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This paper explores the extent to which standard dilution tunnel measurements of motor vehicle exhaust particulate matter modify particle number and size. Steady state size distributions made directly at the tailpipe, using an ejector pump, are compared to dilution tunnel measurements for three configurations of transfer hose used to transport exhaust from the vehicle tailpipe to the dilution tunnel. For gasoline vehicles run at a steady 50 - 70 mph, ejector pump and dilution tunnel measurements give consistent results of particle size and number when using an uninsulated stainless steel transfer hose. Both methods show particles in the 10 - 100 nm range at tailpipe concentrations of the order of 104 particles/cm3.

This paper describes an investigation into the sound quality of passenger car and light truck closure sounds. The closure sound events that were studied included side doors, hoods, trunklids, sliding doors, tailgates, liftgates, and fuel filler doors. Binaural recordings were made of the closure sounds and presented to evaluators. Both paired comparison of preference and semantic differential techniques were used to subjectively quantify the sound quality of the acoustic events. Major psychoacoustic characteristics were identified, and objective measures were then derived that were correlated to the subjective evaluation results. Regression analysis was used to formulate models which can quantify customers perceptions of the sounds based on the objectively derived parameters. Many times it was found that the peak loudness level was a primary factor affecting the subjective impression of component quality.

The feasibility of using experimentally determined flow fields at intake valve closing, IVC, as initial conditions for computing the in-cylinder flow dynamics during the compression stroke is demonstrated by means of a computer simulation of the overall approach. A commercial CFD code, STAR-CD, was used for this purpose. The study involved two steps. First, in order to establish a basis for comparison, the in-cylinder flow field throughout the intake and compression strokes, from intake valve opening, IVO, to top dead center, TDC, was computed for a simple engine geometry. Second, experimental initial conditions were simulated by randomly selecting and perturbing a set of velocity vectors from the computed flow field at IVC.

A series of tests were conducted to determine the potential for reducing vehicle underhood temperatures by either 1) diverting the radiator fan air flow from the engine compartment or 2) by forced air cooling of the exhaust manifold in conjunction with shielding it or 3) by a combination of the two methods. The test vehicle was a Ford F-250 Light Truck with a 7.5L V-8 engine. The vehicle was tested in a dynamometer cell equipped with cell blowers to simulate road speed conditions. It was found that diverting the outlet air from the radiator will reduce underhood component temperatures when the vehicle is in motion and also at normal idle. However, if the vehicle is to be used for power takeoff applications requiring a “kicked” idle, then forced cooling of the exhaust manifolds is also required to maintain reduced underhood temperatures. A combination of these two techniques maximized the reduction of underhood temperatures for all operating conditions tested.

This report is a comprehensive investigation into the use of resin transfer molded glass fiber reinforced plastics in a structural application. A pickup truck cab structure is an ideal application for plastic composites. The cab is designed to fit a production Ranger pickup truck and uses carryover frame and front end structure. The cab concept consists primarily of two molded pieces. This design demonstrates extensive parts integration and allows for low-cost tooling, along with automated assembly.

The design and composition of heat shields is becoming a major factor in the design of future automobiles. The optimization of heat insulation materials is crucial in keeping size, mass, and cost to a minimum. The purpose of this paper is to describe the testing of four different fibrous insulating materials simulating 150,000 miles of the Underbody heat shielding that a light duty truck may experience. The materials were tested before and after the thermal durability experiment to show the degraded conduction performance of each sample.

In this study, the particle emission characteristics of 10% alternative diesel fuel blends (Rapeseed Methyl Ester and Gas-to-Liquid) were investigated through the tests carried out on a light duty common-rail Euro 4 diesel engine. Under steady engine conditions, the study focused on particle number concentration and size distribution, to comply with the particle metrics of the European Emission Regulations (Regulation NO 715/2007, amended by 692/2008 and 595/2009). The non-volatile particle characteristics during the engine warming up were also investigated. They indicated that without any modification to the engine, adding selected alternative fuels, even at a low percentage, can result in a noticeable reduction of the total particle numbers; however, the number of nucleation mode particles can increase in certain cases.

