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From May, 1977 to May, 1978, the Transportation Centre, University of Saskatchewan conducted four surveys to determine seatbelt usage rates in Saskatchewan. The surveys were conducted prior to and after, the passage of a law on July 1, 1977, requiring seatbelt use by front seat occupants of motor vehicles. The surveys were conducted at sampling stations on urban streets, provincial highways and municipal roads. The results of the May, 1978 survey were analyzed to determine what relationships exist between usage rates and various vehicle characteristics. Usage rates when examined using cross-tabulations appeared higher for certain types of vehicles: compact or sub-compact vehicles, foreign models, etc. However, when the data was analyzed using multiple regression techniques, only the year of vehicle manufacture showed a consistently high level of significance.

Lunar and planetary programs have entered the surface exploration research phase. In this phase, considerable emphasis is needed on high mobility vehicle configurations, reliability and high efficiency, low weight electrochemical energy converters, and electric traction power systems. This research, in many cases, is applicable to solving future mobility problems on earth. Three areas of current lunar and terrestrial research are discussed and analyzed, and the correlative advantages to those working in both fields are highlighted. The three areas are; (1) high mobility vehicle configurations; (2) electrochemical energy converters; and (3) electric traction power systems.

Samples of painted cold rolled and galvanized steel have been exposed to laboratory cyclic and salt spray tests, accelerated outdoor exposure in Florida, and on a vehicle in Detroit. Samples have been evaluated visually and by scanning electron microscopy and microprobe analysis. Galvanized steel performed better than cold rolled steel in all but the salt spray test. Some of the factors influencing the spread of corrosion beneath a paint film have been identified.

Government clean air regulations have prompted much interest in the automotive industry in alternative fuels for lower emission vehicles. Methanol fuels have become the primary focus of the auto companies in meeting these challenges. Even though the corrosiveness of methanol and commercial methanol fuel blends is well recognized, no systematic investigations on the relative corrosion behavior of metals and their coatings in these solutions are available. The purpose of the present study is to determine the relative corrosion rates for metals, plated metals, and otherwise coated metals that were exposed to ionic and water contaminated methanol/gasoline fuel mixtures. The results are described for samples that were immersed in M15 and M85 test fuels for between 2000 to 8000 hours under static laboratory conditions at 40°C. The primary measure of corrosion was mass loss, which was used to generate corrosion rates, where possible, for each of the specimens.

An extensive field study was made of the corrosion of aluminum alloy panels in over fifteen years of service in three regions of the USA. Panels removed from service exposed vehicles were subjected to further testing to determine the relationship between field service, accelerated laboratory corrosion testing, and marine environment exposure for two years at Daytona Beach, Florida. In addition, two 42 year old aluminum bodied Dyna Panhard vehicles were recovered in France, examined closely, and subjected to similar tests. Few examples of significant corrosion were found in the field, and only one example of filiform corrosion on aluminum sheet in service. Steel panels on the same vehicles frequently rusted through, and filiform corrosion was seen occasionally. Laboratory tested aluminum panel samples frequently showed filiform corrosion and severe intergranular corrosion.

A proving ground trailer test was conducted on twenty trim materials mounted to three different body panel substrates. The trim materials tested include a detailed stainless steel evaluation, chrome flashed and nickel/chrome plated stainless steels, stainless steel bilaminates, bimetal, and plated rolled zinc. The body panel substrates were cold rolled steel and 60G60G and 70G70G electrogalvanized steel. The trim materials were tested in grounded and isolated conditions to determine the galvanic interaction with the body panel substrates. The test data has been correlated to field surveys in Detroit and Montreal for further validity (1)*.

A powder coating is a fine powder which melts, flows, and forms a continuous film as heat is applied. Due to the nearly 100% non-volative nature of powders, higher molecular weight resins can be utilized to increase the corrosion and chemical resistance of the coating. In addition, solvents, amines, and other volatiles associated with conventional liquid coatings are not employed and cannot be trapped in the cured film. Due to this basic polymer chemistry, powder coatings normally provide superior corrosion resistance to their liquid counterparts. While powder coatings have been successfully utilized in the automotive industry, their use has been limited. Current products offer many proven advantages, and future developments may even further increase their effectiveness.

One joining technique that is receiving increased attention is mechanical fastening with a steel self-piercing rivet. The use of steel rivets in direct contact with aluminum components raises questions concerning galvanic corrosion. To determine if a corrosion problem exists, aluminum samples were joined by two processes--resistance spot welding and steel self-piercing rivets. Replicate samples using two aluminum alloys were tested for 90 days by alternate immersion in 3.5% NaCl water solution. After alternate immersion exposure, the integrity of the joint was evaluated by shear testing. Joint shear strengths and the metallographic corrosion evaluations are presented in this paper.

This paper is an introduction to the basic manufacturing techniques utilized in «Air Brazing of Aluminum Automotive Heat Transfer Products» and the relationship to the corrosion resistance of products manufactured with this process.

