Automotive Technology News

More than one-third of your car's fuel consumption is spent trying to overcome friction. That means in 2009, more than 200,000 million liters of fuel was burned in cars worldwide — just to overcome friction! A joint study finds that new technologies such as surface coatings and textures, lubricant additives, low-viscosity lubricants, and ionic liquids could change that situation dramatically. In fact, researchers claim these materials, combined with nanocomposites and laser texturing techniques, would reduce friction 10% to 50%.

Did you know your auto plant profits are disappearing right under your nose? They're not all that hard to find if you know where to look. Take a turn through your plant and see if you can spot 13 telltale signs that process energy costs are killing your profits.

Are you experiencing threaded joint problems in your products due to:

• Vibration loosening?
• Costly warranty issues?
• Using messy adhesives or prevailing torque fasteners?
• Inability to service threaded joints?

Spiralock self-locking internal thread form is your answer. Our products solve thread loosening issues in a variety of automotive applications.

Not just SAE automotive standards, but ISO, ASTM, AGMA, ABMA, AWS, and more are available for instant download or site license. So ANSI has you covered, if it's electric vehicle safety, interior material fogging characteristics, paints, lubricants, gears, bearings, robotics, quality, machine tools, rolling, forming, welding.

Explore how you can reuse system-level test throughout the entire embedded software development process. Watch the six-minute introduction from National Instruments.

The increasing prevalence of electric and hybrid vehicles requires honing test strategies for the batteries they depend on to accommodate both the higher performance required and higher-than-ever production volumes. This video examines one company's approach to such testing, giving a step-by-step demonstration of the process and the underlying instrumentation that makes it work.

The amount of electronics in the average car has exploded in recent years in the name of driver safety and convenience. But according to a report from the National Research Council — prompted by incidents of improper braking and unintended acceleration that have caused numerous accidents and injuries — that trend increases both the necessity and complexity of making sure that the cars will work properly. Eliminating failures is only one of the resulting challenges. Regaining the trust of a skeptical public may prove even more difficult.

If anyone knows the virtues of high strength-to-weight composite structures, it's Ferrari, which uses them for its Formula 1 race cars. But for production of its road cars, about 30 units daily, aluminum bodies are the way to go. Hand layup of carbon composites inside a mold would take too long, and automatic methods require excess resins and thicker materials — resulting in less of a weight reduction benefit. Guarda il video, which is Italian for "watch the video," shows how Ferrari engineers build the iconic car's frame.

How many times have you taken your car in for new brakes only to find out that besides the pads you also needed an expensive set of rotors? Well, good news could be just down the road. Engineers at the Polytechnic Institute of New York and REL Inc. have teamed up to create a next-generation aluminum-ceramic composite brake rotor for the mass market. The new rotors could weigh 60% less than conventional cast iron rotors with triple the lifespan.

Industrial Molding doesn't make the cars and trucks you drive, but the precision plastic components and sub-assemblies we manufacture make them drive, ride, and stop better, faster and safer. IMC Automotive offers complete services from concept design, rapid prototyping, and tooling through manufacturing and distribution.

Dow Automotive Systems offers mutlifunctional solutions for the manufacture and repair of bus, truck, rail, recreation, industrial, emergency, and agricultural vehicles. Comprised of elastic and structural bonding adhesives, sealers, and acoustical/structural foams, solutions offer high strength, fatigue, and crash resistance; improved NVH performance; and better fuel efficiency through weight reduction.

Hitachi provides innovative solutions to the industry using leading material technologies. Our offerings include: high-performance magnetic materials for next-generation motors; LTCC substrates for ECUs under stringent conditions; FINEMET® nanocrystalline soft magnetic material for inverters and conduction noise reduction; alloys for piston ring materials; HERCUNITE® for heat-resistant exhaust casting components.

Reliable, versatile, and cost-effective Hydrolysis-Resistant Polyesters help deliver superior performance in high humidity, high heat, and aggressive chemical environments with an excellent cost-to-performance ratio for automotive, marine, solar, and electrical applications. Ticona polyesters are UL rated, with continuous use temperatures up to 140° C, and are available in a range of stiffnesses.

Components fabricated from 3D printing are getting more and more elaborate. Israel-based Objet Ltd. has produced for the StreetScooter electric car company a 5 ft wide dashboard crafted from 20 individually printed parts (see video). Many of the major parts are made of an ABS-like plastic materials, but Objet offers some 70 different materials targeted at applications in automotive, defense, medical, and consumer goods.

Guided by Six Sigma, the maker of MacPherson suspension bearings recently found room for improvement. Among the new components: a seal that halves water content, a ball set that boosts load capacity, and an over-molded metallic spring seat that increases deformation resistance. Now, they're strutting about the results: a longer-lasting suspension that handles more severe driving conditions.

UK-based research is investigating the efficacy of coupling a continuously variable transmission (CVT) with a flywheel for kinetic energy (regenerative braking) recovery. Using a flywheel for mechanical energy storage reduces the number of energy conversions for a claimed higher overall efficiency and smoother transfer of power back to the wheels. A video from Volvo demonstrates one design approach.

IBM reports progress in its pursuit of a lithium-air battery capable of powering an electric car 500 miles on a single charge. Researchers determined that oxygen reacts with the electrolytic solvent and performed extensive computer simulations to identify alternatives that won't degrade battery performance while recharging. Claims for a promising substitute suggest a working battery prototype should be ready in 2013.

When you need reliable, consistent performance. You can rely on the Thermo Scientific Horizon Fog Testing System to meet your needs when testing raw materials for SVOCs regardless of which standard you choose to follow (DIN, ISO, or SAE). Whether you are testing leather, vinyl, textiles, or plastics, your results will be consistent and accurate.

Used for deburring, surface refining, flash removal, edge cleaning and breaking; can also be used on wood for sanding. Available in all brush constructions and can be furnished with 60 grit up to 500 grit in both silicon carbide and aluminum oxide. Maryland Brush Company provides quality stock and custom brush products.

For over 20 years, Grand Bending has been a supplier of high-quality bends and associated components used in custom and high-performance exhaust systems. Capabilities include compound bends, welded fabrications, expansion, swaging, and beading.

Enhanced capabilities make Zeus FEP Lay-flat Heat Shrink ideal for next generation developments as composite release aids, fuel cell, down hole petroleum insulations, and other applications that require thin film-like properties in a heat shrink.

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