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Sterndrive

Sterndrive

The sterndrive, or stern drive, is also called inboard/outboard (I/O), and is a form of marine propulsion. The engine is located inboard just forward of the transom (stern) and delivers power via a shaft that goes through the transom to the drive unit (often referred to as the outdrive) located outside the hull, which resembles the bottom half of an outboard. This unit contains the gearing for the system and carries the propeller. The boat is steered by pivoting this unit, just like with an outboard motor, and no rudder is needed. The engine itself is usually the same as those used in true inboard systems, historically the most popular of which being marinized versions of Chevrolet and Ford V-8 automotive engines. The most popular brand of sterndrive is MerCruiser, produced by Brunswick Corporation's Mercury Marine, which also manufactures outboard motors. In 1999 the company was sued by competitor Volvo Penta for monopolizing the stern drive business.

History

The history of stern drive power begins in 1948, when Charlie Strang mated an aluminum car racing engine to the lower unit of an outboard motor, in order to create a marine propulsion system more powerful than the outboard motors available at the time. The system would be patented ten years later by Jim Wynne. During the 1950s, both engineers worked at Mercury Marine under Carl Kiekhaefer, who was initially dismissive of and opposed to the idea of sterndrives, but would later capture 80% of the market. In 1958, Wynne left Kiekhaefer and in less than 90 days "invented" the stern drive. The first commercial introduction of sterndrives was by Volvo Penta at the 1959 New York Motor Boat Show. Kiekhaefer would introduce the first MerCruiser outdrive in 1961 at the Chicago Boat Show. By 1962, 16 manufacturers were producing sterndrives.

Relative Merits

Advantages of the sterndrive system versus outboards include higher available horsepower per engine and a clean transom with no cutouts for the outboard installation and no protruding powerhead, which makes for easier ingress and egress for pleasure boat passengers and for easier fishing. Advantages of the sterndrive system versus inboards include simpler engineering for boatbuilders, eliminating the need for them to design propshaft and rudder systems; also, a significant space savings with the engine mounted all the way aft, freeing up the boat's interior volume for occupancy space. This is of particular significance to consumers who are interested in "pocket cruisers," boats which have amenities like a head, a galley, and separate sleeping quarters in a boat less than 30 feet in length. Disadvantages of sterndrives versus straight inboards include the fact that power must pass through two 90-degree gears to get to the propeller, which is less efficient; also, since the mechanism is more complex it is more likely to experience mechanical failure and require more maintenance, plus with the mechanism located out in the water it is more subject to damage from submerged hazards. Because of their practical advantages and attractive cost, sterndrives have become extremely popular especially for use in pleasure boats, and there are many models of boats for which sterndrive power is the only available propulsion offered.

Marine

Marine


- Is an umbrella term for things relating to the ocean, as with Marine biology, Marine geology, and as a term for a navy, etc. In scientific contexts, the term almost always refers exclusively to saltwater environments, although in other contexts (e.g., engineering) it may refer to any (usually navigable) body of water.

Military

A Marine is an armed services member whose primary function is to assault land from the sea in amphibious warfare. Different nations have more-expanded or more-limited roles for their particular forces, but the core role remains the same. Traditionally, Marines served on board warships and fulfilled numerous roles: They assisted the crew in battles against other warships, conducted small coastal raids, and protected the officers from mutiny by the crew. In modern warfare, Marines are often highly mobile, elite troops that can be positioned offshore close to the war zone to launch amphibious assaults. Many nations have dedicated Marine corps. For details of Marines in the militaries of specific countries, see national marine corps.

Places

Marines is the name of a commune in the département of Val d'Oise, France.

Science fiction marines


- Space Marines
- United States Colonial Marines
- Marines are the basic military unit for Terrans in Starcraft.
- The Mobile Infantry in Heinlein's Starship Troopers could be considered and are intentionally patterned after Marines.
- The game Halo: Combat Evolved depicts marines of a futuristic Earth in battle with warlike aliens. Category:Types of military Category:Marines ja:海兵隊 th:นาวิกโยธิน

Propulsion

Propulsion method may refer to a number of different articles:
- For a list of space propulsion methods, see spacecraft propulsion.
- For water propulsion, the most common types are underwater propeller, water jet, paddle wheel and, experimentally, magneto-hydrodynamic. Sails are also common, and historically represented the most significant form of early propulsion for large watercraft. Paddles or oars were probably the earliest form of water propulsion.
- For air propulsion, the most common types are propeller, jet engine, turboprop, ramjet, rocket propulsion, and, experimentally, scramjet.
- For ground propulsion, virtually all of the above have been used at one time or another. Most ground vehicles use wheels of one sort or another, but the power plant used to drive them can vary widely. In modern times, most vehicles use some form of internal-combustion engine, with electric motors supplementing them. Historically, vehicles were drawn by animals or driven by steam.
- For these and other types of transportation, see transport. Category:Propulsion

Engine

An engine is something that produces some effect from a given input. The origin of engineering was the working of engines. There is an overlap in English between two meanings of the word "engineer": 'those who operate engines' and 'those who design and construct new items'.

Usage of the term

In original usage, an engine was any sort of mechanical device. The term "gin" in cotton gin is a short form of this usage. Practically every device from the industrial revolution was referred to as an engine, and this is where the steam engine gained its name. This form of the term has recently come into use once again in computer science, where terms like search engine, "3-D graphics rendering engine" and "text-to-speech engine" are common. The earliest mechanical computing device was called the difference engine; Military devices such as catapults are referred to as siege engines. In more recent usage, the term is typically used to describe devices that perform mechanical work, follow-ons to the original steam engine. In most cases the work is supplied by exerting a torque, which is used to operate other machinery, generate electricity, pump water or compress gas. In the context of propulsion systems, an air breathing engine is one that uses atmospheric air to oxidise the fuel carried, rather than carrying an oxidiser, as in a rocket. Theoretically, this should result in a better specific impulse than for rocket engines.

History of engines

Antiquity

While chemical and electrical engines of enormous power dominate the modern world, engines themselves are not new. Engines using human power, animal power, water power, wind power and even steam power date back to antiquity. Human power was focused by the use of simple engines, such as the capstan, windlass or treadmill, and with ropes, pulleys, and block and tackle arrangements, this power was transmitted and multiplied. These were commonly used in cranes and aboard ships during Ancient Greece, and in mines, water pumps and siege engines in Ancient Rome. Early oared warships used human power augmented by the simple engine of the lever -- the oar itself. The writers of those times, including Vitruvius, Frontinus and Pliny the Elder, treat these engines as commonplace, so their invention may be far more ancient. By the 1st century AD, various breeds of cattle and horses were used in mills, using machines similar to those powered by humans in earlier times. According to Strabo, a water powered mill was built in Kaberia in the kingdom of Mithridates in the 1st century BC. Use of water wheels in mills slowly spread through Europe over the next few centuries. Some were quite complex, with aqueducts, dams, and sluices to maintain and channel the water, and systems of gears, or toothed-wheels made of wood with metal, used to regulate the speed of rotation. In a poem by Ausonius in the 4th century, he mentions a stone-cutting saw powered by water. Hero of Alexandria demonstrated both wind and steam powered machines in the 1st century, although it's not known if these were put to any practical use until much later. In the broadest sense of the term, internal combustion engines can be said to have been invented in China, with the invention of fireworks during the Song dynasty, with some sources putting this invention a thousand years earlier still. Monumental structures of Ancient Egypt, it has been purported, might have been constructed with engines, especially in the transport and/or raising of some 15 to over 100 ton stone blocks. Electrical devices have been purported to have been discovered in digs in Iraq and Egypt and on ancient Egyptian walls and writings.

