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Advanced Vehicle Technologies (AVT), a Ballarat Australia based company, has developed the World's first diesel to 100% LPG conversion for heavy haul trucks. There is no diesel required or utilized on the trucks. The engine is converted with minimal changes into a spark ignition engine with equivalent power and torque of the diesel. The patented technology is now deployed in 2 Mercedes Actros trucks. The power output in engine dynamometer testing exceeds that of the diesel (in excess of 370 kW power and 2700 Nm torque). In on-road application the power curve is matched to the diesel specifications to avoid potential downstream power-train stress. Testing at the Department of Transport Energy & Infrastructure, Regency Park, SA have shown the Euro 3 truck converted to LPG is between Euro 4 and Euro 5 NOx levels, CO2 levels 10% better than diesel on DT80 test and about even with diesel on CUEDC tests.

A Microprocessor Data Acquisition System has been designed to be cab-mounted in vehicles or used in laboratories to acquire up to 16 channels of test data. This data may be acquired as time-at-level histograms in one or two dimensions with min-max-mean data recovery, time histories, or peaks and valleys stored on digital tape. The system includes a microcomputer-based Playback/Support Box that simplifies playback of data tapes for computer analysis or stand-alone data plotting using a graphics terminal.

The demand for improved fuel economy in both cars and trucks has emphasized the need for lighter weight components. The application of high strength steel to wheels, both rim and disc, represents a significant opportunity for the automotive industry. This paper discusses the Ranger HSLA wheel program that achieved a 9.7 lbs. per vehicle weight savings relative to a plain carbon steel wheel of the same design. It describes the Ranger wheel specifications, the material selection, the metallurgical considerations of applying HSLA to wheels, and HSLA arc and flash butt welding. The Ranger wheel design and the development of the manufacturing process is discussed, including design modifications to accommodate the lighter gage. The results demonstrate that wheels can be successfully manufactured from low sulfur 60XK HSLA steel in a conventional high volume process (stamped disc and rolled rim) to meet all wheel performance requirements and achieve a significant weight reduction.

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 have brought about wholesale changes in the mandated requirements for the EPA and states to bring clean air to the country. Of particular interest to the light and heavy duty truck and bus industry are the requirements for VOC reductions in Title I, the hazardous pollutant reductions requirements in Title III, and the new permitting scheme required under Title V of the Act. The inter-relationship of lower VOC coatings, hazardous pollutant reduction, and permitting requirements will be presented. Since the Act does not fully mesh these requirements, the pathways that coating suppliers and coating application facilities can use to come into compliance will be explored. Specific VOC content of conforming coatings will be presented, how they will impact application processes, and how hazardous air pollutant reductions can be achieved is explored.

EXCLUSIVE MEMBER BENEFIT: 2016 MOBILITY ENGINEERING PROFESSIONAL SALARY SURVEY AND CALCULATOR Gain better insight into compensation practices: this salary survey is the only study its kind to explore levels and changes in compensation and employment for engineers and technical employees in the automotive, aerospace, and commercial vehicle industries. It benchmarks compensation levels based by geography, education, industry sector, experience, and managerial and budgetary responsibility. The full report is available to SAE International members by signing into your My SAE account and downloading it into your My Library area. Members also have full access to the updated online interactive salary calculator by visiting SAE’s website. Become a member of SAE International to access this exclusive benefit for free, or purchase it today. YOU BELONG HERE. Membership helps you succeed both personally and professionally. Join us today.

The 2018 Ultimate GD&T Pocket Guide explains the most common rules, symbols, and concepts used in geometric dimensioning and tolerancing. This one-of-a-kind reference guide includes more than 100 detailed examples to illustrate concepts. Numerous charts for quick reference provide explanations of each GD&T symbol, modifier, and more. This valuable on-the-job resource clarifies how to interpret standard-compliant technical drawings that use ASME Y14.5-2018.

