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This is an assessment of United States High Speed Guided Transit (HSGT) systems policy, vision, goals, and magnetic levitation development and commercialization technology. It includes a historical review of past magnetic levitation vehicle developments, a review of the present status of MagLev trains, and an outline of future conventional (EML) Electro Magnetic Levitation for speeds under 400 km/h; and, (SC) Super Conductive (EDL) Electro Dynamic Levitation for subsonic speeds approaching 900 km/h. Magnetic levitation transit technology has been under development in America since the United States Congress passed the 1965 High Speed Guided Transit Act (HSGT) which authorized the Department of Transportation to fund HSGT projects. Since this initial effort focused attention on the potential of the magnetic levitation concept for very high speed transit applications, this technology has been an ongoing development in Europe and Japan.

A combustion system has been developed to burn neat (pure) methanol in a direct-injection four-stroke-cycle engine. Primary objectives were to obtain low fuel consumption and long component life to make the engine suitable to replace heavy-duty diesel fueled engines. A glow plug was placed in a modified quiescent combustion chamber to ensure reliable methanol ignition at all engine operating conditions. The methanol engine provides thermal efficiency nearly equal to the diesel engine from which it is derived, in addition, nitrogen oxide emissions are reduced by 50 percent and exhaust smoke is negligible. Hydrocarbon emissions are still above the baseline diesel engine. Laboratory and field durability tests of over 2000 hours have been completed. Excellent cold-start capability has been established.

This study was undertaken to identify methods of unique identification of commercial vehicles at the roadside for slow and high-speed electronic screening purposes. It is a comprehensive look at available and emerging technologies, focusing on the needs of the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety (OMCHS) and the States. The study included both a needs assessment and a technology evaluation. A preliminary list of 22 technologies was developed that appeared to have some applicability to the task of roadside identification of commercial vehicles. As the technology evaluation progressed, five of these technologies (optical character recognition, radio frequency identification, barcode, image capture, and voice recognition) emerged as demonstrating the greatest potential for roadside identification of commercial vehicles. These five technologies were evaluated in some detail, and recommendations were developed.

Most fertilizer application systems are not capable of variable rate adjustments “on-the-fly”. To change the application rate, the farmer must dismount the tractor and change the gear ratio mechanically (i.e. via gears, chains, etc.). Air seeder manufacturers have come up with their own unique solutions to address this problem, usually involving electrohydraulics. At present there are older seeding units that perform adequately, but do not have the variable rate option. A retrofit is therefore very desirable for these units. In this paper, the feasibility of a simple hydraulic proportional valve and variable speed motor circuit is employed to replace the gears and chains. The unit is integrated with a microcontroller to provide compensation to the nonlinear properties of a proportional valve, and in turn provide a very accurate feedrate. In addition, direct user input from the cab of the tractor is possible, allowing on-the-go rate changes.

A new bumper system which provides 8 kph (5 mph) vehicle protection with superior quality, outstanding durability and high value is in production. The system includes five new technologies: Hot stamped, ultra high strength front beam, 970 N/mm2 (160 KSI) which also is the #1 body structure crossmember. Ultra high strength roll formed rear beam 1150 N/mm2 (190 KSI). polypropylene foam isolators designed for controlled energy management Thermoplastic olefin (TPO), injection molded fascias Two component urethane paint for long term color, gloss and scratch resistance. This bumper system, installed on over 100,000 vehicles so far, meets both MPV and passenger car 8 kph standards. Consumer and insurance industry trends indicate increasing demand for Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) bumper systems which meet 8 kph criteria. The major competitors in the MPV market (Aerostar, Grand Caravan, Toyota Previa, GM APV's, and Mazda MPV) have either 0 kph or at best 4 kph systems.

A new cost-reduced generation (C-Version) of ABS with integral drive slip control, so-called Anti-wheel Spin Regulation (ASR) or Automatic Traction Control (ATC) for trucks and buses has been developed for the different requirements and standards of the world market and also especially for US vehicles. The system is based on field experiences with Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) for commercial vehicles in Europe, North America and Japan as well as with integrated ASR. This paper describes the modular system configurations and components some new features and control modes. New engine controls are realized with a new pneumatic servo valve or via a data link according to SAE-standard J 1708/1922 for the US-market. In addition the paper deals with the technology and lay-out of the new ECU, its EMC, failure detection and failure mode principles, diagnostic means according to the standards ISO 9141 or SAE J 1708/1587, as well as a dedicated blink-code.

