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This paper presents Exxon Enterprises Inc.'s approach to the economic evaluation of advanced automotive power systems. The paper derives and compares projected initial costs and operating costs for a subcompact car and a full size car powered by four different advanced power systems, i.e. an advanced spark ignition engine, a lightweight diesel engine, a battery powered motor, and a diesel electric hybrid system. The operating economics are based on a detailed analysis of the power system energy consumption. A proprietary computer program was used to simulate vehicle operation on a specific driving cycle and thus provide suitable energy consumption estimates. The initial and operating costs of the vehicles also reflect the different size and weight of the power systems, as well as weight propagation effects on the rest of the vehicle.

The important elements of occupant protection in boating are discussed with respect to the variety of accident types in boating. Several structural and hardware solutions to occupant injury hazards are presented. The need for further research in the areas of collision protection and crash survivability in boating is identified and emphasized.

Crashworthiness observations over ten years of accident investigations in major railroad accidents are reviewed and significant factors and recommendable factors pointed out. Although rail fatalities are far fewer than highway fatalities, improvements have fewer limitations and railroads have a long term future, making for efficient effort. Problems are in railroad passenger cars, design of locomotive and caboose. Certain accidents could pose catastrophic failures of crashworthiness. Rail rapid transit and crash protection for vehicle occupants at grade crossings are ahead. Automotive engineers are challenged by nine design problems.

The Space Shuttle reduces operational space costs and makes space accessible to more personnel. Mission objectives dictate how occupant safety is achieved. High standards of occupant safety in a space vehicle's hazardous environment, in turn, greatly influence design. Protection from some hazards, like fire, explosion, depressurization, toxicity, control loss, and radiation are controlled similarly to past space programs but with some deviations from aircraft practices. Man is another hazard source which is controlled primarily by training and proper procedures.

The widespread consumer problem of faulty and unnecessary motor vehicle repairs led to the establishment of five demonstration projects to examine the costs and benefits of performing diagnosis separate from repair. Project sites were located at Huntsville, Alabama; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Washington, D. C.; Bayamon, Ponce, and San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Chattanooga, Tennessee. A total of 92,819 periodic inspections and 32,734 reinspections (after repair) were performed. This paper summarizes the repair industry response to the projects in terms of adequacy, cost, and necessity of vehicle and subsystem repairs performed. The relationships to diagnostic information provided, duration of project operation, project location, and type of facility performing the repairs are also discussed.

High mileage vehicles (in excess of 50,000 miles) contribute more than half of all vehicular emissions. With the new catalytic converter equipped cars, the proportional contribution of these vehicles may be even higher than for pre-catalyst vehicles. Thus a substantial portion of motor vehicle related air pollution may be caused by vehicles not subject to the manufacturer directed provisions of the Clean Air Act. This paper presents a modeling effort based on hypotheses and some preliminary data, and suggests some alternatives to combat this potential problem.

Simplified Test Equipment for Internal Combustion Engine Powered Materiel (STE/ICE) is being developed by the US Army with emphasis on test capability and ease of use. This paper discusses the man/equipment interface as well as the test capabilities of STE/ICE. Emphasis is placed on the unique test capabilities available and a concept for defining a built-in interface for the Army vehicle fleet. The focus is on the Tank-Automotive area but the applications extend to all internal combustion engine powered equipment.

Rarely does one have enough fuel economy sample cars to test for a high statistical confidence in the conclusions. The diagnostic inspection demonstration projects supported by NHTSA provided just such an opportunity. Project data on fuel consumption collected from participants under actual day-to-day driving conditions showed a 4.7 percent improvement in fuel economy after repair to correct emissions. If this could be projected nationwide, it would mean saving about 1.8 billion gallons of gasoline per year, and a subsequent savings of $1.1 billion per year for the consumer. In a concurrent study with EPA, samples of compact and intermediate cars were tested for emissions and fuel economy. Minimum repairs were made to meet inspection criteria, with an average repair cost of $16. Of these cars, 65 percent required no parts.

The effects of various combinations of vehicle steering torque gradient, control sensitivity, and lateral acceleration response time on driver-vehicle performance were investigated. Three subjects performed regulation tasks on two facilities (driving simulator and variable response vehicle) under identical disturbance inputs. The performance trends were essentially the same on both facilities, and significant interactions among the three vehicle characteristics were observed.

As evidenced by extensive research work done under contract to the government recently, it is clear that there is a strong federal interest in the limit handling performance of automobiles. Should these efforts come to fruition, manufacturers may be faced with the difficult task of designing vehicles to meet independent and, at times, conflicting handling requirements. Not only must vehicles continue to meet with subjective approval of handling behavior by customers, but they may also be required to meet objective limit performance criteria. Problems arise in that vehicles designed to achieve high levels of limit performance are not guaranteed to be more controllable or subjectively acceptable to customers. This paper shows ways design changes may cause conflicting influences on several measures of performance.