Modern

English inventor Sir Samuel Morland allegedly used gunpowder to drive water pumps in the 17th century. For more conventional, reciprocating internal combustion engines the fundamental theory for two-stroke engines was established by Sadi Carnot, France, 1824, whilst the American Samuel Morey received a patent on April 1, 1826. Automotive production down the ages has required a wide range of energy-conversion systems. These include electric, steam, solar, turbine, rotary, and different types of piston-type internal combustion engines. The gasoline internal combustion engine, operating on a four-stroke Otto cycle, has traditionally been the most successful for automobiles, while diesel engines are widely used for trucks and buses. However, in the twenty first century the diesel engine has been increasing in popularity with automobile owners. This is partially due to the improvement of engine control systems (computers) and forced induction (turbos and superchargers), giving modern diesel engines the same power charachteristics as gasoline engines. This is especially evident with the popularity of diesel engines in Europe. The internal combustion engine was originally selected for the automobile due to its flexibility over a wide range of speeds. Also, the power developed for a given weight engine was reasonable; it could be produced by economical mass-production methods; and it used a readily available, moderately priced fuel--gasoline. In today’s world, there has been a growing emphasis on the pollution producing features of automotive power systems. This has created new interest in alternate power sources and internal-combustion engine refinements that were not economically feasible in prior years. Although a few limited-production battery-powered electric vehicles have appeared from time to time, they have not proved to be competitive owing to costs and operating characteristics. However, the gasoline engine, with its new emission-control devices to improve emission performance, has not yet been challenged significantly. The first half of the twentieth century saw a trend to increase engine power, particularly in the American models. Design changes incorporated all known methods of raising engine capacity, including increasing the pressure in the cylinders to improve efficiency, increasing the size of the engine, and increasing the speed at which power is generated. The higher forces and pressures created by these changes created engine vibration and size problems that led to stiffer, more compact engines with V and opposed cylinder layouts replacing longer straight-line arrangements. In passenger cars, V-8 layouts were adopted for all piston displacements greater than 250 cubic inches (4 litres). Smaller cars brought about a return a to smaller engines, the four- and six-cylinder designs rated as low as 80 horsepower (60 kW), compared with the standard-size V-8 of large cylinder bore and relatively short piston stroke with power ratings in the range from 250 to 350 hp (190 to 260 kW). The automobile motor from Europe had a bigger range, varying from 1to12 cylinders with corresponding differences in overall size, weight, piston displacement, and cylinder bores. Four cylinders and power ratings from 19 to 120 hp (14 to 90 kW) was followed in a majority of the models. Several three-cylinder, two-stroke-cycle models were built while most engines had straight or in-line cylinders. There were several V-type models and horizontally opposed two- and four-cylinder makes too. Overhead camshafts were frequently employed. The smaller engines were commonly air-cooled and located at the rear of the vehicle; compression ratios were relatively low. The 1970s and '80s saw an increased interest in improved fuel economy which brought in a return to smaller V-6 and four-cylinder layouts, with as many as five valves per cylinder to improve efficiency. Air-breathing engines include:
- Internal combustion engine
- Jet engine
- Ramjet
- Scramjet
- Pulse detonation engine
- Pulse jet engine
- Liquid air cycle engine

See also


- Spacecraft propulsion
- Aircraft engine
- Air engine
- Car engine
- Electric motor
- Motorcycle Engine
- External-combustion engine
  - Steam engine
  - Steam turbine
  - Stirling engine
- Internal-combustion engine
  - Controlled Combustion Engine
  - Gas turbine
  - Jet engine
  - Rocket
  - Diesel engine
  - Gasoline engine
  - HCCI engine
  - Radial engine
  - Stelzer engine
  - Orbital engine
  - Wankel engine
  - Quasiturbine
- Outboard motor
- Timeline of motor and engine technology
- Turbine
- Water turbine

References


- J. G. Landels, Engineering in the Ancient World, ISBN 0520041275

External links


- [http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine.htm How stuff works : Cars Engines]
- [http://www.keveney.com/Engines.html Engines working. Animation]
- Category:Mechanical engineering ja:エンジン

Stern

.]] The stern is the rear or after part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter to the taffrail. The stern area has always been the location of the steering apparatus (rudder, tiller, ship's wheel, etc), and by extension became the domain of the ship's captain and other officers. In particular, the stern was the location of the officers' quarters, and during the age of sail became the most opulent part of the ship, with rows of windows, galleries, walkways, and elaborate decorations. This resulted in a certain amount of vulnerability, and the goal of much maneuvering in battle was to achieve the stern rake, in which a ship would pour its entire broadside into the stern. Other features of the stern included lanterns and the ensign. In the early part of the 19th century, the stern of larger ships became gradually more rounded, and with the advent of screw-powered vessels, the stern became the location of the equipment, the officers moving elsewhere. In modern cruise ships, the stern is frequently the location of the dining room, so as to provide uninterrupted views of the sea on three sides. Category:Ship construction Category:Sailboat anatomy Category:Sailing ship elements

Propeller

A propeller is a device which provides thrust for propulsion of a vehicle such as an airplane, ship, or submarine though a fluid such as water or air, by rotating two or more twisted blades about a central shaft, in a manner analogous to rotating a screw though a solid. However, the blades of a propeller don't push directly on the fluid, but rather act as rotating wings, and produce force via Bernoulli's principle, generating a difference in pressure from the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blades. airfoil's number four engine as part of pre-flight checks. The Orion is an anti-submarine warfare aircraft]]

Aircraft propellers (airscrews)

A propeller's efficiency is determined by (thrust × axial speed)/(resistance torque × rotational speed). Changes to a propeller's efficiency are produced by a number of factors, notably adjustments to the helix angle, the angle between the resultant relative velocity and the blade rotation direction, and to blade pitch. Very small pitch and helix angles give a good performance against resistance but provide little thrust, while larger angles have the opposite effect. The best helix angle is when the blade is acting as wing producing much more lift than drag, roughly 45° in practice. However due to the shape of the propeller, only part of the blade can actually be operating at peak efficiency. The outer part of the blade produces the most thrust and so the blade is positioned at a pitch that gives optimum angle to that portion. Since a large portion of the blade is therefore at an inefficient angle, the inboard ends of the blade are hidden by a streamlined spinner to reduce the resistance torque that would otherwise be created. blade pitch Very high efficiency propellers are similar in aerofoil section to a low drag wing and as such are poor in operation when at other than their optimum angle of attack. Advanced control systems and better section profiling are required to counter the need for accurate matching of pitch to flight speed and engine speed to power so as to make this type of propellers usable. However, with a propeller at a pitch angle of 45°, at low flight speeds the angle of attack will be high, possibly high enough to stall the airfoil. Since this is an extremely inefficient regime in which to operate the propeller, it means that most propellers are fitted with mechanisms to allow variable pitch – coarse pitch for high speed flight and fine pitch for climbing or accelerating at lower speeds. Early pitch control settings were pilot operated and so limited to only three or so settings, later systems were automatic. Variable pitch was replaced with the constant speed mechanism. In some aircraft (e.g., the C-130 Hercules), the pilot can manually override the constant speed mechanism to reverse the blade pitch angle, and thus the thrust of the engine. This allows the aircraft to back up on its own, at unimproved airfields when aircraft tractors are unavailable. Constant-speed propellers automatically adjust the blade pitch angle to alter resistance torque in response to sensed changes in rotational speed. Initially this was done in a rather crude fashion with the pilot altering the setting via control of the propeller governor, in more advanced aircraft the mechanism is linked into the entire engine management system for very fine control. The system is termed constant-speed because aero engines produce maximum power at high revolutions and changing engine speed increases fuel consumption. It is therefore beneficial to run an engine at an optimum constant independent of flight speed, setting separate requirements for high power situations and cruising and controlling speed within these bands without changing RPM. A further consideration is the number and the shape of the blades used. Increasing the aspect ratio of the blades reduces drag but the amount of thrust produced depends on blade area, so using high aspect blades can lead to the need for a propeller diameter which is unusable. A further balance is that using a smaller number of blades reduces interference effects between the blades, but to have sufficient blade area to transmit the available power within a set diameter means a compromise is needed. Increasing the number of blades also decreases the amount of work each blade is required to perform, limiting the local Mach number - a significant performance limit on propellers. Contra-rotating propellers use a second propeller rotating in the opposite direction immediately 'downstream' of the main propeller so as to recover energy lost in the swirling motion of the air in the propeller slipstream. Contra-rotation also increases power without increasing propeller diameter and provides a counter to the torque of high-power piston engines' gyroscopic precession effects, and of the slipstream swirl. However on small aircraft the added cost, complexity, weight and noise of the system rarely make it worthwhile. The propeller is usually attached to the crankshaft of the engine, either directly or through a gearbox. Light aircraft sometimes forego the weight, complexity and cost of gearing but on larger aircraft and with turboprop engines it is essential. A propeller's performance suffers as the blade speed exceeds the speed of sound. As the relative air speed at the blade is rotation speed plus axial speed, a propeller blade tip will reach sonic speed sometime before the rest of the aircraft (with a theoretical blade the maximum aircraft speed is about 845 km/h (Mach 0.7) at sea-level, in reality it is rather lower). When a blade tip becomes supersonic, drag and torque resistance increase suddenly and shock waves form creating a sharp increase in noise. Aircraft with conventional propellers, therefore, do not usually fly faster than Mach 0.6. There are certain propeller-driven aircraft, usually military, which do operate at Mach 0.8 or higher, although there is considerable fall off in efficiency. There have been efforts to develop propellers for aircraft at high subsonic speeds. The 'fix' is similar to that of transonic wing design. The maximum relative velocity is kept as low as possible by careful control of pitch to allow the blades to have large helix angles; thin blade sections are used and the blades are swept back in a scimitar shape; a large number of blades are used to reduce work per blade and so circulation strength; contra-rotation is used. The propellers designed are more efficient than turbo-fans and their cruising speed (Mach 0.7-0.85) is suitable for airliners, but the noise generated is tremendous.

