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The proposed wire mesh particulate trap employs a radical design for controlling the regeneration process. A prototype for a 6.2 L diesel engine was designed, built and tested to demonstrate performance characteristics and to correlate with an analytical evaluation. Presented in this paper is the first round of test data achieved thus far. Regeneration is initiated by an electric heating element embedded in the wire mesh, and a single butterfly valve controls the division of flow between the wire mesh and bypass channels. The trap design relies on oxygen in the exhaust gases for regeneration and employs a closed-loop control logic to limit the maximum temperature during regeneration. Test results indicate an ability to achieve high collection efficiencies at low pressure drops and a controlled regeneration process. Work continues to explore the regeneration characteristics under variable engine operating conditions.

The purpose of this SAE Information Report is to provide concepts for rational selection and application of materials for Rollover Protective Structures (ROPS) and Falling Object Protective Structures (FOPS) and to provide information about the properties that should be considered in selecting and utilizing material in protective structures. While other materials could conceivably be used successfully, this report is limited to a consideration of steel with discussion on its mechanical properties and processing characteristics. Emphasis is placed on the toughness aspect (ability to resist brittle fracture) as this property is of paramount importance to structure integrity. It is emphasized that specific values for material properties have relevance to performance only in conjunction with specific design considerations such as structure size or weld joint detail and location.

This SAE Recommended Practice applies to Liquefied Natural Gas Vehicle Fuel. The purpose of this document is to provide information on issues that are important to consider regarding LNG metering and dispensing systems.

A prototype active cab suspension has been built and evaluated. As the system uses low bandwidth valves and is powered by the existing power steering system, it is perhaps a good example of expected performance from a production active control system. System architecture is described. The control system is presented, and system performance is reported.

Engineering new technology and products challenges managers to balance design innovation and program risk. To do this, managers need methods to judge future results to avoid program and product disasters. Besides the traditional prediction tools of schedule, simulations and “iron tests”, process control standards (with measurements) can also be applied to the development programs to mitigate risks. This paper briefly discusses the theory and case history behind some new process control methods and standards currently in place at Caterpillar's Electrical & Electronics department. Process standards reviewed in this paper include process mapping, ISO9001, process controls, and process improvement models (e.g. SEI's CMMs.)

Field Grid Sense is a new system developed for use with a laptop computer to control crop production inputs. The system spatially controls and records field inputs according to regional requirements within the field. Location is identified via the travel lanes formed during field operations. Application rates are predetermined for each field region and stored on computer diskette. The application is adjusted to the assigned value during field operations. This system can be adapted to control/record granular fertilizers, direct chemical injection systems, liquid fertilizers, seed planters, crop yield maps, and/or any field input that needs to be spatially managed. The use of equipment and/or products in this study is not intended to endorse or discredit the manufacturer or product by the researchers, SDSU, and/or SAE. This pulication has been approved by the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station as Journal Article No. 2509.

Adaptive control, based on modeling of a manufacturing process and coupled with predictive control methods, allows for adjustment of nonrobust process variables while maintaining the ability to statistically monitor the cause system for unexpected change. This strategy recognizes both the need for continual improvement in process operation and the need to face the reality of current process under-standing and practical commercial considerations. It incorporates both active and passive use of statistical methods for improving the quality of process output while retaining the ability to detect new process changes. A final feature is the opportunity to refine engineering knowledge concerning process interaction and the adaptive decision model.

The rapid evolution of feature requirements throughout the commercial vehicle industry dictate the need for optimal engineering processes and methods. In this paper, a controller design and development process based on Motohawk and Opal-RT Hardware-in-the-Loop solutions will be presented. The process features a Rapid Prototyping system with the ability to develop, test, and validate control applications using Simulink/Stateflow models on real production Electronic Control Unit (ECU) hardware in a virtual environment. This model-based engineering solution enables engineers to investigate alternative designs, determine system sensitivities, and inter-system compatibility prior to deployment. The deployment process is also greatly simplified since development was performed on deployable ECUs rather than on a traditional, cumbersome RP system. Prerequisite tools and methods are discussed.

As a commercial vehicle providing low pollution and good fuel economy, we have developed a capacitor hybrid type medium duty truck. This is the first in the world. In the development of the Super Power Capacitor (high efficiency electric double layer capacitor) unit installed on the vehicle we aimed to establish a simple and easy method and process to manufacture the capacitor. We started from the development of materials and found the requirements for the capacitor itself and its manufacturing process. Based on these findings we constructed a capacitor production line in our factory. Major equipment is connected large size glove box with inert gas circulating and purifying device that control the production environment and an automatic laminator that enables the lamination of the capacitor cell. These equipments were designed and manufactured in-house.

The ever-growing number of interacting electronic vehicle control systems requires new control algorithms to manage the increasing system complexity. As a result, torque-based control architecture has been popular for its easy extension as the torque demand variable is the only interface between the engine control algorithms and other vehicle control systems. Under the torque-based control architecture, the engine and AT coordinated control for upshift process is investigated. Based on the dynamics analysis, quantitative relationship between the turbine torque of HTC and output shaft torque of AT has been obtained. Then the coordinated control strategy has been developed to smooth the torque trajectory of AT output shaft. The designed control strategy is tested on a powertrain simulation model in MATLAB/Simulink and a test bench. Through simulation, the shift time range in which the engine coordinated control strategy is effective is acquired.

A computer-based system has been jointly developed by a tractor manufacturer and a wiring systems manufacturer for use in design and data transfer of automotive -type electrical harnesses. The difficulties of graphical data transfer between incompatible CAD systems have been bypassed. This is significant since the design drawing and the assembly drawing are geometrically different. The system design is based on the structuring capability of CAD and ASCII data exchange. All design processes are controlled by the system and many are automated. The data transfer procedure eliminates design interpretation and keyboard data entry to the wiring manufacturer's database, reducing that process time from days to hours.

