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This paper demonstrates the possibilities of using Automotive waste plastic material from “end of life” vehicles (ELVs), in the Footwear Industry to manufacture shoe components. The study establishes the sustainability of the flow of ELVs, from the European Car Parc and identifies and estimates the quantity of plastic materials potentially available for recycling from ELVs. Four potential materials, Acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene (ABS), Polypropylene (PP), Polypropylene/ethylene/propylene/diene (PP/EPDM) and Polyamide (PA), were identified and three materials (PP, PP/EPDM and ABS) were reprocessed from ELV components and evaluated by the Footwear Industry. As a result, ABS was recommended as an economically, suitable replacement for HIPS, the current material used for manufacturing shoe heel components.

Countless articles and publications3,4,5 have documented and proven the efficacy, benefits and value of operating within a lean system. Furthermore, there exists common agreement amongst leading organizations successfully implementing a lean system that in order to do so it must take into consideration the entire enterprise, that is, from supplier to customer and everything in between6. One of the core issues this paper addresses is when the optimal time is to train and educate the people who currently have, or will have, influence over the ‘enterprise’.

The intersection of changing lifestyles and evolving transportation needs finds smart USA well positioned for launch in 2008 during one of the most competitive periods in U.S. automotive history. In a zero sum market with new global entrants competing for single points of share, where quality levels have been redefined and fractions of points separate the best from the challengers, lifestyle awareness, innovation and product positioning become the differentiators. Simply adding features has left some with hefty investments and confused consumers. Bigger is not always better. More is not always desirable. The real opportunity for new entrants to the US market may be defined within niche markets where changing lifestyles allow for the emergence of new segments. Today, smart USA has surfaced as a clear example of right product, right place, right time.

As part of an overall effort to support the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) national program to increase seat belt usage, General Motors instituted an employe seat belt use incentive program at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. This program was responsible for raising seat belt use at the Tech Center from 36% to 70% during its 5 1/2 month duration. The program was patterned, in part, after research work done by professor E. Scott Geller of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University under a grant from the General Motors Research Laboratories and a program conducted by Berg Electronics (a DuPont subsidiary). The intent of the program was to provide sufficient positive incentive to employes to buckle up for an extended period of time, thereby establishing a seat belt use habit that will continue after the incentives are no longer offered.

Research information on solid lubricants has been compiled for consideration in the possible use of such materials in aircraft electrical equipment. Solid lubricants are capable of lubricating at the maximum temperatures (600° F) for aircraft electrical equipment. Many solids that adhere well to metals may be useful lubricants; those with layer-lattice structure usually give low friction. Solid lubricants are most commonly used as bonded films but the use of fluid carriers and surface reaction products have considerable merit.

Vehicle dynamics is a discipline of mechanical engineering that benefited of significant improvements thanks to the progress of computational engineering. Vehicle dynamics engineers are using CAE for the development of a vehicle with MBS and FEA. The concurrent use of these two technologies is a standard in the automotive industry. However the current simulation process is not fully efficient because local geometrical and material nonlinearities are not accurately modeled in classical MBS software. This paper introduces a methodology for vehicle dynamics simulation integrating MBS capabilities in one single nonlinear FEA environment enabling an accurate modeling of nonlinearity in vehicles.

MONOGAL is a coated steel developped to improve the corrosion resistance of exposed automotive body applications. Its process os based on the brittleness of the η zinc coating in a range of temperatures below the melting point of the zinc. MONOGAL is produced on a hot dip galvanizing line; at the exit of the pot the free zinc is brushed off the light side of the differentially coated sheet. Side 1 of MONOGAL presents a very thin and continuous layer of iron-zinc diffusion alloy with no free zinc. Side 2 is a standard G90 or G60 zinc coating. The iron-zinc alloy layer has excellent anti-galling properties which improve the formability of MONOGAL over two side hot dip galvanized steel with the same r value. MONOGAL also shows good weldability, paintability and corrosion resistance.

Issues relating to the reduction of CO₂ emissions and energy consumption are currently more important than ever before. In the construction engineering and automotive sectors research and development efforts are focused closely on efficient buildings and automobiles. The designated target is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and overall energy demand. However, almost all approaches focus solely on either "buildings" or "mobility." By considering both aspects as a single holistic system, further energy saving potential arises due to synergetic effects. The goal of current research projects relating to Smart Homes and Vehicle to Building (V2B) is to smooth the electrical load profile on a household level rather than to reduce the individual-related total energy consumption and thereby the CO₂ emissions.

The results of several anti-knock studies are discussed in this paper. Road anti-knock performance for 1000 fuel blends covering the years 1940 to 1957 have been investigated. The laboratory Research octane numbers of these fuels covered the range from 80 to 105. The fuels were evaluated in 46 cars representing a cross-section of the automotive products for these years. The objective of these investigations was to determine the practical application of the laboratory to road octane rating relationships, and the effect of vehicles, and operating conditions on these relationships. The results show that there is a valid correlation between laboratory and road octane ratings. The relative importance of Research and Motor octane ratings on road performance is influenced by make of car, engine speed, throttle position, and distributor advance characteristics. It also indicated that aromatics improve, whereas olefins reduce high speed Modified Borderline ratings.