Aircraft Fans

A fan is a propeller with a large number of blades. A fan therefore produces a lot of thrust for a given diameter but the closeness of the blades means that each strongly affects the flow around the others. If the flow is supersonic, this interference can be beneficial if the flow can be compressed through a series of shock waves rather than one. By placing the fan within a shaped duct – a ducted fan – specific flow patterns can be created depending on flight speed and engine performance. As air enters the duct, its speed is reduced and pressure and temperature increase. If the aircraft is at a high subsonic speed this creates two advantages – the air enters the fan at a lower Mach speed and the higher temperature increases the local speed of sound. While there is a loss in efficiency as the fan is drawing on a smaller area of the free stream and so using less air, this is balanced by the ducted fan retaining efficiency at higher speeds where conventional propeller efficiency would be poor. A ducted fan or propeller also has certain benefits at lower speeds but the duct needs to be shaped in a different manner to one for higher speed flight. More air is taken in and the fan therefore operates at an efficiency equivalent to a larger un-ducted propeller. Noise is also reduced by the ducting and should a blade become detached the duct would contain the damage. However the duct adds weight, cost, complexity and (to a certain degree) drag. See also Airscrew wind generator.

Ship/Submarine propellers (screws)

James Watt of Birmingham, England is generally credited with applying the first screw propeller to an engine, an early steam engine, beginning the use of an hydrodynamic screw for propulsion. Mechanical ship propulsion began with the steam ship. The first successful ship of this type is a matter of debate; candidate inventors of the 18th century include William Symington, the Marquis de Jouffroy, John Fitch and many others, but the American Robert Fulton is the most widely credited. Fulton's choice of paddle-wheels as the main motive source became standard on many of the following vessels (see Paddle steamer). Robert Fulton had tested, and rejected, the screw-propeller. Paddle steamer The screw-propeller (as opposed to paddle-wheels) was introduced in the latter half of the 18th century. David Bushnell's invention of the submarine (the Turtle) in 1775 used hand-powered screws for vertical and horizontal propulsion. Josef Ressel designed and patented a screw propeller in 1827. Francis Petit Smith tested a screw propeller similar to Ressel's in 1836. In 1839, John Ericsson introduced the screw-propeller design onto a ship which then sailed over the Atlantic Ocean in 40 days. Mixed paddle and propeller designs were still being used at this time (vide the 1858 SS Great Eastern). In 1848 the British Admiralty held a tug of war contest between a propeller driven ship the Rattler and a paddle wheel ship the Alecto. The propeller won, towing the Alecto stern first at a speed of 2.8 knots, but it was not until the early 20th century that paddle propelled vessels were entirely superseded. The screw propeller replaced the paddles owing to its greater efficiency, compactness, less complex power transmission system and reduced susceptibility to damage. Initial designs owed much to the ordinary screw from which their name derived - early propellers consisted of only two blades and matched in profile the length of a single screw rotation. This design was common, but inventors endlessly experimented with different profiles and greater numbers of blades. The propeller screw design stabilized by the 1880s. In the early days of steam power for ships, when both paddle wheels and screws were in use, ships were often characterized by their type of propellers, leading to terms like screw steamer or screw sloop. Submariners call the propellers on submarines "screws". Propellers are referred to as "lift" devices, while paddles are "drag" devices. Cavitation can occur if an attempt is made to transmit too much power through the screw. The cohesion of the water is broken and the water thread 'strips' with explosive force. It wastes energy, makes excessive noise and most seriously, erodes of the screw's surface. (See also fluid dynamics). Apart from propelling a vessel ahead or astern, a propeller will also exert a lateral force on a boat owing to an effect known as propeller walk. This effect is most noticeable when beginning to run astern. With a normal single, right-hand screw, beginning to run the engine astern tends to throw the stern to port. This means that, when coming alongside a hard in a space between moored boats, other considerations allowing, it is best to come alongside port side to, so that the stern can be tucked in by running the engine astern fairly abruptly while taking the way off the boat. It seems to arise from the paddle effect of the lower blades in the more dense, less aerated water.

History

The first screw propeller to be added to an engine was installed by James Watt in Birmingham, England. He used it with his Steam engine although the screw propeller in itself can be traced to the time of the Egyptians by way of Leonardo da Vinci. The first screw propeller to be powered by a petrol engine, fitted to a small boat (now known as Powerboat was installed by Frederick William Lanchester also from Birmingham, England. This was tested in Oxford. The airfoil (aerofoil) shape of modern aircraft propellers was pioneered by the Wright brothers. Realizing that a propeller was a rotating wing, they applied what they learned from wing design to the cross-section of wooden propellers for their Flyer.

See also


- Impeller
- Jet
- Paddle steamer
- Propulsor
- Pump-jet
- Voith-Schneider

External links


- [http://www.aircraft-info.net/aircraft/propellor_aircraft/ Aircraft-Info.net - Propeller Aircraft] Category:Aircraft components Category:Marine propulsion ja:プロペラ

Outboard motor

An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats.

General uses

Outboard motors for a boat are developed as a self-contained unit with engine, subsidiary systems, and propeller, designed to be mounted at the stern (rear) of the craft. They are the most common method of propelling small watercraft. As well as providing propulsion, outboards provide steering control, as they are designed to pivot over their mountings and thus control the orientation of the propeller. The transmission leg in the water also acts as a rudder even when the propeller is not providing power. When boats are out of service or being drawn through shallow waters, outboard motors can also be tipped forward over their mounts to elevate the propeller and transmission shaft out of the water to avoid accumulation of seaweed or hitting underwater hazards such as rocks.

