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The history of electric car evolution and the reasons for the design of this experimental city car are reviewed. Chassis, body, and electric power train designs are described. The performance of key electric car components and the vehicle as a whole is discussed. A detailed description of the electric control components is contained in the Appendix.

This paper describes the design and development of the Ford Driving Simulator. The simulator is a fixed-base device which provides real-time, interactive feedback to the driver through a combination of visual, auditory and tactile cues. The system is comprised of a modular buck, 150° field-of-view visual scene, a steering torque controller, high fidelity dynamics models, and an interactive experimenters station. Data acquisition systems have been developed to capture a broad spectrum of driver performance metrics.

An engine cooling fan having flexible steel blades whose pitch varies with engine speed has been developed to replace the viscous clutch used in many vehicles today. By controlling the geometric shape of the fan, maximum air flow is provided at low speeds, and noise and horsepower are reduced at high speeds. Extensive stress analysis and material development were necessary to insure adequate service life. The final design was proved out with over one million miles of in-vehicle fleet testing before release.

This paper describes the rapid development of the Ford GT transmission, from concept phase to production, where the technical challenges involved are implicit in the specifications provided. It presents the steps taken at a project management level to expedite development, as well as the tools used to design and rate components at the design stage. Examples of concurrent engineering are given as well as management techniques used to predict and address key risks. In addition, details of analysis and test procedures are given, underlining their contribution to the rapid introduction of the transmission to the market place.

The Ford Motor Company Advanced Engineering Center contains 100,000 square feet of sound and vibration laboratories, induding full vehicle chassis dynamometers, powertrain dynamometers, and sound quality evaluation chambers. The facility houses the first U.S. All-Wheel-Drive NVH Chassis Dynamometer (4 independent motor drive), the first U.S. All-Wheel-Drive NVH Powertrain Dynamometer (4 independent motor drive) and other unique elements, such as innovative wedge construction for the acoustic chambers.

An All Wheel Drive Spin-Torsional Dynamometer facility has been constructed at the Advanced Engineering Center of Ford Motor Company, adding unique capability for powertrain NVH testing. This state-of-the-art facility is designed to concurrently deliver controlled rotational and torsional engine inputs to the drivetrain. While the facility supports the use of a live engine for input, it is also equipped with an engine simulator to allow detailed examination of the NVH characteristics of new powertrain configurations before prototype powerplants are available, without the need for a live engine. This will reduce development timing for new powertrains significantly. The virtual engine consists of a driving dynamometer coupled with a high frequency servo-hydraulic torsional actuator.

The Ford Spin Torsional NVH TEST Facility developed and completed in 1999 as a state-of-the-art powertrain NVH development facility(1). Since then, various designed capabilities have been verified with test vehicles for multiple applications to facilitate powertrain NVH development. This paper describes fundamental capabilities of the test facility, including input module to simulate engine torque signatures of arbitrary engines (“virtual engine” capability) and absorbing dynamometer systems, functioning as a precision 4WD/AWD chassis dynamometer. The correlation between road test/chassis dynamometer test and Spin-Torsional test is then illustrated, verifying high correlation of vehicle/sub-system responses between conventional vehicle testing and Spin-Torsional test results.

Effectively managing transmission noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) has become increasingly important for maximizing customer satisfaction and fostering the perception of quality in contemporary cars and trucks. As overall vehicle and engine masking levels have dramatically decreased in recent times, low level tonal noises generated by transmission internals have gained significance and therefore have a greater effect on the NVH performance of vehicles. Recognizing the importance of this trend, Ford Motor Company recently designed and built a state-of-the-art research and development facility to be used for reducing noise and vibration generated by automatic and manual vehicle transmissions. The significant design features and validation results of this facility are described in this paper.

The Ford PROCO stratified charge engine combines the desirable characteristics of premixed charge and Diesel engines. The outstanding characteristics of premixed charge engines are their high specific output, wide speed range, light weight and easy startability but they exhibit only modest fuel economy and relatively high exhaust emissions. The desirable characteristic of the Diesel engine is its outstanding fuel economy. However, the disadvantages of the Diesel, which include noisy operation, limited speed range, exhaust odor, smoke, hard startability, and particulate emissions have tended to limit their acceptance. In the gasoline fueled, PROCO stratified charge engine, direct cylinder fuel injection permits operation at overall lean mixture ratios and higher compression ratio. These features enable the PROCO engine to achieve brake specific fuel consumption values in the range of prechamber diesel engines.

Brake system “feel” is influenced by numerous vehicle parameters. The Ford Ranger sought to improve brake system feel over current light truck disc-drum systems by increasing caliper stiffness and reducing system feedback. The Ranger caliper is suspended by a unique pin-rail spring which firmly attaches the caliper assembly to the steering knuckle, yet provides controlled compliance to reduce brake feedback. This paper describes the pin concept; its design and operation to achieve controlled caliper compliance.

The Ford Motor Company Rolling Road Wind Tunnel (RRWT) is a state-of-the-art aerodynamic wind tunnel test facility in Allen Park, Michigan. The RRWT has operated since January 2022 and is designed for passenger and motorsport vehicle development. The test facility includes an office area, three secure customer vehicle preparation bays, a garage area, a vehicle frontal area measurement system, and a full-scale ¾ open jet wind tunnel. The wind tunnel features an interchangeable single belt and 5-belt Moving Ground Plane (MGP) system with an integrated 6-component balance, a two-position nozzle, boundary layer removal systems, and two independent flow traverse systems. Each flow traverse has a large horizontal box beam and vertical Z-strut that can position the flow traverse accurately within the test volume.