The paper focuses and develops issues raised by the SAE paper ‘THE FUTURE OF VEHICLE ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEMS AND THEIR IMPACT ON SYSTEM DESIGN’ [1] and describes the realisation of a vehicle with a 12 V architecture of flexible configuration and a power management function. The paper describes the methodology, reasoning and mission behind the creation of the vehicle, developed after collaborative exercises in Europe and the USA, and resulting in a joint programme involving a major vehicle manufacturer and a European system supplier. The electrical system is becoming the focus of activity world-wide due to rapid changes in vehicle requirements, in the areas of safety, environmental and functional demands. There are opportunities for:- (a) Improved starting (b) Integrated management of power generation and demand. (c) Higher system integrity (d) Higher efficiency (e) Improvement of the vehicle electrical environment, giving benefits in component cost.

Energy demand climbs as a consequence of the inherent relationship between the rate of consumption of energy and the growth of the economy. In light of the depletion of fossil fuels, it is necessary to implement energy efficiency techniques and policies that support sustainable development. Globally, researchers show more interest in discovering fossil fuel alternatives, as a result of fuel crisis. This research elaborates on the production and experimental investigation of briquettes made from ideal municipal solid waste (MSW), such as food waste and garden waste, as a feasible choice for alternate fossil fuels. From Municipal, agricultural, and food waste, we can get biomass waste. Municipal solid and agricultural waste is extensively dispersed, but their potential for converting biomass into energy generation still needs to be explored. This study was carried out based on the information gathered from various studies published in the scientific literature.

“Digital Prototype” simulations have been used at DaimlerChrysler to achieve vehicle level NVH objectives. The effectiveness of these simulations to guide the design when faced with vehicle parameter uncertainties is discussed. These uncertainties include, but are not limited to, material properties, material gauges, damping, structural geometry, loads, boundary conditions and weld integrity. Manufacturing and assembly processes introduce variations in the nominal values of these parameters resulting in a scatter of vehicle level NVH simulation responses. An example of a high frequency NVH concern will be studied and modified to arrive at robust design guidance when faced with uncertainty. The validity of a “deterministic digital prototype” simulation model and its relevant role as a “trend predictor” rather than “absolute predictor” tool in guiding the design is also discussed.

“DELRIN” is a new thermoplastic which offers high strength, excellent thermal stability, good fatigue life, low creep, and excellent solvent resistance. This paper describes the physical and chemical properties of the material, and the range of possible uses. The material is easily fabricated into complex shapes by standard injection-molding techniques. Also, it can be easily joined to itself or to other materials. The authors think that the material offers advantages over metals in its good fric-tional properties, abrasion resistance, and corrosion resistance.

The objective of the development of the aerodynamic drag predictive tool CDaero was for use as a module for the Automobile Design Support System (AutoDSS). CDaero is an empirically based drag coefficient predictive tool based initially on the MIRA (Motor Industry Research Association) algorithm. The development philosophy was to be able to predict the aerodynamic drag coefficient of an automobile with knowledge of the features of the surface geometry control curves. These are the curves that control the 3-dimensional geometry as seen in the profile, plan and front and rear views. CDaero has been developed in a computing environment using the equation solver TKSolver™. Fifty-one input feature values are first determined from the automobile geometry and then entered into the program. CDaero models the drag coefficient with thirteen different components covering the basic body, as well as additional components such as the wheels, mud flaps, etc.

Buick engineers are well pleased with their '69 Chassis. Benefits of a unique front suspension camber curve are documented. The effects of various suspension parameters on ride and handling are explained. These were varied independently of one another in the course of evaluating over 30 suspension configurations.

As a typical parameter of the road-vehicle interface, the road friction potential acts an important factor that governs the vehicle motion states under certain maneuvering input, which makes the prior knowledge of maximum road friction capacity crucial to the vehicle stability control systems. Since the direct measure of the road friction potential is expensive for vehicle active safety system, the evaluation of this variable by cost effective method is becoming a hot issue all these years. A ‘wheel slip based’ maximum road friction coefficient estimation method based on a modified Dugoff tire model for distributed drive electric vehicles is proposed in this paper. It aims to evaluate the road friction potential with vehicle and wheel dynamics analyzing by using standard sensors equipped on production vehicle, and fully take the advantage of distributed EV that the wheel drive torque and rolling speed can be obtained accurately.

Longevity is one of the great achievements of the twentieth century. This paper will explore ways that elderly people can employ technology to enhance their independence, loosely termed “ElderTech.” ElderTech is designed to establish a sustained, long-term investment in research and development (R&D) for technologies that can provide the largest growing population, Americans over the age of 65, with the tools to ensure active aging (maintaining independence, self-reliance, and an enhanced quality of life). It will also promote aging in place (in the home); and will address and ease Medicare's financial burden on the federal government. ElderTech is aimed to establish a technology framework that will ensure that the United States (U.S.) is ready to meet the needs of its older Americans.