Types of motors

Small outboard motors are truly self-contained, with integral fuel tanks and controls mounted on the body of the motor and steered by a "tiller" directly connected to the motor. Such small motors can weigh as little as 12 kilograms (approximately 26 pounds) and provide sufficient power to move a small dinghy at around 15 km/h (9 mph), far faster than possible with oars. They are highly portable, able to be removed by simply loosening their mounting clamps. Manufacturers have produced large outboard designs, with sufficient power to be used on boats as long as 9 metres (30 feet) or more. Manufacturers have also produced electric outboards. These are used for specialised applications, notably trolling for bass in the US, where their quietness and zero emissions (or, more accurately, displaced emissions) outweigh the range deficiencies shared with electric cars. Diesel outboards are also available, but their weight and cost makes them inferior for most purposes.

History and developments

The first practical outboard motor was created by Norwegian-American inventor Ole Evinrude in 1909. Historically, most outboards have used two-stroke cycle engines due to their simplicity (and consequent reliability), low cost, and high power-to-weight ratios - weight issues being particularly important as too much weight over the stern of boats tends to impede their handling. However, the high emissions, and thus both environmental concerns and the cost of technology to meet emissions standards, has led to the gradual gain in popularity of four-stroke cycle outboards, particularly for lower-end machines. High-end outboards have tended to remain two-stroke designs, as the fuel injection technology required to meet the emissions standards and fuel economy targets costs proportionally less for these motors and weight issues are more important. Marine engines also benefit from their proximity to an endless supply of cold water by using it once for cooling and then ejecting the now-heated water. This allows marine engines to avoid the cost and weight of radiators and cooling fans normally associated with land-based engines.

Manufacturers


- Yamaha Motor Corporation
- Suzuki
- Mercury/Mariner
- Evinrude/Johnson, a division of Bombardier Recreational Products
- Honda
- Nissan
- Tohatsu

See also


- Stern drive

Patents


- - Marine propulsion mechanism
- - Canoe and other small craft

External links


- [http://www.aomci.org/ Antique Outboard Motor Club]
- [http://www.screamandfly.com/home/ Scream And Fly Magazine] Category:Marine propulsion Category:Engines

Rudder

model of a junk, 1st century CE. Kuangchow National Museum (drawing).]] A rudder is a device used to steer a ship or other watercraft. In its simplest form, a rudder is a flat sheet of material attached with hinges to the ship's stern. A tiller - basically, a stick or pole - is attached to the top of the rudder to allow it to be turned in different directions.

Invention of the rudder

Oars mounted on the side of ships for steering are documented from the 3rd millennium BCE in Ancient Egypt in the form of artworks, wooden models, and even remains of actual boats. These evolved into quarter rudders, which were used in Antiquity until the end of the Middle Ages in Europe. As the size of ships and the height of the freeboards increased, quarter-rudders became less satisfactory and were replaced in Europe by the more sturdy stern-mounted rudders with pintle and gudgeon attachment from the 12th century. The West's oldest known depiction of a stern-mounted rudder can be found on church carvings dating to around 1180. The world's oldest known depiction of a stern-mounted rudder can be seen on a pottery model of a Chinese junk dating from the 1st century CE, predating their introduction in the West by a thousand years. The Chinese stern-mounted rudder is hung from the stern and held in place and controlled with a rope mechanism. The invention of the stern-mounted rudder in the West may have been independent, as its technical specifications certainly differ, although the idea may have been transmited through trade exchanges with the East. Detailed descriptions of Chinese junks during the Middle Ages are known from various travellers to China, such as Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo. Also, many junks incorporated "fenestrated rudders" (rudder with holes in them, allowing for better control), an innovation adopted in the West in 1901 to increase the manoeuvrability of torpedo boats.

Aircraft rudders

torpedo boat On an aircraft, the rudder is a control surface, usually attached to the fin (or vertical stabiliser) which allows the pilot to control the aircraft in the yaw axis. It is not used to effect turns—the ailerons are used for that—but the rudder is necessary to correctly balance the various acting forces in a turn. By convention, the rudder is controlled with foot pedals, usually coupled to bell cranks on the rudder via wire cables. In some (rare) aircraft, there are no rudder pedals as the rudder is controlled with springs associated with the roll control. In some designs, an all-moveable fin is used instead of a rudder.

See also


- Flight controls
- Ship's wheel Category:Aircraft controls Category:Sailboat anatomy Category:Sailing ship elements ja:ラダー (飛行機)

Ford

The Ford Motor Company (often referred to simply as Ford; sometimes nicknamed FoMoCo), is an automobile maker founded by Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, United States (where the company is currently headquartered), and incorporated on June 16, 1903. According to Fortune magazine, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota Motor replaced Ford as the world's number two and three automobile manufacturers by revenue in 2004. For many years before that Ford was global number two behind General Motors. Ford remains one of the world's ten largest corporations by revenue. Ford radically reformed the methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars, and large-scale management of an industrial workforce. Ford implemented the ideas of Eli Whitney, who developed the first assembly line using interchangeable parts, which made it possible to put the cars together at a much lower cost and with greater reliability and repeatability. The use of a chain driven track to move the vehicles to the workers was unique in the industry and quickly became the preferred method for volume production. As the individual work tasks became simple and repetitive this allowed the use of unskilled laborers who could be quickly trained for a single task but this also removed most of the satisfaction that a worker performing multiple tasks may enjoy.

History

Ford was launched from a converted wagon factory, with $28,000 cash from twelve investors. During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at the Ford factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit. Groups of two or three men worked on each car from components made to order by other companies. Detroit In 1908, the Ford company released the Ford Model T. The first Model Ts were built at the Piquette Plant. The company was forced to move production to the much larger Highland Park Plant to keep up with the demand for the Model T, and by 1913 had developed all of the basic techniques of the assembly line and mass production. Ford introduced the world's first moving assembly line on December 1 that year, which reduced chassis assembly time from 12½ hours in October to 2 hours, 40 minutes. However these innovations were not popular, and in order to stop the staff deserting the monotonous jobs, on January 5, 1914, Ford took the radical step of doubling pay to $5 a day, and cut shifts from nine hours to an eight hour day [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.1542-734X.1997.00047.x/pdf] - moves that were not popular with rival companies, although seeing the increase in Ford's productivity, most soon followed suit. By the end of 1913, Ford was producing 50% of all cars in the United States, and by 1918 half of all cars in the country were Model Ts. Referring to the Model T, Henry Ford is reported to have said that "any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." This was because black paint was quickest to dry; earlier models had been available in a variety of colors. On January 1, 1919, Edsel Ford succeeded his father as president of the company, although Henry Ford still kept a hand in management. The Ford company lost market share during the 1920s due to the rise of consumer credit. The company's goal was to produce an inexpensive automobile that any worker could afford. To keep prices low, Ford (at the behest of its owner, Henry Ford) offered few features. General Motors and other competitors began offering automobiles in more colors, and with more features and luxuries. They also extended credit so consumers could buy these more expensive automobiles. Ford resisted following suit, insisting that such credit would hurt the consumer and the economy. Due to market constraints, however, the company finally gave in and followed its competitors' lead when on December 2, 1927, Ford unveiled the redesigned Ford Model A and retired the Model T.

The Great Depression

Ford maintained production for nearly two years after the start of the Great Depression. However, the slump in sales led to Ford's closing the Model A assembly line on August 1, 1931, with the loss of 60,000 jobs. The following year, five Ford workers were killed as unemployed workers marched to demand jobs. Henry Ford fortified his home and the factory. Only eight of 35 U.S. plants were in production in 1933 and it took until 1939 before sales returned to their 1929 levels.