In order to investigate the corrosion resistance of organic composite-coated steel sheets ( OCS ) in a real automotive environment, many kinds of corrosion tests were performed on test pieces and real automotive doors. Tests with a corrosive solution including iron rust were introduced to simulate the real corrosive environment of automotive doors. The relationship between the components of OCS and the corrosion resistance in the rust-including tests was examined. In addition, electrochemical studies were performed. Results indicate OCS has much better corrosion resistance than plated steel sheets with heavier coating weight in all tests. OCS shows excellent corrosion resistance in rust-free corrosive solution, however, some types of OCS do have corrosion concerns in rust-including tests. It became clear that these OCS types have an organic coating with lower cross-linking.

The change from gasoline to alternate fuels such as those based on methanol, is expected to create material compatibility problems because of the enhanced reactivity of the powder metal (P/M) materials currently in use. These problems are most serious for the steels containing copper or those that have been copper infiltrated. P/M austenitic stainless steels offer the possibility of overcoming the inherent corrosion problems of the current P/M alloys. Test samples of 304L and 316L were processed on production equipment and sintered in pure hydrogen or a simulated dissociated ammonia mixture. Corrosion testing was performed in SAE-approved mixtures of “aggressive methanol” and gasoline (termed CM15A and CM85A). To accelerate the corrosion test and simulate an auto-oxidized fuel mixture, a small amount of t-Butyl Hydroperoxide was added. These preliminary tests confirm that Fe-0.8 %C and Fe-2% Cu-0.8%C steels will rust in these test fuels, within 24 hours.

In this work, the type and level of strain are related to the degree of corrosion resistance and the type of coating damage for three coatings: 40 gm/m2 electrogalvanized steel, 80 gm/m2 electrogalvanized steel and Zincroplex™, a zinc-rich paint over 40 gm/m2 electrogalvanized steel. The coating weight of the electrogalvanized steels was a factor in the degree of coating damage and thus affected corrosion resistance. The electrogalvanized steels were adversely affected by bi-axial deformation. Zincroplex™ failed under draw-type deformation. Although the corrosion limit diagram technique does not predict service life, it can distinguish among the capabilities of different materials at different levels and types of strain.

This paper presents the engineering technology for the 1992 Corvette Acceleration Slip Regulation (ASR) system and Antilock Brake System (ABS). After the introduction of Bosch 2S anti-lock brakes in the 1986 Corvette, we experienced an improvement in vehicle stability and steerability during hard braking. The next challenging task was to improve the vehicle's stability during acceleration. The goal was to assist the driver of this high horse power front engine, rear wheel drive sports car on low coefficient surfaces. This goal was accomplished with the functional integration of engine torque management and brake intervention. This required functional integration of three subsystems: engine spark retard, throttle close down and brakes. This is the first application for a throttle close down device which provides driver feed back of slippery road conditions, through the accelerator pedal.

Fluoroelastomers (FKM) have been used for many years for a wide variety of automotive applications requiring resistance to temperature and/or aggressive fluids. In many of these cases, FKM was used because no other elastomers were available to meet the needs. Hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR) is a new family of elastomers which can meet many of these very stringent requirements. HNBR has been tested in a variety of state-of-the-art automotive fluids versus most of the currently commercially available families of FKM and the results are discussed in this paper. Data from this study highlights potential automotive sealing applications where HNBR, if used, could meet the performance criteria at a reduced cost.

A study of the cost effectiveness of minicomputers vs. main frames for structural analysis programs is described. The study compares the performance of several finite element programs including SAP IV and SPAR. Most of the runs were performed with the Illinois Institute of Technology PRIME 400 minicomputer and the United Computing System UNIVAC 1100/81 main frame. Other computers were used selectively. The matrix of structural problems included beam, plate and shell problems and static, dynamic and nonlinear analysis.

Generalized relationships are derived to analyze the cost effectiveness of weight reduction obtained by substitution of an advanced material of reduced density with no change in dimensions. These cost effectiveness relationships are applied to a preliminary assessment of aluminum-lithium (Al-Li) on an advanced derivative of the MD-80 transport aircraft.

In “Theory and Application of the Equivalent System Mass Metric,” Levri, Vaccari, and Drysdale computed the Equivalent System Mass (ESM) of crew time. ESM is a cost-type metric based on allocated mass that is often used in life support systems. The previous paper suggested that the cost per hour of crew time should be equal to the ESM of the life support system, divided by the number of available crew work hours. We suggest here that the mass cost for additional crew time may be as large as the total mission mass or as small as the added mass of consumables, depending on how much more crew time is needed. If the increased mission work load requires flying additional crewmembers, the total mass and cost of the mission increases roughly proportionally to crew size. But if the needed work can be done merely by extending the mission duration, the required additional mass is only that of the food and supplies to be consumed during the time extension.

In view of comparatively higher landing frequencies expected in operation of short range jets, analysis of costs by a measure other than flying hours are a necessity. Turbojet and turboprop systems are compared in terms of logical exposure to usage, and cost per landing are found to be most meaningful for several systems, which are further analyzed. Because the landing gear system costs were found to be greatest in magnitude of the airframe sytems, these are reviewed in some detail. While good progress in brake cost reduction has been achieved further developments in wheel design toward reduced cost are in order, and considerable emphasis is needed on tires, which account for half of all landing gear costs.