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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.

The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is a fully automated robot submarine that is capable of maintaining a set of electronic sensors under the polar icecap. This function is primarily an issue of automated planning. The AUV is driven by three independent, and often conflicting, goals. These are mission, survival, and covertness. The plan that must be generated is essentially a route to achieve a mission that is acceptable to all three goals. The conflicting goals are implemented as independent expert systems that place constraints on the route taken. A higher level arbiter is used to help resolve conflicts in the situations where restraints posed by the independent goals preclude any solution being found.

Existing expert systems have a high percentage agreement with human experts in a particular field in many situations. However, in many ways their overall behavior is not like that of a human expert. These areas include the inability to give flexible, functional explanations of their reasoning processes and the failure to degrade gracefully when dealing with problems at the periphery of their knowledge. These two important shortcomings can be improved when the right knowledge is available to the system. This paper presents an expert system design, called the Integrated Diagnostic Model (IDM), that integrates two sources of knowledge: a shallow, empirically-oriented, experiential knowledge base and a deep, functionally-oriented, physical knowledge base. To demonstrate the IDM's usefulness in the problem area of diagnosis and repair of electrical and mechanical devices, two implementations and our experience with them is described.

The paper gives a general overview of the state-of-the-art in low heat rejection (LHR) engines. It also gives experimental results obtained at SwRI with a single-cylinder research engine using an electrically heated cylinder liner to simulate LHR operation and examine the effects of increased liner temperature. It was concluded that the improvement in fuel economy from LHR operation is negligible in naturally-aspirated (NA) engines, about 7 percent in turbocharged (TC) engines and about 15 percent in turbocompound (TCO) engines. LHR operation reduces power in NA engines only. It increases NOx emissions by around 15 percent, but reduces HC and CO emissions. LHR operation offers benefits in the reduction of noise and smoke, and in operation on low cetane fuels. Much more research is needed to overcome the practical problems before LHR engines can be put into production.

A 14-ton tracked amphibious vehicle has been equipped with a hydrostatic drivetrain that consists of land drive and seaborne transmissions. The transmissions and the vehicle's engine are under microcomputer control. In addition, the microcomputer reads operator inputs and does operational checks of the vehicle's various subsystems. If arty of the subsystems is found to be degraded in their performance the microcomputer informs the operator. This paper presents an overview of the drivetrain systems and the implementation of the control and diagnostic systems.

This paper describes a distributed digital process control computer designed for large industrial processing plants that has been applied successfully to laboratory engine testing. Over the past two years several complete systems have been installed and adapted to control engines from 75 kW to over 1800 kW with various dynamometer/generator absorption devices. Control problems encountered, and solutions we have found, are discussed along with the wide range of capabilities this type of system can provide. A short comparison is made between distributed digital control systems and mini-computers, listing advantages and disadvantages of both.

A series of 500-hour duration tests were conducted using two medium-speed diesel engines to screen residual blended fuels for future locomotive field testing. The test fuels were railroad diesel fuel and two No. 6 fuel oil/diesel fuel blends. The performance, wear, fuel handling, and deposit characteristics of each fuel were evaluated. Combustion deposits, fuel handling, and wear were found to be the primary factors that limited No. 6 fuel oil content of blends. A 40 SSU viscosity blend was found to be acceptable for field trials, but a 55 SSU blend was not due to fuel filtration and combustion deposits problems.

This paper provides information and explanations for applying SAE J1338 (1)*. A listing of the contents of J1338 is given and some of the test techniques are explained, giving background on their successful use. Special antenna designs and applications and field strength calibration techniques are discussed at some length.

An automated data handling system to assist in the operation of a diesel engine lubricant test laboratory, involving two mini-computers, is described in terms of why it was needed, the design goals sought, and the operating experience which resulted from its use. The concept of two digital systems, one for on-line data logging and another as a ready back-up, as well as a data processor, is discussed. Direct and peripheral benefits which have resulted from the application of the system, such as semi-automated report processing, operational aids, and various engineering applications, are reported.

