Search Results

CAR engineers are haunted again by the ghost of very low-pressure tires, which they had hoped several years ago was laid. These tires are one of the elements of airplanes that they hoped not to have to adopt. As was the case with the balloon tire of 10 years ago, the super-balloon was offered by tire companies in answer to a demand of car owners for a replacement tire that would give a softer ride. The question now disturbing car engineers is whether super-balloons must be offered as regular or optional equipment on new cars. They have an eye and sales appeal but doubts exist regarding their safety in event of blow-out, their susceptibility to puncture, their relative mileage life, their effect on steering and the like. Mr. Lemon discusses these points and the engineering changes that will be necessary in the chassis if super-balloons are to become regular equipment.

The ability of performance-based brake testers (PBBTsa) to accurately determine the braking capability of commercial vehicles was investigated through a field study of over 2,800 trucks and buses. Under certain conditions, good agreement was found between the observation of brake-related defects by visual inspection and the measurement of weak brake forces by a PBBT. It was determined that the PBBTs' assessment was an independent measure of a vehicle's as-is braking capability, and should not be expected to correlate well with a visual inspection under any condition. It was also determined that predictions of stopping capability should be possible combining the PBBT results of the brake force and axle load measurements with certain assumptions regarding brake application time and road/tire coefficient of friction.

More than ten years have passed since the establishment of the AUTOSAR consortium. Today, AUTOSAR has become a well-established standard for automotive electronic control unit (ECU) development and network design. In fact, several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) now mandate AUTOSAR when sourcing ECUs. With that being said, the standard is getting more complex as new concepts are added with each new release, making integration an increasingly difficult challenge - let alone a challenge developing it alongside ECU application functionality. This paper addresses the integration of AUTOSAR 4.x basic software stack into an ECU project and offers proposed flows for the integration process starting from the ECU extract to a fully configured AUTOSAR stack.

The A-weighted sound level accounts for the bulk (but not all) of the jury's reaction to the sound of trucks coasting on a variety of tires. A component of the jury's reaction is related by the study to the manner in which the sound decays after the vehicle passes the point of observation. This component also appears to depend strongly on the characteristics of the sound. The jury's reaction shows two forms of distortion: end-of-scale compression and temporal drift. The analysis attempts to account for these factors and to see beyond them into the jury's basis for reacting.

The Mexican automotive manufacturing industry is considered to be the leading and most competitive sector in this country’s economy, and it is well known for its use of modern manufacturing technologies and philosophies. This paper address some selected aspects of the application of Just In Time initiatives in this industry, using the results of a research conducted in a selected group of automotive manufacturing plants from the central zone of Mexico, focusing mainly on the following elements: Identification of the manufacturing technologies and/or philosophies used in order to support the implementation process. Identification of the methodologies used by these companies, in order to implement the Just in Time. Identification of the main obstacles during the implementation process, and how these industries overcome them. Recommendations for the companies that are currently planning to initiate this implementation process.

This paper examines the four phases of Just-In-Time, as it is used at the Ford Motor Company. The phases are as follows: 1) awareness or understanding, 2) statement of commitment, 3) pilot projects, 4) launch or full implementation. Each phase is explained, as are the potential benefits. At Ford, communication among and contributions from all employees are considered vital, as is commitment from management. The necessity of management commitment is discussed in detail, as are means of obtaining that commitment.

Just-In-Time production involves more than strictly inventory and processing changes. It necessitates changes in the physical plant. This paper reviews the changes which were made to the physical plant at the Chevrolet Flint Motor Plant. In addition to details regarding the plant modifications, the 5-step program used to improve communications and quality is reviewed. Means of improving tool-change setup are also reviewed. All efforts at the Chevrolet Flint Motor Plant are made to improve the number of turns which will increase profits.

Among the essential Just-In-Time components of predictability, quality, communications, and cost effectiveness runs the common thread of discipline. Chrysler Corporation recognizes this need and has developed an organizational structure designed to develop the needed level of discipline. Chrysler's organizational structure is composed of two committees: an executive committee and an operating committee. Production control is the hub of the program. In addition to production control, the need for Just-In-Time suppliers and delivery is discussed.

Just-In-Time (JIT) Inventory Management is a common-sense parts delivery philosophy in which a supplier “partner” closely manages the flow of material for a customer so that all parts requirements arrive at the appropriate workstation “just-in-time” for assembly. Properly implemented, the concept is a win-win for the customer and supplier. For the customer it offers (i) better cash flow; (ii) elimination of waste; (iii) lower overhead; and (iv) better utilization of staff. The supplier, in turn, can expect (i) higher and predictable sales volumes; (ii) increased inventory turns; and (iii) added “buying power” with their sub-tier suppliers. The concept is equally applicable to airframe and airframe-component manufacturers, and to aircraft maintenance and repair facilities. JIT commodities may range from major airframe components, to the “nuts and bolts” that hold these components together.

