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Gearing load spectra data collected under actual working conditions help a designer predict the fatigue life of power train components. Considerable time was required in the past to collect and reduce these data to a form suitable for design use. A vehicle mounted instrumentation system consisting of a strain gaged shaft, a shaft encoder-slip ring assembly, and an amplitude distribution analyzer, was developed which performs load measurements. At the test's conclusion, it provides a spectrum analysis in printed histogram form.

Analytic modeling and analog computer simulation techniques are presented for determining power train transient responses excited by clutch-actuated gear shifts. A method for describing the dynamics of a transmission arrangement having several clutches and interconnected planetary gear sets is considered in detail. Simulation model testing is directed toward optimizing system design parameters and evaluating power train component capability and vehicle shift-feel. Data reduction techniques applied to model responses of torque and speed will yield appropriate spectrums representative of simulated work cycle. The spectrum data are used to predict hours of life for gears, bearings, and driveshafts, according to cumulative fatigue damage theory.

THIS paper points out that the advantages of using light, nonadditive oils are often sacrificed because of lack of fundamental knowledge about gear-scoring problems. Most formulas that have been developed to determine the scoring resistance have been totally empirical and have proved inadequate for stringent design requirements. The author discusses the excellent correlation that exists between scoring test results and a hypothesis on the failure of straight mineral oils. This correlation also encompasses the test results of ball and roller scoring test machines, showing the probable universal application of the hypothesis. The method of approach to the scoring problem of gears as discussed in this paper is a fundamental one, which combines the factors affecting the conversion of frictional energy into surface temperature with gear tooth geometry, stiffness, and surface finish, and points a way to design gears of higher scoring resistance.

The heavy-duty truck industry has seen the need for a change in the concept of transmission design for many years. Several improvements have been made and others attempted, but greater improvement is needed to match the engine's delivery to the vehicle's demand. Driver performance can be improved and fatigue reduced by lowering the effort and skill required to make smooth, consistent starts and ratio changes. This paper discusses a solution to this need in the design and development of a semi-automatic, pneumatically controlled, constant mesh transmission.

Two high specific output diesel engines designed for the Military -- the LVDS-1100 and LDS-750 engines, which are of V-8 and 5-cyl in-line configuration, respectively -- were developed by Caterpillar Tractor Co. under contract with U.S. Army Tank Automotive Center at Detroit Arsenal. This paper covers the development work, also sponsored by ATAC, required to adapt these engines for operation using regular grade gasoline in addition to the diesel and CIE fuels for which they were originally designed. Test techniques used, a description of some interesting combustion systems tried, and data obtained with the selected arrangement are included. The engine has excellent performance and starting characteristics with any of the three fuels.

Modern data acquisition methods combined with new testing and analysis techniques are revolutionizing product design and development. Detailed analysis of recorded vehicle drive-line data has given today's engineer new insights into drive-line dynamics. This paper discusses how vehicles can be analyzed as a series of torsional springs and inertia masses. A two axle, 300 hp, 15 cu yd earthmoving tractor scraper (model 621) is used to illustrate significant factors. Main emphasis is on drive-line resonant torsional vibrations and shock loading. Diesel engines as torsional vibration exciters and transmission clutches as the major shock load producers are covered in some detail. How analog computers can effectively be used to facilitate vehicle development is briefly discussed.

The Cushion Hitch is a unique application of vibration absorber theory to a self-propelled tractor-scraper. The scraper mass is utilized as a damper for suppressing predominate bouncing motions of the tractor unit. A more comfortable and safer operator ride, with increased productivity, results from the Cushion Hitch application. This paper describes development of the early prototype design as well as the final production version. Particular emphasis is given to both the hydraulic and the structural characteristics of the system.

This paper demonstrates a way of applying an iterative computing technique to a typical engineering design problem, in such a way as to maximize a mathematical expression of the design criteria. Ways of writing this mathematical expression to express design criteria are explained through several illustrative examples. This technique of computer-aided design should allow the engineer to arrive at more than satisfactory designs in a minimum of engineering time.

Fatigue failure of machine components subjected to high contact pressures is rapidly becoming recognized as a serious design limitation. Confusion has resulted from grouping three distinct types of contact fatigue failure under the term “pitting” A Geared Roller Test Machine is described that reproduced each of the three modes of failure. The stress-life relationships obtained for rollers tested under conditions of rolling plus sliding correlated well with actual gear performance. The sensitivity of the test to changes in material, micorstructure, and processing variables is demonstrated.

TVA is an interactive computer program which performs a Torsional Vibration Analysis on lumped mass systems which contain torsional degrees of freedom. This program has two fundamental analyses. The first is Normal Modes which analyzes the natural unforced undamped behavior of the system to give natural frequencies and mode shapes. The second analysis is Frequency Response which analyzes the forced response of a damped system to give response results. TVA is used to analyze engine-auxilary equipment systems as well as vehicle drivetrain systems.