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Frequency domain testing has had limited use in the past for durability evaluations of automotive components. Recent advances and new perspectives now make it a viable option. Using frequency domain testing for components, test times can be greatly reduced, resulting in considerable savings of time, money, and resources. Quality can be built into the component, thus making real-time subsystem and full vehicle testing and development more meaningful. Time domain testing historically started with block cycle histogram tests. Improved capabilities of computers, controllers, math procedures, and algorithms have led to real time simulation in the laboratory. Real time simulation is a time domain technique for duplicating real world environments using computer controlled multi-axial load inputs. It contains all phase information as in the recorded proving ground data. However, normal equipment limitations prevent the operation at higher frequencies.

This paper describes the fabrication and operation of a low-cost, monolithic silicon mass-air-flow sensor (MAFS) developed for automotive applications. The device is a hot wire anemometer made of two thin single-crystal silicon beams, one being the heated element and the other serving as a temperature reference. Temperature compensation techniques and the design tradeoffs to maximize performance while ensuring durability in the harsh automotive environment are discussed.

An estimate of the rate of attrition of passenger cars, needed to establish the service life expectancy of passenger cars, is of major interest whenever long range production plans are made, marketing strategies are developed, the total needs of vehicles on the roads are estimated, etc. Estimation of vehicle attrition is very complex, however, due to the lack of accurate data and the interaction of the parameters affecting attrition. In 1980 and 1985, similar studies of attrition [1,2] utilized vehicle registration data available as of July, 1979 and as of July, 1984. The object of this paper is to update the results of these papers, using the 1991 July registration data, available in May 1992. Within the scope of this paper the attrition rates of various passenger cars are compared and the effect of geographical location on the attrition rates and the change in attrition rates during the past twenty years are discussed.

This paper contains a technical description of the Ford Motor Co.'s ACT system which has been designed to meet transportation needs in a wide variety of urban applications. The discussion covers the systems design features and operation of the driverless rubber-tired vehicles, the guideway, and the system's ability to meet expanding needs by a modular approach to the command and control design. Descriptions of Ford's new Cherry Hill Test Track and the first installations at the Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, Mich., and the Bradley International Airport, Hartford, Conn., are also presented.

Powertrain mounts are one of the important design characteristics of a vehicle. Powertrain is mostly mounted to the front subframe and once installed in a vehicle, powertrain mounting has an important role in determining the vehicle vibration characteristics. A good mounting system isolates engine input vibration from the vehicle body and minimizes the effect of road inputs to the customer. This paper discusses results of several dynamic models as they relate to noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) and compares the accuracy of these models. Various powertrain models are studied and their accuracy in comparison with full a vehicle model is discussed.

To serve the need of in-line rear axle diagnostics as well as other types of transmission inspection, an angular sensor development has been undertaken. It has resulted in a new device, incorporated into a system which performs angular error sensing at three levels. High precision of better than 0.003% in velocity variations is achieved. A continuous check of the null-error status of the devices is maintained in order to ensure maximum reliability of the readings. An easy on-site calibration check is available which eliminates the need for any precision calibrating fixture. The device is configured to accommodate a pass-through drive shaft for in-line mounting. A rugged design and immunity to rotor imperfections are advantageous in a plant environment.

This paper outlines an approach to highway transportation research which considers the interrelationship of the major subsystems. It describes the framework, the variables, surveillance techniques, and new vehicle instrumentation. A model is described which serves as the basis for field testing and subsequent mathematical analyses. Surveillance systems including instrumented vehicles, ground, aerial, and space platforms are required as components of a real-time system. A research project, designed to evaluate driver stress, is discussed and sample computer data are shown.

The design requirements for the frame as a load carrying member are discussed in relationship to a highway truck and its basic vehicle package. The theoretical and experimental procedures are given in detail to demonstrate the techniques for frame design. The features of a method to laboratory test a frame with correlation to service miles is discussed.

The object of this paper is to develop a random vibration laboratory test specification for automotive subsystems using the Power Spectral Density (PSD) method. This development is based on the 150k mile field data collected from vehicle proving grounds. The simulated vibration bench test will be used to simulate the energy of the 150k mile field data. The developed specification will include 3 axis random vibration profiles of appropriate duration. The Power Spectral Density method converts the time-domain field data into the frequency-domain data. The Enveloped Energy method groups the similar road PSD profiles to produce a generic PSD profile. The Inverse Law allocates an adjusted duration to the desired PSD energy level. The Road Test Specification provides the duration time for the developed bench test. The n-Soft tool [1] is utilized for data reduction analysis. The Bench Test Specification of the Fuel subsystem is a pilot for this development.

THE study of engine life, carried out by investigating engine wear in typical service, and by then striving to find the most effective ways of controlling it, forms the basis of this paper on contaminants in lubricants. The investigation involved a study of engine wear in 20,000 miles of operation typical of the average driver. The average driver was selected by using test cars from an employee transportation car pool. At the conclusion of the tests it was found that the use of the full-flow oil filter proved to be the best method for restricting engine wear caused by contaminants that get inside the engine. It was also shown that after successfully eliminating large, solid particles, further restriction of engine wear would depend upon the ability of the oil to lubricate, and upon the engine design to provide the oil supply in a manner suitable for lubrication of each part of the engine.

This paper describes experimental methods for simulating and analyzing road noise using an artificial road surface mounted to a chassis dynamometer. The nature of the relationship of road noise to road surface is discussed, including the nature of sound produced by the artificial surface mounted to the dynamometer. A method is described for converting the harmonics usually produced in a chassis rolls test into a continuous spectrum. This method also smoothes statistical fluctuations which arise due to the short length of road simulated. Dynamometer techniques are shown to be particularly effective in separating sound contributions from the front and rear suspension, and in separating contributions due to road surface and the tire tread.

