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Due to their inherent high efficiency and the ease of starting once the engine is hot, turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines have emerged as one of the contending powerplants for PNGV hybrid vehicles. The interest in applying diesel engines in hybrid vehicles has prompted the modeling of direct injection diesel engine fuel consumption. The empirical equation developed in this study, which models engine friction and indicated efficiency as functions of engine operating speed and load, shows excellent agreement with test data gathered from public sources. The engine speed dependence of the friction and indicated efficiency are determined by fitting available data. Several assumed load dependences are considered. (If public data were available on engine cylinder pressure by crank angle as a function of engine speed and load, the load dependence could be determined empirically.)

The permeability of some airbag fabrics is determined, along with the Ergun coefficient signifying departure from purely viscous flow, from gas flow rates and pressure drop measurements. The dependency of these coefficients on the fabric temperature is also examined. Preliminary results are reported on the transient response of these fabrics to temporal changes in the gas flow rate and temperature. The temperature history is measured and compared with the predictions of some simple models. The models make various assumptions regarding the microscale of the fabrics. The preliminary results show that the very fine microscales do not control the time response of the fabric.

The paper describes a new hybrid vehicle design option having very low energy storage capability, and in particular, a parallel hybrid with hydraulic storage and reapplication of braking energy. The operating efficiency of the propulsion system at light loads is substantially improved by splitting the engine into two segments, and finding ways of shutting down one or both engine segments whenever possible. The hybrid vehicle utilizes primarily current technologies. A diesel powered parallel hybrid as described demonstrates a reduction in fuel consumption of 53.9% on a volume basis when compared with an equivalent baseline vehicle.

A hybrid car is conceptually described and analyzed which meets the goal of a factor of three improvement in fuel economy set by the government-industry collaboration, Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, announced Sept. 29, 1993. This car combines an internal combustion engine with a low-energy, but high-power capacity, storage unit, such as a capacitor or flywheel. The storage capacity is one-half kWh. All energy requirements are ultimately met from the fuel tank. Essentially all the performance achievements of current conventional cars are met by this hybrid. Two versions of the hybrid are considered: one in which the vehicle loads are the same as those of the average 1993 car, but the drive train is replaced with a hybrid system, and one, where, in addition, the vehicle loads are reduced, at fixed performance and interior volume, to levels slightly beyond the best achievements in current production vehicles.

Using the CDC (SAE J224), a comparison of the NASS data and the UMTRI field accident files (UM series) indicates a similar distribution of offset frontal crashes. Offset frontal damage occurs in 56-61% of crashes, often involving more than one third of the front of the car. Lap-shoulder belted drivers sustain more AIS 2 or greater injuries when there is interior intrusion and occur more often when the offset damage is in front of the driver. However, this may well be due to the severity of the crash. European studies have no uniformity as to offset frontal collision descriptors are difficult to interpret, or to compare one to another.

NASS 80-88 passenger side impacts data were analyzed. Location of primary car damage using the CDC classification, the AIS for injury severity studies, and the interior contacts of the various body areas. Drivers alone, or with passengers were studied separately in both left and right side crashes. Direct impacts to the passenger compartment only are less frequent than to other CDC side zones. Driver interior contacts vary by body region but also by side impacted in the crash. The presence of an unrestrained front passenger appears to enhance driver injury level in left side crashes but the presence of a passenger, in right side crashes appears to moderate driver injury severity.

Originally written in 1976 and previously revised in 1983, The Maintenance Council (TMC) Recommended Practice RP-404B is intended to enhance the safety of motor carrier employees by providing guidance regarding the purchase and use of access systems on heavy truck and truck tractors. Compliance with the recommended practice is intended to permit anyone entering or exiting a cab to have three limbs in contact with the truck or truck-tractor at arty time. The scope of the recommended practice covers access systems to the cab and rear of cab areas of all types of heavy trucks and truck tractors, in contrast to Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety (BMCS) regulations which applies only to Cab Over Engine (COE) tractors. The Maintenance Council recommended practice also varies from the BMCS requirements in that it remains a design oriented document.

Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems (IVHS) improve the operation of cars and trucks on public roads by combining information technology with road transportation technologies. The basic ideas about IVHS are by no means new but a number of converging forces have encouraged significant IVHS development in North America recently. Based on the results of a Delphi survey to project realistic future scenarios, both applied and fundamental research agenda are being formulated in a Michigan-based IVHS program to push the IVHS technologies for advanced motorist information systems and for backup vehicle controls under emergency conditions. The scope of the research agenda includes social/human elements as well as hardware and software technological systems. The Michigan research program is expected to contribute to the development of IVHS in North America, both technically and institutionally.

