New President Addresses I.A.E.
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The Vitality of the Motor Industry is Dependent on Technical Progress. Better Acceleration to Increase the Safety of the Roads
AT the opening meeting of the session of the Institution of Automobile Engineers, held on Tuesday last at the Royal Society of Arts, London, Mr. L. H. Pomeroy, the new president, succeeding Mr. C. R. F. Engelbach, gave
his presidential address. He dealt mainly with matters concerning private cars, but much of his paper is applicable also to the commercial-vehicle industry.
Mr. Pomeroy opened his address by referring to the many and varied functions of the Institution, and to the evolution tif the status of its members from " the amateur jack-of-all-trades . . of 1909 to that of the specialized expert of to-day." This, he said, suggested the nature that his address would take.
From one viewpoint, he remarked, there might not appear to be much to show for 20 years' hard research work in automobile development, but members of the Institution, as engineers, knew that into every detail there had gone an enormous amount of experience and research. He mentioned, as examples, the suspension system, the alloy piston, the carburetter and the reduction of vibration.
Road Congestion Reduced by Speed.
• Continuing, Mr. Pomeroy pointed out that road congestion might be regarded as a function of car-miles per unit time, and that to increase car-miles car speed must be proportionately raised. Accordingly, higher speeds should be permitted and vehicles should be appropriately designed. From the automobile viewpoint, he described speed as a compound of velocity, acceleration and rest, of which the most important was acceleration, because of the peculiar conditions in this country. The British automobile engineer's attention, he stressed, should, therefore, he directed particularly to the production of high-acceleration vehicles.
-Improved acceleration, of course, called also for improved braking and steering systems. With regard to the former, Mr. Pomeroy remarked that materials of brake drums and shoe facings were highly developed, but that this could not be said of the construction of the brake elements themselves.
Although vehicles, almost without exception, steered well on smooth roads, on irregular surfaces and at high speeds, deficiencies in this respect were manifest. As a means for effecting improvement, he mentioned independent front springs with controlled front-axle movements,
An Analysis of Noise Sources.
On the subject of noise, he grouped the sources under the headings of gas noises, mechanical engine noises, transmission, chassis, tyre, body and air-resistance noises. He placed gas noises first on the list, because of the differences existing in different makes of vehicle, adding that it was possible to reduce them to a practically innocuous degree.
No small part of 20 years' automobile engineering, he said, was summed up in the work done in making silent pistons, cams, valve mechanisms and the elimination of engine vibration. He thought that, to the engineer, silence and reliability went instinctively together.
In Mr. Pomeroy's view, the problems of -noise were , primarily related to those of rigidity. Both pistons and rings, however, were inherently of a springy nature, and the use of spring-type pistons was necessary, in cylinders above a certain bore, to obtain silence, this being the antithesis of the idea of rigidity. When the horizontal impacts of the piston against the cylinder wall were considered, thedesirability of investigating the possibilities of close clearances became apparent.
The development of pistons of high-silicon alloy with a low coefficient of expansion, and of iron cylinder liners of the high-nickel type with a high coefficient of expansion, should be encouraged.
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Mr. Pomeroy pointed out that the sleeve-valve engine had played its part in the establishment of new standards of engine silence, but that its advantages were not easily presented in competition with the poppet-valve type of engine. Efforts, he said, were being made to eliminate the difficulties arising from the presence of an incandescent exhaust valve working in an ill-lubricated guide, which he described as a barbarous state of affairs.
As among the most important steps in producing overall silence in the automobile, he instanced the counterbalancing., of crankshafts and the flexible mounting of engines.
Reduction of noises in the transmission was not so good, he considered. The epicyclic gearbox had many advantages in this respect. The only other suggestion he could make was the more general adoption of rubber gearbox' mountings . • Tyre makers, Mr. Pomeroy continued, had improved the design of tread from the silence point of view, and the streamlining of car bodies was a step in the right direction to eliminate air noises.
"Safety First" Inconsistent with Progress.
On the matter of. reduction of road accidents, the speaker described himself as being no " safety-first" advocate. Logically, the safety-first doctrine was incompatible with progress or ultimate public welfare. As a slogan, he thought it stood less analysis than most.
There were one or two things, he pointed out, that public authorities might do to help matters. One was the use of the American " stop " sign, about 3 ft. in diameter, placed some 40 yards from a main road. Another was the use of "• stop-and-go " signs, without the confusion of the yellow light, the red being shown both ways for. a few seconds before the green came on. In addition, he thought the use of the white line might be extended, likewise the prohibition ,or parking or stopping in main streets during rush hours and the wider employment of concrete-surfaced roads, which gave the motorist a better chance at night than the black tarmac surface. He claimed that the major cause of road accidents was road congestion, and that the only cure for road congestion was either to limit the number of vehicles or to increase acceleration and speed.
It was said, he continued, that the Institution of Automobile Engineers was an academic body which had no concern with commercial matters. This idea, he thought, should be modified. One could not disregard the millions of people for which the industry provided transport..
Mr. Pomeroy thought that, in developing the automobile, too much was done by experiment and too 'little by drawing-board research.
Work of the Research Department.
In this respect, the speaker paid a tribute to the Institution's research department, to the active sponsorship of which by the Institution he attributed to no mean degree the reputation of the Institution in the motor industry.
On the subject of individuality in design, he remarked that, sooner or later, standardization brings stagnation, and when the British car became so standardized that even the most striking publicity made no impression upon the prospective purchaser, he could see America walking away with the business, because, -other things being equal, costs depended upon quantities. If reduction of cost of production were solely relied upon as a means for capturing the market, there was a definite risk that there would not be sufficient demand to expand that market.
In conclusion, Mr. Pomeroy stated that he had endeavoured to stress that the automobile engineer was a vital factor in the industry he served and that, if this impression remained in the minds of his hearers, the purpose of his address had been fulfilled