However, long-range, problems remain. Currently, there is a heavy reliance on fossil fuels, meaning that only alternative and renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectric, geothermal, wind, and solar (or, probably, a combination of these) will resolve the issue, biofuels being an exception. Turbochargers are only a stopgap to fuel economy. There cannot be a continued reliance on petroleum, given Peak Oil, environmental degradation, and world political conditions. Increasing traffic congestion militates against the use of private vehicles. Certainly in the metropolitan areas, either there will have to be an increasing reliance on intelligent vehicles that can be integrated into a network where all vehicles are coordinated in a traffic management scheme, or there will have to be public transportation. The cost of sophisticated technologies has to be reduced significantly if the average person is to have a private vehicle and maintain it. In former times, it was a relatively easy matter to get a car repaired at reasonable cost. However, even though durability has been built into modern vehicles, the cost of maintaining them is rising to an extent so as to make ownership available only to wealthier individuals. Given the increase of the world’s population and increasing limitation of the world’s resources, it is problematical whether there will be enough resources to produce a vehicle for everyone. Still turbos can be used on public transportation.

More interesting reads on turbocharging are also available here.

References
(1) http://turbochargersworld.com/turbocharger-explained-part-4/

ASIL related safety procedures as well as the management of functional safety are compiled in the 10 volumes of the standard ISO 26262. A safety requirement in a particular process is generated upon possibility of risk, estimated as a probability due to an outcome of some unwanted event or any other factor related to controllability by driver, any of these which may lead to ASIL. The standard invokes four probable levels namely, A, B, C and D, wherein A is the level demanding least strictness whereas D requiring maximum stringency.

Integration of Safety Process

With the application of ISO 26262, stable concepts ensuring vehicle safety can be derived at the initial stages of development process, by optimal risk assessment and analysis of possible hazards. The faults or errors apparent during later stages can be drastically reduced, if not eliminated, by designing stable safety concept. However, if ISO 26262 has to be implemented during the later stages, it could be very tedious. This is because the aim of ISO 26262 is to instill standards into development of the car. Thus, if the standard is sought to be implemented in later stages of development, it will tend to contradict the concept behind the regulatory standard in the first place.

Safety case requirement is explicitly implied in ISO 26262 mandate at its introduction. Electrical and electronic systems have to comply with safety case requirement as per the automotive safety standard ISO 26262. The activities of the standard produces set of work products, which are implied to be ISO 26262 safety case. However, organizations are required to demonstrate its work products rather than just satisfy their compliance with the standard by mere indulging in box ticking. In fact, Part 10 of ISO 26262 mandate explains characteristics of a safety case. In this parlance, ISO 26262 is informative in approach. Moreover, as independent functional assessment is required by the regulatory standard ISO 26262, the assessor has to ensure that assurance argument is contained in the safety case. However there is qualification attached to this. The standards of production dictate the potential for safety cases by gap of some significance. Likewise, independent functional safety assessment is not required for ASIL A or ASIL B, but only an applicable requirement for ASIL C or ASIL D. Moreover, ASIL D controls complete independence in release authority, financial and managerial functions. Safety case denotes essentially process safety argument communicated by ISO 26262. Read also more here.

 The hydraulic based regenerative suspension system, although still in the developmental stages, has drawn considerable interest from several truck manufacturers and the U.S. military. The prototype damper uses a hydraulic system to force a fluid to propel a turbine that is coupled to a generator. With an active electronic management system, the regenerative suspension system was optimized to produce a smoother ride than a normal shock absorber, whilst at the same time generating electricity that could be utilized to recharge the batteries, or to operate the vehicle’s electrical accessories.

 According to the development team, the hydraulic based regenerative suspension system was able to produce an overall 10% improvement in fuel efficiency. Based on tests conducted by the development team, each PGSA in a 6 shock heavy truck travelling on a typical road could produce an average of 1 kilowatt of electricity, which is enough to take the load of the alternator in heavy trucks. In certain instances, the electricity generated is even sufficient to power a hybrid trailer refrigeration system. It was estimated that if Wal-Mart converted their entire fleet to this system, it would save the company as much as $13 million per year in fuel costs. The dual function shock absorber also incorporated a fail safe system. If for any reasons the regenerative ability of the shock absorber failed, the system is still able to function like a conventional shock absorber.

 To further develop and commercialize this technology, the development team has incorporated a company called “Levant Power”. A patent was filed recently to cover for this invention. In addition, the development team is also receiving assistances from MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service and is advised by the Kyocera Professor of Ceramics, Yet-Ming Chiang who is also the founder of a lithium-ion battery supplier Company called “A123 System”.

Interested in reading more about syspension systems? Check out more relevant content here.

There has been a recent stretch of news about the pending demise of the CD player in vehicles. The Consumer Electronics Show was all about streaming audio and Internet radio. And General Motors has announced the 2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS will not offer a CD player.

This fills me with fear.

I am not a Luddite. I love driving cars with MP3 hookups so I can plug in my iPod and listen to my own tunes. Even more, I love cars with Pandora, so I can have my own personal disc jockey in the car.

But therein lies a problem.

