The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1926-02-27
CONSTANT EFFORTS
MADE TO IMPROVE
ENGINEERING
5000 Members Of Society Of
Automotive Engineers
Testing Problems

Were it not for the work Of the
automotive engineers, the sale OF au-
tomobiles swould begin to slump in
year. The amazing increase in the
use Of motor cars from year to year
has been due primarily to the inn
proyements that have been made
each year and to the reduction IN
prices. The engineers have brought
about both the improvements and the
price reductions. To be sure, the
capital Of investors, the organizing
and executive ability Of manufac-
turers and the efforts Of the adver-
Using and sales departments are en-
titled to credit for the production
and distribution Of motor vehicles.
but the engineers are always inten-
sively at work seeking ways TO make
cars better.
They are assisted in this work by
the Society of Automotive Engineers,
Of which $500 men engaged in engl-
neering work in practically all Of the
automotive plants in this country and
many foreign countries are members.
There are so many problems to be
solved that no single industrial or
ganization could solve all Of them
and keep in the van Of the develop
ments. If each company and its en-
gineers worked alone there would be
a great diversity of cars and none Of
them would be so good as all of them
are today.
Through the activities of the so
ciety and the spirit Of cooperation
that it fosters. the engineers Of all
companies quickly get the benefit of
research work and original thought
of the others. When new idea is
developed that is believed by the
originator to be an improvement, an
exposition is made at some meeting
Of the society or one of its thirteen
sectional organizations. Ii the idea
has merit, it shortly becomes ac-
cepted and the Improvement is incor-
porated into most cars, parts or ma
terals to which it is applicable.
Public Benefits
The public, Of course, gets the ben
eft of this, and gets it with surpris-
ing rapidity, as instanced by the gen.
eral adoption Of four-wheel brakes
and balloon tires within the last two
are under way. The next year or two
will very likely see widespread adop-
ton BY manufacturers of air clean
ers. oil-cleaning devices, central
chassis lubricating systems, power
operated brakes on heavy trucks and
buses, and other changes in design
that will make automobiles and buses
better adapted to traffic conditions,
safer, quieter, more economical in
operation and upkeep, more COM
Portable and easier to operate.
In no country of the world can the
people buy motor vehicles at such
low prices as in the United States,
which fact, combined with the rela-
taal- Great prosperity OF the masse5
a tails country, accounts for the use
OF nearly five times as many automo-
biles as in the rest of the world.
These low prices are the result of
Standardization of materials, parts
and fittings and of the general adop-
ton in American automotive plants
Of quantity production methods.
As a man or woman sits behind the
steering wheel Of a car and feels the
response Of the engine to the slight
est pressure on the accelerator, he or
she rarely thinks of the complex CO.
ordination of actions that occur III
the operation Of the highly compli-
Gated mechanism. There is a cycle
Of mechanical action, electrical ac-
ton and chemical action, all Of which
produce mechanical movement that is
almost instantly responsive to the
action of the mind. The perfection
of these actions and their coordina-
ton in the modern motor vehicle rep
resent the research and thought OF
thousands Of scientists in many
= branches Of science.
The automobile is not a one-man
- h,. 70
it's present state of practical eff
cheney for its purposes by the work
Of metallurgists, physicists, chemists
electricians, analysts and mathema-
ticians. A long list of specialists in
the study Of dynamics, combustion
fabrication, gases, sound, optics, Vi
bration, magnetism and electrics
physical and chemical properties OF
materials, alloys and hydrostatics
have contributed their efforts &c
make the motor vehicle what it is to-
day. They are at present doing more
than ever toward the improvement
Of the automobile. 1t is the function
of the Society of Automotive Engi
neers, through its research depart
ment, to act as clearing house fol
the collection and dissemination O
all information that has a hearing
on automotive problems.
Through the society the American
engineers are studying every part o
the motor vehicle, it's design, opera
-tion, maintenance, the fuel it burns
the oil that lubricates it, the air
breatheexend the materials used. TIL
department is cooperating
with the United States Bureau o
- Standards in an exhaustive study o
gasoline and it's utilization in in
ternal-combustion engines. of pc
troleum lubricating oils and thei
contamination and dilution in en-
gines, and along other lines.
The headlighting division Of tn
society is making an investigation Q
the hcadlighting problem in an earn
est endeavor to find some metho
whereby the driver of car will b
able to light his way effectively
night without throwing glare int
users.
u. 8. C0operates
!. In cooperation with Governmer
bureaus, the National Automobi
Chamber of Commerce and the Anne
lean Petroleum Institute the societ
is making efforts to determine tt
i most suitable fuel for automobile
and its most satisfactory and ecol
onrical use. This involves mar
phases Of the subject, such as faci
ity in starting the engine in co
weather, the difference in VOLATILE
that is necessary to secure the san
performance in winter as in SUNNI
as regards engine flexibility and ge1
eral operation, combustion of Il
fuel in the engine and the relate
subjects of dilution Of the lubrica
ing oil by unburned fuel, and knoc
ING or detonatjon in the engine.
Gear noise is under considerable
and the research department has b
gun the compilation of biblio
raphy Of published information dea
H .. 60 ak:aal Laasa