In design for durability, it is generally believed that a compressive mean stress is beneficial and a tensile mean stress is detrimental. Quantitatively the effect of mean stress on fatigue life however is still inconclusive and may very well depend on both the material used and the loading conditions. Over the years, many models have been proposed to help predict mean stress effects. For example, in the long life region, Goodman's formula is widely used, while the Smith-Watson-Topper damage parameter seems the most popular for use in computerized local strain based fatigue tools. In this paper, several frequently cited mean stress correction methods together with the most recent crack closure based method are compared in various ways. Particular emphasis is given to the effect of yield level mean stresses, which has been traditionally neglected but is of practical importance to the ground vehicle industry.

Vehicle operation noise, even in the quietest cars, produces high sound pressure levels (SPL) at very low frequencies. This noise masks desired signals in and above this frequency range. A blind subjective test, using ten listeners, was undertaken to determine a frequency response equalization curve that would compensate for this noise under specific but realistic conditions. Starting with a 4 dB full-band level increase, an average of 40 listener responses showed a gentle rise in bass reaching an additional 4 dB at 50 Hz.

A compact in-situ tensile stress fixture was designed for the study of the combined effects of stress and automotive environments on structural glass fiber-reinforced composite materials. With this fixture, a standardized 300 hour laboratory screening test was developed to compare the residual property loss of composite materials due to concurrent exposure to stress and environment. It is of great importance that the data gathered in the laboratory have correlation to on-vehicle (in-service) performance, and that both lab and real world data be taken with a test system (in-situ test fixtures) capable of providing accurate and consistent results under either test condition.

Downhill tests are widely used as a method of evaluation, development and validation of braking efficiency, friction pair durability, braking balance, as well as fade characteristics and recovery of friction material properties. This test procedure is used for both: passenger vehicles and light & heavy commercial vehicles. The energy levels in the brake system are higher on commercial vehicles and the thermal characteristics much more critical. Added to the fact that such tests are conducted on public highways, it has an intrinsic security risk for both the vehicle tested and all others around. Until a few years ago, it was still feasible to conduct tests downhill on different routes keeping a high security level. Given an increasing traffic on highways, where the test is currently carried out, a need to create a similar downhill procedure (called Guaporé Mountain Test) within a Proving Ground under controlled conditions has been noticed.

This paper proposes to utilize the Automobiles Entertainment Audio and Cellular Phone Systems as an information terminal to access the Information Super Highway better known as the WorldWide Web. As society moves to an ever increasing information based technology, there will be an ever expanding need to provide new ways and means of allowing access to the data on the WorldWide Web and Internet from many various locations and at a variety of different times. The authors recognize that rather large amounts of data and research have conducted and presented relative to obtaining information from and across the WorldWide Web. Additionally much work has been expended in the development of enhanced Driver Information Systems within the Automotive Industry.

Road to rig problems exist as long as vehicles are being tested. Many approaches and methods exist to produce test cycles for rigs or test tracks, in order to produce viable results for the generation of statements concerning such crucial aspects as durability and fuel consumption. Modern model strategies again demand shorter–than–ever development periods, whilst meeting better–than–ever the needs and demands of special target groups. Therefore, the testing methods must also be refined, in order to gain a closer correlation to the customer's vehicle deployment. The approach introduced here makes use of real–world customer data for obtaining a closer look at how the vehicle is used by different customer groups, in different countries. The data is collected by small and unobtrusive dataloggers installed in customer vehicles. As these customers are using their own vehicles in everyday life, being unaware of the acquisition process, a database of real customer usage is generated.

TWENTY-FIVE-YEAR statistics, detailed in this paper, show declining accident and fatality rates despite radical increase in vehicle registrations and annual vehicle miles. The author shows how the passenger-car industry has built safety into vehicles to the point where-as an example-only 14% of accidents on the Pennsylvania Turnpike over its 13-year history were attributed to vehicle failures. Paralleling these efforts and the increasing emphasis on safer highways, better traffic management and driver education, are extensive studies aimed at bypassing the human factor and increasing human safety in automotive vehicles. Among those described here are crash investigations, laboratory tests of safety devices, and establishment through various other means of design criteria for human impact tolerance.

Improvements in clamp load retention of fastened joints in instrument panels are desired by automotive OEMs to minimize warranty claims due to squeak and rattle problems. The decrease in torque retention of these plastic boss and metal fastener joints over time and temperature cycling was described in a previous SAE technical paper.1 This loss in clamp load retention (which is another measure of joint durability), as measured by torque, was shown to be affected by differences in the thermal expansion rates of the captured materials. The purpose of this paper is to further quantify these differences by using strain gages to measure the thermal expansion rates and dimensional changes of the joint's various components: metal fastener, molded plastic boss, and captured material.

One of the difficulties in predicting the structural behavior of vehicles such as the full size pickup trucks is the non-linearities involved during the course of the durability events. The current practice in durability and fatigue life prediction of vehicles is to conduct fatigue analysis on the structure using the measured road loads and estimate the fatigue incurred using the in-house and commercially available programs. In this paper the authors attempt to seek a different solution to the durability problem by conducting an upfront non-linear analysis. The results are then compared with the prediction by the fatigue life program in addition to the durability test results obtained on the early prototypes. To conduct the non-linear analysis ABAQUS FEA program is chosen for this investigation and for the linear analysis MSC/NASTRAN is utilized. Subsequently in-house fatigue program is used to predict the fatigue incurred.