Automobiles design improvements

Obviously, a battery can only be acceptable in any given application if it is capable of delivering an adequate service-life. As indicated in Table 17.2, the life-limiting processes (failure modes) for the conventional SLI battery (first a 6-V unit, then a 12-V unit) are well known, and the reliability of the battery has been progressively improved to keep pace with advancements in automobile design over the better part of a century. 

Automobile engineers have been aware of these problems for a long time. They have made a series of design improvements to lessen the potential problems associated with front-end impact. Smooth switches rather than knobs, recessed hardware, and padded dashboards are examples. These changes, coupled with the use of lap and shoulder belts, which help to immobilize occupants of the car, have decreased the frequency and severity of the impact and lowered the death rate for this type of accident. 

Over the past 40 years, automobile engineers have improved the design to reduce the extent of corrosion. The design improvements consisted of removing crevices and locations where salt and soil can accumulate. Dissimilar metal contacts were removed. The number of nose over hoods, hood louvers, tuck-under areas, and other design features that promote chipping and corrosion have been reduced. 

The automotive industry has also directed efforts toward improving the recyclahUity of automotive plastics by change in automobile design. Efforts include designing components for ease of disassembly, as well as efforts to minimize the use of different resins and to ensure that all resins in a component are compatible with one another. One of the reasons for these changes, in addition to voluntary actions by manufacturers, is requirements in Europe that mandate that the auto industry provide a system for collection and recycling of vehicles at the end of their life. Currently, 74 to 80 percent of the weight of a typical vehicle is reused or recycled the End of Life Vehicle Directive requires that this amount be increased to 80 percent by 2006 and 85 percent by 2015. Furthermore, vehicles must increase their use of recycled materials. ... 

System rehabihty is improved by providing alternative means for performing the same task. For example, automobiles were equipped with hand cranks even though they had electric starters. This back-up equipment was provided because at that time starters were unrehable. In contemporary system design, factors such as added cost, weight, and space may prohibit the use of redundant systems. 

Minimization of pollutants from the combustion chamber. This approach consists of designing the engine with improved fuel-air distribution systems, ignition timing, fuel-air ratios, coolant and mixture temperatures, and engine speeds for minimum emissions. The majority of automobiles sold in the United States now use an electronic sensor/control system to adjust these variables for maximum engine performance with minimum pollutant emissions. 

Construction of the distillation units of 1925 was based to a large extent upon the practical experience and know-how of refinery men rather than upon theoretical design methods. In fact, the theory and practice of distillation which had been developed primarily by the wine industry were not adopted by the petroleum industry until the widespread use of the automobile forced the refiners to better distillation methods to increase their yield of gasoline and to improve its quality. 

What would be the utility of such machines Who knows Of course, a small automobile would only be useful for the mites to drive around in, and I suppose our Christian interests don t go that far. However, we did note the possibility of the manufacture of small elements for computers in completely automatic factories, containing lathes and other machine tools at the very small level. The small lathe would not have to be exactly like our big lathe. I leave to your imagination the improvement of the design to take full advantage of the properties of things on a small scale, and in such a way that the fully automatic aspect would be easiest to manage. 

Lubricants used in car engines are formulated by blending a base oil with additives to yield a mixture with the desirable physical attributes. In this problem, ctudents examine the degradation of lubricants by oxidation and design an improved lubricant system. The design should include the lubricant system s physical and chemical characteristics, as well as an explanation as to how it is applied to automobiles. Focus automotive industry, petroleum industry. 

Emissions from automobiles could be decreased with improvements in the design of combustion chambers and the computer control of combustion mixtures. Exhaust-gas catalytic converters can also limit emissions. 

A major role of the chemist in interior design is to utilize coatings and stabilizers to improve the appearance and life of the product and protect the part from physical and chemical stress. The automobile industry is setting higher standards to fulfill the stabilization requirements for vehicle interior coatings. Some of the materials utilized in interior applications were listed in Chapter 3. 

With the coming revolution in car design that is required to meet the changed market environment, the American automobile companies are faced with a formidable challenge and will require the support of the Chemical Industry in developing improved products and processes so that this challenge can be met. 

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