Moonlight on Munich
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Ma.schinenfahrik Augsburg-nrnherg, A.G., Rank as Germany's Second Largest Heavy-vehicle Manufacturers, but Full Production Ranges from Printing Press to Nuclear Power Plants : Rudolf Diesel's Original Development Recalled IT doesn't take long these days to fly from London to Munich: a Pan American Jet Clipper does it in about two hours' flying time, and an indication of the speed of the flight is given by their provision of " Instant " sugar in case there isn't time to stir a cup of coffee. That is, assuming passengers want mundane coffee after the exhilarating experience of a take-off in a Boeing 707.
Why go to Munich in the first place? Well, they brew beer, there is a magnificent new railway station, and a Victory Arch which is not quite as recent as the station, having been erected in 1843. Also, of course, the vehicle plant of M.A.N., known in full as Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Niimburg, A.G.
Now, in addition to having been the builders of the world's first diesel engine, M.A.N. produce goods and passenger vehicles in appreciable numbers —their average monthly output_ of 1,000 ranks them as second in Western Germany. The main vehicle shop houses an assembly line some 1,600 ft. long, and the total area of the Munich factory approaches 150 acres.
Goods vehicles arc assembled in true mass-production fashion on the moving line mentioned above, chassis painting and drying being carried out in the process, whilst alongside there is a " push " line on which can be seen the complete manufacture of fully integral passenger vehicles, with air springs, independent front suspension and amidships (or rear-located) underfloor engines—a rare and impressive sight.
Five Factories
There are five M.A.N. factories. The Munich plant is essentially concerned with the manufacture of goods and passenger vehicles, and agricultural and industrial tractors. At the Augsburg plant, industrial, railcar and ships' diesel engines, arc manufactured, also printing presses and boilers, and it was in this works that Rudolf Diesel's original engine was developed between 1893 and 1897. An awe-inspiring museum in this factory bears live testimony to the development work which M.A.N. and its antecedents carried out with regard to the creation of the modern diesel engine.
At NUrnberg automotive-sized diesels, steam turbines, nuclear power plants, industrial presses and cranes are manufactured, whilst the Gustavsburg factory specializes in the production of heavy engineering equipment, including bridges and lifts_ The fifth plant is in Hamburg, where ships' diesels are made and repaired. Thus, it will be seen that M.A.N.'s capabilities are by no means restricted to B22
building road vehicles, although .these were my primary concern when making a recent visit.
Undoubtedly, M.A.N.'s work in the compression-ignition engine field stems from their early association with Herr Diesel, and-this started in the days when the Augsburg factory was an independent company, the link-up with the Nurnberg concern not having taken place. The Augsburg engineers bore with Rudolf Diesel during the difficult early development stages, until his original single-cylinder engine was proved to be able to operate at far greater efficiency than contemporary steam or petrol engines. Several single-cylinder engines were built, to be followed by the world's first twincylindered diesel engine, but all these machines were heavy and cumbersome.
Although a " street-vehicle" engine had been designed in May, 1899, and a four-cylindered 50-b.h.p. vehicle engine built in March, 1911, it was not until 1924 that an engine was developed which was compact enough to be mated to a road-vehicle chassis, and this engine was exhibited, appropriately installed, at the Berlin Motor Show of that year, although some of the thunder was stolen by the simultaneous exhibition of another dieselengined vehicle by a competitive German concern.
First Lorry in 1915
M.A.N. road vehicle production started before 1924, however. Their first lorry was built in 1915, but in those days petrol engines of Saurer manufacture were being employed in chassis manufactured under Saurer licence. From 1924 until after the end of the 1939-45 war. M.A.N. development of automotive diesels was steady but unspectacular, although in the marine and industrial field such innovations as turbocharging and the use of a doubleacting two-stroke cycle were introduced.
The big break-through in the automotive field occurred early in 1954, when .M.A.N., NUrnberg, released details of their " M " combustion system, which gave a diesel engine the property of running more quietly than hitherto thought possible, without sacrificing power or fuel economy, and also the ability to run on a widely varying range of fuels.
The broad theory behind the " M " system is " slow " fuel combustion. Fuel is injected on to the relatively cool wall of a spherical combustion chamber formed centrally in the piston crown. The injector nozzle is kept as cool as possible by using a copper insert at the nozzle tip to speed heat dissipation to the cylinder head, whilst piston-crown cooling is assisted by directing jets of oil from the crankcase
to the underside of the crown, at the rate of f gal. per minute at governed speed.
Smooth Combustion
By thus slowing up the evaporation rate of the fuel and by allowing only a small quantity of the injected fuel to burn initially, combustion starts smoothly without the usual " diesel " knock, and only after the ignition lag has passed are evaporation and combustion of the fuel which has been deposited on the chamber wall accelerated by the rising temperature and the rigorous air swirl initiated by a specially shaped inlet port.
Although M.A.N.'s original intention was to design a quiet, smooth-running diesel engine, it soon became apparent that the " M" system would permit a compressionignition engine so equipped to operate smoothly on highly volatile fuels, such as petrol, in addition to low-grade fuels, like purified crude oil.
This ability was later proved to the full, and in this way the German Government became interested, so stimulating interest in omnivorous engines throughout Europe, and, indeed, in the U.S.A. Multi-fuel operation is still, however, essentially a military requirement, and not even pioneers like M.A.N. see much future for it in civilian markets, except maybe in the case of desert-sited oil-company units.
Higher h.m.e.p.s
Concerning the future, M.A.N.'s progress in engine design is likely to be concerned with raising brake mean effective pressures. Already a 12-cylindered rail-car engine is operating at a b.m.e.p. of between 134 and 140 p.s.i., and a research engineer told me that he felt b.m.e.ps for automotive engines would rise to the 135 p.s.i. mark, with subsequent gain in fuel economy and the ability to produce 300 b.h.p. from an engine of less than 16-litres capacity. This engineer felt that 300 b.h.p. would be the generally accepted rating for heavy-vehicle engines in a few years' time.
Although M.A.N. build their own turbochargers, which give an average life of 125,000 miles between overhauls, German hauliers (like their British counterparts) are reluctant to accept mechanical speeds of 65,000 r.p.m. and seem prepared to buy bigger, heavier and more expensive normally aspirated engines. The M.A.N. blower has plain phosphor-bronze-bush bearings. incidentally.
M.A.N. have not let air-cooling escape their attention, and are experimenting along these lines, but see the main outlets for tilts type of unit as being in the agricultural and civil engineering fields. Noise is the main problem, despite the inherent quietness of "M "-system engines. The present M.A.N. vehicle plant (where, by the way, at least two Englishmen are employed) was taken over only a few years ago, having been operated during the war by a well-known firm of motorcycle, car and aircraft-engine manufacturers. The terms of the sale, incidentally, included the compulsory purchase of a 20th-century " Schloss " which now houses a guests' dining room.
Of the total output, about 35 per cent, of vehicles are exported, and of this number 60 per cent. stay on the European mainland. It is perhaps significant that less than 25 per cent, of the total vehicle production is concerned with forwardcontrol models, customers in Germany and its markets being of the opinion that their drivers feel safer with an engine in front of them.
The most popular goods model in current production is the 770, a version of which forms the subject of the road test report on pages 588-591. This type became available
for export at the beginning of this year and already 100 have been sold in the Argentine alone. J.F.M.