The demand for secondary braking systems on city transit buses to extend service brake lining life is increasing. To satisfy this demand. Allison Transmission has developed an integral output retarder for the Allison V731 transmission used in city transit buses with future adaptability to the HT700 transmission. The new retarder takes advantage of improved technologies to provide good response and low speed capacity necessary for the demanding city bus vocation. These technologies also allow the simple compact configuration to fit in the restricted space available in angle drive buses.

A new, systematic, sensitivity based design process for weight reduction is presented. Traditionally, a trial and error method is used when a design fails to meet the weight and the design criteria, which often conflict. This old approach not only is time and cost consuming but also does not provide insight into structural behavior. This proposed process uses state-of-the-art technologies such as design sensitivity analysis, numerical optimization, graphical user interface, etc. It handles multi-discipline design criteria simultaneously and provides design engineers insight into structural responses for frequency, durability, and stiffness concerns and a means for systematic weight reduction and quality improvement. The new design process has been applied for the weight reduction of advanced truck frame designs. Results show that a significant weight savings has been achieved while all design criteria are met.

The optimization of aerodynamic drag represents an important research area for the fuel consumption reduction of heavy duty commercial vehicles. Today's design of tractor-trailers is significantly influenced by legal conditions regarding the vehicle dimensions and the provision of a maximum transportation volume. These boundary conditions lead to brick-shaped trailer outer geometries, especially at the rear ends. That is the reason why the investigations of aerodynamic optimization of commercial vehicle trailers are predominantly restricted to detail measures up to now. The present publication treats the aerodynamic characteristics of general modifications on the outer contour of long-distance haulage trailers in regard of reducing the drag resistance and, thus, potentially also the fuel consumption in highway traffic. A new approach for the realization of a variable outer contour of trailers provides the possibility to adjust the rear end to an aerodynamically optimized shape.

The proposed wire mesh particulate trap employs a radical design for controlling the regeneration process. A prototype for a 6.2 L diesel engine was designed, built and tested to demonstrate performance characteristics and to correlate with an analytical evaluation. Presented in this paper is the first round of test data achieved thus far. Regeneration is initiated by an electric heating element embedded in the wire mesh, and a single butterfly valve controls the division of flow between the wire mesh and bypass channels. The trap design relies on oxygen in the exhaust gases for regeneration and employs a closed-loop control logic to limit the maximum temperature during regeneration. Test results indicate an ability to achieve high collection efficiencies at low pressure drops and a controlled regeneration process. Work continues to explore the regeneration characteristics under variable engine operating conditions.

The internal combustion engines emit combustion gases which contain nano and micrometric particles that are harmful to human health, causing deleterious damages to the human's respiratory system. In Brazil, heavy vehicles, such as buses and trucks, have diesel engines that work under high loads and run through metropolitan areas or in intense traffic flow roads. They are considered, nowadays, the main solid particles emitter in several World's areas. There are already standard systems to analyze these particles quantitative and qualitatively at high prices collected from vehicle gases emissions in places such as bus stops. This paper presents a new method which retains solid micrometric particulate matter emitted by diesel engine. It is simple and has a relatively low cost. A sheet of textile element was encapsulated in a system for gripping micrometric particles emitted by diesel single-cylinder engine operating in a bench and coupled with a electrical generator.

There are several existing and emerging alternatives to lead acid batteries to provide backup energy storage for remote powering applications. These alternatives include generator sets, flywheel systems, turbine alternators, fuel cells, and superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES). Flywheels offer dramatic improvements in performance, require little maintainance, are environmentally friendly in reliability, maintenance, lifetime, and cost over these energy storage technologies. High strength fiber composites, high efficiency electric drives, and frictionless magnetic bearings along with the declining size and cost of electronics have made these advanced flywheels.