Streaming audio is low-fi. The fidelity of satellite radio is gruesome. The default setting for iPod downloads is grainy. You get to hear the music you want, but your ears don’t get the proper reproduction.

Conversely, CD audio provides the highest fidelity for listening to music available to the general public.

That makes keeping CD players in place a different argument from when automakers began phasing out in-dash cassette players — and before that eight-track players. Heck, there are black-and-white photos of cars that actually had turntables in the dashboard.

But all of those audio formats had degradation issues. Record albums skipped and scratched. Cassette and eight-track tape wore out and was of low-quality material.

CDs, on the other ear, provide shimmering sound, bright highs, defined bass and punchy midrange that doesn’t drown out conversation. With CDs, you have the audio clarity to tell what type of tea Andrea Bocelli drank before launching into “Nessun Dorma.”

With CDs, you can understand why Neil Peart is the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll drummer, and Ana Vidovic is the current queen of classical guitar.

But with the standard 128 kbps download of most digital audio players–and the even-lower resolution of streaming audio–the aural experience turns into a muddy, chalky mess. You can’t tell the brilliance of Nada Surf from the mediocrity of Nickelback, and that’s a bad thing.

It would be easy enough to say this development is the natural evolution in car audio. But unlike past evolutions, CDs are not being replaced by a higher-quality audio product. Just a more convenient one.

To people who appreciate music, this is a step back. It is a travesty for a vehicle to offer high-end speaker systems from suppliers such as Mark Levinson or Bowers & Wilkins, then to cripple them with low-grade music reproduction equipment.

Save the CD players!

These targets for reduced emissions are one of the biggest drivers of innovation in the automotive manufacturing sector, with weight reduction at the forefront of development. To meet the regulations each car manufacturer is assessed on the emissions of their overall fleet. Every new car registered is given an indicative emission level based on its mass, and manufacturers must ensure that the average mass of all its cars is in line with the emission allowance. Heavier cars are targeted for greater emissions than lighter cars, so the reduction in the mass of their overall fleet will help manufacturers to comply with the legislation.

Trends

The automotive door sector is one area in which manufacturers are looking to reduce overall weight by using alternative materials and new manufacturing concepts. Door suppliers are continually striving to improve the design and engineering of their products, and any reduction in weight will need to be integrated with other areas of innovation such as noise reduction, closure and sealing systems and keyless technology.

Want to learn more about trends in automotive doors? Check out more interesting reads here.

References:

(1) http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/vehicles/cars/faq_en.htm

This event will combine extensive experience from industry professionals and best practise updates – do not miss out!

Registrations are still being accepted. Please visit the website for more information!

Background
Whenever I think of turbocharging one of the first things comes to mind are super powered engines that can pass anything on the road except a gas pump. Back in middle of the last century juveniles would give that added boost of power by injecting ambient air into the intake manifold, thus making combustion more efficient. Then, too, they didn’t have to worry so much about fuel economy, as the price of regular gasoline was only about 25 U.S. cents. Most of the sports cars that started to come into the U.S. about that time were more about style and speed. It was not until the early seventies that people saw the price rise to 50 cents and then to a dollar by 1980. Still popular, however, were the large American cars that would be lucky to get 15 to 18 miles per gallon, 12-16 being common. Now we are hearing more about turbocharging, and it wouldn’t make much sense to associate this with speed, as modern engines can do what a turbocharged one could do fifty years ago. With a greater concern over petroleum supplies, especially with the recent events in the Middle East, attention is paid primarily to extending the fuel economy of current vehicles and limiting pollution. It is clear that turbocharging is one way of doing this. On another front, hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) offer a way of cutting down on fuel consumption by relying on power plants to provide energy to charge vehicle batteries. However, the problem here is that ultimately, there must be renewable energy sources to overcome the central problem of diminishing petroleum supplies.

We look at what a turbocharger does and then examine what a modification of it – boosting – would look like to provide power with increased fuel economy. We also visit timing. Afterwards, we will consider how these are coupled with HEV technology to produce better fuel economy.

Construction of a turbocharger
There are two types of turbochargers (“turbo”, for short) – ambient air intake, and exhaust gas recirculation. The first takes in surrounding air, compresses it, and then injects it into the intake manifold ultimately to mix with the gasoline in the automobile’s compression chamber.

The second type of turbocharger is powered through its turbine by the engine’s exhaust. This design recirculates the exhaust gasses back into the intake manifold, atomizing the fuel even more, which gives the added power and fuel efficiency. Normally, not all the fuel is burned because it does not remain in the combustion chamber long enough.

There are several types of turbos, the simplest being a single one. The twin or parallel turbo system consists of two turbos, one for each half of the engine, that being a V-6 or V-8. Using two of these reduces what is called “turbo lag”, the time for the turbo to wind up to the speed required to start sending compressed air to the manifold or cylinders, thus giving the boost. A sequential turbo system uses one smaller turbo for lower revolutions per minute (RPM) and a larger for higher RPMs. Larger turbos are the quads, used on much larger engines, such as v-12s or v-16.