World War II

After the outbreak of World War II, U.S. domestic automotive production ceased for the duration of the conflict, as the nation's industries were redirected to war production. Ford Motor Company was responsible for major contributions to the Allies' war effort. Of the companies contracted to produce the famous World War II "jeep" or truck, quarter-ton, 4x4, Ford produced the most (the other companies included Willys-Overland, which later adopted the name Jeep). The Ford version was called a GPW. Wartime production at Ford also included aircraft construction. Near its Detroit-area headquarters, Ford developed the Willow Run plant and its associated airfield, where the B-24 Liberator aircraft was produced. The Willow Run plant was a massive facility, and held the distinction at the time of being the world's largest enclosed "room;" at its peak, the plant was able to produce as many as one B-24 aircraft per hour of production. Willow Run, located near Ypsilanti, Michigan, still operates as an airfield today; today, Ford's rival General Motors owns part of the facility, where manufacturing continues. During the war, thousands of women found employment in manufacturing at Ford, many for the first time. These women became symbolized by the famous poster image of Rosie the Riveter. Ford's former manufacturing plant in Richmond, California, located near San Francisco, is under development by the National Parks Service as the Rosie the Riveter / World War II Home Front National Historical Park. Ford's plants in Germany and Vichy France, Fordwerke, produced many of the cars and trucks used by the Nazis in World War II. The Ford Motor Company has denied allegations that they profited by the use of forced labor to produce tanks for the Nazis during the war, saying that Ford had lost control of the German division by that point in the war and was not responsible for its activities (see also: Strategic bombing survey). Similar charges have been made against other American firms which had European operations at the outbreak of hostilities. It must be remembered that all companies operating in Germany at that time had to use labor provided by the German government, and that the Nazi regime chose to provide forced and slave laborers to industry.

Post war developments

Strategic bombing survey] Ford became a publicly traded corporation in 1956; however, the Ford family still maintains a controlling interest in the company. Henry Ford's great-grandson, William Clay Ford Jr., is the company's current chairman and CEO.

A new direction for the 21st century

Under the leadership of the current chairman, William Clay Ford, the company (and Mr. Ford personally) stunned the industry and pleased environmentalists with an [http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105&STORY=/www/story/07-27-2000/0001276963 announcement] of a planned 25 percent improvement in the average mileage of its light truck fleet — including its popular SUVs — to be completed by the 2005 calendar year. William Ford was also one of the first top industry executives to make regular use of an battery electric vehicle, a Ford Ranger EV, while the company contracted with the United States Postal Service to deliver electric postal vans based on the Ranger EV platform. Many Ford vehicles now sport an emblem — a green leaf springing from a curving road-like twig — symbolic of the new "green" commitment to preserve the environment and reduce resource consumption while delivering safe, economical, and effective products to the motoring public. However, Ford has not made significant progress toward the goal as of early 2005. In 2003, the company announced that it would not try to achieve this goal. Ford has also terminated its electric vehicle program. In this period, the company introduced the Ford Excursion, an SUV larger than the Chevrolet Suburban. The Excursion is soon to be discontinued and replaced by an extended wheelbase version of the Ford Expedition. As with General Motor's Hummer H2, the Excursion is so large that its mileage does not count toward the manufacturer's Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) mileage.

2005 bond downgrade

Corporate Average Fuel Economy In May 2005, several bond rating agencies downgraded the bonds of Ford Motor Company to below investment grade (so called "junk bonds"). These downgrades were a recognition of high health care costs for an aging workforce and of the dependence of the company on profits from the sales of sport utility vehicles. Due to higher fuel prices, there has been a decrease in the profits on these vehicles owing to "incentives" (in the form of rebates or low interest financing), which were needed due to declining sales. Foreign manufactures, not having the truck manufacturing capabilities to form a platform base for similar vehicles, have instead introduced so called "crossover" SUV's — vehicles built on an automobile or minivan platform rather than a truck chassis. These vehicles have proven to be popular in the market, while Ford had not developed such vehicles (with the exception of the Escape light SUV). As far as the other non-truck models, most of these (with the notable exception of the 2005 Mustang) are disadvantaged in the marketplace owing to a perception by buyers that foreign manufactures (especially Toyota and Honda) deliver better value in terms of fuel economy, reliability, and build quality. These perceptions are reflected in the used car market by higher values for these foreign models. For owners who frequently trade in and for those who lease their vehicles, the resale values are reflected in substantial cost differences with domestic vehicles costing more in overall costs.

Response to the downgrade

The current strategy of Ford in response to the circumstances that lead to the bond downgrade is to reduce the company's reliance on a limited portion of their products for profit. To make good profits across their product line required that the company reduce the costs of development and production while introducing compelling products. This strategy is in contrast with that of GM, which has postponed development of a new rear wheel drive passenger car platform (called "Zeta" internally) to free up resources for the next generation of their light truck and SUV lines, this in the stated belief that their core market for such vehicles is sufficiently prosperous as to be insensitive to fuel price increases (and implicitly, to low resale values). Chairman Ford asked Americans-division president Mark Fields to create a plan to save the company. Fields unveiled his plan, dubbed "Way Forward", at the December 7, 2005 board meeting of the company. It reportedly includes shutting down 10 factories and eliminating 30,000 jobs in North America.

Brands and marques

2005 Today, Ford Motor Company manufactures automobiles under the highly-recognized Lincoln and Mercury brand names. In 1958, Ford introduced a new marque, the Edsel, but poor sales led to its discontinuation in 1960. Later, in 1985, the Merkur brand was released; it met a similar fate in 1989. Both the Edsel and Merkur brands are considered as commercial failures. Ford has major manufacturing operations in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and several other countries, including South Africa where, following divestment during apartheid, it once again has a wholly-owned subsidiary. It also has a joint venture with Mahindra in India. Ford also has a cooperative agreement with GAZ. In recent years Ford has acquired Aston Martin, Daimler, Jaguar, Volvo Cars, and Land Rover, as well as a controlling share of Mazda, with which it operates an American joint venture plant called Auto Alliance. It has spun off its parts division under the name Visteon. Its prestige brands, with the exception of Lincoln, are managed through its Premier Automotive Group. Ford's non-manufacturing operations include organizations such as their credit department, Ford Credit.

Global markets

Initially, Ford models sold outside the U.S. were essentially versions of those sold on the home market, but later on there were vast differences between those sold in the U.S. and those sold in Europe. The divergence in product tastes is such that European models like the Ford Mondeo have fared poorly in the United States, while U.S. models such as the Ford Taurus have fared poorly in Japan and Australia, even produced in right hand drive. The small European model Ka, a hit in its home market, did not catch on in Japan, as it was not available as an automatic. The Mondeo was dropped by Ford Australia, because the segment of the market in which it competes had been in steady decline, with buyers preferring the larger local model, the Falcon. The Focus has been one exception, which has sold strongly on both sides of the Atlantic, despite its European design.