One of the major goals in the design of the new Ford Aeromax and Louisville heavy truck product line was to achieve competitive leadership in visibility. Market research found that visibility was an important issue to the heavy truck driver. Visibility is defined as both direct and indirect (i.e., the driver's ability to see with and without the use of supplemental vision devices such as mirrors) and both interior and exterior. The scope of this paper includes the work which was accomplished in evaluating direct and indirect exterior visibility and the resulting vehicle design which achieved Ford's leadership goals. Poor weather visibility and interior vision are beyond the scope of this paper. Polar Plots were the method of choice in the Aeromax/Louisville visibility studies. Industry acceptance of these techniques has been established in the recent approval of SAE J1750, “Evaluating the Truck Driver's Viewing Environment”.

A new diesel engine, called the 6.7L Power Stroke® V-8 Turbocharged Diesel, and code named "Scorpion" has been designed and developed by Ford Motor Company for the full-size pickup truck and light commercial vehicle markets. It incorporates the latest design technology to meet 2010 model year emission regulations for both chassis and dynamometer-based certifications, and is compatible with up to B20 biodiesel fuel. The engine is an entirely new 90 degree V-8 design featuring inboard exhaust, piezo common rail fuel injection, a new dual compressor wheel turbocharger, and dual loop cooling systems. The 6.7L is Ford's first diesel engine designed for the North American pickup and light commercial truck market.

Splash and spray conditions created by tractor-trailer combinations operating on the Federal highway system have been studied and tested for many years with mixed results. Past events are reviewed briefly in this paper. In additional testing during 1983, using new state-of- the-art splash/spray suppressant devices, some encouragement was provided that these devices could work. The 1984 Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association (MVMA) test program was designed to develop practicable and reliable test procedures to measure effectiveness of splash and spray reduction methods applied to tractor-trailer combination vehicles. Over 40 different combinations of splash/spray suppression devices on five different tractors and three van trailer types were tested. The spray-cloud densities for some 400 test runs were measured by laser transmissometers and also recorded by still photography, motion pictures, and videotape. On-site observers made subjective ratings of spray density.

Speciation of sulfurous acid, sulfuric acid and ammonium sulfate collected from the aerosol phase on a Fluoropore filter has been readily accomplished using techniques of chemical ionization mass spectrometry combined with thermal separation. Thermal separation of ammonium hydrogen sulfate from ammonium sulfate was not possible. Spectral separation of these species by selective ionization is proposed. Analysis of sulfate aerosols collected from ambient air and catalyzed vehicle emissions is described. It was found that sulfuric acid aerosol was rapidly converted to ammonium sulfate or ammonium hydrogen sulfate in the presence of ambient concentrations of ammonia. Ambient samples collected in the Detroit metropolitan area have been found to contain only trace quantities of sulfuric aicd. Sulfate samples collected from a dilution tube into which catalyzed vehicle exhaust was injected were found to contain significant quantities of ammonium sulfate in addition to sulfuric acid.

New European emissions legislation (Euro5) specifies a limit for Particle Number (PN) emissions and therefore drives measurement of PN during vehicle development and homologation. Concurrently, the use of biofuel is increasing in the marketplace, and Euro5 specifies that reference fuel must contain a bio-derived portion. Work was carried out to test the effect of fuels containing different levels of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) on particle number, size, mass and composition. Measurements were conducted with a Cambustion Differential Mobility Spectrometer (DMS) to time-resolve sub-micron particles (5-1000nm), and a Horiba Solid Particle Counting System (SPCS) providing PN data from a Euro5-compliant measurement system. To ensure the findings are relevant to the modern automotive business, testing was carried out on a Euro4 compliant passenger car fitted with a high-pressure common-rail diesel engine and using standard homologation procedures.

The Ford PROCO stratified charge engine combines the desirable characteristics of premixed charge and Diesel engines. The outstanding characteristics of premixed charge engines are their high specific output, wide speed range, light weight and easy startability but they exhibit only modest fuel economy and relatively high exhaust emissions. The desirable characteristic of the Diesel engine is its outstanding fuel economy. However, the disadvantages of the Diesel, which include noisy operation, limited speed range, exhaust odor, smoke, hard startability, and particulate emissions have tended to limit their acceptance. In the gasoline fueled, PROCO stratified charge engine, direct cylinder fuel injection permits operation at overall lean mixture ratios and higher compression ratio. These features enable the PROCO engine to achieve brake specific fuel consumption values in the range of prechamber diesel engines.

