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Sound package engineering has always been an art developed through experience and much subjective road testing. Because the problem is complex, it is essential to have a logical procedure to achieve the most efficient sound package. The quiet car concept is proposed as a solution. Additionally, a plea is made for relevant automobile-oriented material test procedures to be recognized industry-wide.

A new, low cost method to determine the accumulated structural loads in service (not to predict component fatigue life) that requires practically no on-board instrumentation is discussed. This method makes use of S/N fatigue life gages with high-gain mechanical multipliers bonded to a component. Permanent change in gage resistance results from the number of component load cycles and their magnitudes. These resistance change data are then used to reconstruct the load range history. The computer program on this method is listed in the Appendix. Results of laboratory tests conducted to validate the new method and evaluate the behavior of the multipliers over a practical range of operating temperature and strain magnitude and frequency are presented. The component load range distribution estimated by this method is compared to that measured by conventional methods for a vehicle operating on a proving ground route.

APPLICATIONS of nuclear energy in automotive manufacture have been made principally in the field of radioactivity. These are grouped under the following categories: radiography, nondestructive testing, gaging and control, tracer techniques, and static neutralizers. Radioactivity techniques are being used in foundry operations to check stock and metal levels in cupolas and distribution of element additives. In steel operations, these techniques are being used to check assimilation of ore-concentrate fines and thickness of rolled sheet steel. Other applications include measurement of pipe and wall thickness in pressure lines and engines, and inspection of castings and welds for internal faults. Radioactive techniques for improving processes, quality, and materials have potentially universal application. Greater industrial access to reactors will permit broader study and speed the development of new applications of radio-activity in industry.

AS a basis for the analyses of this symposium, a hypothetical car has been used to evaluate the engine power distribution in performance. Effects of fuel,-engine accessories, and certain car accessories are evaluated. The role of the transmission in making engine power useful at normal car speeds is also discussed. Variables encountered in wind and rolling resistance determinations are reevaluated by improved test techniques. Net horsepower of the car in terms of acceleration, passing ability and grade capability are also summarized.

The Taunus has been designed to meet the market demand for a car sized midway between the smallest and average sized European car, one that would provide exceptionally low cost of operation and rider comfort. The design described here had as us objectives low weight, low initial cost, superior performance and handling characteristics, comfortable seating and riding qualities, and ample luggage space. Tests show that the manufacturer has not fallen short of any of these objectives.

Spark timing is known to be a critical variable for engine performance. It is important to measure timing under transient conditions as well as steady state timing. Such transients include accelerations, decelerations and rough idle situations such as those occurring in engines tested directly off the production line. Conventional measurement devices have performance limitations. Timing lights will not measure transients and are limited in accuracy due to tolerance stack-ups and parallax effects. Some spark protractors require the use of externally mounted optical shaft encoders which are accurate but require a difficult mounting procedure. Such encoders are also susceptible to contamination and vibration. Other spark protractors operate under the assumption of steady state conditions by equating time with engine rotational angle. This eliminates the need for a shaft encoder but suffers in accuracy under transient conditions.

A new P/M part is created due to one of three reasons: 1) Cost savings over a manufacturing method for a current part, 2) Cost savings over an alternative method to manufacture a new part or, 3) it's the only practical way to manufacture the part. In today's quality conscious atmosphere at Ford the suppliers of P/M parts should be aware of their responsibilities in producing a P/M part to required standards. The producer must become involved in early feasibility issues, prove process capability and maintain capability on an ongoing basis. A case history of such an evaluation will be discussed from initiation through a second generation design.

The long term visual appearance of exterior chrome-plated parts is highly dependent on part design and supplier performance. The use of numerous complex designs coupled with the pressures of competition has caused a statistically high percentage of parts to be manufactured which do not fully meet customer expectations. A coordinated approach to improve supplier performance and simplification of part designs was required. A task force was established to address these issues in 1980 and desirable results were achieved.

This report concerns the development of a small radio-telemetry torquemeter package intended to replace a current slip ring driveshaft torque meter system. Included in this report is a package description, a comparative test report and application recommendations. The torquemeter package developed can be used in any driveshaft, vehicle or otherwise, in place of a standard universal joint. Package constituents are a strain gaged universal joint cross and telemetry consisting of a modern FM transmitter and FM receiver. Transmitter power is available in battery form, or an inductive power supply can be built into the transmitter and receiver. The package was installed in series with a slip ring unit to conduct a comparative test utilizing both power supplies. Test results were not influenced by power supply and indicate identical data.

The distribution of air mass flowrate between the cylinders of a 4-cylinder, carburetted automotive engine has been measured using a propane injection technique. The results show that over a wide range of operating conditions the engine has acceptably uniform distribution of air flow. At low- and medium-speed conditions the insertion of quite large obstructions into individual limbs is shown to have little effect on the air mass flows through these limbs. Only at high engine speeds and loads do these resistances have significant effect. The measured data are compared with corresponding predictions from a computer model of the engine and good agreement is shown.

