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The PG-84 Class is the first class application of a combined diesel or gas turbine (CODOG) powerplant in a United States Naval ship. A controllable-reversible pitch propeller provides the means of reversal. The marinization work necessary to adapt an aircraft gas turbine for marine use is described. Although some operating problems have developed in the first few months of service, the CODOG concept has been proven to provide great improvements over the characteristics available either with all diesel or all gas turbine drive.

A “solventless” coating process for Plastic Automotive Lenses utilizing Ultraviolet Cure Technology has been developed which can be completely recovered and used without adjustment. The resultant product has utility in both interior and exterior environments. In addition, Beta backscatter techniques can be used to non-destructively measure the coating thickness which is important to many end use areas. Finally, process parameters are related to performance.

Acetal copolymer grades stabilized against ultraviolet light deterioration have been commercially available for two decades. These grades exhibit good retention of mechanical properties upon extended exposure to ultraviolet light but suffered from a surface appearance problem of discoloration, bleaching, and chalk formation, A new ultraviolet light stabilization system has been developed for acetal copolymers which demonstrates excellent property and surface appearance retention upon accelerated UV light exposure.

This paper reviews research work in the United Kingdom on the objective effects of the sonic boom on humans and structures, and the subjective response of humans. Works in these areas, both before and during the Concorde aircraft's supersonic overflights, is described and appropriate references cited.

The exhaust emissions standards for heavy-duty (HD) truck engines in the U.S. are facing a severe reduction of both PM and NOx emission in the year 2007, making extensive exhaust aftertreatment inevitable. Although the final emission limit values for NOx (0.20 g/bhp-hr) and NMHC (0.14 g/bhp-hr) will see a phase-in between 2007 and 2010, the PM emission limits of 0.01 g/bhp-hr will already take full effect in 2007. Engine-out emissions in the range of EURO 5 / U.S. 2002/04 will be achievable through internal measures as described in this paper. To fulfill U.S. 2007 limits, a diesel particulate filter will be necessary. The final limits taking effect in 2010 will only be fulfilled through application of NOx and particulate aftertreatment. To achieve the low engine-out emission levels, this paper will focus on both internal measures (high-EGR combustion systems and partial homogenization) and external aftertreatment systems.

For the last several years, the Soviet Union, now the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), has offered the RD-170 rocket engine for sale to the West. The RD-170 is the most powerful and most technologically advanced rocket engine in production in the world. However, the U.S. presently has no policy regarding the acquisition of Soviet rocket technology such as the RD-170. In order to develop an effective policy, the U.S. must first determine if an application for RD-170 class engines exists, and then weigh the advantages of acquisition such as reliable and cost effective heavy lift capability versus the disadvantages such as exporting U.S. jobs. There are several possible methods of acquisition, although joint U.S.-CIS production of the RD-170 is the most politically viable as it would create U.S. jobs and support economic reforms in the CIS at the same time.

The U.S. Air Force has special problems and requirements regarding electronic color displays. This paper provides an overview of the ways in which the Air Force uses color displays and discusses associated display design issues. Major emphasis is given to airborne displays. Issues that are covered include luminance, ambient illumination, spectral characteristics of the display, color selection and tolerances, color-code size, formatting, resolution, size, weight, power requirements, and ruggedness.

This paper discusses the United States effort in a cooperative NATO program investigating the performance characteristics of multigraded engine oils. Seven lubricants (one Grade 10W-30 oil, five Grade 15W-40 oils, and a 20W-40 oil) were evaluated using the diesel engine performance tests required for qualification of MIL-L-2104D engine oils. Two test oils (one Grade 15W-40 oil and the Grade 20 W-40 oil) met the 1G2 four-cycle diesel performance established for MIL-L-2104D specification. Three products (two Grade 15W-40 oils and the Grade 20W-40 oil) demonstrated acceptable 6V-53T, two-cycle, diesel performance. However, only the Grade 20W-40 oil showed acceptable performance in both tests. Based on the results of the program, one conclusion is that multigraded 15W-40 and 20W-40 oils have the capability to demonstrate acceptable diesel engine performance as defined by the MIL-L-2104D engine specification.

The Army has been developing lightweight composite materials for a variety of uses for the last 25 years. This paper will discuss the history of the Army's development efforts on the use of composite materials for ground vehicles, and where it is headed in the future. With the upcoming modernization of the Army's ground forces for the 21st Century, it is expected that composite materials will may play a significantly more crucial and prolific role. The Army's new Future Combat System (FCS) has very demanding criteria and composite materials may help to meet these requirements in the area of weight, deployability, mobility, signature management, and ballistic protection. Additionally discussed will be the multi-functional capabilities that can be readily added to composite materials to give the US Army increased superiority.

Information on icing flight tests as conducted by the US Army Aviation Engineering Flight Activity is presented. A quick review is conducted of organizations within the US Army that become involved with icing tests. Icing flight test techniques and hardware are shown and discussed. Natural and artificial icing test results are compared. Results and conclusions from previous icing evaluations are shown. The capabilities and limitations of current techniques and systems are discussed. And finally, the process for establishing an airworthiness qualification allowing Army aircraft to fly into a forecast icing environment is presented.

