Synchronous Homopolar Machines.

Fault-Tolerant Dual Channels Three-Phase PMSM for Aerospace Applications (2024)
Journal Article
Khowja, M. R., Singh, K., la Rocca, A., Vakil, G., Ramnathan, R., & Gerada, C. (2024). Fault-Tolerant Dual Channels Three-Phase PMSM for Aerospace Applications. IEEE Access, 12, 126845-126857. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3451705

In safety-critical applications such as aerospace and marine, electrical machines are limited to meet several stringent requirements such as physical, electrical, magnetic and thermal isolation between two three-phase channels, in order to be conside... Read More about Fault-Tolerant Dual Channels Three-Phase PMSM for Aerospace Applications.

Comparing physical and chemical properties of soot from laboratory tests and heavy-duty engines used in field operations (2024)
Journal Article
Pacino, A., La Rocca, A., Smith, J., Berryman, J., Fowell, M., Cairns, A., & Fay, M. W. (2024). Comparing physical and chemical properties of soot from laboratory tests and heavy-duty engines used in field operations. SAE International Journal of Fuels and Lubricants, 18(1), Article 04-18-01-0002. https://doi.org/10.4271/04-18-01-0002

Morphology, nanostructure, and composition of soot extracted from the oil sump of different heavy-duty engines operated under dynamometer and field conditions were investigated. Soot characteristics were then compared to a carbon black sample. Soot w... Read More about Comparing physical and chemical properties of soot from laboratory tests and heavy-duty engines used in field operations.

Correlating wear with the lubricant properties of heavy-duty diesel engine oils (2024)
Journal Article
Kirkby, T., Pacino, A., Smith, J. J., Fowell, M., Berryman, J., Frennfelt, C., La Rocca, A., & Reddyhoff, T. (2024). Correlating wear with the lubricant properties of heavy-duty diesel engine oils. Tribology International, 199, Article 110018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2024.110018

Wear volumes were correlated with the lubricant properties of 11 used, heavy duty engine oil samples. The most important oil property in predicting wear volume is Total Acid Number, TAN. Here, the TAN value may be indicating ZDDP in its oxidised form... Read More about Correlating wear with the lubricant properties of heavy-duty diesel engine oils.

2D and 3D TEM Characterisation of Benzene and Ethylene Soot (2023)
Journal Article
Lagana, S., La Rocca, A., Cairns, A., Fay, M. W., Apicella, B., Ciajolo, A., & Russo, C. (2023). 2D and 3D TEM Characterisation of Benzene and Ethylene Soot. Fuels, 4(2), 174-185. https://doi.org/10.3390/fuels4020011

Flame-generated soot particles from two different fuels, benzene (B) and ethylene (E), at different ageing conditions, were analysed to assess their morphological and structural features. Samples were collected at 6, 10 and 14 mm from the nozzle loca... Read More about 2D and 3D TEM Characterisation of Benzene and Ethylene Soot.

Airgap Length Analysis of a 350kW PM-Assisted Syn-Rel Machine for Heavy Duty EV Traction (2022)
Journal Article
Zou, T., Gerada, D., La Rocca, S., La Rocca, A., Walker, A., Vakil, G., Arevalo, . S. L., Xu, Z., Cui, M., Bardalai, A., Wang, M., Kumar, R. M. R., Marfoli, A., Paciura, . K., Barden, R., Ernest, E., Zhu, . S., Qayyum, N., McQueen, A., Zhang, F., & Gerada, C. (2023). Airgap Length Analysis of a 350kW PM-Assisted Syn-Rel Machine for Heavy Duty EV Traction. IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 59(2), 1557-1570. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIA.2022.3225255

Synchronous reluctance (Syn-Rel) machines with embedded permanent magnets (PMs) are research hotspots in variable speed motor drives due to their robust rotor structure and wide constant power speed range (CPSR). In this paper, the potential of PM-as... Read More about Airgap Length Analysis of a 350kW PM-Assisted Syn-Rel Machine for Heavy Duty EV Traction.