Europe

Atlantic At first, Ford in Germany and the United Kingdom built different models from one another until the late 1960s, with the Ford Escort and then the Ford Capri being common to both companies. Later on, the Ford Taunus and Ford Cortina became identical, produced in left hand drive and right hand drive respectively. Rationalisation of model ranges meant that production of many models in the UK switched to elsewhere in Europe, including Belgium and Spain as well as Germany. The Ford Sierra replaced the Taunus and Cortina in 1982, drawing criticism for its radical aerodynamic styling, which was soon given nicknames such as "Jellymould" and "The Salesman's Spaceship". Increasingly, Ford Motor Company has looked to Ford of Europe for its "world cars," such as the Mondeo, Focus, and Fiesta, although sales of European-sourced Fords in the U.S. have been disappointing. In Asia, models from Europe are not as competitively priced as Japanese-built rivals, nor are they perceived as reliable. The Focus has been one exception to this, which has become America's best selling compact car since its launch in 2000. In 2001, Ford ended car production in the UK. It was the first time in more than eighty years that Ford cars had not been made in Britain, although production of the Transit van continues at the company's Southampton facility, engines at Bridgend and Dagenham, and transmissions at Halewood. Development of European Ford is broadly split between Dunton in Essex (powertrain, Fiesta/Ka and commercial vehicles) and Cologne (body, chassis, electrical, Focus, Mondeo) in Germany. Ford also produced the Thames range of commercial vehicles although the use of this brand name was discontinued circa 1965. It owns the Jaguar, Land Rover, and Aston Martin car plants in Britain which are still operational. Ford's Halewood Assembly Plant was converted to Jaguar production. Elsewhere in continental Europe, Ford assembles the Mondeo range in Genk,Belgium, Fiesta in Valencia,Spain and Cologne,Germany, Ka in Valencia and Focus in Valencia, Saarlouis,Germany and St. Petersberg,Russia. Transit production is in Kocaeli,Turkey and Southampton,United Kingdom and Transit Connect in Kocaeli. Ford also owns a joint venture production plant in Turkey. Ford-Otosan, established in the 1970s, manufactures the Transit Connect compact panel van as well as the "Jumbo" and long wheelbase versions of the full-size Transit. This new production facility was set up near Kocaeli in 2002, and its opening marked the end of Transit assembly in Genk. Another joint venture plant near Setubal in Portugal, set up in collaboration with Volkswagen, assembles the Galaxy people carrier as well as its sister ship, the VW Sharan.

Asia Pacific

VW SharanIn Australia and New Zealand, the popular Ford Falcon is considered the typical (if not particularly economical) family car, though it is considerably larger than the Mondeo sold in Europe. Between 1960 and 1972, the Falcon was based on a U.S. Ford of that name, but since then has been entirely designed and manufactured locally. Like its General Motors rival, the Holden Commodore, the 4.0 liter Falcon retains rear wheel drive. High performance variants of the Falcon running American Mustang V8 engines produce up to 390bhp. A pick-up version is also available with a similar range of drive trains. In both Australia and New Zealand, the Commodore and Falcon outsell all other cars. In Australia they comprise over 20% of the new car market. Ford's presence in Asia has traditionally been much smaller. However, with the acquisition of a stake in Japanese manufacturer Mazda in 1979, Ford began selling Mazda's Familia and Capella (also known as the 323 and 626) as the Ford Laser and Telstar. The Laser was one of the most successful models sold by Ford in Australia, and outsold the Mazda 323, despite being almost identical to it. The Laser was also built in Mexico and sold in the U.S. as the Mercury Tracer, while the 1989 American Ford Escort was based on the Laser/Mazda 323. The smaller Mazda 121 was also sold in the U.S. and Asia as the Ford Festiva. Through its relationship with Mazda, Ford also acquired a stake in South Korean manufacturer Kia, which later built the Ford Aspire for export to the United States, but later sold the company to Hyundai. Ironically, Hyundai also manufactured the Ford Cortina until the 1980s. Ford also has a joint venture with Lio Ho in Taiwan, which assembled Ford models locally since the 1970s. Ford came to India in 1998 with its Ford Escort model, which was later replaced by locally produced Ford Ikon in 2001.

South America

In South America, Ford has had to face protectionist government measures in each country, with the result that it built different models in different countries with no rationalisation or economies of scale. In some cases, it based its models on those of other manufacturers whose plants it had taken over. For example, the Corcel and Del Rey in Brazil were originally based on Renaults. In the 1980s, Ford merged its operations in Brazil and Argentina with those of Volkswagen to form a company called Autolatina, with which it shared models. Autolatina was dissolved in the 1990s. With the advent of Mercosur, the regional common market, Ford was able to rationalise its product line-ups in those countries. Consequently, the Ford Fiesta is only built in Brazil, and the Ford Focus only built in Argentina, with each plant exporting in large volumes to the neighbouring country. Models like the Ford Mondeo from Europe could now be imported completely built up. Ford in Brazil produces a pick-up version of the Fiesta, which is also produced in South Africa, in right hand drive as the Ford Bantam.

Africa and Middle East

In Africa and the Middle East, Ford's market presence has traditionally been strongest in South Africa and neighbouring countries, with only trucks being sold elsewhere on the continent. Ford in South Africa began by importing kits from Canada to be assembled at its Port Elizabeth facility. Later Ford sourced its models from the UK and Australia, with local versions of the Ford Cortina including the XR6, with a 3.0 V6 engine, and a Cortina 'bakkie' or pick-up, which was exported to the UK. In the mid-1980s Ford merged with a rival company, owned by Anglo American, to form the South African Motor Corporation (Samcor). Following international condemnation of apartheid, Ford divested from South Africa in 1988, and sold its stake in Samcor, although it licensed the use of its brand name to the company. Samcor began to assemble Mazdas as well, which affected its product line-up, which saw the European Fords like the Escort and Sierra replaced by the Mazda-based Laser and Telstar. Ford bought a 45 per cent stake in Samcor following the demise of apartheid in 1994, and this later became, once again, a wholly owned subsidiary, the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa. Ford now sells a local sedan version of the Fiesta (also built in India and Mexico), and the Focus and Mondeo Europe. The Falcon model from Australia was also sold in South Africa, but was dropped in 2003. Ford's market presence in the Middle East has traditionally been even smaller, partly due to the Arab boycott of companies dealing with Israel, although US Fords are now sold in Saudi Arabia.

Motorsport

Ford has been active in a number of forms of motorsport. It was heavily involved in Formula One for many years, and supplied engines to a large number of constructors from 1967 until 2004. These engines were designed and manufactured by Cosworth, the racing division of which was owned by Ford from 1998 to 2004. Ford entered Formula One as a constructor in 2000 under the Jaguar Racing name, after buying out the Stewart Grand Prix team it had become increasingly involved in. The team achieved little success, and after a turbulent four seasons, Ford pulled out of F1 after the 2004 season, selling both Jaguar Racing (which became Red Bull Racing) and Cosworth.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/default.stm] Ford has also been active for several years in the World Rally Championship, and has used various versions of the Ford Focus WRC since 1999.

References


- Ford Motor Company. 2003 Annual Report. Rochester, New York:St Ives Inc Case-Hoyt. [http://www.ford.com/en/company/investorInformation/companyReports/annualReports/]

See also


- List of Ford vehicles
- List of Ford factories
- List of Ford engines
- List of Ford platforms
- List of Ford VIN codes
- EPA 2004 fuel economy report (Ford)
- Firestone vs Ford Motor Company controversy

External links


- [http://www.ford.com/ Ford Motor Company Home Page]
- [http://www.fordvehicles.com/ Ford Vehicles Home Page]
- [http://www.forddirect.fordvehicles.com/ Ford Direct] - Get A Free Price Quote, Build Your Vehicle, Search Dealer Inventory, View Pricing Details, Compare Trims, See Latest Incentives And Offers
- [http://www.fordmuscle.com FORDMUSCLE.COM] - Webmagazine. High Performance Technical Content]
- [http://smartguide.fordvehicles.com/View.jsp?spaceName=Cars Ford Cars Smart Guide]
- [http://smartguide.fordvehicles.com/View.jsp?spaceName=SUVs Ford SUVs Smart Guide]
- [http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/ford.html The Ford Motor Company and the Third Reich]
- [http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105&STORY=/www/story/07-27-2000/0001276963 Ford Commits to Major SUV Fuel Economy Gains]
- [http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105&STORY=/www/story/04-07-2004/0002147628 Ford Escape Hybrid Sets SUV Mileage Record in 37-Hour Non-Stop Driving Test on a Tank of Gas]
- [http://www.fordforums.com FordForums.com] - a fan forum enthusiast page
- [http://www.ford-trucks.com Ford-Trucks.com] - a truck, suv and van fan forum enthusiast page
- [http://www.ford-forums.com Ford-forums.com, another fan forum enthusiast page]
- [http://www.blueovalnews.com Blueovalnews.com a fan information site]
- [http://webloga.com/Ford,0,cars.html Ford news]
- [http://www.theawfultruth.com/salbmw/ Relationships between major industrial companies and Nazi Germany]
- Category:Companies based in Michigan Category:Fortune 500 companies Category:Family business ko:포드 자동차 ja:フォード・モーター th:ฟอร์ดมอเตอร์

V-8

:This page is about the engine configuration. For other uses of "V8", see V8 (disambiguation) V8 (disambiguation) A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders.