This paper describes the design of the Ford gas turbine engine. The discussion includes basic design parameters, mechanical arrangement, functional and material requirements, and the aerodynamic and mechanical design of the major components and associated systems. Component and engine test results are discussed briefly, together with some of the major problems encountered and their solutions.

The familiar continuously variable steel belt transmissions being introduced for automotive use are “straight” CVT's, where total speed ratio span is limited to capability of the variable speed belt and pulley system. Meeting start-up performance and gradeability requirements penalizes the final drive or axle ratio resulting in the transmission reaching the maximum overdrive ratio prematurely. The Ford Research front wheel drive Dual Mode CVT employs a torque converter for start-up in addition to a full range of CVT operation as a means of improving both smoothness and fuel economy. The torque converter and a separate chain drive power path from the engine to the variable speed unit are arranged in parallel. This combination provides an approximate 30% effective increase in ratio coverage to 7:1. Vehicle fuel economy is thus improved an estimated 5-9% during highway driving because the final drive ratio can be reduced 30%.

The aftermath of World War II had a defining influence on the British motor industry up until the late 1950s. The imperative to repay wartime loans resulted in government incentives for motor manufacturers to encourage them to export the majority of their production. Concurrently, punitive levels of purchase tax were levied on those at home who had the will and means to purchase new vehicles: a very effective deterrent. A range of Ford cars classed as models ‘8’ and ‘10’ (based upon the Royal Automobile Club horsepower ratings [1]), had been in production in Britain, unchanged mechanically, since 1932 and would continue so until 1959. As a result, there was a combination of old cars available at ‘scrap’ prices plus the ready availability of low-cost, new spare parts with which to repair them.

A major activity in the development of a new car is the styling but this work has not been integrated into concurrent engineering methodologies. This paper describes ongoing work to increase the productivity and quality of styling and improving management and information flow by providing a means for r apid transformation from stylists' sketches to 3-D geometry. The result should be a less labor intensive way of generating 3-D computer m odels early in the styling process, allowing better feedback to stylists and their managers, and providing computer based geometry to engineers at a very early stage in the design lifecycle.

Driven by the need to reduce business risk, the next decade will see increasing pressure on vehicle and component manufacturers, not only to improve reliability and reduce costs, but also to provide formal demonstrations of product reliability and safety achievement in advance of product launch. In addition, assessment of product reliability early in the design stage has the benefit of shortening lead times and reducing the need for expensive validation testing. Current tools to support such demonstrations are strongly dependent on the availability of failure data generated in service or from extensive testing. Such data are not always available or easily adapted to meet the needs of the designer, especially when the product is new or contains a degree of novelty. The research described in this paper is funded through the IMI Foresight Vehicle Programme and is focused on the development of reliability tools applicable at the design stage.

A “WHEEL” is one of those auto component in a vehicle which necessitates equal attention from safety, ergonomics and aesthetic perspectives. A conventional tube type wheel for commercial vehicles is made of steel with steel side rings (multi-piece construction). In course as headway in wheel design the single piece wheels were developed which used the tubeless tires. These wheels were made available in both steel and aluminum versions. Wherein the aluminum wheels were lighter in weight than steel, aesthetically more appealing and had other significant advantages. Despite the advantages of these tubeless tire wheels, the end user had to invest for both wheels and tubeless tires to replace conventional tube type steel wheels. The retro-fitment calls for higher exchange cost of wheel and tire and this process stands to be more capitalistic to the end user wherein the payback period was longer.

Automobile body and truck cab structures are composed primarily of stampings formed from monolithic and constant gage blanks. Cost and weight penalties can arise when strength or other requirements in one small area of the part leads to the use of a material or gage that is overmatched to the needs of the rest of the stamping. Tailor Welded Blanks (TWBs) are hybrid sheet products composed of either different materials or different thickness sheets that are joined together, then subjected to a stamping operation to create a formed assembly. The strategy is employed generally to save weight and material costs in the formed assembly by placing higher strength or thicker sections only where needed. The forming or stamping process requires the joint to be severely deformed along with the parent sheets. Aluminum TWBs for automotive applications are particularly problematic because of the low formability of aluminum weld metal.

The method of the flourescent mini-tuft has been used to investigate the FORMATION MECHANISM of the asymmetric spatial vortex of slender bodies at high angle of attack in low speed tunnel without sideslip. This investigation clearly shows that the FORMATION MECHANISM of the asymmetric spatial vortex is; when the width of leeside (governed by the potential flow) is not enough for the free development of both side vortex, the weak vortex is pushed upward by the strong vortex. This investigation also shows the occasional and inevitable features of asymmetric vortex. The effect of turbulence and adverse pressure are also be considered.

Two techniques were investigated to reduce the emissions of oxides of nitrogen from a conventional regenerative gas turbine burner that involved only minor changes to the burner configuration and did not impair overall burner and engine performances. These methods were to vary the primary zone equivalence ratio and to shorten the residence time of the gas in the primary zone. Significant reductions in nitric oxide emissions were obtained by applying both methods, singly and in various combinations with one another, to the burner of the General Motors GT-309 vehicular regenerative gas turbine. Reductions in emissions that were measured on a single burner test facility at simulated engine steady-state conditions were confirmed when operating a GT-309 gas turbine powered vehicle over the HEW passenger car emission test cycle.