Testing Automotive Materials and Components (Hardcover)

This book is the result of nearly 40 years of hands-on experience in the testing of automobile components and materials. Don Wright's down-to-earth but highly perceptive approach to component failure has earned him a reputation as one of Europe's leading detectives of the test laboratory. Wright's message is that realism and practicality, plus accumulated wisdom, are the best tools in identifying the true causes of failure. Testing Automotive Materials and Components shows how automotive materials can be evaluated to reveal their true characteristics under realistic loading and environmental conditions. The book describes and illustrates test methods which will help designers and development engineers save valuable time and expenditure, not only during the prototype and pre-production stages, but in the event of service failure. Chapters cover: Types of Specimen; Service Failure Analysis; Basic Fatigue Testing; Realistic Fatigue Testing; Effect of Speed and Accelerated Dynamic Testing; Crankshafts and Connecting Rods; Cams and Followers; Axle Shafts, Drive Shafts, and Torsion Bars; Gears; Road Wheels; Plastics, Composites, and Ceramics. About the author - Before launching his own company, Sigma Engineering Consultants, Don H. Wright was head of the Materials and Durability Department at the Motor Industry Research Association in the U.K. He has written, lectured, and consulted in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and India. He is chairman of several international committees concerned with fatigue and reliability in vehicles ranging from trucks and buses to bicycles.