J I Case Company has produced four-wheel-drive agricultural tractors since 1964. In 1984 however, the flagship of the Case fleet changed hands. Rising labor costs and larger farming operations spearheaded the need for a more efficient larger tractor. January 1984 marked the introduction of the largest four-wheel-drive tractor in the history of Case, the 4994, a 400-gross engine horsepower tractor, Figure 1. Sheer horsepower alone however, would not meet the requirements of today's farming operations. Case Engineering realized that tomorrows tractors must have sufficient power to handle the wide variety of attachments available. They also realized that along with the unmatched power must come precise control of the attachment. These advancements in farming have required improvements to the tractor hydraulic system. This paper describes the hydraulic system of the 4994, Case's new flagship.

Over the past several years the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Standards Association has developed standards for the 5.9 GHz Dedicated Short Range Communications protocols, also known as Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments. These standards consist of IEEE 1609 as well as an amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard or 802.11p. The 1609 standards were published for Trial Use and these as well as the 802.11p draft have been implemented in a variety of test beds to provide lessons learned and feedback into the standards working groups. Based on ongoing testing, the protocols display a strong capability to address the requirements of crash avoidance and transportation mobility applications. The corresponding test results provide information necessary to update the standards after the first trial phase as industry moves toward commercial implementations.

The story of Power Farming is the great saga of our times. It is a story of free enterprise, perseverance and endurance of the individual, of vision, idealism and cooperation among men, of the lightening of human toil and the release of millions of workers from farms to feed the ever hungry industrial revolution. By no means least, it is the story of producing food necessary to win two global wars, keep our allies alive and millions of the defeated enemy from starvation. FOREWARD By 1915, the Steam Traction Engine had attained its highest development. It was the forerunner, rather than the predecessor, of the farm tractor. The former was the instrument of expansion; the latter, the instrument of progress. The invention of the tractor, following by only sixteen years Otto's practical embodiment application of the Beau de Rochas power cycle to a heat engine, marked the advent of a new order - - the age of Power Farming.

A cartridge type pivotal pin and bushing joint has been patented and is being tested and refined both in the laboratory and on construction machinery. It features “dry lubricated” (Teflon) bearings which are assembled and sealed prior to installation. It is suitable for heavy unit loads and use under severe wear conditions, such as in crawler track chains and loader bucket pivotal pin joints. A brief history of U. S. manufactured track pin joints is included to show the progress in extending the service life of these devices.

In the truck industry there is a continuous demand to increase the efficiency and to decrease the emissions. To acknowledge both these issues a waste heat recovery system (WHR) is combined with a partially premixed combustion (PPC) engine to deliver an efficient engine system. Over the past decades numerous attempts to increase the thermal efficiency of the diesel engine has been made. One such attempt is the PPC concept that has demonstrated potential for substantially increased thermal efficiency combined with much reduced emission levels. So far most work on increasing engine efficiency has been focused on improving the thermal efficiency of the engine while WHR, which has an excellent potential for another 1-5 % fuel consumption reduction, has not been researched that much yet. In this paper a WHR system using a Rankine cycle has been developed in a modeling environment using IPSEpro.

Engine mounts are an integral part of the vehicle that helps in reducing the vibrations generated from the engine. Engine mounts require a simple yet complicated amalgamation of two very different materials, steel and rubber. Proper adhesion between the two is required to prevent any part failure. Therefore, it becomes important that a comprehensive study is done to understand the mating phenomenon of both. A good linking between rubber and metal substrate is governed by surface pretreatment. Various methodologies such as mechanical and chemical are adopted for the same. This paper aims to present a comparative study as to which surface pretreatment has an edge over other techniques in terms of separation force required to break the bonding between the two parts. The study also presents a cost comparison between the techniques so that the best possible technique can be put to use in the commercial vehicle industry.

Hundreds of millions of micromachined, piezoresistive Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP) sensors have been produced to reduce pollution and improve fuel efficiency in engine control systems. Other vehicle applications for micromachined pressure sensors include monitoring turbo pressure, barometric pressure, fuel tank leakage, fuel rail pressure and tire pressure. Exhaust gas recirculation and even door compression for side impact detection are employing micromachined silicon pressure sensors. Piezoresistive pressure sensors have dominated the automotive market to date. Practical micromachined capacitive pressure sensors have recently been developed and could replace the piezoresistive sensor in many applications. This paper will examine the advantages of both pressure sensing technologies, and discuss applications that an inexpensive capacitive pressure sensor will open up.

