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The application of mini computers in conjunction with programmable controllers provides the manufacturing manager with new control capabilities not available previously. These systems have the ability to monitor in real-time the actual operation of machine tools, conveyors, and processes and report out-of-tolerance conditions as they occur.

Hot stamp foil is being used to provide a color, a woodgrain or a metallic effect on hard surfaces, both exterior and interior. Quality and economy are achieved in areas ranging from a fraction of a square inch to 4,500 square inches. The technology now includes a system of applying a bright chrome foil to the soft Polyurethane front and back ends of automobiles. Other developments include foil application to .015″ to .030″ ABS sheets, a new foil for thermoformable material, and the in-mold application of foil.

The scanning electron microscope is being applied in the rubber industry in two ways. First, as an extension of classical microscopy, the scanning microscope can provide a wealth of easily interpretable information about very complicated structures in a fast and precise manner. Second, by using this microscope as a micro x-ray analyzer, the investigator can gain new and important information regarding the chemical composition at a microscopic level that had previously been unattainable. These benefits apply to all phases of industrial technology, starting with investigations of raw materials and continuing on through product fabrication, product analysis, and product performance.

The acronym CAD/CAM is familiar to people using Computer Aids for Design and Manufacturing. This paper will present CAPE, Computer Aided Process Engineering, a system that has its impact between Design and Manufacturing. Group Technology is a related activity which is useful in the development of a CAPE system. Group Technology is a manufacturing concept of grouping items, in order to take advantage of their similarity. While neither the CAPE concept nor the Group Technology concept is new, an increasing need for expanding the application of the computer in the Manufacturing Engineering function has made these topics more frequent items of discussion and action.

This paper discusses a Flexible Manufacturing System, which has implemented design changes through simple program modifications. The system seems best suited for the manufacture of complex parts in intermediate quantities, showing poor returns on very simple parts or high produciton parts.

This paper presents a case for the growing application of Human Factors/Ergonomic expertise to develop decisions that take place within the transportation industry. It offers a definition of the HF/ERG engineering in traffic safety, research, training, and education.

This paper discusses a data sampling plan that provides an accident data file representative of the national population. It is a system for data processing, storage, and retrieval to allow early determination of trends in accident, injury, and fatality frequencies. The system of data collection discussed lies somewhere between the very detailed team approach and the routine police reporting as established independently by the states.

A staged combustion engine has been evaluated in which pairs of cylinders are coupled in series. The first cylinder of the pair inducts and burns a homogeneous, fuel-rich mixture which produces exhaust products containing substantial amounts of combustibles (CO, H2, and HC) and only small quantities of NOX. These products are then cooled, mixed with additional air, and inducted into another cylinder for a second stage of combustion. Additional work is extracted in this second stage, where substantial cleanup of CO and HC occurs while maintaining a low level of NOX. Experiments with a two-cylinder research engine showed that low NOX emission could be obtained without sacrificing engine efficiency. However, approximately 40 percent more displacement is required to produce the same power as conventional SI engines. The sources of HC, CO, and NOX emissions were investigated, as were the effects of major engine variables on these exhaust emissions and fuel consumption.

Operation of spark ignition engine under lean mixture condition is one of the several options that may be used to meet pollution and fuel economy standards. In such an operation various factors influence the combustion phenomonon. To examine these, a study is conducted in a static chamber using lean propane air mixtures of different stoichiometry. Effects of ignition energy, electrode geometry, location of ignition source and temperature profile in the initial reaction zone are investigated. It was found that increasing ignition energy accelerated flame up to a certain point; any futher increase in energy had little effect on the flame acceleration. The rate of pressure rise also showed similar pattern. Temperature in the reaction zone was lower when the ignition point was near the wall than away from it; the temperature profile was mapped using laser interferometer techniques. Round tipped electrodes showed better repeatability and yielded lower ignition energy than the flat tipped.

The development of vehicle combustion engines today is characterized by the effort to reduce exhaust gas emission and fuel consumption and to conserve the good properties of the combustion engine at the same time. As, at least for the years to come, there will be no chance for the utilization of the alternative special drives, PORSCHE is intensely dealing with the further development of the conventional combustion engine as well as of the stratified-charge-chamber engine. With their stratified-charge engine (SKS) PORSCHE has tried to create optimum conditions for each of the combustion phases. The result was a divided combustion chamber with a three-stage combustion. The system was tried on single-, six-, and eight-cylinder engines and led to good results under stationary conditions on the testing rig as well as under unstationary driving conditions.