The titanium alloy system offers a range of properties conducive to weight/space savings. These properties include high strength, low elastic modulus and low density, which uniquely suit them for spring applications. By utilizing titanium in various spring designs, suspension engineers can save up to 60% of the weight and 20-30% of the space for a comparable steel spring. The primary impediment to widespread titanium part production and use in the past was cost. A new low cost titanium alloy system designed specifically for suspension and drive train application has been tested and proved to limit this cost problem. Working with titanium in their suspension designs, engineers will save significant weight/space over comparable steel and aluminum components.

In automotive design and development, there are different stages for product design. In this fast changing scenario product design, digital verification of design (CAE), physical validation of the product and launching of the same in short time is important in product development life cycle of any new generation vehicle. This paper proposes a new approach towards development of a green-field platform for commercial vehicles by improving reliability of CAE and thereby reducing the need for prototype testing and hence shortening development cycle and costs - we call it “Hybrid Mule”. This Hybrid Mule has complete design intent under-body and engine-house while upper-body is made of simple representative tubular space frame. FRP skin panels are attached to this space frame to create a safe environment for test-driver. FRP skin also provides early feel of styling in running condition and evaluates basic ergonomics and visibility.

Recently most of the Japanese tractors (10 - 40kw) have been equipped with an electro-hydraulic system for automatic depth and tilt control for the rotary tiller. This is a typical implement for the Japanese rice farming. The improved performance was needed to deal in the following areas. 1. In the muddy and rough soil pan condition, the tillage depth has to be kept at the satisfactory level while the engine speed stays within the operating range. 2. An automatic depth control must apply to rough tillage without using the conventional depth sensor (i.e. rotary tiller rear cover angle sensor). To meet these requirements, an automatic depth and tilt control system was developed. The two control modes (called MC-AUTO and E-AUTO) for the automatic depth control were developed by combining the conventional control method plus a load control method based on the fuzzy control theory.

This paper covers the design, development, and testing of a new product design of a stand-up model fork lift truck, which began in 1961 and was completed in late 1963. They are a production product line now, and are offered in load capacities of: Model MSA20 - 2000 lb at 15 in. load center. Model MSA25 - 2500 lb at 15 in. load center. Design objectives are outlined in relation to the final product design. Also detailed are certain development problems which were encountered.

Prior to World War II, most heavy duty highway trucks and tractors were built as Conventionals, i. e., with the cab mounted behind the engine. In the late 1940's cab-over-engine types gained acceptance and in the 1950's the tilt cab COE was developed in its present form including sleeper cabs. The new concept is to combine the best features of conventionals and tilt cab COEs to develop a superior non-sleeper tractor that makes no compromises for sleeper cab types.

Measurements of soot and SOF emitting from automobile engines by conventional gravimetric method and soxhlet extraction method are difficult and time-consuming processes. The composition in the filter substrate may change during time-consuming analysis. Therefore an accurate and real time measurement method for particulate matter is the key demand for automobile industry. This paper describes a new concept for analyzing PM, which includes measurement of soot and SOF separately, as well as the total PM emission from automobile engine continuously. The concept comprises of the real-time measurement of soot emission with a diffusion charger (DC) combined with a specific dilution system. A differential flame ionization detector with separate sample line temperatures (47°C and 191°C), have been applied for the SOF measurement. The total PM is then expressed as the sum of soot and SOF mass.

Developed to cut down on maintenance costs and increase the earning power of the vehicle, this family of suspensions provides for improved vehicular behavior - items such as stability, braking, cornering, and overall ride. The suspensions utilize a principle of providing a cushioned variable rate ride through the use of molded rubber springs. Floating walking beams distribute weight equally on both axles in the case of tandems. The axles are positively located by upper wishbones and lower torque rods. The parallelogram thus formed prevents windup and axle hop. The correct use of metals shows a substantial weight saving in the entire model range.

In the course of studying the market requirements for seals in large axles and relating this to conventional sealing technology, it became apparent that a fresh approach to sealing was desirable. This paper describes such a development in detail. Centrifugal action is the principle sealing action of the seal. Although this is in itself not new, the method by which it is harnessed makes the design radically different from normal “slinger” seals. Both practical and analytical work are covered in the text.