Search Results

In certain types of city bus service some automatic transmission fluids can fail in less than 10,000 miles. In order to provide satisfactory transmission performance for longer mileage, improved fluids are required. An investigation was undertaken to obtain improved fluids. Fifteen different fluid formulations were evaluated in 30 city buses operated in normal service for more than 2,000,000 miles. It was determined that fluids fail because of frictional deterioration and oxidation. Based on these evaluations, only two fluids were found to be satisfactory for more than 40,000 miles; one additional fluid was satisfactory for more than 30,000 miles. The remaining 12 fluids failed in less than 20,000 miles.

The combustion system developed for the General Motors GT-309 regenerative gas turbine is used to illustrate pertinent structural, performance, and exhaust emission considerations when designing for a vehicular gas turbine application. The development of each major component and the performance of the combustion system as a whole are reviewed. The satisfactory performance and durability potential of the GT-309 engine combustion system have been demonstrated by extensive operation in a component test facility and in several test cell and vehicle installed engines. Exhaust emissions of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide are minimal and are of no concern from an air pollution standpoint. No objectionable exhaust smoking and odor are produced.

During development of the General Motors rotary engine, the lubricant was recognized as important to its success because certain lubricants produced deposits which tended to stick both side and apex seals. Consequently, it was decided to develop a rotary engine-dynamometer test, using a Mazda engine, which could be used for lubricant evaluation. In an investigation using an SE engine oil with which there was rotary engine experience, engine operating variables and engine modifications were studied until the greatest amount of deposits were obtained in 100 h of testing. The most significant engine modifications were: omission of inner side seals, plugging of half the rotor bearing holes, pinning of oil seals, grinding of end and intermediate housings, and using a separate oil reservoir for the metering pump. Using this 100 h test procedure, three engine oils and five automatic transmission fluids were evaluated.

Tests of laser ignition are conducted in a combustion bomb. A range of fuels is investigated comprising isooctane, cyclohexane, n-heptane, n-hexane, clear indolene, and No. 1 diesel fuel. The ignition characteristics of laser-induced sparks are compared with sparks generated with a spark plug for different air/fuel ratios. The power density required to produce laser induced sparks is investigated. Although laser ignition appears to be impractical as an ignition device because of its low efficiency and high cost, it presents some interesting possibilities compared to the standard spark plug in that the laser spark is electrodeless and can be positioned anywhere inside the combustion chamber. Its primary use appears to be as a research tool.

Secondary air scheduling and average delivery rate have a great influence on the performance (carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon cleanup) of rich thermal manifold reactors. A continuously modulated secondary air system was devised to provide a tailpipe air-fuel ratio that did not change significantly with engine speed or load when a “flat” carburetion calibration was incorporated. This system involved throttling the inlet of the air pump(s) so that the air pump and engine intake pressures were equal. The continuous air modulation system was compared with an unmodulated system and a step-modulated system. The secondary air systems were investigated with both GMR “small volume” cast iron thermal reactors and Du Pont V thermal reactors on modified 350 CID V-8 engines in 1969 Chevrolet passenger vehicles. It was found that thermal reactor performance improved with each increase in control of the secondary air schedule.

This paper evaluates the tendency of lip seals to fracture in a test apparatus in which dynamic runout is 0.010 in and the temperature is cycled between -30 and 0 F. Seals made of eight different polyacrylate polymers were soap-sulfur cured with various types and amounts of carbon black. Physical tests included room-temperature flexibility defined by Young's modulus at small strains, standard tensile tests at room temperature, flexibility at sub-zero temperatures determined by a Gehman test, and sub-zero starting torques of the seals. Primary determinant of successful fracture resistance is a low starting torque resulting from good low-temperature flexibility. The effect of adding graphite to some of these formulations is described and some current commercially available seals are evaluated.

