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The performance of eight refrigerants in an automotive air conditioning system has been analyzed. In addition, the problems of hose permeation and elastomer compatibility have been studied. The results indicated that two of these new refrigerants have promise in auotmotive air conditioning.

Reinforced Thermoplastics, like most materials, typically become more stiff and brittle as they are formulated to increase dimensional stability (lower coefficient of linear thermal expansion and sag). A new family of thermoplastic composites offers very low coefficients of thermal expansion, sag comparable to rigid reinforced materials, yet retains flexibility and impact resistance. This atypical balance of properties permits designers to make flexible parts without resorting to metal inserts to control part geometry. The poly (vinyl chloride) based formulations also offer chemical compatibility with various aesthetic surface materials, like high-gloss flexible PVC or paint. Therefore, complete trim parts can be designed using only materials of compatible composition, greatly facilitating the recyclability of the part. Exploiting the dimensional properties in part cross-sectional design can permit significantly reduced part weights.

For many automakers around the world, there is a strong desire or need to show an increasing amount of post-consumer-recycle (PCR) content in their vehicles, especially for polymeric materials. But finding PCR polymers that do not suffer from losses in physical, mechanical, and aesthetic properties has been difficult. Hence, for critical and safety-related applications, the maximum allowable recycled content necessarily has been kept low, and truly “green” (100%-recycled) applications have been quite limited in these materials. This has been especially true for the family of nylon thermoplastics, which are often used in applications with either safety and / or aesthetic requirements. Since each passenger car built globally uses an average of 15 - 20 kg of nylon polymers, there is strong incentive to find a way to increase PCR content in components using these materials without losing properties. Fortunately, a new technology has been developed for nylon 6 resins to solve this problem.

One of today's important challenges is to reduce the environmental damage caused during the manufacture, use and disposal of driveline units. This is an essential development task facing us. In addition to design measures, lubricants also have a large role to play. Lubricants which allow longer oil change intervals up to fill-for-life lubrication help to save resources. They also increase vehicle economy by reducing down-time. However, the introduction of fill-for-life lubrication in high performance commercial vehicle transmissions with operating times up to 20.000 hours will only be possible in stages and only by using unconventional basic oils and new additives. Appropriate products have already been developed for vehicle mileages up to several 100.000 km.

Aerodynamic technologies for light-duty vehicles were evaluated through full-scale testing in a large low-blockage closed-circuit wind tunnel equipped with a rolling road, wheel rollers, boundary-layer suction and a system to generate road-representative turbulent flow. This work was part of a multi-year, multi-vehicle study commissioned by Transport Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, and carried out in cooperation with the US EPA, to support the evaluation of light-duty-vehicle greenhouse-gas-emission regulations. A 2016 paper reported drag-reduction measurements for technologies such as active grille shutters, production and custom underbody treatments, air dams, ride height control and combinations of these. This paper describes an extension to that work and addresses vehicle aerodynamics in three ways.

Recent improvements in the synthesis procedure for colloidal suspensions have led to reproducible suspensions and a reduced production time. In the past year, the previous disadvantages of high drive voltage, slow response at low temperatures and restricted operating lifetime have been substantially reduced. Present displays operate at 18 volts (CMOS compatible) with response times substantially less than 500 ms at -30°C and also have improved lifetimes under both storage and operating conditions. New test methods have been developed to assist the understanding of the degradation process under operating conditions. The latest technical data for colloidal displays are presented.

A redesigned pressure wave charger was adapted for use with the new Mercedes-Benz passenger car Diesel Engine familiy, using the 5-Cylinder engine for test purposes. Tests were carried out both on the test bench and with a Mercedes-Benz car of the compact class. The influence of both altitude and a particulate trap installation were investigated. Advantages and drawbacks of the pressure wave charger in both configurations with and without a particulate trap will be shown.

This paper presents a new system, environmentally friendly and energy efficient, based on a recent technological breakthrough: “magnetocaloric cooling around room temperature.” This new system is intended for “Automotive” applications to serve as reversible air conditioning and/or for keeping the pack-battery at desired temperature. This system replaces the classical compressor. The expected benefits are: increased energy efficiency (the coefficient of performance “COP” is increased), reduced consumption of fuel or electricity (electro-chemical battery, fuel cells), reduction of corresponding pollutant emissions and of any direct emission of pollutants. This cooling, heating and air conditioning system presents also a better protection of the atmosphere by removing all refrigerant gases. In this paper the magnetocaloric effect which is the scientific base of this new technology will be presented as well as magnetocaloric materials and magnetic systems.