The majority of permanent magnet motors used in today's automobile utilize ceramic magnets in a stereotype design that is a direct descendant of the wound field motor. Designers of these motors should not limit themselves to the self-made rules that dictate the use of high-coercivity, arc-shaped magnets in small airgap geometries. This paper will show that the motor designer can achieve the most optimum, cost effective design for each application only if he gives full consideration to all the ceramic magnet grades and configurations available and matches them to the needs of the application.

Statistics indicate that during the past decade (1967-1976) the number of general aviation aircraft involved in an accident is equivalent to at least 38% of the total U.S. production during that period. Estimates that an aircraft will be involved in an accident over a 20 year life range are as high as 60-70%. Recognition of this probability has led to crashworthiness and occupant survivability “packaging” design concepts as offering the most realistic approach to reduction of serious and fatal injuries when an accident occurs. This paper reviews and illustrates current general aviation aircraft accident experience relative to occupant impact injury and damage indexes, and provides new data relative to current-generation aircraft.

The best COBALT magnets are of SmCo5 type made by the powdered metallurgy-sintering process and provide energy products up to 160 kJ m3 (20 MGOe). Up to 90% of the samarium in SmCo5 can be replaced by more plentiful rare earths, to produce magnets with energy products approximately 70% that of SmCo5. This versatility allows motors to be optimized with respect to the availability of the various rare earths and the motor requirements. Bonded magnets are less brittle and can be machined but the magnetic properties and thermal stability are inferior to sintered magnets. Magnets can be laminated to powdered iron for improved toughness. COBALT magnets are available in small amounts from 22 magnet manufacturers and the starting material powders are produced by seven processors.

Permanent magnets are playing an increasing role in automotive applications. They are potential energy storage devices which can be effectively used in accessory motors, sensing systems and actuators, sometimes in combination with micro processors, to conserve energy, save weight, reduce pollution and to increase safety. This paper will discuss commercial magnet materials available and some of the many applications using these materials.

Ethyl has been conducting extensive emission studies of two car fleets to investigate any effect of MMT on exhaust emissions from production cars. One fleet is being operated by Ethyl for 50,000 miles on an EPA-type durability route. This fleet consists of thirty 1977 California cars - six cars each of five models (four U.S. and one import). Two of each model are using clear certification fuel, with two each using the certification fuel plus 1/32 g Mn/gallon or 1/16 g Mn/gallon. Although the test is still running, the 16 U.S. cars using clear fuel or 1/16 g Mn/gallon have completed the 50,000 miles. For these cars, the average increase in HC, CO, and NOx emissions was essentially the same for both the clear-fuel cars and the MMT cars, with deterioration rates being somewhat lower for the MMT cars. The second test involves 20 cars from a large oil company fleet of 1975 and 1976 catalyst-equipped cars used by salesmen in the field.

The effects of using the manganese fuel additive, MMT, on experimental engine emission control systems have been evaluated in a prototype vehicle test program. Two types of engines and catalytic converters were used in vehicle emission control systems designed for compliance with the .41 HC, 3.4 CO, and 2.0 NOx g/mi standard. Testing included multiple engine dynamometer and vehicle schedules which accrued the equivalent of nearly 2-1/2 million vehicle miles. The only major adverse effect of MMT fuel usage observed was a twofold increase in engine and tail pipe hydrocarbon emissions over the 50,000-mile vehicle test schedule durations employed. This increase was attributed to a build up of manganese oxide deposits in the engine combustion chambers.

Monolithic oxidation converters can become plugged with manganese oxide deposits when the gasoline contains the antiknock additive MMT. Engine dynamometer studies showed that the rate of converter plugging depended on the catalyst inlet temperature and the concentration of MMT in the fuel. Converter plugging was not affected by base fuel or engine oil composition, and it occurred as readily with a bare monolithic support containing no catalytic material as with a production catalyst. Monolithic converter plugging appears to be a physical, rather than a chemical phenomenon, in which the manganese oxide collects primarily on the inlet edge of the converter.

This paper reviews the elements necessary to design and develop integrated air conditioning and heating systems for trucks. Included is discussion of the pertinent sub-systems: dash mounted air handling components, air distribution system, operator controls, refrigeration circuit, electrical system and vacuum system. Also reviewed are the physiological factor involved in heating and air conditioning.

A new combustion system - called MCA-JET- has been developed to improve combustion under the low speed, low load conditions typical of urban driving. Engines with this new system incorporate a special “jet valve”, in addition to the inlet and exhaust valves of the conventional combustion chamber, which directs air or a super-lean mixture towards the spark plug, and induces a strong swirling flow in the cylinder. This swirl persists during the compression and expansion processes, moves the mixture spirally and helps the flame to propagate. As a result, the combustion of lean mixtures, including those with exhaust gas recirculation, can be carried out rapidly and thus the fuel economy improved.