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The marked advance that has been made in the last 10 years in constructional details and in performance of airplane engines and in airplane performance is reviewed, beginning with the year 1916 when the Curtiss OX-5 eight-cylinder water-cooled engine was brought to its final stage of development. The author describes briefly each type of engine produced successively by the company he represents and tells of the changes that were made to improve the performance. From the 8-cylinder V-type the constructors changed to the 6 and 12-cylinder water-cooled type and are now developing a 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine that was built in 1925. An important field of usefulness is foreseen for the air-cooled engine.

Stating that the production of satisfactory gears is one of the most serious problems confronting the automobile builder, the authors give an outline of the practice of producing gears that is used by the company they represent and describe a new method for cutting the rear-axle drive-pinion by using two machines, each machine cutting one side of the teeth. Explanations are given of the various steps in the process and the reasons for stating that this method is not only cheaper but produces gears of higher quality. Numerous suggestions are made for improving gears and axles, and the claim is made that it is doubtful if the spiral-bevel gear has had a fair chance because axles usually have not been designed so that the main consideration was the requirements of the gears.

The effectiveness and the advantages and disadvantages of various substances and compounds that are used or offered in the market for use in the radiators of automotive vehicles as anti-freeze materials are discussed. These include alcohols, glycerine, salts, oils, sugars, and glycols. Properties affecting the suitability of a material or compound, or solutions of them with water to afford protection against freezing at atmospheric temperatures that are likely to be encountered are their heat capacity, freezing-point, boiling-point, specific gravity, viscosity, volatility, solubility, tendency to decompose at the boiling-point, inflammability, corrosive action upon metals, tendency to attack rubber, general availability, and price. The freezing-points of solutions of different materials vary widely at the same concentrations, or proportions to water, and also with variation of their concentration.

Body construction, of a character such that the wooden framework is secured by suitably shaped steel joining-plates and bolts that separate the wooden members ⅛ in. at the joints, is illustrated and described. The outer surface of the body is completely covered with flexible textile fabric or leather-cloth. It is claimed that the effect is to impart to the finished body an easy deformability and to permit it to accommodate itself to distortions of the chassis frame, to which it is rigidly attached. A portion of the English patent specification is quoted, and details of the actual construction practised at the inventor's factory in Paris, Prance, are stated. Due to the absence of steel and to the extreme slenderness of the wooden parts, these bodies are very light. The required wood-working operations are few and simple. Only the minimum machine equipment is needed to fabricate the framework, and no great skill is demanded in its erection.

All-steel automobile bodies are lighter, stronger, roomier, and cheaper than composite bodies having wood framing and metal panels. They are free from squeaks, afford better vision of the road and scenery, take a superior finish with less preliminary work, and permit marked economies in quantity production. Steel has 40 times the strength to resist breakage that wood has and, in bending, may be stressed 7 times as much as wood, hence the cross-sectional area of steel members may be only a small fraction of that of wood members having equal strength. This makes for lightness of construction and reduction of the size of frame members, thereby affording more space in the interior of the body for the passengers and reducing the amount of obstruction to vision.

In determining the characteristics of coiled wire springs, if all the component forces, including those .of torsion, transverse shear, tension, and compression, are considered, the calculation may be complicated and involved, but for practical purposes of design all can be ignored except torsion. The calculation then becomes simple. The underlying principles of the formulas that express the torsional characteristics of an ordinary helical spring are the same as those that govern torsion in a straight shaft; and the fact that the result would be the same if the shaft or wire were twisted in the opposite direction makes it clear why a coiled spring has the same stiffness in either compression or extension so long as all the coils remain open. In Begtrup's formula, as given in the handbooks, the only unknown factor is the modulus G, which is variously stated to be from 10,000,000 to 14,000,000 lb.

Reviewing briefly the history of the automotive clutch and summarizing the most interesting achievements in clutch design during recent years, the author discusses friction facings and says that the development of the asbestos-base friction-bearing has made possible the multiple-disc dry-plate and the single-plate types. For severe service, the qualifications of a satisfactory friction-facing are density of structure, together with a reasonably high tensile-strength; the coefficient of friction should be high and fairly constant over a wide range of temperature; the facing must be able to withstand high temperature without deterioration; the impregnating compound must not bleed out at high temperature; and the permeation of the impregnating solution must be complete so that the wear resistance is constant throughout the thickness of the facing. The molded and the woven types of facing are treated at length.

