Optimization as a Tool for Automotive Design

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Various sensors including throttle position sensors (TPS), manifold pressure sensors (MPS), crank angle sensors, engine temperature sensors, and oxygen sensors are mounted in electronically controlled fuel injection (FI) systems to accurately regulate the air-fuel ratio according to the operating state and operating environment. Among these vehicle-mounted sensors, TPS has functions for detecting a fully-closed throttle and estimating intake air volume by the amount of throttle opening. Currently, we have conducted a study on transferring TPS functions into the MPS (manifold pressure sensor) in order to eliminate the TPS. Here we report on detecting a fully-closed throttle for achieving fuel cut control (FCC) and idle speed control (ISC) in fuel injection systems.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">We contrived a means for fully-closed throttle detection during ISC and controlling changes in the bypass opening during FCC in order to accurately judge each fully-closed throttle state via the manifold pressure. A factor in causing fluctuations in manifold pressure in a fully-closed throttle state are changes in the engine RPM (also referred to as engine speed) and changes in the degree of opening of the bypass (hereafter simply bypass opening). By keeping the bypass opening during FCC we limited the cause of fluctuations in manifold pressure to just the engine RPM; and by comparing the manifold pressure with an manifold pressure threshold equivalent to a fully-closed throttle detected at each engine RPM, we were able to accurately detect fully-closed throttle states. Another achievement was detecting a fully-closed throttle state during idling for performing ISC. This ISC adjusts the bypass opening in order to converge the engine RPM during idling to the target RPM. In other words, the manifold pressure during idling fluctuates due to two causes or namely the engine RPM and the bypass opening. So by comparing the manifold pressure with a manifold pressure threshold value equivalent to a fully-closed throttle state from the bypass opening and engine RPM we succeeded in contriving a method to detect a fully-closed throttle state with good accuracy. We found that this control technology accurately achieves fully-closed throttle detection by manifold pressure which is one of the TPS functions.</div></div>

Complicity Noël Burch (bio) Anyone who comes in from the outside quickly learns that the people of the U$A are the most un/misinformed in the developed world, that the country is one [End Page 131] where there is no public debate about any of the essential issues of our time. Capitalism versus socialism, productivism, consumerism, and imperialism—all are carefully erased, dispersed, always already irrelevant. And indeed, along with "the lies my teacher told me"1 and a debased electoral system,2 the media are certainly the most important vector of this unique combination of ignorance, prejudice, and helplessness. But what else, one is tempted to ask, is new? So forgive me if I do not address questions of media studies, which anyway are not really in my ken. Instead, let me set forth briefly—and rather peremptorily, I am afraid—my objection to an assumption that seems to underlie all of these essays, one that sets the manipulators against the manipulated, the guilty ruling classes and their media flunkies against the innocent masses. Christopher Sharrett states this assumption thus: "Knowing the historical context of U.S. state operations is important to understanding how provoked or fabricated crises and a propaganda system that collaborates in this deception are necessary to gain public acceptance of policies that would otherwise be abhorrent." Really? Abhorrent to all Americans? I wonder. This kind of rhetoric belongs to a stalwart left tradition that probably has a Greek name and that consists of feigning to believe that "the people," or "the workers," implicitly share the consciousness of a lucid vanguard (feminists have been guilty of the same oratorical sleight of hand). As such, of course, it is a touching stamp of authenticity: all of these authors are fighting to keep alive the materialist values of the Left, and I salute their efforts. However, this distant observer—and until recently regular visitor—suspects on the contrary that there is a deep tacit complicity between those directly responsible for U$ actions abroad, judged abhorrent indeed by most of the rest of the world, and the mindset of the vast majority of people living in "America," whose usurped denomination has always hinted at its hegemonic vocation. That complicity has a name. Bush senior spelled it out when he defended the U$ refusal to adhere to the Kyoto protocol—meant to start containing the greenhouse effect—in the name of "the American way of life." This brazen contempt for the planet and the future of humanity failed to arouse substantial protest in the United States. Was it simply for lack of information? Or was it because the immense majority of the Bush family's compatriots—not just the alienated born-againers in the Bible Belt—are happy to benefit from that way of life . . . even its K-Mart tag ends? And because they have been trained to live in an eternal present. And I include most of the well-paid academics who constitute the backbone of the liberal and the Radical Left in the country. As Bush juniorand the rest of that gang know, if you are not going to reduce the consumption of gasoline, then you need new resources (hence the Alaska scandal, the campaign against Cesar Chavez, and the war to get Saddam's oil). And the electorate seems less and less disturbed about massacring a lot of gooks "out there," in that mostly fictional world that 80 percent of Americans have never visited. Terry Eagleton suggests that the popularity in the United States of postmodernist ideology is a way of coping with a lived contradiction: [End Page 132] This doctrine . . . is currently being deployed by some to defend the American way of life. . . . In order to avoid the unwelcome conclusion that there is no rational justification for one's form of life, one must seek to disable the very idea of critique itself, branding it as necessarily "metaphysical," "transcendent," "absolute," or "foundational."3 The American way of life has many dimensions, most of them pernicious,4 but Bush père was referring in fact to that culture of consumption/ WASTE (the latter being the obliterated face of the American way of life) that along...