Investigating the Effect of Volatiles on Sub-23 nm Particle Number Measurements for a Downsized GDI Engine with a Catalytic Stripper and Digital Filtering (2022)
Journal Article
Pfau, S. A., Haffner-Staton, E., La Rocca, A., & Cairns, A. (2022). Investigating the Effect of Volatiles on Sub-23 nm Particle Number Measurements for a Downsized GDI Engine with a Catalytic Stripper and Digital Filtering. Fuels, 3(4), 682-697. https://doi.org/10.3390/fuels3040041

Recent efforts of both researchers and regulators regarding particulate emissions have focused on the contribution and presence of sub-23 nm particulates. Despite being previously excluded from emissions legislation with the particle measurement prog... Read More about Investigating the Effect of Volatiles on Sub-23 nm Particle Number Measurements for a Downsized GDI Engine with a Catalytic Stripper and Digital Filtering.

Automated particle recognition for engine soot nanoparticles (2022)
Journal Article
Haffner-Staton, E., Avanzini, L., La Rocca, A., Pfau, S. A., & Cairns, A. (2022). Automated particle recognition for engine soot nanoparticles. Journal of Microscopy, 288(1), 28-39. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.13140

A pre-trained convolution neural network based on residual error functions (ResNet) was applied to the classification of soot and non-soot carbon nanoparticles in TEM images. Two depths of ResNet, one 18 layers deep and the other 50 layers deep, were... Read More about Automated particle recognition for engine soot nanoparticles.

Reactivity of soot emitted from different hydrocarbon fuels: Effect of nanostructure on oxidation kinetics (2022)
Journal Article
Russo, C., Ciajolo, A., Cimino, S., La Matta, V., La Rocca, A., & Apicella, B. (2022). Reactivity of soot emitted from different hydrocarbon fuels: Effect of nanostructure on oxidation kinetics. Fuel Processing Technology, 236, Article 107401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2022.107401

Soot oxidation kinetics is relevant for the exhaust pollutant reduction through processing in abatement systems based on filtering and oxidation as diesel particulate filters. Soot nanostructure impact on oxidation reactivity was studied by thermogra... Read More about Reactivity of soot emitted from different hydrocarbon fuels: Effect of nanostructure on oxidation kinetics.

Mild hybridisation of turboprop engine with high-power-density integrated electric drives (2022)
Journal Article
Cossart, G., Chen, Y., Yang, T., Khowja, M., La Rocca, A., Nasir, U., Chowdhury, S., Evans, D., Kember, D., Klonowski, T., Arnaud, Y., Apostin, L., Liger, T., Cossart, G., Vakil, G., Gerada, C., Bozhko, S., Detry, S., Diette, C., & Wheeler, P. (2022). Mild hybridisation of turboprop engine with high-power-density integrated electric drives. IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, 8(4), 4148-4162. https://doi.org/10.1109/TTE.2022.3160153

This paper shares with the aerospace community a case study of turboprop mild hybridisation using a recently developed integrated drive system in the University of Nottingham, UK, within the ACHIEVE project under EU H2020 CleanSky 2 program (project... Read More about Mild hybridisation of turboprop engine with high-power-density integrated electric drives.

A Comprehensive Design Guideline of Hairpin Windings for High Power Density Electric Vehicle Traction Motors (2022)
Journal Article
Zou, T., Gerada, D., La Rocca, A., Moslemin, M., Cairns, A., Cui, M., Bardalai, A., Zhang, F., & Gerada, C. (2022). A Comprehensive Design Guideline of Hairpin Windings for High Power Density Electric Vehicle Traction Motors. IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, 8(3), 3578-3593. https://doi.org/10.1109/TTE.2022.3149786

The rapidly increasing demand on power density levels of electric vehicle (EV) drive systems is pushing the boundaries of traction motor performance. Hairpin windings are becoming a popular option for EV motors due to their reduced DC losses and impr... Read More about A Comprehensive Design Guideline of Hairpin Windings for High Power Density Electric Vehicle Traction Motors.

