Brief About Automobiles and Automobile Engineering

AUTOMOBILE Engineering is a branch of vehicle engineering along with marine engineering and aeronautical engineering. It is an integrating principle of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and production engineering as applied to the design, manufacture and operation of different kinds of vehicles (motorcycles, cars, buses, and trucks and their respective engines and engineerings …)

The term automotive/automobile is commonly applied to self-propelled vehicle used for travel in land, marine is applied for travel in river and sea and aeronautic is applied for travel in air which carries their own engines and are designed primarily for the transportation of goods and is constructed with larger and heavier parts. Automobiles are usually propelled by internal combustion engines (using volatile inflammable liquids, as gasoline or petrol, alcohol, naphtha, etc.), (steam engines, or electric motors) mounted in the front of the vehicle, its power may be transmitted either to the front wheels, to the rear wheels, or to all four wheels. Some automobiles uses water cooled and air-cooled engines depending upon their design and construction. But air cooled engines are generally less efficient than the liquid/water-cooled type.

 In some automobile model and construction, the engine is carried just forward of the rear wheels; this arrangement, while wasteful of space, has the advantage of better weight distribution. Although passenger vehicles are usually gasoline fueled, diesel engines (which burn a heavier petroleum oil) are employed both for heavy vehicles, such as trucks and buses, and for a small number of family sedans. Both diesel and gasoline engines generally employ a four-stroke cycle. The power of the driving motor varies from about 4 to 50 H.P. for ordinary vehicles, ranging from the run-about to the touring car, up to as high as 200 H.P. for specially built racing cars.

Internal Combustion(I.C.) engines consume relatively high amounts of petroleum, and contribute heavily to air pollution. Therefore, other types of fuels and non-conventional engines are being studied and developed. An alternative fuel vehicle is a dedicated flexible fuel vehicle (one with a common fuel tank designed to run on varying blends of unleaded gasoline with either ethanol or methanol) or a dual fuel vehicle (one designed to run on a combination of an alternative fuel and a conventional fuel) operating on at least one alternative fuel. An advanced technology vehicle (ATV) combines a new engine, power train, and drive train system to significantly improve fuel economy.

Research and experiments are being studied on alternative propulsion systems also. Steam engines, which were once more common than gasoline engines, are being experimented with now because they give off fewer noxious emissions, they are, however, less efficient than internal-combustion engines. Battery-powered electric engines, previously used mainly for local delivery vehicles, can now be used in automobiles capable of highway speeds, but they are restricted to relatively short trips because of limitations on the storage batteries that power the motors.

Some automobile engineers worry that widespread adoption of electric cars might actually generate more air pollution, because additional electric power plants would be needed to recharge their batteries. Therefore, design and research work has also intensified on solar batteries, but they are generally not yet powerful enough to power such vehicles. The most promising technology for electric engines is the fuel cell, but fuel cells currently are too expensive for practical applications.