The goal of the United States Army human factors engineering in Army research, development, test, and evaluation programs is assuring that the fully-equipped soldier can operate and maintain Army materiel in all environments. To this end, the United States Army Human Engineering Laboratories have published several human engineering standards that assist and guide contractor human factors programs, provide design principles and criteria for the design engineers, and serve as a tool the human factors engineering specialist can use in evaluating the materiel he is helping to develop. This paper briefly discusses three of the standards.

Human error has been shown to be a major factor influencing U.S. Army aviation and ground safety. This paper reviews human-error-related Army aviation mishap data and trends. It also describes the Army data bases related to safety issues, providing information on the data contents, access, capabilities and applications. Additionally, the paper discusses current Army initiatives toward resolution of human error safety problems.

Comparative emission measurements were made in two dynamometer-based diesel engines using protocol specified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). A single JP-8 fuel with a sulfur level of 0.06 weight percent (wt%) was adjusted to sulfur levels of 0.11 and 0.26 wt%. The emission characteristics of the three fuels were compared to the 1994 EPA certification low-sulfur diesel fuel (sulfur level equal to 0.035 wt%) in the Detroit Diesel Corporation (DDC) 1991 prototype Series 60 diesel engine and in the General Motors (GM) 6.2L diesel engine. Comparisons were made using the hot-start transient portion of the heavy-duty diesel engine Federal Test Procedure. Results from the Army study show that the gaseous emissions for the DDC Series 60 engine using kerosene-based JP-8 fuel are equivalent to values obtained with the 0.035 wt% sulfur EPA certification diesel fuel.

This paper describes the approach taken by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), Tank-automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center's (TARDEC) National Automotive Center (NAC) to attain practical fuel cell applications for military ground vehicle auxiliary power. This discussion covers the reasons for wanting military vehicle fuel cell Auxiliary Power Units (APUs), their potential role in the Army Transformation, the complications of applying fuel cells in military vehicles, concepts for military vehicle fuel cell APUs, and the NAC's commercial partnership strategy for fuel cell APU development.

Since 1985, the Body Division of the Automotive Corrosion and Prevention Committee of SAE (ACAP) has conducted biannual surveys of automotive body corrosion in the Detroit area. The purpose of these surveys is to track industry wide corrosion protection improvements and to make this information available for public consumption. The survey consists of a closed car parking lot survey checking for perforations, blisters, and surface rust. This paper reports the results of the five surveys conducted to date.

In 1985, the Body Division of the Automotive Corrosion and Prevention Committee of SAE (ACAP) concluded that an automotive body corrosion survey for public consumption was needed. The committee proceeded to develop a survey methodology and conducted surveys in the Detroit area every second year starting in 1985. The survey is a closed car parking lot survey of nineteen panels or partial panels checking for perforations, blisters and surface rust. Similar surveys have and will continue to be conducted at biyearly intervals for comparison purposes to track the results of industry wide corrosion protection “improvements”. This is a report of the results of the first three surveys. THE ACAP COMMITTEE BODY DIVISION has now completed the third in its series of biyearly surveys. It is now possible to see some very clear results of industry actions and some indication of future performance.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of the US activity regarding the development of biodiesel specifications and to provide an update of the latest status and activity in the US. An ASTM Biodiesel Task Force was formed in 1994 to develop a US standard for biodiesel. Several iterations of the standard have occurred between biodiesel producers, engine manufacturers, and researchers and good agreement has been reached. The National Biodiesel Board and US biodiesel suppliers have adopted specifications based on the ASTM work. Recent approval was granted for the development of a provisional ASTM biodiesel standard which would be published by ASTM while additional data and approvals for a full ASTM standard (further field data test method precision and bias information and approval of the GC method for free and total glycerine) are occurring. Background - Biodiesel, a renewable diesel fuel substitute or blending stock, is currently being commercialized in the US.

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy's (FE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), in partnership with private industry, educational institutions and national laboratories, is leading the research, development, and demonstration of high efficiency, fuel flexible solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and coal-based SOFC power generation systems for stationary market large central power plants. The FE Fuel Cell Program has four parts under the Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA): cost reduction, coal-based systems, research and development, and manufacturing. The SECA cost reduction goal is to have SOFCs capable of being manufactured at $400 per kilowatt (kW) by 2010. Concurrently, the scale-up, aggregation, and integration of the technology will progress in parallel leading to prototype validation of megawatt (MW) -class fuel flexible products by 2012 with many opportunities for deployment including FutureGen.

Under the President's Hydrogen Fuels Initiative, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) implemented a two-year project to determine the changes needed to accommodate hydrogen as an alternative fuel in commercial vehicles, i.e., trucks and buses. The changes needed are as follows: Dissemination of general safety guidelines for hydrogen fuel systems in commercial vehicles. Revisions to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). Revisions to the North American Standard Inspection Procedures. Revisions to the North American Standard Out-of-Service criteria.