Erosion damage to automotive car bodies caused by stones and small sand particles and road debris significantly affects the appearance of paint. Painted engineering plastics as well as precoated sheet steel are affected by erosion phenomenon. Erosion of painted plastic substrates results in cosmetic concerns while that on metal substrates results in cosmetic to perforation corrosion. This work describes a laboratory simulation of erosion of painted plastic substrates by small particles on various paint and substrate types. Gloss loss was used to quantitatively evaluate erosion of painted surfaces. Wear behavior of painted plastic substrates to slag sand impact was evaluated as a function of several variables including paint type (one-component melamine crosslinked (1K) vs. two-component isocyanate crosslinked (2K)), thermal history, and coating modulus. The effect of slag sand type (particle size and chemical composition) was studied.

Vehicle emissions have been measured and the results statistically evaluated for a vehicle test fleet consisting of four Escorts and four Explorers using both a fully formulated durability fuel doped with methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) at 1/32 gram Mn/gallon and the same fully formulated durability fuel without the MMT. The fleet was divided in half -- half with MMT and half without MMT doped fuel. This report covers emission measurement results at 5,000; 15,000; 50,000 and 100,000 miles of exposure to MMT doped fuel. A modified paired t-test is used to analyze the emission data obtained from all the fleet vehicles. The statistical evaluation of both feedgas and tailpipe emissions indicate that the use of MMT is detrimental to emissions of HC at the 15,000 mile; 50,000 mile and 100,000 mile levels of MMT exposure. As mileage is accumulated, the pronounced the effect on HC by the fuel additive MMT.

A number of tests were conducted on a 2.5 litre, high-speed, direct-injection diesel engine running at various loads and speeds. The aim of the tests was to gain understanding which would lead to more effective use of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) for controlling exhaust NOx whilst minimising the penalties of increased smoke emission and fuel consumption. In addition to exhaust emission measurements, in-cylinder sampling of combustion gases was carried out using a fast-acting, snatch-sampling valve. The results showed that the effectiveness of EGR was enhanced considerably by cooling the EGR. In addition to more effective NOx control, this measure also improved volumetric efficiency which assisted in the control of smoke emission and fuel consumption. This second of two papers on the use of EGR in diesel engines deals with the effects of EGR on soot emission and on the engine fuel economy.

A number of tests were conducted on a 2.5 litre, high-speed, direct-injection diesel engine running at various loads and speeds. The aim of the tests was to gain understanding which would lead to more effective use of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) for controlling exhaust NOx. In addition to exhaust emission measurements, extensive in-cylinder sampling of combustion gases was carried out using a fast-acting, snatch-sampling valve. The results showed that the effectiveness of EGR in suppressing NOx was enhanced considerably by intercooling the inlet charge and by cooling the EGR. A companion paper (SAE 960841) deals with the effects of EGR on soot formation and emission [1].

Operation of America's first factory built vehicles modified to operate on natural gas began in April, 1984, when Ford Motor Company delivered the first of 27 specially equipped 1984 Ranger pickup trucks to 25 major utility and natural gas related companies in the United States and Canada. In addition to the fuel system, modifications to these test vehicles include a 12.8:1 compression ratio engine and a unique distributor calibration to provide performance similar to the gasoline powered vehicle. The fuel tanks are significantly more expensive than gasoline tanks and remain one of the major cost issues with a natural gas powered vehicle. There are however, no unresolvable technological issues that would prevent motor vehicles from operating economically and efficiently on natural gas.

Automotive three-way catalysts (TWC) were characterized using temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, chemisorption measurements and laboratory activity measurements. Capabilities and limitations of these standard analytical techniques for the characterization of production-type automotive catalysts are pointed out. With the exception of chemisorption techniques, all appear to have general utility for analyzing exhaust catalysts. The techniques were used to show that the noble metals and ceria in fresh Pt/Rh and Pd/Rh catalysts are initially highly dispersed and contain a mixture of interacting and non-interacting species. Thermal aging of these catalysts (in the reactor or vehicle) caused both precious metal and ceria particles to sinter, thereby decreasing the interaction between the two.

A small-bore 4-stroke single-cylinder stratified-charge DISI engine using an air-forced fuel injection system has been designed and tested under various operating conditions. At light loads, fuel consumption was improved by 16∼19% during lean, stratified-charge operation at an air-fuel ratio of 37. NOx emissions, however, were tripled. Using EGR during lean, stratified-charge operation significantly reduced NOx emissions while fuel consumption was as low as the best case without EGR. It was also found that combustion and emissions near the lean limit were a strong function of the combination of injection and spark timings, which affect the mixing process. Injection pressure, air injection duration, and time delay between fuel and air injections also played a role. Generating in-cylinder air swirl motion slightly improved fuel economy.