Passenger transport in Europe has increased by around 55% over the past 20 years, with most growth in air and road transport¹. Growing car ownership, the increasing mobility of the workforce and rising private incomes have led to more passenger transport and boosted tourism travel, particularly by air. Travel and tourism account now for 10% of world output and employ nearly 200 million people in what is the world's largest industry. But the rapid growth in road transport and aviation poses significant challenges to manufacturers and governments. Customer demands for increased functionality, lighter weight materials and improved performance compete with the need for manufacturers to reduce costs yet meet a growing number of regulations on noise, emissions and safety.

With the transport sector representing around 13% of Spectris turnover, a number of Spectris companies are working with customers in automotive and aerospace to help them to improve their performance.

A better drive
Cars have to meet ever more stringent safety requirements, be easy to manufacture, meet cost, weight and performance targets, appeal to customers in varied world markets and incorporate new technology in hundreds of complex systems. Yet the growth of the motor industry must be balanced with environmental considerations such as air pollution and noise, an increasing concern to industry and governments around the world.

Improving performance
Reducing the weight of vehicle components is key to improving vehicle performance. Here, HBM provides measurement equipment to leading automotive test bench manufacturers for carrying out load and performance tests on engines and transmission systems and determining chassis strength. The HBM equipment includes transducers and data acquisition systems for measuring torque and speed to improve performance and help optimise chassis strength for safety and ride quality. HBM is also working with a customer to test a hybrid electric propulsion system which reduces the demand on the engine, thereby lowering emissions and improving fuel economy which is positive for the environment.

As the functionality of vehicles becomes more complex, the amount and demands placed upon the wiring required to convey data around the vehicle increases. Beta LaserMike's measurement gauges are used to provide dimensional monitoring and in process control as well as sample inspection of data cable, which improves product quality and reduces manufacturing costs, whilst enabling more productive cables to be used increasing the rate of transmission and reducing the overall weight of the wiring harness.

Greater functionality and comfort also means an increased use of electronics in today's vehicles. Engine management systems, climate controls and satellite navigation systems are all controlled electronically, with printed circuit boards containing an increasing number of microchips. Particle Measuring Systems provides instrumentation for monitoring micro-contamination during the manufacture of semiconductors, ensuring that particle contamination does not damage the functionality of the individual chips on the wafer.

The increased use of electronics in vehicles means that inspection processes have to be thorough. Using the latest technology, Ircon's thermal imaging system inspects rear windscreen heater elements in just two seconds. A camera gathers infrared radiation data from the embedded heater and transmits it for computer comparison with a master image. The heater is rejected if any hot spots or broken lines are found.

Manufacturers are also seeking ways of meeting the challenge of reducing manufacturing costs whilst producing today's aerodynamic vehicle designs which have to withstand ever harsher conditions. Fusion's UV technology is
used in the manufacture of a number of automotive components, from complex headlamp lenses and reflectors to interior plastic parts and body mouldings. Ultraviolet curing results in instant drying and hardening, creating durable, scratch-resistant finishes with a significant reduction in processing time and also reduces the harmful emissions and waste products produced by alternative thermal drying processes.

Almost as important as appearance to today's customer is the sound of the car and Brüel & Kjær Sound & Vibration's PULSE™ system is used for a wide variety of noise vibration harshness analysis including engine, wind tunnel, transmission and in-car testing. Sound and vibration analysis is important not only to make cars quieter, but also to give them the right kind of sound to please customers, for example how the door sounds when closing and the noise components such as indicators make when used. A major factor contributing to the environmental impact of increased traffic is the noise created by vehicle tyres on road surfaces and Brüel & Kjær also supply solutions to customers such as Continental and the Transport Research Laboratory to measure tyre/road noise on various types of road surfaces to enable quieter tyres to be developed.

Reducing environmental impact
As mentioned above, traffic noise is a growing environmental problem: road traffic is the most widespread source of noise in all countries and the most prevalent cause of annoyance and interference. Noise emission limits have been considerably tightened in recent years and legislation in many countries now sets maximum sound levels for vehicles.

Brüel & Kjær is are helping customers in the automotive industry to meet regulations on noise. At London Taxis International, manufacturers of the famous "black cab", the latest taxi not only conforms to European emissions regulations but is also significantly quieter than previous models, thanks to the use of Brüel & Kjær's system for analysing noise vibration harshness.

Road transport accounts for 85% of all transport CO₂ emissions¹. Since 1970 nine major EU directives have successfully tightened the limit on vehicle emissions and the aim is to reduce carbon dioxide levels by 25% in Europe by 2008. Today's finely tuned automotive engines rely on precision injection systems that deliver maximum power with minimum fuel consumption and reduced emissions. Faced with ever stricter regulations, manufacturers need to develop new technologies to meet these requirements. At DaimlerChrysler, Malvern's Spraytec particle size analyser is being used to characterise the fuel droplets from injection nozzles as part of their work to develop more efficient engines.

A safer journey
Vehicle manufacturers have invested millions of pounds in safety as all new models have to meet exacting safety regulations before they can be launched on the market. Test engineers must have highly precise and repeatable test results and HBM's mobile data acquisition systems are used extensively in road and track, fatigue and reliability tests.

Flying high
Although severely impacted by economic conditions and the events of last September, there is general agreement that globalisation will continue to boost air travel, particularly with low-cost airlines offering increased convenience and affordability, and a boom in the corporate jet industry, and the long-term outlook remains one of sustained market growth. This poses a daunting challenge to already-strained airport capacities. A number of Spectris companies are working with both aircraft manufacturers and airport authorities to meet the challenges of flying in the 21st century.

Reducing environmental impact
Noise from commercial aircraft is a problem around airports, where aircraft converge at low altitude and high engine power. As noise pollution from the growing number of flights increases, public demands have brought about strict legislation which has made noise monitoring compulsory in many countries. Brüel & Kjær has supplied more than 200 airport noise monitoring systems to airports around the world that enable flights to be tracked, recorded and the noise replayed as well as providing software to predict noise levels. The resulting noise reports enable actions such as flight bans to be implemented during night hours, flight paths to be modified to avoid residential areas and low noise aircraft types to be ordered when updating the fleet. At some airports the actual noise level has decreased very considerably.

Brüel & Kjær is also participating in one of the largest research projects in Europe to date, aimed at developing quieter aircraft. Reduction of the noise at source is a key area of focus for improvement and the noise research programme is looking at noise reduction technologies which will enable aircraft to operate more quietly than today's, with up to 10 decibels less noise from 2009.

A safer flight
Before any aircraft model enters service, it has to undergo extensive testing. HBM's strain gauges and data acquisition systems are used by many major aircraft manufacturers to determine stress and resulting strain on an airframe during simulated loading. The systems are also used during long-term flight simulation to determine the resulting fatigue characteristics on airframes, wings and sub-assemblies. Airbus are using HBM's force transducers to measure the overall centre of gravity and effective contact forces once the aircraft has been assembled.

Another application is the instrumentation of the Thermal Acoustic Facility (TAF) for BAe. This measures the environmental impact of short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft, such as the new Joint Strike Fighter from Lockheed Martin. While not many of us will ever get to travel in such an aircraft, the environmental consequences of landing and operating such an aircraft must be fully researched.

As the number of cars on the road increases and low-cost airlines expand their markets, travel will undoubtedly continue to be a fundamental part of everyday life. Spectris companies will continue to help customers to develop new technologies to meet the challenges of transportation systems in the 21st century.


1 Source: European Environment Agency

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