Periodically recurring problems of gear noise and wear which seem to arise from no specific cause frequently affect the manufacturing side of the automotive industry and especially the gear-manufacturers. While much has been written and discussed about the mathematics and geometry of gears, which should overcome all of these problems, the trouble unfortunately still persists. The paper outlines the experience of the organization with which the author is connected in solving a rather difficult problem that offered an opportunity for a more thorough analysis than did its predecessors. Laboratory and dynamometer analyses of the product showed that it compared favorably with the output, of other factories.

With the passing of the apprenticeship system and the introduction of the present method of employing unskilled labor on a piecework basis for assembling, careful inspection has become a necessity. Under these conditions, the only way in which the product can be held to the required standards is to make the component parts fit accurately. If the inspection is adequate, parts can be held to closer limits and cheaper labor can be used in the assembling process. Believing that no reason can exist for failure to maintain standards of accuracy if the ratio of the number of men engaged in production to one inspector does not exceed 15 to 1, the officials of the Buick Company have worked out a system, similar in many respects to a budget, in which a certain ratio of production hours to inspection hours is allowed in each plant, the number depending upon the nature of the work and varying from about 10 to 1 in the engine plant to about 34 to 1 in the gray-iron foundry.

Following a description of airplane structure, the author discusses structural requirements and outlines the main features of properly coordinating the engineering and the manufacturing activities. He says that each of the three subdivisions of airplane design has its own series of calculations, these being related to predictions of performance before the machine is built, to stability determinations and to the design of a self-contained structure of sufficient strength to withstand any stresses developed in flight or in landing. He states also that no inspection is worth the name or the money spent on it that does not include constructive work and a knowledge at all times that the intentions of the designers are being carried out in detail so that the safety of the craft is assured. Materials used in aircraft should be light and easily workable and should possess the desired physical and chemical properties; they must have the specified cross-section and be free from defects.

Principal stresses in one type of eye-bolt have been determined in the laboratory of photoelasticity at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by the photoelastic method. In the test, an eye-bolt, designed in accordance with a method suggested for circular eyes in a course in machine design by the Institute, was made of celluloid 0.25 in. thick, 1 in. wide on either side of the eye, with a 1.405-in. diameter of eye, and a 1.333-in. width of shank. Steel loading-plates were pinned to the broadened end of the shank and a load of 100 lb. was suspended from the bolt, which gave a mean stress of 300 lb. per sq. in. in the shank. Plain polarized light was passed through the celluloid model and the isoclinic lines, or lines of equal inclination of principal stress, were observed and recorded. Two families of lines of principal stress, designated as P and Q stresses, were determined graphically from these isoclinic lines.

Subsequent to an historical review of die-casting, briefly stated, the author covers the subject of present die-casting practices comprehensively and conveys a large amount of specific information. Because many different methods of producing castings exist outside the sand-casting realm, he says that some confusion prevails as to the exact definition of the term “die-casting.” Such castings may be produced in metallic or in non-metallic long-life molds, or in combination with destructible cores. They may be filled by gravity and known as “permanent-mold castings”; or by centrifugal force and known as “centrifugal castings”; or by filling the mold by gravity and, after the outer skin has become chilled, pouring out the excess metal. The last named are known as “slush castings.” On the other hand, a die-casting may be defined as a casting formed in a metallic mold or die, from metal subjected to mechanical or gaseous pressure while in the molten state.

Will sheet steel that is to be used in the manufacture of automobile parts form the parts for which it is intended without breaking, buckling or pulling coarse at the sharp corners is a question, the answer to which is sought through a series of tests applied to samples of the material by the Packard Motor Car Co. Three sheets are selected from different parts of every 1000 sheets received. After sections have been removed from the ends of these sample sheets, four test pieces are taken from each sheet at specified locations and these last samples are subjected to Erichsen, Rockwell and tensile-strength tests, each of which is discussed.

An air-spring and a steel-spring combination has a characteristic load-curve that allows maximum flexibility in the general working-range of the axle yet has an increasing resistance to dissipate large shock-loads. By varying the compression volume in the air-spring, the load curve of the combination can be made more flexible or stiffer as occasion demands. Tests show that the steel-spring vibration alone had a duration of 5½ sec. with a period of 87.2 vibrations per min.; the combination, a 3-sec. duration with 60.0 vibrations per min. Field tests of front-axle movement were made, the test apparatus for these and other tests being illustrated and explained. The maximum axle-movement either above or below the normal line is increased when using air-springs, and the subsequent rebound shows more action on the underside of the normal line, the general tendency of the air-springs being to float the chassis on a slightly higher plane at the time of rebound.