In recent years, considerable effort has been directed to reducing the size while increasing the feature content of electronic products in an automobile. One method of achieving this task is to mount integrated circuits in die form directly to a printed circuit board. This method is known as “IC Chip On Board”. The elimination of an IC package results in a significant size reduction of electronic modules.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the growth and the trends of automotive convenience products. These products contributed to make the driving experience more pleasurable. Electronics have contributed to this growth since the sixties, and its contribution and prospects will be the prime focus of this paper. With the continuing advance of electronic products in the consumer and industrial sectors, the consumer wants' and expectations are changing, especially with the “Baby Boom” generation. More new convenience features will be developed by the prudent use of electronics. The development of these future products require a thorough understanding of consumer wants and needs through market research, careful adaptation of the emerging technology to avoid gimmickry, and dedicated application of engineering know how to design package efficient, cost effective and reliable products.

Operation of America's first factory built vehicles modified to operate on natural gas began in April, 1984, when Ford Motor Company delivered the first of 27 specially equipped 1984 Ranger pickup trucks to 25 major utility and natural gas related companies in the United States and Canada. In addition to the fuel system, modifications to these test vehicles include a 12.8:1 compression ratio engine and a unique distributor calibration to provide performance similar to the gasoline powered vehicle. The fuel tanks are significantly more expensive than gasoline tanks and remain one of the major cost issues with a natural gas powered vehicle. There are however, no unresolvable technological issues that would prevent motor vehicles from operating economically and efficiently on natural gas.

This paper describes the development and key features of a bar code based, computerized gas cylinder inventory and record keeping system developed by Ford Motor Company's Gas Standards Laboratory. The paper will demonstrate how bar code technology is being utilized to track compressed gas cylinders efficiently and accurately. It will also describe the link between bar code technology and a data base that was developed using a fourth generation computer language. The implementation of this bar code/data base system has significantly increased data accessibility, improved data quality, reduced training time and increased the efficiency and flexibility of the data reporting process.

Computer-based simulation techniques have been used extensively for solution of otherwise intractable problems in transportation and queueing situations. In other cases, optimum solutions can be approximated with relative ease and insight using simulation strategies compared with other analytic methods. Special modeling languages have been written to aid the engineer in building and operating the model, allowing complex systems to be simulated with relative ease. Techniques are now being developed to extend simulation methodologies to supplement conventional economic analysis of complex manufacturing systems. This paper describes a computer model constructed to simulate and examine the economic performance of a plant manufacturing four different styles of a composite product. The initial model as described is relatively unsophisticated but can easily be extended to include stochastic properties for input variables and multiple step operations.

This study was undertaken to determine to what extent the passenger car eye ellipses have applicability in van-type truck package design and to produce a new practical design tool, if necessary. Eye positions of van drivers were found to be distributed differently from those for passenger car drivers and from those obtained by the procedure outlined in SAE J941b, Motor Vehicle Driver's Eye Range. There were produced in this study, tables of parameter values that a van-package designer can use readily to position eye-location distributions in space as a function of the azimuth and elevation angles of many targets in the forward field of view. These tables are available upon request from SAE.

Under a new program of quality control in the field of powder metallurgy automotive parts called quality assurance, the supplier is made a closer partner with the buyer to get a more dependable part that consistently meets all requirements and specifications. The quality assurance program consists of review of potential suppliers, contract negotiations, initial quality assurance surveys, and routine quality assurance surveys.

European legislation covering noise, smoke emission and industrial pollution, all seeking to improve the environment are not addressed in this paper, which takes only exhaust emission and fuel complexity as its subjects. It describes how this complexity can inhibit the development capacity, thus restricting the model offering of a major european automobile manufacturer. The paper concludes that general benefit would be derived from genuine pan european emission legislation, particularly if that legislation was established at levels of control that allowed the development and use of modern engine technology.

Ford Motor Company has developed an inhouse computerized database of product and technical data as an information utility for product and manufacturing engineers and business and marketing analysts. The Corporate Technical Information System (CTIS) is interactive, user friendly, up-to-date, and low cost. CTIS is designed to complement commercial information services. The menu driven program gives users access to IS files including automotive periodical abstracts, vehicle dimensional data, EPA fuel economy data. SAE paper abstracts since 1966, and worldwide materials standards. Searching is done through User defined keywords using Boolean logic to create individual search strategies. CTIS has been used by Ford personnel worldwide since early 1985. Future developments may include offering CTIS to vendors or components and services to Ford Motor Company.

It is generally recognized chat methanol is the best candidate for long-term replacement of petroleum-based fuels at soma time in the future. The transition from an established fuel to a new fuel, and vehicles that can use the new fuel, is difficult, however. This paper discusses two independent investigations of possible transition uses of methanol, which, when combined, may provide an option for introduction of methanol that takes advantage of the existing industrial base, and provides economic incentives to the consumer. The concept combines the intermediate blends of methanol and gasoline (50%-70% methanol) with the Flexible Fuel Vehicle. In addition to a possible maximum cost effectiveness, these fuels ease vehicle range restrictions due to refueling logistics, and mitigate cold starting problems, while at the same time providing most of the performance of the higher concentration blends.