The development of a variable valve timing (VVT) camshaft was initiated as a potential means of controlling exhaust emissions from a spark ignition piston engine. This approach was based on the fact that valve overlap influences internal exhaust gas recirculation which in turn affects spark ignition engine emissions and performance. The design, fabrication, bench tests and engine durability tests of a unit incorporating splines to allow the intake cams to move relative to the exhaust cams is discussed. Preliminary test data from a 350 CID (5700 cm3) engine fitted with the VVT camshaft are discussed with regard to durability and emissions.

This paper illustrates by way of two practical examples, namely, transmission gears and crankshafts, how the automotive industry applies basic approaches and methods for achieving fatigue resistant design. Analytic, laboratory, and field studies necessary in the development of these components are briefly outlined.

In-cylinder sampling appears to be the only available means for obtaining detailed information of the diesel combustion process. This information is necessary to understand pollutant formation because of the intimate relationship between formation rates and local cylinder conditions. This paper discusses efforts to (1) examine and improve sampling valve design, (2) evaluate potential effects of the valve and the sampling system on sample composition, (3) find methods to extract useful information from sampling data. Sampling hardware is currently being used to study combustion in engines, but further work is needed to quantify the influence of hardware and procedures on sample composition and to design experiments to provide data containing maximum information.

Paper deals with abnormal combustion initially existing in the Hyprex gasifier. It was found that this was mainly due to a long ignition delay period. To correct this situation, the fuel injection system was redesigned to permit later injection at higher compression pressures with good injection characteristics.

Development of engine-vehicle prototypes for low emissions and optimum fuel control characteristics has been facilitated through use of a computerized emissions test system. Simultaneous on-line sampling of exhaust species concentrations, fuel consumption, spark advance, pressures, and temperatures provides both graphical and computed outputs of several vehicle parameters that are important to development programs. On-line display of vehicle air-fuel ratio is continuously supplied. Either of two federal driving cycles (or any random driving schedule) may be employed. Dynamic calibration, range sensing, and zero-drift correction keep operator interaction and errors to a minimum. Capability for reprocessing, plotting, and/or patching stored data provides increased computational flexibility.

Platinum, palladium, and copper-chromium oxidation catalysts for exhaust emission control were exposed to exhaust gases from a steady-state engine dynamometer test in which the amount of oil consumed per unit volume of catalyst was high. When unleaded gasoline (0.004 Pb g/gal, 0.004 P g/gal) was used, conventional SE oil caused somewhat greater loss of catalyst activity than an ashless and phosphorus-free (“clean”) oil. Chemical analysis of the catalyst indicated that phosphorus from the conventional oil was probably responsible for the difference. However, a test run with low-lead (0.5 Pb g/gal, 0.004 P g/gal) gasoline and “clean” oil caused much greater catalyst activity deterioration than either of the tests with unleaded gasoline.

This study describes the effect of spark plug location on NO and HC emissions from a single-cylinder engine with a specially modified combustion chamber. The effects of changes in combustion duration caused either by spark location, dual spark plugs, or charge dilution on NO and HC emissions were also examined. Experiments were run at constant speed, constant load, and mbt spark timing. Nitric oxide emissions were the same with the spark plug located either near the intake or exhaust valve, but were higher with the spark plug midway between the valves or with dual ignition. Hydrocarbon emissions were lowest with the spark plug nearest the exhaust valve and increased with the distance of the spark plug from the exhaust valve. With charge dilution the decrease in NO emission was isolated into a pure dilution effect and a combustion duration effect. The combustion duration effect was minimal at rich mixtures and increased with air-fuel ratio.

Hydrogen-supplemented fuel was investigated as a means of extending lean operating limits of gasoline engines for control of NOx. Single-cylinder engine tests with small additions of hydrogen to the fuel resulted in very low NOx and CO emissions for hydrogen-isooctane mixtures leaner than 0.55 equivalence ratio. Significant thermal efficiency improvements resulted from the extension beyond isooctane lean limit operation. However, HC emissions increased markedly at these lean conditions. A passenger car was modified to operate at 0.55-0.65 equivalence ratio with supplemental hydrogen. Vehicle emissions, as established by the 1975 Federal Exhaust Emissions Test, demonstrated the same trends as the single-cylinder engine tests. The success of the hydrogen-supplemented fuel approach will ultimately hinge on the development of both a means of controlling hydrocarbon emissions and a suitable hydrogen source on board the vehicle.