A bumper is a bar attached transversely in front of or behind a car body to prevent contact between an obstruction and the car body or to cushion the shock of collision between vehicles. The impact-bars have various sectional forms, from flat to round and from tubes to channels, and are composed of steel, wood or rubberized fabric. The attaching devices are sometimes yielding, sometimes rigid. The evolution of the bumper is shown in the records of the Patent Office. Early types had yielding attaching-parts and rigid impact-parts. These were followed by types having a rigid bar connected with the frame by only a spiral spring, by those having channel-steel impact-bars and others having round spring-steel extending from the frame-horns. A strip of rectangular spring-steel was then used by a Western blacksmith, and later a similar non-reinforced bumper appeared which was cut in two in the middle, the ends being overlapped and the overlapped parts clamped together.

In this investigation to determine strength and physical properties 12 motor-truck rear-wheels were tested, comprising two each of the following types: Class-B trucks, standard wood; Class-B truck, cast-steel; I-beam type; steel disc; aluminum; and rubber-cushion, each having a 34-in. diameter and a 12-in. tread. The wood, the I-beam and the cushion wheels each had 14 spokes; the aluminum and the steel-disc wheels had a solid web between the hub and the rim. All the wheels were tested without tires or brake-bands, were bushed to fit a 4-in. axle and the area of contact between the hub and the bushing was the same as that in service. Illustrations show the construction of the wheels. Requirements considered essential in a wheel were listed, and the tests were conducted to obtain data concerning them. One wheel of each type was subjected to a radial-compression test.

Trouble with the exhaust-valves of the Type-J air-cooled cylinder caused an investigation to be made of valve-cooling and of valve and guide wear. A temperature of 1300 deg. fahr. invariably caused fractures of the exhaust-valve stem at the junction of the stem and the neck. A file-hard tungsten-steel valve with a shallow hole and no filling eliminated breakage but scaling was apparent. The same valve, using a hard tungsten-steel guide, when tested with salt filling, gave improved cooling; the area of the hot zone was reduced in size and the stem remained dead-black. Scaling was reduced and the wear of the valve-stem and guide that appeared was overcome by substituting a roller tappet for the solid tappet previously used. Tests showed that extreme hardness is of advantage even for inlet-valves. Experiments with a Type-K air-cooled cylinder gave excellent results with a salt-cooled valve in spite of a very high head-temperature; with an unfilled valve the results were not so good.

The importance of the development of a light alloy for use in parts that are subjected to elevated temperatures has already been emphasized in many papers, among which that by S. D. Heron on Air-Cooled Cylinder Design and Development4 should be particularly mentioned. It was with this purpose in view that the foundry of the Engineering Division of the Air Service at McCook Field undertook a brief survey of the alloying, the casting, the heat-treatment, the physical properties and the metallography of an aluminum-copper-nickel-magnesium alloy of the Magnalite type as sand-cast under ordinary foundry conditions. It was found that the alloying involved no particular difficulty. The casting, however, showed the necessity for proper pouring temperatures, gating and placing of the chills and the risers. Several photographs are shown illustrating satisfactory and unsatisfactory methods of molding pistons and air-cooled cylinder-heads.

Operating costs and their relation to the age of the vehicle have been a subject of controversy for some time. One faction maintains that after a certain indefinite period it is economy to salvage or junk the equipment and replace the vehicles with later uptodate designs. The opposing faction believes that the costs depending on maintenance and operating efficiency can be kept fairly constant. Comparing a motor truck with a locomotive they cite the opinion of railroad officials that when proper running repairs are made locomotives can be maintained continuously in the same service and retain their original earning capacity for many years. When new locomotives are built it is usually for the purpose of replacing types that have become obsolete and the old ones are then relegated to some other branch of the service.

The quality of plated steel may be tested by exposing the article to the action of a salt spray and noting the appearance at intervals. A numerical method of rating the appearance is presented, and the rust resistance of steel plated with nickel and copper is shown to be dependent on the thickness of the plating. The effect on the salt-spray resistance of some common variables in nickel-plating, such as boric acid, ferrous sulphate, current density and defective steel, is disclosed and charted. The need of close technical control of the plating process is indicated, and some of the advantages of controlled electroplating at high current-densities are set forth.