<div class="htmlview paragraph">THIS paper deals principally with a description of the methods used in, and a discussion of the results of, an investigation of the possible altitude performance with liquid-cooled engines of high output and consequent high ground boost.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">As the first step in the investigation of altitude performance the power of the engine cylinder under all possible conditions of manifold pressure, manifold temperature, and exhaust pressure is determined. The single-cylinder laboratory employed can produce any desired exhaust suction; manifold pressures up to 150 in. hg; inlet air temperature up to 400 F; and handle engine speeds up to 5000 rpm.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Maintenance of power at altitude by means of the exhaust-driven turbo compressor, Mr. DuBois believes, affords a most convenient way out for the engine manufacturer; the troubles, if any, are transferred to the builder of the turbo and of the airplane. He considers “worthy of considerable attention” the use of a two-stage supercharger with an auxiliary engine to drive the first stage. He explains that this arrangement is especially applicable to large airplanes.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Other supercharger arrangements discussed are the single - stage geared compressor; two - speed drives; continuously variable drives; two - stage geared superchargers; and modified two-stage installations, such as two-speed both stages, bypassed first stage, and the two-speed first stage.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">The two-speed first-stage method of using two stages is the most satisfactory yet considered, Mr. DuBois believes, since three steps of supercharging reduce the amount of throttling required and, therefore, improve the overall efficiency of the system.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph"> <div class="graphic-wrapper"><img class="article-figure figure" src="410099_fig0002.jpg" alt="No Caption Available"/></div> </div>

Focusing on the period of post-war European reconstruction, this article examines the ways in which the US influenced the course of social democracy in Denmark. Under the Marshall Plan, trade unionists were invited to see America with their own eyes to learn about 'the American way of life'. The Danes turned out not to be particularly interested in American ways of organizing trade unions and were not afraid to lecture the Americans on social rights. However, they did not have any problems in accepting that American-style productivity was a 'key to plenty'. The Social Democrats' plans for a welfare society were reinforced both by their visit to the prestigious New Deal project TVA and by their perception of what was still missing in the otherwise rich America. In their minds, the American concept of productivity and their own demand for full employment and social security would pave the way for a prosperous Denmark, where all levels of society would share the benefits of rising standards of living.

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">The evaluations of ride comfort in gear shifting have been known as one of the dominant factors for vehicle quality assessment. However, those factors have not been assessed and analyzed objectively in-depth in conjunction and integration with general ride and handling parameters. In recent, the criteria set by customer have changed on account of heightened expectations, resulting in a growing demand for enhanced ride comfort. the quality of gear shifting experienced by a customer is evaluated subjectively on road leads to difficulty in arriving inferences and taking decisions due to variation in responses of people on the same situation.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">This study is involved the process of conversion from subjective to objective assessment on gear shifting quality by identifying the objective parameters for contributing the quality of gear shifting feel.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">Measuring and analyzing those parameters like lever travel, lever effort, and noise while shifting during dynamic condition at vehicle level on road with the use of digital data capturing by data acquisition from the sensors like Strain gauge, Accelerometer and potentiometers. The captured data has been analyzed and corelated to subjective ratings between intended vehicles.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The same experiment has done at lab with the use of dynamometer and robotic arms, data are captured and correlated with on road dynamic measurement. As a result, the comparative report and experimental results are discussed in terms of gear shifting quality by triangular approach as follows: subjective evaluation - objective evaluation @ on road – Objective evaluation @ lab.</div></div>