Overview

The V8 is a very common configuration for large automobile engines. V8 engines are rarely less than 4 litres in displacement and in automobile use have gone up to 8.5 litres or so. The V8 is a common engine configuration in the highest echelons of motorsport, especially in the USA where it is required in IRL, ChampCar and NASCAR. Formula One will use V8 engines for the 2006 season onwards.

V angles

The most-common V angle for a V8 by far is 90°. This configuration produces a wide, low engine with optimal firing and vibration characteristics. Since many V6 engines are derived from V8 designs, they often use the 90° angle as well, but with more complex cranks to even the firing cycle. However, some V8s use different angles. One notable example is the Ford/Yamaha V8 used in the Ford Taurus SHO. It was based on Ford's Duratec V6 and shares that engine's 60° vee angle. This engine is used by Volvo Cars as of 2005.

Cross-plane and flat-plane

There are two classic types of V8s which differ by crankshaft:
- The cross-plane V8 is the typical V8 configuration used in American road cars. Each crank pin (of four) is at a 90° angle from the previous, so that viewed from the end the crankshaft forms a cross. The cross-plane can achieve very good balance but requires heavy counterweights on the crankshaft. This makes the cross-plane V8 a slow-revving engine that cannot speed up or slow down very quickly compared to other designs, because of the greater rotating mass. While the firing of the cross-plane V8 is regular overall, the firing of each bank is not; this leads to the need to connect exhaust pipes between the two banks to design an optimal exhaust system. This complex and encumbering exhaust system has been a major problem for single-seater racing car designers.
- The flat-plane V8 design has crank pins at 180°. They are imperfectly balanced and thus produce severe vibrations unless balance shafts are used. As they don't require counterweights, the crankshaft has less mass and thus inertia, allowing higher RPM and quicker acceleration. The design was popularized in modern racing with the Coventry Climax 1.5 L V8 which evolved from a cross-plane to a flat-plane configuration. Flat-plane V8s on road cars come from Ferrari (the Dino), Lotus (the Esprit V8), and TVR (the Speed Eight). This design is popular in racing engines, the most famous example being the Cosworth DFV. In, 1992 Audi left the German DTM racing series after a controversy around the crankshaft design of their V8-powered race cars. After using the road car's cross-plane 90°-crankshaft for several years, they switched to a flat-plane 180° version which they claimed was made by "twisting" a stock part. The scrutineers decided that this would stretch the rules too far. The cross-plane design was neither obvious nor simple to design. For this reason, most early V8 engines, including those from De Dion-Bouton, Peerless, and Cadillac, were flat-plane designs. In 1915, the cross-plane design was proposed at an automotive engineering conference in the United States, but it took another eight years to bring it to production. Cadillac and Peerless (who had hired an ex-Cadillac mathematician for the job) applied for a patent on the cross-plane design simultaneously, and the two agreed to share the idea. Cadillac introduced their "Compensated Crankshaft" V8 in 1923, with the "Equipoised Eight" from Peerless appearing in November of 1924. More information is available [http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/engine/smooth4.htm here].

American V8 Engines

The United States can be considered the "home of the V8" — it has always been more popular there than anywhere else, and it is certainly now the preferred arrangement for any large engine. With the recent exceptions of the Dodge Viper's V10, the similar Dodge Built Ram Tough V10, and the Ford large truck engine of the same arrangement, there are practically no large engines in the US of post-World War II design that have not been of this type. Cadillac produced the first American V8 engine, 1914's L-Head. It was a complicated hand-built unit with cast iron paired closed-head cylinders bolted to an aluminum crankcase, and it used a flat-plane crankshaft. Peerless followed, introducing a V8 licensed from amusement park manufacturer, Herschell-Spillman, the next year. Cadillac and Peerless were one year apart again (1923 and 1924, respectively) with the introduction of the cross-plane crankshaft. Cunningham and Lincoln also had V8 cars in those years. Ford were the first company to use V8s en masse. Instead of going to a straight-6 like its competitors when something larger than a straight-4 was needed, Ford designed a modern V8, the famous Flathead of 1932. This engine powered almost all larger Ford cars until 1953, and was produced until around 1970 by Ford licensees around the world, mostly powering commercial vehicles. After World War II, greater vehicle size meant that the straight-6 became increasingly underpowered, while lower hoods and more aerodynamic styling meant that the straight-8 was simply too large. General Motors responded to Ford's V8 success with the 1949 introduction of the Oldsmobile Rocket and Cadillac OHV, the first OHV V8 engines ever produced. Chrysler introduced their FirePower hemi-head V8 the next year. Sales were beyond all expectations, so Buick, Chevrolet, and Pontiac introduced V8s of their own in 1954. A full history of each manufacturer's engines is out of scope in this article, but engine sizes on full-size cars grew throughout the 1950s, 1960s and into the early to mid 1970s. The increasing size of full-size cars meant that smaller models of car were introduced and became more popular, with the result that by the 1960s Chrysler, Ford, and Chevrolet had two V8 models. The larger engines, known as big-block V8s, were used in the full-size cars. Big-blocks generally had displacements in excess of 6 L (360 in³), but in stock form are often not all that efficient. Big-block displacement reached its zenith with the 1970 Cadillac Eldorado's 8.2 L (500 in³) 500. Once the 1970s oil crisis and pollution regulations hit, big-block V8s didn't last too much longer in cars; luxury cars lasted the longest, but by 1977 or so they were gone. In trucks and other larger vehicles, big-block V8s in their historic form lasted until the early 1990s. Smaller engines, known as small-block V8s, were fitted in the mid-size car ranges and generally displaced between 4.4 L (270 in³) and 6.0 L (360 in³), though some grew as large as Ford's 6.7 L (408 in³) 400 Cleveland. As can be seen, there is overlap between big-block and small-block ranges, and an engine between 6.0 L and 6.6 L could belong to either class. Engines like this (much evolved, of course) are still in production. During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, every General Motors division had their own engines, whose merits varied. This enabled each division to have its own unique engine character, but made for much duplication of effort. Most, like the comparatively tiny Buick 215 and familiar Chevrolet 350, were confusingly shared across many divisions. Ford and Chrysler had fewer divisions, and division-specific engines were quickly abandoned in favor of a few shared designs. Today, there are less than a dozen different American V8 engines in production.

