BASIC TERMS OF AUTOMOBILE

1.      ANTI DIVE SYSTEM – A system installed with some brakes that uses front fork damping and the front brake assembly to prevent excessive fork compression and to improve handling when brakes are applied.

2.      AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION – A transmission not using a manually operated clutch.

3.      AXLE – A shaft used to support a part or parts across the frame or forks. e.g., front and rear axles.

4.      BACK BONE FRAME – Frame which uses the engine as a structural member for load carrying.

5.      BEAD – The portion of the tyre which holds it onto the rim.

6.      BRAKE CALIPER – Part of a disc brake which holds friction pads and encloses disc. As the brake is applied, hydraulic fluid forces a piston in caliper towards disc, causing disc to be pinched between brake pads.

7.      BRAKE DISC – A round, flat disc made of steel or cast iron. It is mountedon outside of wheel hub.

8.      BRAKE FADE – Loss of braking power, usually caused by excessive heat after repeated brake applications.

9.      BRAKE LINE – Special hydraulic tubing made of steel, plastic or reinforced rubber. Hydraulic lines must be capable of withstanding extreme pressure without deforming.

10.  DIRECT DRIVE GEARBOX – Power is transmitted from clutch to input shaft (main shaft), to layshaft, to high gear pinion, which has output sprocket mounted on it.

BASIC TERMS OF CASTING

1.      AERATOR – A device for fluffing (or decreasing the density of) and cooling the sand by the admixture of air.

2.      AIR GATE – A vertical channel for the removal of gases from the mould; checking of the filling of the mould cavity with metal and feeding up the casting with metal during solidification.

3.      AIR HOLE – Hole in a casting caused by air or gas trapped in the metal during solidification.

4.      AIRLESS BLAST CLEANING – A process whereby the abrasive material is applied to the object being cleaned by centrifugal force generated by a rotating vane type wheel.

5.      ANTIPIPING (material) – Usually refers to an insulating material placed on the top of a sprue or riser that keeps the metal in liquid or semiliquid form for a long period of time and minimizes the formation of the usual conical pipe or shrink in the top of a sprue or riser.

6.      ARBOR – A metal barrel, frame, or plate to support or carry part of a mould or core.

7.      ATMOSPHERIC RISER – Blind riser which employs atmospheric pressure to aid feeding.

8.      BACK DRAFT – Taper or draft which prevents removal of pattern from the mould.

9.      BINDER – Material used to hold the grains of sand together in moulds or cores. May be cereal, oil, clay, resin, pitch etc.

10.  BLAST CLEANING – Removal of sand or oxide scale from castings by the impinging action of sand, metal shot or grit projected under air, water or centrifugal pressure.

TURBO-INTERCOOLER EXPLAINED

Many cars and trucks  are written on their sides as turbo intercooler or simply intercooler. what does it mean? Actually an intercooler is an additional component fixed to a turbo charger to improve its performance and efficiency. It is similar to a radiator whereas a radiator cools the engine but a turbo intercooler cools the air which is fed into the engine. Lets see it brief here.

A turbocharged engine has a turbocharger which sucks and compresses the air from outside into the engine with the help of burnt exhaust gases coming out of the engine. Initially the air entering into the engine is cold so it has more oxygen, good density and volume. The dense and oxygen rich air aids in better combustion and does the work of turbocharger very efficiently. But as the time moves on, the air which is compressed by the turbocharger into the engine gets heated up due to compression. Usually when air is compressed its temperature rises and becomes hot. This hot air has low density, volume and minimum oxygen content, therefore it affects the performance of the engine.

The solution to this problem is the turbo intercooler. The turbo intercooler cools the compressed air from  turbocharger and feeds it to the air intake system of the engine. So the air entering into the engine is made dense and cold. Hence it has high oxygen content and volume, which is necessary for better combustion of fuel.

The intercooler is placed before the radiator or underneath the radiator to draw the cold air directly as the vehicle moves on. Almost all turbocharged cars are intercooled. In india, cars which are equipped with intercoolers are swift, ritz, indica tdi as well as indigo tdi, vista qudrajet, scorpio, xylo, octavia, verna, safari, punto, i10, i20, older accent, MB, 320d, Toyota Fortuner, Ford endeavor etc.. 

The intercoolers usually uses outside air to cool itself. Water cooled intercoolers are of another type which is used in top end and high performance cars.

Practically this component enhances the function of turbocharger to get better output and constant performance.

CHECK OUT WHY NEW TYRES HAVE RUBBER HAIR ON THEM

Why Do New Tires Have Rubber Hair on Them?

There are little rubber hairs that you see on every new tire. Technically, they are called vent spews, which gives away their purpose for being on the tire. Many people think these hairs play a role in noise reduction or indicate wear but their primary purpose is air ventilation.

Those little rubber hairs are a byproduct of tire manufacturing. In a tire mold, rubber is injected and air pressure is used to force the liquid rubber into all the nooks and crannies. In order for the rubber to completely fill the mold, small pockets of air need to be able to escape.

There are small vent holes in the mold so trapped air can find a way out. When the air pressure forces the liquid rubber into all the orifices, a tiny bit of rubber makes its way out of the vent holes as well. These rubber bits firm up and remain attached to the tire when it's removed from the tire mold.