Engine oil test Sequences IIA and IIIA have been developed to replace Sequences I, II, and III. These new sequences are designed to evaluate lubricants for use in current passenger car engines under severe (MS) service conditions. Lubricant performance is evaluated with respect to scuffing wear, rust, corrosion, deposits, and rumble. The Sequence IIA and IIIA test procedure involves major changes which affect the evaluation of engine rusting and provides improved correlation between test results and short-trip service. Average engine rust ratings correlate with service data within ±0.5 numbers. The new test also provides better repeatability and reproducibility in a significantly shorter schedule. The rust repeatability and reproducibility is less than ±0.2 and ±0.6 numbers, respectively. Test time has been reduced 52%.

The exhaust hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide concentrations of a single-cylinder engine, operating on a 25% (wt.) ethyl alcohol – 75% gasoline fuel, are compared to those operating on gasoline. For comparisons at the same airfuel ratio but lower than 15.3, the addition of ethyl alcohol to gasoline reduces the exhaust hydrocarbon concentrations and increases the nitrogen oxide concentrations. At the same air-fuel ratio but higher than 15.3, the addition of ethyl alcohol reduces both the hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide concentrations. However, tests with automobiles, operating at the same air-fuel ratio with both fuels, indicate that the addition of ethyl alcohol causes an increase in “surge” and, in some cases, results in a power loss. To overcome these performance problems, the ethyl alcohol-gasoline fuel should be operated at about the same percent theoretical air as gasoline.

Convective heat transfer coefficients were determined for thermocouple junctions oriented parallel to the gas flow for Reynolds numbers (based on wire diameter) from 163 to 17,500. Chromel-alumel wires of 0.013-0.051 in. diameter were tested in air and products of natural gas combustion at temperatures of 60, 500, and 1000 F. Transient response was used to determine the heat transfer coefficient, and all data were corrected for variation of metal specific heat and radiant heat transfer. The affect on apparent heat transfer coefficient was determined for variations in junction weld-bead size, junction length, and wire separation. An empirical equation has been derived relating Nusselt number and Reynolds number that fits 92% of the test data within ± 10%.

Conventional radial lip oil seals can be made more effective by utilizing helical grooving beneath the contact lip surface. Miniature hydrodynamic pumps so formed aid the radial lip seal in containing the oil by generating fluid forces opposite in direction to the leakage flow forces. This seal-shaft combination has been termed the Hydroseal. Four factorial experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of helix angle, groove depth, groove width, and number of grooves on sealing performance. The criterion used as a basis for selecting the optimum design were leakage, wear, hardening of the sealing surface, and pumping capacity. These data indicated that the best hydroseal design was one with three grooves, 0.0003 in. deep, 0.014 in. wide, having a helix angle of 45 deg.

The use of relatively small catalytic converters containing alumina-supported platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd) catalysts to control exhaust emissions of hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) was investigated in full-scale vehicle tests. Catalytic converters containing 70-80in3 of fresh catalyst were installed at two converter locations on the vehicle. Carburetion was richer than stoichiometric, with air-fuel ratios (A/F) comparable to those proposed for dual-catalyst systems containing an NOx reduction catalyst. The vehicle was equipped with exhaust manifold air injection. Homogeneous thermal reaction in the exhaust manifolds played a significant role in the overall control of HC and CO. Four Pt catalysts, three Pd catalysts, and one Pt-Pd catalyst were prepared and evaluated. Total metal loadings were varied 0.01-0.07 troy oz. Hydrocarbon conversion efficiencies varied 62-82%, measured over the 1975 cold-hot start weighted Federal Test Procedure.