See also (American V8s)


- Ford
  - 1932-1953 Flathead V8
  - 1954-1962 Y-block V8
  - 1958-1967 MEL V8
  - 1962-1995 Windsor V8
  - 1963-1976 FE V8
  - 1968-1997 385 V8
  - 1970-1982 335/Cleveland V8
  - 1991-present Modular V8/Triton V8
  - 1996-present Jaguar AJ-V8
  - 1996-present Yamaha V8
  - Cosworth DFV
- General Motors
  - 1914-1992 Cadillac V8
  - 1949-1990 Oldsmobile Rocket V8
  - 1954-1970s Pontiac V8
  - 1950s-1970s Buick V8
  - 1954-1968 Chevrolet small-block V8
  - 1969-1991 Chevrolet 350 small-block
  - Chevrolet Big-Block engine
  - 1992-present Northstar/Premium
  - 1993-1997 Generation 2 small-block
  - 1998-present Generation 3 small-block
  - 2005-present Generation 4 small-block
  - Duramax Diesel
- Chrysler
  - A family
  - FirePower
  - B family
  - RB family
  - Original Hemi
  - AMC V8
  - LA Family
  - PowerTech
  - New Hemi

British V8 engines

The most common British V8 is the Rover V8, used in countless British performance cars. This is not actually a British design at all but was imported from America, its roots being in General Motors' Oldsmobile/Buick cast-aluminum 215 V8 in 1960. It was of the small (for the US market) size of 3.5 L (215 in³) and very light for a V8. It appeared in production in 1961 on some of that year's Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac models, but was soon dropped in favor of more conventional iron-blocked units. As the aluminium block made this engine one of the lightest stock V8s built there was some attempts to use it in racing at Indianapolis. The Australian firm Repco converted this engine for Formula One by reducing it to 3 litres and fitting a single overhead camshaft per bank rather than the shared pushrod arrangement. Repco-powered Brabhams won the F1 championship twice, in 1966 and 1967. Rover was in need of a new, more powerful engine in the mid 1960s, and became aware of this small, lightweight V8. After some negotiation they acquired rights to it and have produced it ever since, its first appearances being in Rover saloons in the late 1960s. As well as appearing in Rover cars, the engine was widely sold to small car builders, and has appeared in all kinds of vehicles. Rover V8s feature in some models from Morgan, TVR, Triumph, Marcos, and MG, among many others. They're also the standard British engine in hot rods, much like the Chevrolet 350 small-block is to American builders. The last mass-produced car to use the Rover V8 was the Land Rover Discovery, which was replaced by an all-new model in 2005. Many independent sports cars manufacturers still use it in hand-built applications. Triumph used the Triumph Slant-4 engine as a base of a V8 engine. The Triumph V8 was used in the Triumph Stag and in a limited number of Saab 99s. To be done : Aston-Martin Rolls-Royce

French V8 engines

The French De Dion-Bouton firm was first to produce a V8 engine for sale in 1910. Later examples came from Citroën, with the never produced 1934 22CV Traction Avant, and Simca.

Czech V8 engines

Tatra used air-cooled V8 engines.

German V8 engines


- Daimler-Benz
- Porsche 928, Porsche Cayenne
- Audi
- BMW
  - M62
  - N62

Italian V8 engines

Alfa Romeo

The Alfa Romeo Montreal was powered by a 2593 ccm (158 cid) 90-degree quad-cam V8 derived from the Tipo 33 race car. The engine was also used in a very limited production Alfetta GTV8.

Ferrari

Ferrari adopted the V8 configuration in racing in 1962 with the 268 SP. The first V8-powered Ferrari road car was 1974's 308 GT4, with the familiar 308 GTB following closely behind. The company continued to use this Dino V8 engine ever since with the 328, 348, and successors. Ferrari's smallest V8 (and indeed, the smallest ever) was the 2.0 L (1990 cc) unit found in the 1975 208 GT4. The company produced a slightly-larger 2.0 L V8 in the 208 GTB of the 1980s. Five-valve versions of Ferrari's 3.5 L and 3.6 L V8s were found in the Ferrari 355 and Ferrari 360. The old Dino V8 was retired for 2005 with the introduction of a shared Ferrari/Maserati V8 in the F430.

Lamborghini

Lamborghini have always fitted V12s in their top-of-the-line cars, but have built many V8s for their lower models, including the Urraco and Jalpa.

Maserati

Maserati have used V8s for many of their models, including the Maserati Bora. This engine was initially designed as a racing engine for the Maserati 450S. The company's latest V8, found in the Quattroporte, Coupe, and Spyder, is a new design shared with Ferrari.

Spanish V8 engines

Spanish truck company Pegaso made around 100 cars in the 1950s and 1960s. These cars were powered by a DOHC 32 valve V8, with up to 360 hp (270 kW).

Australian V8 engines

The V8 is a very popular engine amongst Australians. This popularity can be attributed to both the popularity of the V8 in the USA, but also the V8's inherent characteristics. The V8's deep growl (actually a property of the muffler system) and its powerful mid-range torque have made it a more popular engine to the more refined I6 and V6 engines. Holden (including its performance vehicle operations HDT Special Vehicles and HSV) have been manufacuring V8 performance vehicles since the late 1960's, as has Ford Australia. The performance arm of Ford Australia, Ford Performance Vehicles

Brunswick Corporation

The Brunswick Corporation , formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is a United States based corporation that has been involved in manufacturing a wide variety of products since 1845. Brunswick was founded by John Moses Brunswick (1819–1886), an energetic man born in Bremgarten, Switzerland who came to the United States at the age of 15. The J.M. Brunswick Manufacturing Company opened for business on 15 September, 1845 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Originally J.M. Brunswick intended his company to be mainly in the business of making carriages, but soon after opening his machine shop he became fascinated with billiards, and decided that making billiard tables would be more lucrative, as the better tables then in use in America were imported from England. Brunswick billiard tables were a commercial success, and the business expanded and opened up the first of what would become many branch offices in Chicago, Illinois in 1848. In 1873, the Brunswick company merged with competitor Great Western Billiard Manufactory owned by Julius Balke to become the Brunswick & Balke Company, incorporated with a capital stock of 275,000 U.S. dollars. In 1884, another competitor, H.W. Collender Company of New York, was absorbed to form the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, that year with a capital of $1.5 million. The company expanded into making a number of other products. Large ornate neo-classical style bars for saloons were a popular product. Bowling balls, pins, and equipment led a growing line of sporting equipment. It popularized bowling balls of manufactured materials, vulcanized rubber at first; earlier bowling balls had been solid wood. In the early 20th century, Brunswick expanded the product line to include such diverse products as toilet seats, automobile tires, and phonographs. In the late 1910s, they introduced a quickly popular line of disc phonograph records; see: Brunswick Records. In the 1930s, Brunswick sold the control of the record company to Warner Brothers and came out with a line of refrigerators. During World War II, Brunswick-Balke-Collender made small target-drone aircraft for the U.S. military. After the war Brunswick introduced a line of school furniture. In the 1950s, the Brunswick Mechanical Pinsetter automated resetting bowling alley pins. The decade also saw the introduction of a line of golfing equipment. The Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company officially changed its name to the Brunswick Corporation on 10 April, 1960. The following year the company reported sales of 422 million dollars. In the 1980s, Brunswick became one of the leading makers of yachts and pleasure boats, whose brands include Bayliner, Maxum, Sea Ray, and Trophy. During the Gulf War Brunswick supplied the military with camouflage nets. They also made radomes for the Patriot missile. As of the early 21st century, the Brunswick Corporation still manufactures their famous sporting and fitness equipment, in addition to boats, marine engines under the Mercury Marine (see Mercury outboard motors) brand name, and the Northstar Navigation system.

External links


- [http://www.brunswick.com Corporate website]
- [http://www.esu.edu/~mguesto/Billiards/billiards.html Detailed history of the company] Category:Fortune 500 companies Category:Companies based in Illinois Category:Boat builders

1999

1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations.

Events


- Kosovo War
- Y2K preparation was a major event in 1999 both in actual events and in media over-reporting.
- The human population of the world surpassed six billion. The United Nations Population Fund designated October 12 as the approximate date for this event.

January


- January 1 - Euro currency introduced.
- January 1 - An avalanche destroys a school gymnasium during New Year celebrations in Kangiqsualujjuaq in far northern Quebec, killing nine.
- January 2 - A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern USA, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow at Milwaukee, Wisconsin and 19 inches (487 mm) at Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, temperatures plunge to -13°F (-25°C), and 68 deaths are reported.
- January 4 - Gunmen open fire on Shiite Muslims worshipping in an Islamabad mosque killing 16 people and injuring 25.
- January 12 - The remains of Christina Marie Williams were found three miles (5 km) from her home on the o