While a turbocharger can boost engine power, it also causes more stress on the engine, thus requiring more oil changes and compensation for heat increase. If there is too much turbocharging, there can be engine failure. Remember, the factory engine was designed for certain stress tolerances, and an aftermarket turbocharger has a potential for causing damage. This being said, the factory installed turbochargers are designed to manage the engine stress issues. It is the after-market (non-original equipment manufactured products installed outside the factory) turbochargers that cause problems.

Interested in reading more about turbocharging? Find more useful content here!

Here is an interesting overview by Harald Hamprecht about the top-selling global premium brands. Find out who is leading the ranking…

And the winner is … BMW — again! The Munich carmaker was the top-selling global premium marque for the sixth consecutive year in 2011 with unit sales for its namesake brand of 1.38 million, a rise of 16 percent from the year before.

Second-place Audi’s 2011 volume growth of 19 percent to reach 1.3 million global sales outpaced BMW’s and helped the Volkswagen-owned brand overtake Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz for the first time in Audi’s 102-year history. Mercedes has been No. 2 since 2005, when BMW knocked its Stuttgart-based rival from the top spot.

Mercedes brand had the weakest growth of the three German luxury brands last year, with sales rising 8 percent to 1.26 million. But don’t feel bad for Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche. All three automakers are winners with good profit margins, strong brands and many innovative technologies.

The German trio accounted for two-thirds of all global premium-car sales last year, according to IHS Automotive, and this won’t change in the mid-term. In the race for luxury leadership, the German automakers are the only contenders.

Premium and near-premium brands from the United States, Japan, Sweden and the UK accounted for the remaining third of the luxury cake. The most successful non-German brand was Volvo, with 2011 global sales of 449,255, up 20.3 percent from 2010.

The clear German dominance was obvious at the Detroit auto show when the three brands demonstrated once more how well positioned they are for the future with debuts such as the Mercedes SL, BMW 3-series hybrid and Audi Q3 Vail concept.

The epic clash among Germany’s premium heavyweights always manifests itself at the world’s big automotive circuses. “Welcome to the German show,” a Lexus executive commented.

Of course, by 2020 all the luxury contenders want to be No. 1 in the premium segment. Stay tuned. The race between the German rivals will create more jealousy from their competitors and will remain suspense-packed.

(Source: Posted by Harald Hamprecht at http://www.autonews.com/article/20120111/BLOG15/301129999#ixzz1jd0rwKIt )

 Achieving State of Art Suspension systems
Driving comfort and safety is one of the functionalities of vehicle suspension system. A good suspension system is the efficient carrier of the vehicle body or its framework, so as to proportionately distribute all forces between the road and the vehicle body. In order for the suspension system to suit any driving conditions, introduction of active and semi-active components is mandatory. Fixed setups of suspension should be technically enhanced by making alterations in variable shock absorber or springs so attached to it. For instilling efficacy in vehicle suspension systems, the control behavior of its components ought to be studied. Also, adapting to certain parameters in relevance to driving excitations must be understood. It is equally pertinent to identify as well as detect if any faulty components persist, in order to accommodate design of suspension system. As any discussions on suspension systems brings forth the essence of driving safety and driving comfort, it would be optimal to elaborate these two widely used terms.

Read more about suspension systems here.

New Technology
Many manufacturers are embracing new technology and developing new designs for seating as they strive to reduce weight and improve functionality. The use of thermoplastics and CFRP’s (Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastics) are becoming more and more commonplace, and several seat manufacturers are investing in the development of the production of one-piece seat structures which are much lighter than conventional steel structures, while retaining or improving upon strength.

Another part of the seat which is subject to new research and development is the padding and cushioning. Typically in seat manufacture the cushioning has been made up of PU foam, but due to the weight this material adds to the seat, manufacturers are looking to newer materials to afford the same level of comfort and safety while reducing weight. Foams derived from renewable sources and from recyclable materials are being developed, while some chemical firms are developing ‘plastic’ polypropylene foams which offer the same level of support as conventional foams.

Vistagy
Seating design is a complex process which often requires detailed communication between auto manufacturers, seating suppliers and components manufacturers (¹). With the improvement in technology and computing, comes the ability for designers to create much more complex models and designs for manufacturers to work with. One company which facilitates this process is Vistagy, with their Seat Design Environment (SDE) software. The industry-specific software is fully integrated into commercial CAD systems, and gives engineers the functionality to create detailed 3D digital models of their seats and internal components. Vistagy says that SDE is the first ever seat design software which addresses the entire seat manufacturing process.

The software enables designers to create a complete product definition, digitally defining the seat style and the soft-goods requirements such as trim cover surfaces and sew lines. It can assess the design production and highlight any potential issues, such as wrinkling of seat covers, all without the need for a prototype. It is able to generate flat patterns which can be edited with 2D software before being imported back into the 3D model, without formatting problems. Designers are able to use the software to create engineering drawings and data, detailed sewing instructions, and parts lists. The software can also give an accurate report on the parts and costs involved in any particular design; essential when considering the cost-effectiveness of a design.

Sources:
(1)  http://www.vistagy.com/products/seating-environments-summary.aspx

Interested in reading more about advancing design & driver safety?
>> Check out more content here.