Despite the general similarity of U.S. and European heavy trucks, there are differences in design properties that affect braking and turning performance. A European tractor-semitrailer was studied for the purpose of comparing its properties to those of U.S. vehicles and assessing the comparative performance. Mass, suspension, and braking system properties of the European tractor and semitrailer were measured in the laboratory and on the proving ground. Turning and braking performance qualities were evaluated by computer simulation and by experimental tests. In turning performance the European combination had a 9 percent advantage in rollover threshold, compared to a generic U.S. vehicle with properties that were in the midrange of U.S. design practice. Higher suspension roll stiffness and higher chassis weight on the European tractor and semitrailer accounted for the higher threshold.

This paper discusses controller development for an active, off-road vehicle suspension system. A brief review of electronic filters and their characteristics is used to provide insight on the difficulties of designing a control algorithm for negotiating hilly and rough terrain at higher speeds. Two controller designs are presented. One was designed by pole placement and causes the suspension response to approximate a Type 1 Chebychev filter. The other was designed using constrained optimization. A comparison and discussion of simulation results leads to the conclusion that the suspension should be adaptively or predictively controlled for arbitrary terrain and velocity conditions.

Collision warning systems (CWS) are a relatively new technology to reduce or mitigate motor vehicle rear-end and side impact collisions. This study compared available police-reported crash experiences of 6,143 CWS-equipped heavy trucks with the experiences of 383,058 heavy trucks without CWS. Data were from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (2000-2002). Results suggest that CWS-equipped trucks had a significantly lower proportion of crashes involving other moving vehicles and a significantly lower proportion of multiple vehicle crashes compared to trucks without CWS, (40% vs. 49%, p<0.0001; 62% vs. 67%, p<0.004 respectively). These changes are the first crash-data based evidence that supports the design effect of CWS. However, more studies are needed to determine the specific impacts of CWS on heavy truck crashes.

For several staged collisions, results obtained with closed form reconstruction calculations and with a computerized step-by-step procedure are compared with measured responses. A refined, closed-form reconstruction procedure is defined, derivations of the analytical relationships are outlined and detailed results of sample applications are presented. Closed form calculation procedures for estimating impact conditions became a topic of interest in relation to the development of an automatic starting routine for iterative applications of the Simulation Model of Automobile Collisions (SMAC) computer program. The accuracy of initial estimates of speeds determines the total number of iterative adjustments of SMAC that are required to achieve an acceptable overall match of the evidence. Since a high degree of success was achieved in the refinement of such calculation procedures, the end product, by itself, is considered to be a valuable aid to accident investigations.

This paper describes the results of a series of fatigue studies relating the lives of several weld geometries. Rotating beam and axially loaded specimens were used. A comparison between steel and plastic (polyvinylchloride scale models is made. Using plastic scale models of welded structures for fatigue life determination is the ultimate goal of this work.

In order to evaluate the THOR-50M as a front impact Anthropomorphic Test Device (ATD) for vehicle safety design, the ATD was compared to the H3-50M in matching vehicle crash tests for 20 unique vehicle models from 2 vehicle manufacturers. For the belted driver condition, a total of fifty-four crash tests were investigated in the 56.3 km/h (35 mph) front rigid barrier impact condition. Four more tests were compared for the unbelted driver and right front passenger at 40.2 km/h (25 mph) in the flat frontal and 30-degree right oblique rigid barrier impact conditions. The two ATDs were also evaluated for their ability to predict injury risk by comparing their fleet average injury risk to Crash Investigation Sampling System (CISS) accident data for similar conditions. The differences in seating position and their effect on ATD responses were also investigated.

“Today, wearing parts are regularly subjected to abnormal loading conditions. They must be able to accept these conditions without failure. In continuous operations, unscheduled downtime greatly increases maintenance costs, not to mention the cost of lost production. White iron castings offer premium abrasion resistance for many of these applications, but are often not used due to the possibility of brittle failure and the difficulty of mechanical attachment. This paper discusses the properties and applications of a composite of martensitic white iron and mild steel. This laminate will accept medium to high impact without loss of service failure, and can be installed by mechanical means or with welded attachment.”