Ford Motor Company

About: Ford Motor Company is a company organization based out in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Internal combustion engine & Clutch. The organization has 36123 authors who have published 51450 publications receiving 855200 citations. The organization is also known as: Ford Motor & Ford Motor Corporation.

Metal-matrix composites in the automotive industry: Opportunities and challenges

Abstract: Metal-matrix composites offer considerable promise to help automotive engineers meet the challenges of current and future demands for recyclable, fuel-efficient, safe, and low-emission vehicles. These materials can be engineered to match the design requirements of automotive power-train or chassis components. Technological and infrastructural barriers tend to limit the implementation of these materials, but it is believed these barriers can be overcome and that metal-matrix composites can be applied in high-volume vehicle production. Reducing these barriers will require much effort by engineers and scientists, managers and planners at automotive manufacturers, and their suppliers. The result will be the gradual introduction of metal-matrix composites in high-volume vehicle production to satisfy customer desires while meeting regulatory requirements and competitive pressures.

Energy Absorption in Composite Tubes

Abstract: The collapse characteristics and energy absorption of a variety of tubes made in glass, graphite and Kevlar fiber composites have been examined. Tubes made from glass or graphite fibers collapsed by a fracture mode. There was a critical range of tube geometry over which stable collapse occurred with high energy absorption; thinner wall tubes tended to collapse in an unstable manner with lower energy absorption. Changes in the lay-up which increased the modulus increased the energy absorption of the tube. Tubes made from, or including Kevlar fiber, tended to collapse in an unstable mode by buckling rather than by fracture, which led to low values for specific energy absorption.

Estimating the suspended sediment loads of rivers in the LOIS study area using infrequent samples

Abstract: A central objective of the LOIS Community Research Programme is to provide estimates of the land–ocean flux of suspended sediment from the LOIS study area. While high frequency (15-minute interval) suspended sediment concentration data are recorded within the programme at six tidal limit sites, infrequent (weekly–monthly) sampling undertaken by the Harmonized Monitoring (HM) Programme provides additional concentration data for 23 tidal limit sites in the LOIS study area. In order that these infrequent data can be used to generate sediment flux estimates, the accuracy and precision of 22 load estimation procedures are assessed in the context of sampling frequency (weekly, fortnightly and monthly) and basin scales representative of the LOIS study area. Sampling frequency is demonstrated to exert a significant influence on the precision of the individual procedures, with precision being inversely related to sampling frequency. Accuracy is less clearly influenced by sampling frequency, although different procedures were identified as being the most accurate at the three sampling frequencies. Basin scale is shown to exert a significant influence upon accuracy and precision, with the performance of the load estimation procedures being inversely related to basin scale. For one interpolation procedure, an error correction procedure is developed, based on the strong relationship identified in this study between the error associated with individual flux estimates and the ratio of mean sampled discharge to the mean discharge obtained from the high frequency record. This relatively high resolution error correction method is applied to HM data from eight tidal limit sites in the LOIS area, and corrects the initial annual load estimates to provide values that are considered to be more representative of rivers from the LOIS study area. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Method and apparatus for desulfating a NOx trap

Abstract: A method and apparatus for desulfating a NO x trap is proposed wherein the SO x purge temperature is achieved by modulating the amplitude of the A/F of the mixture supplied to the engine thereby storing oxygen in the trap during lean engine cylinder events and generating the required exotherm during rich engine cylinder events.