An experimental sensor array that measures dynamic exhaust temperature and dynamic smoke for the purpose of diagnosing diesel engine fuel injection equipment was designed, built, and tested. The sensor array is portable and easily installed on truck tailpipes, and was tested using two 6V-53 Detroit Diesel engines. The dynamic temperature sensor is a very high response instrument capable of measuring changes in gas temperature in excess of 104°F/second. The dynamic smokemeter is an optical device designed to measure very low levels of light opacity in the smoke plume, with a response compatible with the engine firing frequency. Dynamic exhaust temperature data had more diagnostic significance than dynamic smoke in the detection of maximum power degrading fuel injection faults.

The theory of submerged jets is applied quantitatively and qualitatively to diesel fuel sprays, based on simple considerations of the inherent invalidity of the single-particle “ballistic” approach. Approximate theoretical results are obtained for penetration velocity, penetration versus time, and fuel-air ratio within the spray. Modeling experiments are discussed and the jet approach used to explain two types of diesel combustion situations-fuel entrapment by insufficient penetration in the presence of air swirl and the efficacy of the MAN process.

The major events in the development of a “pumpless” gas engine concept are related. The immediate objective of the subject program was to develop a combustion system for natural gas fueled engines which, when compared with conventional gas engines, would be operationally simpler and easier to maintain with no appreciable penalty in specific fuel consumption. The pumpless gas principle was successfully demonstrated on a single-cylinder, 2-cycle engine. The concept was then extended, with the aid of combustion photography, to a single-cylinder, 4-cycle laboratory engine. The feasibility of the concept was further demonstrated by the conversion of a commercially available 4-cycle, 4-cyl diesel engine.

This paper discusses the techniques and diagnostic significance of atomic absorption, atomic emission, and infrared spectrometric analysis of crankcase lubricants, with the use of supplementary data where pertinent. The parameters affecting used oil analytical data are discussed in terms of examples from Army general purpose vehicle test engines. Wear metals in used gear oils are also discussed and examples are given. Analytical methods and their applications are fully described, and the equipment and procedures for infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography techniques are outlined.

Small engines may require soundproofing to eliminate one or more of the following effects: hearing loss, speech interference, community annoyance, detectability, and psychological disorientation. Detectability criteria are frequently associated with military applications and may require the use of a soundproof enclosure in addition to other engine treatments. Acoustical noise sources are conveniently classed as either aerodynamic or mechanical. Aerodynamic sources are predominant on small engines. Treatment of exhaust noise by individual components, e.g., muffler, is inadequate; a system approach, through the use of an electro-acoustic analog computer, has proved to be a much more satisfactory procedure.

A unique system has been devised to measure and telemeter critical temperatures of reciprocating engine components. A prototype has been used to measure the piston pin bearing temperature in a full-scale EMD 2-567D diesel engine.

Exhaust heat utilization for internal combustion engines has centered around turbosupercharging in recent years, neglecting the promising field of compounding a piston engine with a gas turbine in which, unlike turbocharging, turbine power is fed back to the engine crankshaft. The piston engine can cope with high gas pressure and temperature, whereas the gas turbine can efficiently utilize the energy at relatively low pressure and temperature and large volume flows. By compounding, this-piston engine will handle the high pressure, high temperature phase of the combustion cycle and extend the expansion ratio of the gases to atmospheric pressure by completing the low pressure, low temperature phase in the gas turbine. The marriage of the two engines will result in an outstanding power package with the highest thermal efficiency possible.

Fuel conservationists will welcome this practicable proposal for converting railroads from diesel fuel to propane gas propulsion. Propane is no newcomer to the fuel family, but the advantages of economy, simplicity of operation, minimal maintenance, and extended life of equipment, as presented in this paper, show up its unexploited and extensive potential use in all mobile units. This careful study includes experimental results and data especially applied to railroad engines, even to conversion plans for existing engines that allows an interchangeable fuel system to accommodate present supply and variable cost factors in the United States.

This paper discusses the experimental work that produced a revised military standard piston ring (conformable steel-rail oil control ring) with improved oil consumption and wear characteristics. The testing of these parameters was accelerated by the use of radio-tracer techniques. The effects of variables such as engine speed, load, jacket temperature, air-fuel ratio, intermittent starts and stops, and cyclic load operation is described. Performance characteristics of the present standard and experimental piston rings are included.