The purpose of this paper is to show how a small aircraft company that has a computer justifies it's expense. Several examples are given of problems that make the computer worthwhile.

With increased awareness about environmental issues, the trend of automobile industry is to use ‘Recycled’ or ‘Biodegradable’ or ‘Energy Recoverable’ material. As a part of this programme, to make the vehicle ‘Green’ in nature, many automobile OEMs have taken the initiative to make use of natural fibre composite in their vehicles. Natural fibre based composite has been successfully proven for less critical as well as for semi-structural applications in an automobile. These typical applications are insulations, headlining, carpets, door pad etc. There is a demanding task for automotive OEMs to meet 85% Recyclability and 95% Recoverability targets by year 2015. To meet the RRR (Reuse, Recycle & Recover) and the ELV (End of Life) regulatory requirements, increased use of natural fibre based composite/ biopolymers is unavoidable. Natural fibre can offer potential advantages such as weight saving and improve overall green rating of the vehicle.

Changes in fastener dimensions & envelop design combined with distance to send fasteners new update torque requirements added to hard copy torque computation & joint historical review has given us, Microdot Aerospace, the opportunity to design, build & sell a new & varied brand of automatic riveter nut running units. We started by changing some of our units from magazine to vibratingbowl feeding & in the process sending fastener up to 150 feet. After this original change we were asked to set up tools with electronic torque control & the ability to store & print each separate nut & hole torque. This machine also acts as its own quality control & gives an instant readng of an out of spec fastener combination. This machine has also been set up to shut off unit if nut is not in place.

The processing characteristics, mechanical properties and environmental resistance of fiber reinforced laminates based on a new family of amorphous thermoplastic polyimide matrix resins, designated K-polymers, are described,, Graphite fiber reinforced composites have been shown to possess excellent strength retention at temperatures as high as 232°C, excellent environmental resistance and unprecedented damage tolerance. Composites can be processed either by the vacuum bag/autoclave molding of tacky, drapable prepreg made using the polyimide precursor solutions or through automated tape laydown using a hot head acting on fully polymerized thermoplastic tape. These unique processing and product properties make K-polymers prime matrix resin candidates for use with high performance fibers such as graphite and “Kevlar” 49 for primary structures in aerospace applications.

In order to minimize the greenhouse effect due to the emission of CO2, automobile manufactures have been developing battery-powered plug-in automobiles with re-chargeable Lithium Polymer batteries. However, these pure electric vehicles (EVs) are not welcomed in the market because the Lithium batteries are heavy and still expensive with limited rechargeable cycles. Furthermore, charging time and relatively short driving range obstruct the commercialization of EVs. To solve the problems, KAIST proposed four generations of On-Line Electric Vehicles (OLEVs), a sort of roadway wireless powered EVs. This paper summarizes the progress of the OLEV developments. Four generations of OLEV were demonstrated for different underground electric power rails and pick-ups. The air-gap of the 1st generation OLEV car is 1 cm and the input to output power efficiency is 80 % with 3 kW output power.

Strain sensors embedded in or attached to structural components have to measure the real deformation of the structure over the whole period of use. The user must know how reliably installed sensors provide strain measurement results. For this purpose, test facilities or coupon tests are used. In order to characterize the strain transfer quality from the host structure into surface-applied strain sensors, a unique testing facility has been developed. This facility can be used both for fiber optic and resistance strain sensors. Originally developed for fiber Bragg grating based sensors, the KALFOS facility (= \bc\ba\blibration of \bfiber \boptic \bsensors) uses Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometer (ESPI) as unbiased referencing methods. It is possible to determine experimentally the strain transfer mechanism under combined thermal and mechanical loading conditions.

Object avoidance for autonomous driving is a vital factor in safe driving. When a vehicle travels from any random start places to any target positions in the milieu, an appropriate route must prevent static and moving obstacles. Having the accurate depth of each barrier in the scene can contribute to obstacle prevention. In recent years, precise depth estimation systems can be attributed to notable advances in Deep Neural Networks and hardware facilities/equipment. Several depth estimation methods for autonomous vehicles usually utilize lasers, structured light, and other reflections on the object surface to capture depth point clouds, complete surface modeling, and estimate scene depth maps. However, estimating precise depth maps is still challenging due to the computational complexity and time-consuming process issues. On the contrary, image-based depth estimation approaches have recently come to attention and can be applied for a broad range of applications.

After a brief explanation of the K-Jetronic injection system, there follows the description of the KE-Jetronic which represents the combination of a basic mechanical installation and the electronic control of additional functions. Special emphasis is placed on the new components such as the air-flow sensor, the electro-hydraulic actuator, the pressure regulator and the electronic control unit. Test results show the improvement in fuel economy and in emissions.