Control strategies - the long term rules used in production planing and control - for highly integrated and flexible manufacturing systems in most cases are specialized in specific and usually constant production programs. Therefore, changes in the production program require adaptations in those single or combined control strategies. To keep the system optimal, there is a need for more than just analytical mathematical methods, whose limits are quickly crossed because of their complex correlations. An effective device for the development of optimal control strategies connected with an advantageous system structure is the focused Experiment Planning. It combines static analysis and calculations with dynamic simulations in order to develop alternatives for improvement of control strategies and the system structure in a repetitive process.

A flexible fastener manufacturing workstation was developed in the Automated Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to manufacture precision, threaded, metal fasteners. The workstation was then transferred to the machine shop at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire for making fasteners for submarines. The research and development project was a joint collaboration between the NIST, the Navy, and industry partners to advance the Naval shipyard's fastener manufacturing technology. US naval shipyards manufacture threaded metal fasteners from the material K-monel and nickel-copper. These level-1, SUBSAFE fasteners are used for critical applications in nuclear submarines. They must meet stringent MIL-S-1222H, as well as ASME/ANSI specifications.

AISIN SEIKI CO., Ltd. Started the production of electronically controlled hydraulic automatic transmissions for medium-duty trucks and buses in 1989. The number of vehicles on the Japanese market in which this system is adopted is increasing steadily. After re-examining market needs, AISIN SEIKI CO., Ltd. has newly developed an electronically controlled hydraulic automatic transmission A580 which focuses on improved input capacity, driving performance and fuel economy for medium-duty trucks and buses and lessens learnt from experience.

Production cost saving is the main subject of process control of all automobile industries. Recently introduced ADI is a suitable material for those issues, but usefulness is restricted because of its poor fracture toughness. In the study, the effect of casting and austempering conditions on the fracture toughness of ADI were determined in order to develop a suitable material which can replace forged alloy steel. For casting of DCI, sandwitch method was conducted as inoculation process involving spheroldizing treatment with calballoy. Austempering was carried out in a salt bath with a composition of 50% KNO3 and 50% NaNO3 and then cooled in air. Two main parameters, namely austempering temperature and time, were selected as variables and structural changes of ADI with initial casting conditions was monitored with them. According to the casting results, it was confirmed that the mechanical properties of ADI, especially fracture toughness, depends strongly on casting conditions of DCI.

This paper describes the stages of the introduction process of electronic control for the three-point hitch of the hydraulic system on agricultural tractors in the Brazilian market. For a perfect understanding, the basic functions of the hydraulic system, the reasons which took IOCHPE-MAXION to develop a new control system and the great challenge of introducing this new technology will be described. The stages of this development comprised: Assessment of market needs, definition and decision of the system to be adopted, seek for a technological partner, development of application/tests, advantages of the new system and, lastly, the unveiling of this new control system at the EXPOINTER 94 (*).

In today's commercial vehicles the electrical and electronic systems are segmented into two different areas, the chassis and the body. The technical interface and achievable level of standardization and integration between these areas is often quite varied and difficult between vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers. Stand alone electronic modules and subsystems with the ability of processing and controlling a reasonable amount of functions (ECM, EDC, FMC, ABS, TCS…) are state of the art applications on the chassis. They are linked together by controller area networks (CAN-Bus Systems). All these individual modules are quite similar for the various applications and highly standardized (SAE J1939). However, things have developed quite differently on the body electrical system side, where a multitude of operational functions with drastic differences in complexity are linked together by dedicated wiring.

Statistical Process Control (SPC) methods were used to troubleshoot the process problems that occur in the manufacturing of elastomeric shot bushes. This developed procedure helped to identify the variables responsible for the process going out of control and demonstrated that, given the existing engineering tolerances, even when the process is in control, it would still not be capable. When it was determined that the manufacturing process was not in control, SPC techniques were implemented to investigate the causes and effects and to bring the process back in control. Ultimately, the process was shown to be significantly improved and very close to capable by adjusting the engineering tolerances. This paper will demonstrate how SPC techniques identified the problems, tracked trends in the manufacturing process, and alleviated future process problems. The intent of this paper is not to train people in SPC, but to show how SPC was used as a decision making tool for a real world problem.

A recently patented transducer introduces new options for controlling and monitoring mobile equipment by measuring flow pressure, and temperature. Traditional flow transducers lack the robustness, accuracy, or responsiveness to be effectively used in actual hydraulic circuits outside the laboratory environment. Pressure transducers are used, but present packaging and cost obstacles to machine designers. Temperature sensors are also available in various subsystems in mobile equipment. Accurate monitoring or control of a fluid system depends upon dynamic measurement of the flow and pressure in a system, but at the same time it is important that the monitoring apparatus is capable of measuring small variations in relatively large flow rates. A new device has been developed in a cartridge format which solves previous limitations. The cartridge mounts easily into a manifold block, and can be produced economically.

This article describes the experience of Sanova-Polytech, Inc. (SPI) in the creation, testing, and usage of new Liquid Induction Thermochemical Processes (LINTERPROCESS™) and Liquid Induction Heat Treatment (LINHEAT™) technologies, and in the designing, manufacturing, and employment of new automatic computerized production equipment, which can be of significant advantage to manufacturers of commercial vehicles. Heat treatment and thermochemical processing of various metals play an important role in the global effort to produce stronger, lighter, and more durable machine parts at lower costs. They are widely used in the manufacturing of cars and buses, and farm, construction, industrial, and other machinery.