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The origin of the car radio is, like that of the automobile, an obscure one. This paper attempts to describe its early-history in the United States and Western Europe, briefly describing at the end some recent developments made possible by modern technology.

In 1998, the United States Field Trial was chartered by the United States Council for Automotive Research/Vehicle Recycling Partnership with the objective of evaluating the feasibility of collecting and recycling automotive polymers from domestic end-of-life Vehicles (ELVs). Although ELVs are among the most widely recycled consumer products, 15-25% of their total mass must nevertheless be disposed of with no material recovery; the majority of this remainder is polymeric. Concerns regarding vehicle abandonment risks and disposal practices have resulted in the legislated treatment of ELVs in Western Europe, and in the emergence of attendant material recycling schemes. These schemes support quantitatively optimized material collection, but do not appear to be sustainable under the free-market economic conditions prevalent in North America.

Since 1985, the Body Division of the Automotive Corrosion and Prevention Committee of SAE (ACAP) has conducted biannual surveys of automotive body corrosion in the Detroit area. The purpose of these surveys is to track industry wide corrosion protection improvements and to make this information available for public consumption. The survey consists of a closed car parking lot survey checking for perforations, blisters, and surface rust. This paper reports the results of the five surveys conducted to date.

The salt spray test has been an industry wide standard corrosion test since its conception in 1914. A literary review of its history shows that it has· always been thought of as inconsistent and unreliable but, for a variety of reasons, has continued to be used. A study of more than 55 salt spray cabinets was performed using a controlled lot of parts and questionnaires on cabinet operation. Although the tested parts varied from mildly corroded to extremely rusted no factor could be found to account for the differences. Although the test has its uses it should be studied by an industry formed committee which should make recommendations as to further standardization and corrections to the test. A lengthy chronological bibliography aids the reader in further study and reference.

The pulse flame combustor was adapted by researchers at Ford Motor Company in the early 1970s in order to produce exhaust gas simulating the combustion products of the internal combustion engine for the evaluation of automotive catalysts. Over the years, the pulse flame combustor has found application in a wide variety of research oriented tasks associated with automotive catalysts and emissions. More recent research and development efforts which have resulted due to elevated demands toward lower vehicle emission levels have prompted continuing refinements of the apparatus and effected innovative approaches to the study of emerging automotive catalyst and emission control issues with the pulse flame combustor. This report provides an overview of the operation and design evolution of the pulse flame combustor. In addition, recent applications of this laboratory device for studying automotive catalysts, alternative fuels, and other automotive emission control topics are reviewed.

The presentation offers a brief history of the electric vehicle and parallels the realities of those early vehicles with the challenges and solutions of the electrified vehicles coming to market today. A technology evolution for every major component of these vehicles has now made this mode of transportation viable. The Focus Electric is Ford's first electric passenger car utilizing the advanced technology developments to meet the needs of electric car buyers in this emerging market. Presenter Charles Gray, Ford Motor Co.

While one probably tends to think that car radios were invented and developed in the United States during the early twenties, it was actually in Chelmsford, England, that the first mobile experiments took place. Designed by Guglielmo Marconi, the first mobile installation antenna on record goes back to 1897. On the other side of the Atlantic, the experiments of Guglielmo Marconi were continued by the Americans Lee Deforest and Edwin Armstrong, who set the foundations of radio early in the twentieth century. Lee DeForest had been one of the prime advocates of “automobiles as wireless stations.” Early in 1903, and as told by a magazine of that era, “he fitted his instruments to automobiles so that the electricity which propels the automobile while in motion can be used for wireless telegraphy when the automobile is at a standstill”.

The evolution and development of the automobile radio antenna is perhaps one of the most neglected success stories in the automotive industry. Born in the twilight of the last century, it evolved from a simple wire wrapped around a tree branch, to the current heated rear screen or backlite antenna. Part One (SAE No. 870090) described seven types of antennas in detail, covering the period 1897-1937. It was shown how the early radio engineers, struggling to develop a viable car antenna, had displayed a great degree of creativity and flexibility, from the “firecracker” experiments of Guglielmo Marconi in 1897, to the ingenious systems developed to overcome the problems created by the all-metal Turret-Top vehicles introduced by General Motors in 1934. In those pioneering days, the United States public was having a love affair with both the automobile and radio broadcasting, so it was no surprise that their marriage did not take long to arrive.

STYLING the Continental Mark II with a very low silhouette without sacrificing leg room, seating comfort, and driver visibility was accomplished by using a specially designed frame and a 3-joint driveline. These two features are the basic engineering innovations which make possible the Continental's distinctive classic styling. As a result of this structural analysis, Ford has produced an automobile that, according to the author, has technical advancements that are of value to the consumer.

This paper gives a comprehensive analysis of vehicle understeer-oversteer, utilizing theoretical and experimental approaches. It departs from the conventional by defining understeer-oversteer in the transient as well as in the steady-state condition under various types of inputs. The relationship between understeer-oversteer and directional and oscillatory stability is stated within this concept. The paper introduces new definitions, based on transient condition analysis, for direct and indirect understeer, directional and oscillatory stability, side-slip velocity, and others. It employs a computer program evolved from the equations of motion, shown in the comprehensive Appendix, to analyze the basic nature of understeer-oversteer. New procedures are outlined for quantitative determination of vehicle understeer and stability. The paper discusses the relationships between understeer, oscillatory stability, and the subjective “feel” of passenger automobiles.

This paper considers some aspects of the use of linear elastic FE analysis as a basis for durability calculations. It specifically considers problems that can be treated as quasi-static and describes the use of inertia relief. However, much of the discussion is also applicable to situations that can better be represented as dynamic. It provides guide-lines for FE modelling for durability analyses including the requirements for mesh quality and for load and boundary condition definition. It also describes a novel way of looking at surface stress information, and reviews some of the methods of getting from linear elastic FE stresses and load histories to realistic elastic-plastic stress and strain histories.