The role of automotive electronics in light duty vehicles is continuing to expand rapidly. In this paper an overview of a 1986 Delphi forecast of major trends is presented. Trends discussed include electronics as a fraction of vehicle and component cost and projections of basic vehicle features supported by electronic technology. In addition, basic trends in diagnostics and multiplexing are presented. Several issues in support of automotive electronics are discussed, including the systems approach to vehicle engineering, the importance of developing a proper market strategy, and the continued major role of energy economics. The Delphi forecasting technique and its governing concepts are reviewed as a method to predict the future of automotive technology.

Designing trucks for good ride characteristics is a challenge to the engineer, given the many design constraints imposed by requirements for transport productivity and efficiency. The objective of this lecture is to explain why trucks ride as they do, and the basic mechanisms involved. The response of primary interest is the vibration to which the driver is exposed in the cab. Whole-body vibration tolerance curves give an indication of how those vibrations are perceived at the seat; however, ride studies have shown that visual and hand/foot vibrations are also important to the perception of ride in trucks. The ride environment of the truck driver is the product of the applied excitation and the response properties of the truck. The major excitation sources are road roughness, the rotating tire/wheel assemblies, the driveline, and the engine.

This paper summarizes the results of Phase 1, Concept Definition, of the AATD program and identifies the reasons such a new test device is needed. The following areas are addressed: 1) injury priority from accident data; 2) current dummy design, use, and potential improvements; and 3) technical characteristics and design concepts for a new AATD, its data processing, and its certification systems.

Analytical methods are used to evaluate the braking and steering performance of tractor-semitrailer, truckfull trailer, double, and triple combinations that have mechanical properties corresponding to current design and usage practices in the United States.

Rolling resistance measurements were made on a sample of twenty-four retreaded and four new truck tires spanning a variety of constructions, tread patterns and tread depths. Examination of the results showed some relationship between three construction features and the resulting rolling resistance values. These are (a) Radial or bias carcass construction, (b) Tread pattern, and (c) Tread depth. The latter two characteristics can over-ride radial or bias construction effects. The effect of tread compound could not be analyzed in this limited test program. Good quality retreaded truck tires can exhibit comparable rolling resistance with new truck tires.

A method has been developed for calculating the internal temperature distribution in an aircraft tire while free rolling under load. The method uses an approximate stress analysis of each point in the tire as it rolls through the contact patch, and from this stress change the mechanical work done on each volume element may be obtained and converted into a heat release rate through a knowledge of material characteristics. The tire cross-section is then considered as a body with internal heat generation, and the diffusion equation is solved numerically with appropriate boundary conditions at the wheel and runway surface. Comparisons with buried thermocouples in actual aircraft tires shows good agreement.

Lap-shoulder belt effectiveness has been indicated by many authors, however there is minimal information on the more severe injuries to lap-shoulder belted car occupants. This paper presents details of 15 lap-shoulder belted occupants in frontal collisions and 24 lap-shoulder belted occupants in side impact collisions. Case descriptions of these crashes are presented, each including vehicle, environmental and injury details.

Properties of the human neck which may influence a person's susceptibility to “whiplash” injury during lateral impact have been studied in 96 normal subjects. Subjects were chosen on the basis of age, sex, and stature and data were grouped into six primary categories based on sex (F, M) and age (18-24, 35-44, 62-74). The data include: measures of head, neck and body anthropometry in standing and simulated automotive seating positions, three-dimensional range of motion of the head and neck, head/neck response to low-level acceleration, and both stretch reflex time and voluntary isometric muscle force in the lateral direction. Reflex times are found to vary from about 30 to 70 ms with young and middle aged persons having faster times than older persons, and females having faster times than males. Muscle strength decreases with age and males are, on the average, stronger than females.

Although over 800 references to child and infant anthropometry are in the literature, most have limited validity and application to current populations. Functional measures required by industry and government for federal safety standards for design of dummies, child products, furniture, or protective devices such as restraint systems have either been incomplete, inadequate, or nonexistent. Some of the limitations influencing validity of existing data have been outlined for the potential user. As a start toward obtaining necessary functional anthropometric data, The University of Michigan is currently conducting a study sponsored by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to obtain valid nationwide measurements on a representative U.S. population from birth to age 12 years. In this study some 41 measurements, including many functional measures, as well as seated and supine whole-body centers of gravity, are being taken utilizing a new automated anthropometric minicomputer system.

Conclusions based on the airborne experiments with laser radars are summarized in this paper. Details of the equipment and the flight procedures will be displayed during the oral presentation at the conference.

APPLICATION of nuclear energy for civilian automotive uses has possibilities, these authors say. Nuclear power for automotive applications, they feel, is technically feasible now where size and weight are not prime considerations; where size and weight are major parameters, discoveries of new materials for construction of nuclear-power reactors must be made. New materials are needed for reactor fuels, heat extractants, neutron reflectors, reactor construction materials, controls, and radiation shields which must have unique nuclear properties in addition to conventional engineering properties. This paper presents nuclear automotive propulsion devices in terms of technologies now available. The necessary radiation-shielding mass and weight requirements are presented for an ideal point-source nuclear-heat-power engine.