Official press release:

SYNTHESIS-2010: DESIGN AND ENGINEERING CHALLENGES

SYNTHESIS-2010 is an experimental family sedan equipped with power steering and air conditioning but, in a radical departure from traditional auto fabrication, SYNTHESIS-2010 is largely made of aluminum and is almost entirely recyclable.

Since SYNTHESIS-2010 is fully functional, Ford was faced with a host of obstacles. To meet the challenge, Ford designers and engineers worked closely with suppliers to create practical applications of numerous experimental technologies. The end result is an automobile that is more than 98% recyclable, with a lightweight aluminum body that provides a 46% weight reduction compared to an otherwise identical steel body.

The SYNTHESIS-2010 program -- part of a $25-million Ford effort to see whether a functional, aluminum-intensive vehicle could be feasible for high-volume production -- relied on a cross-functional team that drew from almost every area of the company. The result is the manufacture of SYNTHESIS-2010’s unprecedented aluminum body structure.

Ford is currently the world’s largest producer of aluminum body parts and an acknowledged leader in the application of aluminum stamping for automobiles. The company plans significant expansion of its use of aluminum over the next five years. The next-generation Taurus, for example, will feature aluminum fenders and trim.

"Selection of aluminum presented the design team with several hurdles," says William Stuef, manager of Ford’s Advanced Vehicle Systems and program manager of the SYNTHESIS-2010 project. Initial concerns centered on safety; noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH); corrosion resistance; and durability. Although many open issues remain, Ford and SYNTHESIS-2010 suppliers have made significant strides toward resolving those issues."

For instance, SYNTHESIS-2010 is designed to meet current U.S, safety regulations, including the newly adopted side-impact safety requirements. And, Ford’s coating processes mean SYNTHESIS-2010’s corrosion resistance exceeds all steel-body cars.

Moreover, Ford used a special adhesive to eliminate the need for labor-intensive hand welding. The adhesive is cured quickly and uniformly in a turbulator-equipped oven and, along with a special stamping lubricant, enables efficient fabrication and assembly.

In addition to recyclability, aluminum provides a major weight reduction advantage. Henry Cornille, a structural engineer with Ford’s Advanced Vehicle Engineering and Technology group (AVET), describes Ford’s efforts to build a fully functioning experimental car as both a timing and a feasibility stretch. "Typical ’concept’ cars do not need to be fully functional, so weight usually isn’t an issue," he says. "But with SYNTHESIS-2010, it was a constant challenge to keep team members aware that some things must be done in new ways to build a lightweight, fully functional vehicle that meets all safety requirements. It was very difficult to project the weight of a car that was rapidly changing and that uses systems and components for which only a prototype or drawing existed.

"Our target," Cornille adds, "was 2,200 pounds, with all fluids full and all systems installed, but without passengers or luggage. Given our use of prototypes and custom-fabricated components with very advanced styling, the fact that we achieved our goal is really quite remarkable.

The idea of using aluminum in high-volume production is very attractive, especially when one considers the weight advantages. And while Ford is a leader in the use of aluminum body parts in current production, the company nevertheless faces significant challenges in the years ahead before it can produce high-volume, all-aluminum vehicles. The major obstacles are the high cost of production, the time needed for retooling, and further open issues in the welding and bonding of aluminum.

SYNTHESIS-2010’s revolutionary use of aluminum is not the only Ford response to mounting environmental concerns that the project demonstrates. The car’s design accommodates an air conditioning system free of chlorofluorocarbons (GFCs). An innovative exhaust gas recirculation system both reduces nitrogen oxide emissions and improves fuel economy.

Ford’s SYNTHESIS-2010 team equipped the car with the latest in forefront technology -- two-stroke engine, concealed lights and instrumentation panel cluster, onboard navigational system, voice-activated cellular phone, key- and handle-free entry system, solar-powered interior hot-air purge system, and more. Each of these features is significant in its own right, but it’s SYNTHESIS-2010’s simultaneous application of these technologies that makes the vehicle so remarkable.

A two-stroke, three-cylinder engine powers SYNTHESIS-2010. The SYNTHESIS-2010 team decided early in the design process that the heaviness of a conventional four-stroke engine would adversely affect the weight of the car.

While European automakers of the past and motorcycle manufacturers of today have used two-stroke engines, such power units do not yet meet proposed U.S. standards for emissions and emissions durability. Accordingly, it is not likely that American-made vehicles with two-stroke engines will be commercially available in this century.

China Bhavsar, an engineer with Advanced Powertrain Engineering, says Ford selected a two-stroke engine because it weighs about 40 percent less and takes up about 30 percent less space than a four-stroke engine with the same power output, and is mechanically simpler.

The weight reduction is possible because the two-stroke engine has a combustion cycle that allows the manufacturer to eliminate the valve train. Also, because the number of power strokes is double that of a four-stroke engine, power density is increased and the performance "feel" is significantly enhanced,

"We chose one of the two-stroke engines used in our European test vehicles," Bhavsar says, "but made considerable modifications to it. We added the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system, which improves fuel economy and reduces emissions. Then, we worked on the engine control system calibration and the wiring harness to accommodate air conditioning, power steering, and the EGR system."

