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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.

A sense of “personal integrity” blocks pilot use of new information about how he thinks. Research on human performance under stress done over the past fifty years indicates increased rigidity and regression to earlier learned behavior in high stress, and in low Stress a shift in attention to any domestic situation or on the job controversy which is of higher stress than that of the job at hand, all without the pilot's knowledge. Informal surveys of commercial pilot training and commercial pilot attitudes towards these studies indicate that the study findings directly confront learned cultural responses. Pilot and trainer reactions prevent the information from being adequately investigated or formally taught. The findings are not written into training manuals and pilots who are informally given the information do not have adequate access to the knowledge when it is needed.

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.

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.

When looking into using PCMCIA PC Cards in the avionics market, three areas must be researched. The first is what are the applications and benefits of using the PC Cards while in flight, followed by the applications and benefits on the ground, and thirdly on how to make a PC Card that would stand up to the rugged avionics environment. PCMCIA PC Cards can be used in all aspects of flight. Three possible applications on the ground are; paperless documentation, modifications, flightline changes. Once airborne, PC Cards can be removed and a different functionality card can be inserted. One PC card socket can be used for many different functions during one flight. Some of the possible applications for PC Cards inflight are; flight plan changes, backup Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), and solid state data collection.

The requirement for crew resource management (CRM), or aircrew coordination training (ACT) in military parlance, has been well documented and attested to. In addition, aircraft systems training has become more intense and more in-depth in the new aircraft designs, especially in multi-crew and complex aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey Tiltrotor. (see Figure 1) Former training systems detailed training procedures that called for classroom training and simulation/simulator training followed by flight training. Improvements in aircraft flight skills training provide increased flying training capability coupled with reduced training time by integrating a mixed simulation/flight training syllabus, e.g. two to three simulation periods followed by one or two flight training periods covering the same material/skills. In addition, the simulation training will introduce new skills; the following flight periods will further refine/hone those skills.

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.

In recent years there has been increasing interest in quantifying the emissions from aircraft in order to generate inventories of emissions for climate models, technology and scenario studies, and inventories of emissions for airline fleets typically presented in environmental reports. The preferred method for calculating aircraft engine emissions of NOx, HC, and CO is the proprietary “P3T3” method. This method relies on proprietary airplane and engine performance models along with proprietary engine emissions characterizations. In response and in order to provide a transparent method for calculating aircraft engine emissions non proprietary fuel flow based methods 1,2,3 have been developed. This paper presents derivation, updates, and clarifications of the fuel flow method methodology known as “Fuel Flow Method 2”.

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.

The Boeing Company in Mesa, Arizona, has been conducting a concept design study of a roadable helicopter called the “Converticar” to assess its feasibility. This is a twin-engine vehicle with twin retractable coaxial counter-rotating rotors. The purpose of the study is to describe a vehicle that carries four passengers in the equivalent of a luxury car that also can fly like a helicopter, and can be priced like a luxury car. To come near this cost goal, the production rate must be on the order of 500,000 units a year. At that rate there is no chance of training a comparable number of pilots each year. So the machine must fly and navigate autonomously, with the pilot just dialing in where he/she wants to go. Technologically, the concept appears to be feasible. Modern design processes, new materials, and improved manufacturing process should allow the Converticar to be built at the prescribed rate when the proper infrastructure for manufacturing it is made available.

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.