THIS PAPER GIVES an overview of the aerodynamic development of a medium commercial vehicle. It deals with the setting out and achievement of the objectives of reducing aerodynamic drag as well as other aspects of aerodynamic design development such as engine cooling, heating and ventilating and sensitivity to side winds. Reference is made to measures taken to develop heater intake designs which are suitable for a low resistance vehicle with a fast attached flow over most of the forward surfaces. At the time of initial design studies, the Ford of Europe windtunnel in Cologne, West Germany, had not yet been commissioned and it was necessary therefore to adapt testing methods to suite the different windtunnels which were used at various stages of the development programme.

Vehicle target setting is an evolving process based on continually changing internal (management, standards) and external (competitive and legal) requirements. In addition to evolving requirements, the process for establishing and documenting targets may not be clear. The objective of this paper is to detail the overall process of target setting, the critical factors to consider, and key definitions for each stage of the process. It will describe the complete process from early competitive benchmarking to final verification testing. Setting targets for a vehicle requires definition and thorough benchmarking of the competition, an understanding of the key attributes used to describe the vehicles' performance, and a clearly defined set of requirements. These requirements will be regulatory, corporate and competitively based and grouped by clearly defined, customer perceived attributes which can be cascaded to specific vehicle systems.

High mileage NVH performance is one of the major concerns in vehicle design for long term customer satisfaction. The current paper is concerned with performance analysis of high mileage vehicles which cover four automobile manufacturers and five vehicle families of the same weight class based on subjective evaluation data. The analysis includes the assessment of five vehicle families from the following aspects: overall and NVH performances, performance by individual attribute, degradation history of each vehicle family, performance variation within each vehicle family. Since the data are statistical in nature, statistical methods are employed, numerically and graphically, in the analysis. The performance categories which exhibit most degradation are identified. The analysis method presented in this paper is applicable to any high mileage vehicle fleet subjective data. The knowledge derived in the study can be used as a guideline in designing vehicles for high mileage NVH robustness.

This paper describes the software architecture for the Driver Information System available in the 1985 Lincoln Continental Mark VII. This CRT-based system consists of a redefineable touch screen and designated feature keys. An overview is provided describing some of the system features, including a discussion relating to the ergonomic considerations which were given to the product's overall design. Definition of, and interaction between, major components is discussed, including details pertaining to the input conditioning, multiple CPU communication, screen prioritization, and interrupt handling.

The automotive industry continues to develop new powertrain technologies aimed at reducing overall vehicle level fuel consumption. This paper discusses the development of a new highly efficient parallel hybrid transmission for use in transversely installed powertrains for FWD applications. FEV is developing a new 7-speed hybrid transmission for transverse installation. The transmission with a design torque of 320 Nm is based on AMT (automated manual transmission) technology and uses a single electric motor. The innovative gearset layout combines the advantages of modern AMTs such as best efficiency, low costs and few components (reduced part count) with full hybrid capabilities and electric torque support during all gear shifts. Furthermore, the gear set layout allows for very short shift-times due to the favorable distribution of inertias. Other features include an A/C compressor being electrically driven by the electric motor of the transmission during engine start/stop phases.

We review the advantages of silicon micromachining in manufacturing low-cost, high-volume, mechanical sensors. The characteristics of the technology are discussed and contrasted with those of typical milling operations. We describe the fabrication of simple mechanical elements to explain how micromachined parts can be manufactured in large numbers with a high degree of dimensional control. These parts are the key components of cost-effective, high performance pressure, flow, and acceleration sensors that are gradually penetrating the automotive market.

The Service Bay Diagnostic System (SBDS) will be designed to assist the dealership technician in diagnosing and repairing Ford Motor vehicles. The system hardware will be configured around a Service Bay Computer with mass storage capability and auxiliary service equipment. Major system features include: guided service writer/customer interaction, interactive vehicle diagnostics, information management. capabilities, and an additional aid to identifying intermittent failures through the use of a portable over-the-road data acquisition device. In order to assist the technician in properly diagnosing the causal factor, the Service Bay Computer System will also be enhanced through the use of an expert system knowledge base.

Controlled Auto-Ignition (CAI) combustion has been achieved in a production type 4-stroke multi-cylinder gasoline engine. The engine was based on a Ford 1.7L Zetec-SE 16V engine with a compression ratio of 10.3, using substantially standard components modified only in design dimensions to control the gas exchange process in order to significantly increase the trapped residuals. The engine was also equipped with Variable Cam Timing (VCT) on both the intake and exhaust camshafts. It was found that the largely increased trapped residuals alone were sufficient to achieve CAI in this engine and with VCT, a range of loads between 0.5 and 4 bar BMEP and engine speeds between 1000 and 3500 rpm were mapped for CAI fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. The measured CAI results were compared with those of Spark Ignition (SI) combustion in the same engine but with standard camshafts at the same speeds and loads.

While evaluating the BIOSID advanced side impact dummy in full scale crash tests, we noticed higher than expected abdominal rib deflections. This finding led to a search to determine whether these deflections were an artifact of the dummy or whether the dummy was indicating that some portion of the vehicle side, in the area of the armrest, was laterally stronger than expected. Many armrests/trim panels were procured and both quasi-statically and dynamically tested using newly-devised test procedures. A team was formed to evaluate armrest/trim panel construction and to develop a biomechanically-based laboratory test procedure to help determine the effects of design and material changes. This team continues to function and a spin-off team is seeking to develop analytical predictive tools to allow speedier development of armrest/trim panels attuned to the new test procedure.