<div class="htmlview paragraph">The Columbus laboratory module, developed by Astrium Bremen as prime contractor and Alenia Spazio as co-prime, is the European contribution to the International Space Station (ISS) program and as such it will support, once in orbit, micro-gravity and space based research activities of the member states.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Columbus Environmental Control System (ECS) employs an Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) providing atmosphere pressure, cabin ventilation and temperature humidity control inside the module in conjunction with an autonomous Active Thermal Control System (ATCS) that provides the heat collection capability. The ATCS, based on software controlled water loop, provides also the cooling capability for Payloads and Subsystem equipment. The ECS is completed with the Passive Thermal Control System based on software controlled shell heating system plus passive fixtures such as Multi-Layers Insulation (MLI) blankets.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Generally, both, the Columbus ATCS as well as the ECLSS are qualified via simplified but representative tests and concluding analyses. Complete verification of the module thermal and environmental control design however, will be performed via analysis supported by ECS System Level Integrated Test as well as the predictions for flight.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">With respect to responsibility sharing, Alenia is responsible for all verification by test related to thermal/environmental aspects, i.e. Alenia will define the test requirements and cases to be performed via the establishment of a dedicated test specification. On the other side, definition and production of the test set-up as well as the performance of the test is assigned to the Columbus prime Astrium SI Bremen.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">In order to get confidence on the functional performance of the Columbus ECS and to validate the Integrated Overall Thermal Mathematical Model (IOTMM) on system level the module will be subjected to an Integrated System Test (IST).</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Purpose of the ECS IST is to provide the first verification of the thermal/environmental interrelation between the active cooling (ATCS) and environmental control system (ECLSS) hardware and software and to collect as much characteristic thermal data as possible for the validation of the flight configuration IOTMM. This test will represent the second and last test in series on the flight configuration of the Columbus module.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Previous tests, for verification of the functional interfaces of the ATCS and ECLSS, have been performed already in the frame of the Electrical Test Model (ETM) utilization. However, this test did not provide information on environmental and thermal parameters of the system but rather on the functional interrelations of the relevant units of the subsystems. Presently, the subject test will be performed in the integration hall of Astrium SI Bremen (Class 100.000 clean room conditions) and the pressurized shell is planned to be covered by the flight multi-layer insulation only located beneath the meteoroid debris panels (MDPS) of the module. However, in order to get as much as possible characteristic data of the system not only the test cases have to be selected very carefully but also additional test supporting equipment (TSE) has to be evaluated.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">The present paper summarizes the efforts generated to establish the Environmental/Thermal test in the frame of the system level IST of the Columbus module, describes the interrelation aspects of the thermal/environmental subsystem verification by test and analysis and presents the derived methodologies and expected results.</div>

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Several research institutions and universities have taken on the challenge of providing solutions for accessible and universally designed workplace accommodations with a focus on people with disabilities. Accessible Design is a subset of what is termed Universal Design. Where Universal Design covers the design of products, systems and environments for all people and encompasses all design principles, Accessible Design focuses on principles that extend the standard design process to those people with some type of performance limitation. In order for individuals with disabiltities to gain better access to the work environments and the products that facilitate independence, health, safety, and social participation a multi-disciplined approach to the research is needed to identify needs and challenges of the targeted population.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Georgia Institute of Technology and its Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA) were participants in CAESAR the surface anthropometric data collection project. Data from both the CAESAR study and research generated from the Anthropometry for the Disabled project from SUNY Buffalo as well as principle of Universal Design developed at the University of North Carolina will be utilized to supplement activities for a recent grant received by CATEA to assist people with disabilities in the workplace. In keeping with President Bush's New Freedom Initiative to promote full access to community life for all Americans, Karen Milchus principle investigator for the Workplace Accommodations research grant says, (qtd. In Georgia Tech's “The Whistle”)</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph"> <div class="quote"> <div class="htmlview paragraph">“The primary objective of the research is to identify, design and develop new assistive devices and universally designed technologies that will enable all individuals, particularly those with disabilties, to achieve the greatest degree of independence and integration in the workplace.”</div> </div> </div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">The Center provides the expertise and information needed to assess and understand the requirements for people with disabiltities in the workplace. The evaluation of existing workplace products and services and archival studies of successful or unsucessful employment outcomes are a small sampling of the research being implemented in the project. Another area of focus will be showing designers how accessible features can be incorporated into their mainstream workplace products so that all emplyees can benefit from them while improving their productivity. Improving the effectiveness of the research through the use of new tools is key to the project. Some of the initial projects include the use of computer human modeling and anthropometry which offers significant benefits through analyses of the workplace accomodations for people with disabiltities. In the creation of DHM manikins for those with disabilties certain adaptations and new developments that incorporate characteristics and attributes of users with disabilities will be outlined in this research. Current off the shelf DHM tools are being evaluated for effectiveness in meeting the needs of a project of this scope. Moreover, this project will help to identify needs and features of DHM tools that are designed to address issues involving disability. Assessing human performance and evaluating tasks through simulations will be a critical component and advantage through the use DHM software tools. It is important to discuss the limitations of current off the shelf DHM software tools in addressing the needs of the disabled. The Workplace Accommodations project is ongoing and will be for the next five years. The recommendations and resulting developments will generate new bodies of research, products and tools to address the Universal Design of Workplace Accommodations. Using DELMIA's Human Modeling Solution V5R9, NexGen, Anthropos, and Surface Scan data in preliminary evaluations confirms the contributions that DHM plays in meeting the goals of this project. I will discuss establishing a methodology needed to understand issues of those with physical limitations while focusing on needs and adaptations of DHM manikins that are based on anthropometrics data gathered from a pool of subjects with varying attributes and characteristics representative of those with disabilities.</div>

