Automobiles of the Fifties
Posted on | January 25, 2012 | Comments Off
Automobiles of the Fifties
Who could have believed that once the 1950s began, cars, which were by and large driven by low-compression sixes that needed tetraethyl lead for upper cylinder head lubrication, unless you used a light machine oil, and which looked much like ladder-frame bodies with fenders and quarter panels hung off them, would’ve ended as it did?
By the end of the fifties, there were automobiles such as the Chevrolet Bel Air that used a small-block V-8 that was available and the Caddy was the “King of the Road,” as they say, as it sported a big-block V-8 that produced more than 300 horsepower. For fans of American classic cars, these 1950s vehicles typified the beauty and optimism of the era.
Corvette Hits the Road
The big changes came when Chevrolet unveiled the ‘Vette in 1953 and clay mockups of newer models like the Ford Thunderbird were going around the design studios of Detroit.
The 1955/56 T-Bird became one of the more exciting cars of the 50s and while it was really nothing special at heart (a Ford Custom 6 chassis), it still looked wonderful and yes it was just the thing the marketing divisions had ordered. Certainly, it answered the request by many customers for 2-seaters, in addition to family roadsters. The need for the 2-seat was established by the number of vets who came back from Europe with thoughts of coupes filling their desires.
The Corvette and the T-Bird, though, led to another call and that would be a requirement for speed. Not only did people want automobiles that looked as though they were looked exciting but additionally, they desired cars that could perform. Few individuals probably understand that while the first modern V8 engine was the 1932 Ford V-8, the well known Chrysler hemi (hemispherical combustion chamber) made its debut in 1951 and stayed in the lineup until ’58.
It was the engine of the popular 300M of the time. In fact, Chrysler and Dodge were rivals for Ford and General Motors and they really did hold their own.
Initially, in the 50s, the motor industry was playing catch-up, the latter half, they were developing cars that people did actually want. Features were transforming as quad front lights first appeared on the 1957/8 Cadillac and enormous fins, reminiscent of the rudders and tails of the jet planes that were a modern marvel, thus you had the 1958/9 Caddy with its huge fins. Chevy tried having single fin and later in the decade turned the fin horizontal for the introduction of the 1959s, but by ’60, the fin had gone the way of the Dodo bird, it was about extinct – well the large fin was – smaller fins continued making their appearances right through the sixties and there were even a few small tries in the seventies.
The Late 50s
Perhaps the biggest change of course in design, and with it a fresh school of designers, was shown by the ’58 Chevy BelAir. The quad lights were apparent as was the 289 small block, and they were the minor changes. The key modifications came in the lines where the rear of the car became a smooth deck with taillights that weren’t just an add-on. Yes, Chevrolet did an admirable job with the 1956 Bel Air/Nomad but the 1958 showed the shape of things to come – smooth lines, quad headlights and rounded fenders and rear quaters.
Talk about a decade of changes: from a small six that turned into a monster 8 and from autos where things were just hung on by committee to designs that were real, the 1950s was quite a decade.
If you are fond of classic cars then it’s worth checking out www.carsandstripes.com.
Electric Automobile Batteries
Posted on | January 20, 2012 | Comments Off
Electric Automobile Batteries
An entirely new type of nanomaterial developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute could enable the next generation of high-power rechargeable lithium (Li)-ion batteries for electric automobiles, as well as batteries for laptop computers, mobile phones, and other portable devices.
The new material, dubbed a “nanoscoop” because its shape resembles a cone with a scoop of ice cream on top, can withstand extremely high rates of charge and discharge that would cause conventional electrodes used in today’s Li-ion batteries to rapidly deteriorate and fail. The nanoscoop’s success lies in its unique material composition, structure, and size.
The Rensselaer research team, led by Professor Nikhil Koratkar, demonstrated how a nanoscoop electrode could be charged and discharged at a rate 40 to 60 times faster than conventional battery anodes, while maintaining a comparable energy density.
This stellar performance, which was achieved over 100 continuous charge/discharge cycles, has the team confident that their new technology holds significant potential for the design and realization of high-power, high-capacity Li-ion rechargeable batteries.
“Charging my laptop or cell phone in a few minutes, rather than an hour, sounds pretty good to me,” said Koratkar, a professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer. “By using our nanoscoops as the anode architecture for Li-ion rechargeable Laptop Battery such as Sony PCGA-BP2S battery and Sony VGP-BPS2 battery, this is a very real prospect.
Moreover, this technology could potentially be ramped up to suit the demanding needs of batteries for electric automobiles.”
Batteries for all-electric vehicles must deliver high power densities in addition to high energy densities, Koatkar said. These vehicles today use supercapacitors to perform power-intensive functions, such as starting the vehicle and rapid acceleration, in conjunction with conventional batteries that deliver high energy density for normal cruise driving and other operations. Koratkar said the invention of nanoscoops may enable these two separate systems to be combined into a single, more efficient battery unit.
Results of the study were detailed in the paper “Functionally Strain-Graded Nanoscoops for High Power Li-Ion Battery Anodes,” published Thursday by the journal Nano Letters.
The anode structure of a Li-ion battery physically grows and shrinks as the battery charges or discharges. When charging, the addition of Li ions increases the volume of the anode, while discharging has the opposite effect. These volume changes result in a buildup of stress in the anode. Too great a stress that builds up too quickly, as in the case of a battery charging or discharging at high speeds, can cause the battery to fail prematurely. This is why most batteries in today’s portable electronic devices like cell phones and laptops charge very slowly — the slow charge rate is intentional and designed to protect the battery from stress-induced damage.
The Rensselaer team’s nanoscoop, however, was engineered to withstand this buildup of stress. Made from a carbon (C) nanorod base topped with a thin layer of nanoscale aluminum (Al) and a “scoop” of nanoscale silicon (Si), the structures are flexible and able to quickly accept and discharge Li ions at extremely fast rates without sustaining significant damage. The segmented structure of the nanoscoop allows the strain to be gradually transferred from the C base to the Al layer, and finally to the Si scoop. This natural strain gradation provides for a less abrupt transition in stress across the material interfaces, leading to improved structural integrity of the electrode.
The nanoscale size of the scoop is also vital since nanostructures are less prone to cracking than bulk materials, according to Koratkar.
“Due to their nanoscale size, our nanoscoops can soak and release Li at high rates far more effectively than the macroscale anodes used in today’s Li-ion batteries,” he said. “This means our nanoscoop may be the solution to a critical problem facing auto companies and other battery manufacturers — how can you increase the power density of a battery while still keeping the energy density high?”
A limitation of the nanoscoop architecture is the relatively low total mass of the electrode, Koratkar said. To solve this, the team’s next steps are to try growing longer scoops with greater mass, or develop a method for stacking layers of nanoscoops on top of each other. Another possibility the team is exploring includes growing the nanoscoops on large flexible substrates that can be rolled or shaped to fit along the contours or chassis of the automobile.
Along with Koratkar, authors on the paper are Toh-Ming Lu, the R.P. Baker Distinguished Professor of Physics and associate director of the Center for Integrated Electronics at Rensselaer; and Rahul Krishnan, a graduate student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Rensselaer.
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