The development of a hot wire anemometry system to study the turbulent flow conditions in spark ignition engine combustion chambers is described. Measurements of a ‘mean’ flow velocity and a fluctuating flow velocity within certain frequency bandpass ranges are reported under ‘motoring’ engine conditions during the ‘combustion period’ of the engine cycle. Two types of combustion chamber design have been investigated - a ‘squish’ design and a cylindrical disc design.

A method has been presented for the determination of the turbulence characteristics in engine cylinders using hot wire anemometry, and high speed random signal data processing techniques. Results obtained on two engines show agreement with the findings of other workers. Data for Micro and Macro-scales of Turbulence are presented for the first time, and evidence put forward to suggest very weak dependence of the Microtime Scale λt with either engine speed or combustion chamber geometry.

As the New Pressure Indicator is easily installed on running cars, without altering any part of the engines in question, one can observe the real working behaviour of the engines, transient as well as steady-state, and not only in laboratories but also on open roads. Some examples of indicator diagrams, unfamiliar and unexpected as well as normal, and also the interesting sequence of them, are shown.

In the design and selection of heat exchangers, three basic methods are used; namely Log Mean Temperature Difference Method, e-NTU Method or the Unit Core Heat Transfer Capability Method. In the preliminary analyses of heat exchanger core in automobile industry, the 3rd design method is generally used. The 3rd method relies on the correlation data between unit core heat transfer capability and air flow velocity in front of the core. These correlation data are usually obtained in wind tunnel using 12″ x 12″ or 6″ x 6″ basic core. When the tube length is different from the basic core length, correction of the heat transfer performance of the core should be made. This paper presents a mathematical formulation of this correction factor. These correction factor are also presented in several graphs and tables using water, 50/50 aqueous ethylene glycol solution, engine oil and hydraulic fluid as the hot side fluid.

A series of front, side, and rear impact tests was conducted by Dynamic Science, under NHTSA contract, to obtain vehicle damage and occupant crashworthiness data on two representative 1973 intermediate-size sedans. Selected evaluation variables included cost-to-repair data in dollars and crashworthiness data in terms of occupant response per FMVSS 208. The data are presented as a function of impact speed to emphasize that future vehicle evaluations must consider a broad speed range. Since only one test was conducted for each crash condition, data are not identified by vehicle model to avoid any inferences on relative vehicle standings. Additional tests are needed, under identical conditions, to determine if differences between vehicles are statistically significant. However, these data can serve as benchmarks against which future improvements in vehicle damageability and occupant crashworthiness can be measured.

This paper discusses the use of Linear and Nonlinear Curve Fitting Programs for the development of injury-prediction equations for automobile side and rear collisions. The data used are from the C.P.I.R. files at H.S.R.I. Separate equations developed for unrestrained, lap belt restrained and three-point harness restrained front seat occupants are discussed and compared.

General agreement exists that the ultimate goals of traffic accident research are to reduce fatality, mitigate injury and decrease economic loss to society. Although massive quantities of data have been collected in local, national and international programs, attempts by analysts to use these data to explore ideas or support hypotheses have been met by a variety of problems. Specifically, the coded variables in the different files are not consistent and little information on accident etiology is collected. Examples of the inadequacies of present data in terms of the collected and coded variables are shown. The vehicular, environmental and human (consisting of human factors and injury factors) variables are disproportionately represented in most existing data files in terms of recognized statistical evidence of accident causation. A systems approach is needed to identify critical, currently neglected variables and develop units of measurement and data collection procedures.

This paper is a brief review of the complex subject of human injury mechanisms and impact tolerance. Automotive accident-related injury patterns are briefly described and the status of knowledge in the biomechanics of trauma of the head, neck, chest, abdomen and extremities is discussed.

This paper discusses aspects of thermoplastic stamping as a viable economic process in the manufacture of automotive components, particularly the Chevrolet Monza Front End Retainer. This component represents a significant commercial reality for thermoplastic stamping in a high volume, structural application.

In the past 10 years a major new thermoplastics process has developed--plastics stamping. Stamping of plastics materials is not a new process, and it has developed from a simple idea: to use sheet metal processes and equipment to convert plastic sheets into parts of the right performance at the right price. This paper reviews STX stampable sheets, the part conversion processes, and some potential uses in the automotive industry.