<div class="htmlview paragraph">The presence and distribution of liquid fuel within an engine cylinder at cold start may adversely affect the hydrocarbon emissions from port-injected, spark ignition engines. Therefore, high speed videos of the liquid fuel entry into the cylinder of an optical engine were recorded in order to assess the effect of various engine operating parameters on the amount of liquid fuel inducted into the cylinder, the sizes of liquid drops present and the distribution of the fuel within the cylinder.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">A 2.5L, V-6, port-injected, spark ignition engine was modified so that optical access is available throughout the entire volume of one of the cylinders. A fused silica cylinder is sandwiched between the separated block and head of the engine and a “Bowditch-type” piston extension is mounted to the production piston. The Bowditch piston has a fused silica crown so that visualization is possible through the top of the piston as well as through the transparent cylinder. Fuel is injected into the primary intake port and the secondary intake port contains a butterfly valve so that the amount of swirl in the cylinder can be modulated.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">High speed (up to 9,000 frames/sec) videos of the fuel entering the cylinder under motored conditions were recorded as a function of engine speed, manifold pressure, injection timing, swirl, cycle number, and fuel type. Significant variations in the amount of liquid entering the cylinder, the size of the liquid drops and the distribution of the fuel within the cylinder were observed.</div>

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Gear shifting effort or force especially in manual transmission has been one of the key factors for subjective assessment in passenger vehicle segment. An optimum effort to shift into the gears creates a big difference in overall assessment of the vehicle.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The gear shifting effort travels through the transmission shifting system that helps driver to shift between the different available gears as per the torque and speed demand. The shifting system is further divided into two sub-systems. 1. Peripheral system [Gear Shift Lever with knob and shift Cable Assembly] and Shift system inside the transmission [Shift Tower Assembly, Shift Forks, Hub and sleeve Assembly with keys, Gear Cones and Synchronizer Rings etc.] [<span class="xref">1</span>]. Both the systems have their own role in overall gear shifting effort. There has been work already done on evaluation of the transmission shifting system as whole for gear shifting effort with typical test bench layouts. Also, work has been on assessment of life of the synchronizer ring as standalone.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">Current paper explains the work done on the development of a methodology to evaluate the synchronizer ring assembly on a test bench that accommodates only a Synchronizer ring and Gear cone set for evaluation, and the results of which can be correlated with bench testing of the complete synchronizer ring evaluation along-with Transmission shifting system.</div></div>

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">The objective evaluation of occupant comfort is a complex task where numerous aspects such as posture, pressure distribution, internal tissue loads, handling of steering wheel or gear shift have to be taken into consideration. Currently the standard evaluation procedures are hardware tests with human subjects, who are sensitive to all these aspects. However, the reproducibility of subjective tests for the comparison of design variants is a questionable issue and the costs for each test cycle with new prototypes are very high.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">As an alternative, numerical approaches using human body models such as AnyBody [<span class="xref">1</span>], CASIMIR [<span class="xref">2</span>] or RAMSIS [<span class="xref">3</span>] are applied. Here the issue of reproducibility does not exist and only little effort is required to investigate new setups. However, the disadvantage is that each approach focuses only on one specific aspect of occupant comfort, while in reality the emotions of the occupant are always a combination of all impressions. Furthermore, these kinds of numerical approaches can only provide mechanical quantities like seat pressure or joint angles. Defining the relation between these objective values and subjective rankings and defining optimization targets is a great challenge.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">For a comprehensive virtual comfort evaluation, the interaction of the different numerical approaches is essential. This is the goal of the research project UDASim [<span class="xref">4</span>], funded by the German government. Here the transfer of the posture between the human body models was a first goal to ensure consistency between the investigated setups. A second step was an iterative simulation procedure. In this procedure, a CAD-based setup is combined with a mechanical setup, which allows the simultaneous assessment of packaging and seat design.</div></div>