Stricter emission regulations on Heavy-Duty Diesel (HDD) engines have brought more demanding conditions to the engine piston ring pack. This work shows and discusses some of the new features of modern HDD ring packs. The presented ring pack comprises a fully nitrided, PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) coated, top ring. The second ring can still be a cast iron, Chromed Plated but there are also nitrided steel projects for higher durability and robustness. The oil control ring is a narrow, for better conformability, I-Shaped nitrided. Some of the ring characteristics are discussed in the paper: the PVD coating showed excellent compatibility with the smoother cylinder finishes that are being used to reduce Lube Oil Consumption. PVD coated top rings also presented lower radial wear when compared with the traditional Ceramic-Chromium coating.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently published a Request for Comments regarding a potential upgrade to the US New Car Assessment Program (US NCAP) - a star-rating program pertaining to vehicle crashworthiness. Therein, NHTSA (a) cited two metrics for assessing head risk: Head Injury Criterion (HIC15) and Brain Injury Criterion (BrIC), and (b) proposed to conduct risk assessment via its risk curves for those metrics, but did not prescribe a specific method for applying them. Recent studies, however, have indicated that the NHTSA risk curves for BrIC significantly overstate field-based head injury rates. Therefore, in the present three-part study, a new set of BrIC-based risk curves was derived, an overarching head risk equation involving risk curves for both BrIC and HIC15 was assessed, and some additional candidate-predictor-variable assessments were conducted. Part 1 pertained to the derivation.

The diesel engine is in a phase of very intensive developments. Therefore the fuel injection system has to be adapted to the growing requirements of the engine. These efforts resulted at ROBERT BOSCH in new higher performance inline- and distributor type injection pumps. We also developed new nozzle versions and improved accessories for the well known proven governor line. In view of diesel injection equipment for the eighties we are involved in basic research and development work; the objectives will be outlined in this paper.

The world's first continuous variable capacity rotary compressor for automotive air conditioning, DCV-14A, has been developed. Compressors for automotive air conditioning are classified broadly into swash plate type, rotary type, radial piston type, wobble plate type and scroll type. Among these compressors, the wobble plate type is the only compressor that has been made continuously variable capacity. Meanwhile, the development of a rotary variable capacity compressor has been attempted, but it has been successful only in stepwise variation of capacity. The DCV-14A, however, has made continuous variable capacity possible, and it has eliminated problems that the wobble plate type variable capacity compressors have; such as noise, vibration, and insufficient reliability.

As a means toward further improving the Curtiss-Wright rotary combustion (RC) engine series, test work during the past year has concentrated on the two-rotor 200 hp class liquid cooled engine, application testing of this engine in vehicles, boats, and engine generator sets, and evaluation of basic component and engine design studies covering aircooled, fuel injected, and spark ignited engines with heavy fuels for aircraft and other applications. Field tests have established acceptable automotive, marine, and power generation performance levels. In addition, operation on heavy fuels and aircooling at high-performance levels has been demonstrated, with attendant basic engine improvements. This paper reviews the recent development and test program at Curtiss-Wright aimed at bringing the RC engines closer toward production engine status.

This paper recalls the initial status of the Mars planet environment, the present status following the arrival of different spacecraft to Mars, and what could happen in the coming years with the arrival of planned missions. It describes the amount of possible ejected hardware currently anticipated for vehicles incoming to Mars: spent rocket stages going to Mars because of interplanetary flight needs, orbiting vehicles discarding hardware and sensor protection, including aero-capture vehicles jettisoning their heat-shields, landing vehicles with airbags, or retro-rocket pollution and potential Earth Return vehicles trying to reduce their mass before leaving the vicinity of Mars in order to save mass and propellant. Planetary protection aspects are described, as well as the existing rules of COSPAR. A comparison with the Earth orbit environment before the space age is provided, as well as what has become of that environment now.

Continuous improvement development activity has led to advances in materials used in instrument panels. Long term heat aging characteristics of SIMA resins can be enhanced to the extent that critical properties are retained through the service life of the part. The extent of this improvement is presented.

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SAE International announces the newest offering in its SAE EDGE™ Research Reports – “Unsettled Technology Areas in Autonomous Vehicle Test and Validation” edited by Dr. Rahul Razdan.