Though they serve no purpose in your tire’s performance, the tire hairs' presence is an indication that a tire is new. Tires that have been in service for some time, coupled with environmental effects, will eventually wear off the hairs.

OIL COOLED ENGINE EXPLAINED

The term oil cooler and oil cooling became very popular in India after launching the Pulsar series 200 (discontinued) and 220 F from Bajaj motors. Oil cooling as we know from the name itself is cooling of engine oil by help of a special component called an oil cooler. Generally an engine oil will loose its viscosity if temperatures are very high than its specified heat range. As a result it may not be able to lubricate the mechanical components properly as specified. To overcome this problem and to provide better cooling especially for air cooled high performance engines oil coolers are generally used.

Oil cooling is a way apart from liquid cooling mainly in the following aspects,

* It does not maintain a constant temperature like a liquid cooled engine.

* It does not have a thermostat, bypass system and cooling fan but instead uses a small radiator alone.

* Cost wise it is very economical because of simplicity and components involved.

The oil pump which is normally used in  a conventional engine pumps and circulates oil for lubrication (forced lubrication) to all parts in a particular circuit. It starts from the crankcase and ends back in the crankcase after lubrication. 

Where as in oil cooling it reaches a radiator fixed outside from a centrifugal filter, cooled and then circulated back to the engine.

CONS,

As already told it cannot maintain a steady engine temperature like liquid cooling. The oil flow to radiator is not controlled by any thermostat like a coolant controlled by a liquid cooled engine and engine oil begins to flow to the radiator as soon as the engine is fired up.  

During heavy start, stop traffic and idling where there is minimal airflow this system loses its potential but it provides better cooling when there is a steady air flow while riding and in long run. Hence a liquid cooled engine offers better engine cooling and performance than an air cooled engine. This can also improve the life of engine oil as well.

On the whole its a cost effective way to improve cooling system especially for an air cooled engine.

CHECK OUT WHY DO TOOLS HAVE DROP FORGED STAMPED ON THEM

We see the words "drop forged" stamped on so many tools -- it makes us wonder what it is! Why do manufacturers want you to know that a tool is drop forged?

Striking a piece of hot metal with a hammer is forging, and blacksmiths have been doing this for centuries. As blacksmiths experimented with new techniques, they learned that complex shapes could be created by hammering metal into a die. The die contains the shape of the finished product. Modern manufacturers use either a falling hammer or a powered hammer to do the hammering (rather than doing it by hand), and usually use dies on both sides of the piece. This is drop forging.

Drop forging is a metal shaping process, the metal to be formed is first heated then shaped by forcing it into the contours of a die, this force can be in excess of 2000 tons. The drop forging process can be performed with the material at various temperatures;

• >Hot Forging
  During hot forging the metals are heated to above their recrystallization temperature. The main benefit of this hot forging is that work hardening is prevented due to the recrystallization of the metal as it begins to cool.
• 
  
• >Cold Forging
  Cold Forging is generally performed with metal at room temperature below the the recrystallization temperature. Cold forging typically work hardens the metal.

The reason why manufacturers want you to know that a tool is drop forged is because this tells you something about the strength and durability of the tool. The other two ways to make a tool would be casting it from molten metal or machining it (cutting material away) from a larger block of metal. The advantage of forging is that it improves the strength of the metal by aligning and stretching the grain structure. A forged part will normally be stronger than a casting or a machined piece.

RAM AIR INDUCTION SYSTEM

A ram air induction is similar to the technology behind the turbochargers. A turbocharger as we all know it forces the air into the engine to increase its efficiency and performance with the help of burnt exhaust gases coming out from the engine. The turbocharger is an individual component to do this job and its pricy. Better forcing of air into the engine without any additional components provides good efficiency. Based on this concept the ram air induction system works.

Gases, like all bodies with a mass, follows the laws of inertia. ie, if it is in rest it is hard to set into motion. The ram air induction is a system that forces air into the engine to provide better volumetric efficiency with respect to the speed of the vehicle. This system is widely used in all high performance motorcycles and cars.

A ram air induction is similar to the technology behind the turbochargers. A turbocharger as we all know it forces the air into the engine to increase its efficiency and performance with the help of burnt exhaust gases coming out from the engine. The turbocharger is an individual component to do this job and its pricy. Better forcing of air into the engine without any additional components provides good efficiency. Based on this concept the ram air induction system works.

Gases, like all bodies with a mass, follows the laws of inertia. ie, if it is in rest it is hard to set into motion. The ram air induction is a system that forces air into the engine to provide better volumetric efficiency with respect to the speed of the vehicle. This system is widely used in all high performance motorcycles and cars.

To be technical if the time of closure of the intake valve is delayed with respect to the BDC,(Bottom Dead Centre) fresh gases will continue to flow into the cylinder by inertia, even after the piston has begun its travel to TDC (Top Dead Centre).

To be technical if the time of closure of the intake valve is delayed with respect to the BDC,(Bottom Dead Centre) fresh gases will continue to flow into the cylinder by inertia, even after the piston has begun its travel to TDC (Top Dead Centre).

This type of air induction is simple as it requires only a front air intake space or grill to be connected to air box or air filter.  This system is efficient and works fine only on high performance bikes and cars that attains high speeds. It can be also employed with turbocharger in turbocharged engines to attain better efficiency and power increase.

The ram air induction system significantly increases the horsepower of the engine without any major modifications,  This is the main advantage of this system.