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">The brass synchronizers are not resistant to abusive conditions of gearbox operations, but they are very durable and cheap when used on their favorable material property working limit. The main failure which can occur in the gearbox due to the synchronizer is crash noise. During gear shifting the gear crash will create high discomfort for the driver and must apply high force to change the gears. The main factors which contribute to the crash phenomenon are the insufficient coefficient of friction, high drag in the system, and high wear rate of the synchronizer rings before the intended design life of the synchronizer.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The brass synchronizers were tested on the SSP-180, ZF synchronizer test rig to know the effect of the synchronizer performance parameters like the coefficient of friction, sleeve force, slipping time as well as durability parameters like wear rate when the operating temperature of the oil is changed. This study will help to predict the impulse behavior, surface pressure, and power of the brass material and oil for enhancing the endurance life of the synchronizer.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The effect of gearbox oil drag induced on the synchronizer system in different temperature conditions is also studied in this research work. This helps to reduce the contribution of the drivetrain losses of the gearbox, and it will also give the better shift quality. The wear rate analysis makes it possible to predict the warranty life of the gearbox in the design phase itself. In the case of shift quality, it was identified that the presence of the drag is creating the speed difference between the gear and synchronizer hub. This is creating a gear clash noise when shifted at a slow speed. The data was captured at low temperatures and high temperatures. It was found that the increase in the temperature helps in reducing the drag locally which allows smoother gear shift without speed difference.</div></div>

Contents: Introduction: psychoactive drugs--an American way of life. pt. 1. Framing addiction and alcoholism. pt. 2. Alcohol and narcotics in the American context. pt. 3. Psychotropics, psychedelics, and cigarettes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate pluralism, acculturation and assimilation in Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club (1989). In this successful novel, Amy Tan, as a Chinese American, masterfully managed to portray the Chinese experience in the United States through two generations represented by four Chinese immigrant mothers and their four American- born daughters. Despite the fact that the Chinese mothers stuck firmly to their Chinese cultural heritage, they eventually managed to make some sort of compromise between their Chinese culture and the American way of life. Consequently, they adopted a pluralistic identity. In the meantime, though their American- born daughters assimilated into American culture, and continually ridiculed Chinese culture, towards the end of the novel, they accepted some of the Chinese cultural heritage. In fact, the theories of pluralism, acculturation and assimilation are applicable to Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. The Chinese mothers adopted pluralism whereas their American- born daughters embraced acculturation and assimilation though, as they matured, they perceived the great worth of their Chinese cultural heritage, and managed to strike a balance between their ethnic culture and the American culture. In this novel, Amy Tan actually affirms the indispensability of one's ethnic culture, along with the American way of life; subsequently, she recommends pluralism. The great merit of the novel, really resides in the fact that Amy Tan's approval of pluralism can be applied to any ethnic group.

This article discusses the images of male bodies published by the Brazilian magazine O Cruzeiro between 1946 and 1955. Rather peculiar bodies were shown in specific relations which have reshaped habits and attitudes into an entirely new dimension. Such images show a longing for modernity, a modernity which is marked by North-American consumption ideals – the American Way of Life, implemented in Brazil after the 1940s. Such consumption made spaces and habits more modern, through the promotion of a seductive image arsenal designed to broaden the action fields of both women and men, but at the same time reinforcing space limits and stereotypes of what was considered masculine or feminine.

The Journal of American CultureVolume 38, Issue 3 p. 286-287 Book Review Discipline and Indulgence: College Football, Media, and the American Way of Life during the Cold War , Jeffrey Montez de Oca. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2013. Andrew McGregor, Andrew McGregor Purdue UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Andrew McGregor, Andrew McGregor Purdue UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: 08 September 2015 https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.12370Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Volume38, Issue3September 2015Pages 286-287 RelatedInformation