Linking operating conditions of a GDI engine to the nature and nanostructure of ultrafine soot particles (2022)
Journal Article
Pfau, S. A., Rocca, A. L., Haffner-Staton, E., Fay, M. W., & Cairns, A. (2022). Linking operating conditions of a GDI engine to the nature and nanostructure of ultrafine soot particles. Combustion and Flame, 245, 112315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2022.112315

Sub-23 nm particulate emissions from internal combustion engines have become a topic of interest for research and legislative regulations in recent years. Many studies focused on electrical mobility measurements of soot particles, but few works emplo... Read More about Linking operating conditions of a GDI engine to the nature and nanostructure of ultrafine soot particles.

Significance of Anisotropic Thermal Expansion in High Speed Electric Machines Employing NdFeB Permanent Magnets (2021)
Journal Article
Kumar, R., La Rocca, A., Vakil, G., Gerada, D., Gerada, C., & Fernandes, B. G. (2021). Significance of Anisotropic Thermal Expansion in High Speed Electric Machines Employing NdFeB Permanent Magnets. Energies, 14(22), Article 7558. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14227558

Many high speed applications employ a surface permanent magnet (PM) machine topology with a retaining sleeve due to its robustness and ability to achieve high overall peripheral speeds as well as efficiencies. One often overlooked feature in the mech... Read More about Significance of Anisotropic Thermal Expansion in High Speed Electric Machines Employing NdFeB Permanent Magnets.

Research and Realization of High-Power Medium-Voltage Active Rectifier Concepts for Future Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Generation (2020)
Journal Article
Trentin, A., Sala, G., Tarisciotti, L., Galassini, A., Degano, M., Connor, P. H., Golovanov, D., Gerada, D., Xu, Z., La Rocca, A., Eastwick, C. N., Pickering, S. J., Wheeler, P., Clare, J. C., & Gerada, C. (2021). Research and Realization of High-Power Medium-Voltage Active Rectifier Concepts for Future Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Generation. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 68(12), 11684-11695. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIE.2020.3040692

In this article, we describe the research and development of a 3 kV active rectifier for a 4 MW aerospace generator drive system demonstrator. The converter is fed by a multiphase high-speed/high-frequency permanent magnet generator. The main aim of... Read More about Research and Realization of High-Power Medium-Voltage Active Rectifier Concepts for Future Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Generation.

Investigating the impact of copper leaching on combustion characteristics and particulate emissions in HPCR diesel engines (2019)
Journal Article
La Rocca, A., Ferrante, A., Haffner-Staton, E., Cairns, A., Weilhard, A., Sans, V., Carlucci, A. P., & Laforgia, D. (2020). Investigating the impact of copper leaching on combustion characteristics and particulate emissions in HPCR diesel engines. Fuel, 263, Article 116719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2019.116719

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Copper leaching in diesel fuel and its impact on combustion and emission characteristics of a Direct Injection High Pressure Common Rail (DI HPCR) diesel engine was investigated. This work was performed using a single cylinder Ric... Read More about Investigating the impact of copper leaching on combustion characteristics and particulate emissions in HPCR diesel engines.

Quantifying soot nanostructures: Importance of image processing parameters for lattice fringe analysis (2019)
Journal Article
Pfau, S. A., La Rocca, A., & Fay, M. W. (2020). Quantifying soot nanostructures: Importance of image processing parameters for lattice fringe analysis. Combustion and Flame, 211, 430-444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2019.10.020

Fringe analysis is a commonly used method to quantify soot nanostructures. However, the settings of the involved filters and their impact on the results are rarely addressed. In this study, the influence of the three filter parameters as well as two... Read More about Quantifying soot nanostructures: Importance of image processing parameters for lattice fringe analysis.