Bhavsar enumerates other steps Ford took to optimize the two-stroke engine for SYNTHESIS-2010. "We experimented with powertrain matching, simulating a reduced axle ratio by using larger wheels and tires, and with reduced chassis-roll power-absorption settings to maximize fuel economy," he says. "With additional development work, we believe we can further reduce power absorption, and we plan to install a fuel pressure accumulator to conserve energy and contribute to fuel economy."

Although two-stroke technology holds great promise for better fuel economy and improved performance, there are still significant hurdles that must be surmounted.

Two-stroke engines have been unable to meet federal durability regulations that require them to conform with regulated exhaust emission levels on the road for at least 100,000 miles. While the engine technology used in SYNTHESIS-2010 has, in other vehicles, initially met federal Clean Air Act standards, it has done so for a relatively short period.

Two-stroke engines also have some NVH and customer-acceptance issues, which will have to be resolved before putting vehicles with two-stroke engines into North American production. It is to examine these issues that Ford of Europe has launched a 60-vehicle, two-stroke demonstration program with Ford Fiestas.

Joseph Porcari, an AVET engineer who also played a key role in SYNTHESIS-2010’s development, says deciding what kind of steering system to use in the vehicle was tough. "The vehicle’s light weight, low engine power, and concerns over idle-stability inherent in two-stroke engines raised questions about whether power steering was required, or even possible. We spent a lot of time looking at a variety of systems, such as electromechanical power-assisted steering, hydraulic power-assisted steering, and electro-hydraulic power-assisted steering.

The electric systems offered some advantages, but the issue was settled by the tough time schedule dictated by the project. Ford ultimately chose a hydraulic power steering system with a modified power steering valve, SYNTHESIS-2010’s two-stroke engine was sufficiently improved so the engine idle could be stabilized and maintained, even with the power steering and air conditioning systems operating.

From a design standpoint, SYNTHESIS-2010 posed significant challenges in several areas, The designers based SYNTHESIS-2010’s body structure on that of the Taurus. In order to blend the Taurus structure with that of the SYNTHESIS-2010’s styling, they had to move the bottom edge of the windshield three inches forward and drop the hood two inches. The body design team was able to achieve a 20 percent weight reduction in the hood by using aluminum in a multi-cone (teacup) hood inner structure. And although SYNTHESIS-2010 relies on a Taurus body structure and components, that’s as far as the comparison goes. SYNTHESIS-2010 uses aluminum right down to the brake rotors, and the vehicle locks significantly different from a Taurus or Sable.

"What we have here is an exciting, modern family design," says Tom Scott, director, Ford International Design. "The car has character and a lot of appeal, and it makes a very strong statement. The two-stroke engine allowed us to shorten the front end, which gives the car a cab-forward look."cab-forward look."

Mark Conforzi, the Design Staff manager responsible for day-to-day styling and development of SYNTHESIS-2010, says the challenge of designing and building the vehicle has been one of the most stimulating of his career. "It was very interesting working with aluminum," he says. "We also worked with a lot of new finishes, and there are exposed components throughout the vehicle, and new technologies in lighting and materials.

Says John Van Dyk of Ford’s Advanced Vehicle and Engineering group:

"Many of SYNTHESIS-2010’s styling features were possible only because this is a one-off vehicle. Incorporating these features for production today on the Taurus or Sable would require extensive structural rework."

One of the most innovative features of SYNTHESIS-2010 is the treatment of headlights and tail lights, which are concealed by a newly developed polymeric reflective material (PRM) that is virtually identical in appearance to the aluminum body. When the lights are off, the PRM completely hides them, but they become visible when the lights are illuminated. This creates the illusion of a car without lights.

Even seemingly mundane details like lighting are infused with new life on SYNTHESIS-2010. Terrance Sykes of Ford’s Lighting Technology Group points to a newly developed Ford lighting system that is anything but run-of-the-mill and incorporates no fewer than three major innovations.

"We used high-intensity discharge (HID) head lamps," he says, "which provide light via a gas discharge arc rather than the filament found in conventional halogen head lamps. By using HID technology, we realized several advantages: four times more light output, a 40-percent reduction in power consumption, increased styling flexibility, and reliability for the life of the vehicle."

In working with this imminent technology, the lighting group encountered several challenges. The system required careful management of high voltage and high current, and an optical design that could take advantage of the HID’s unique high-intensity white light.

The tail, stop, and turn lamps are illuminated by neon discharge. Although neon lamps have existed for many years, they are new to the automotive industry.

Sykes says SYNTHESIS-2010’s system offers numerous benefits, including energy efficiency, much smaller packaging through the elimination of the parabolic reflectors used with standard incandescent lamps, and a longer lifetime. The disadvantages are cost, difficulties in suppressing electromagnetic and radiofrequency interference, and the need for special packaging that can bridge the gap between the tubes’ fragility and Ford’s rigorous standards for durability and quality.

The back-up lamps use a remote light source (RLS) system: a single light source mounted in a light collector that illuminates multiple functions.

"On SYNTHESIS-2010," says Sykes, "we mounted a single bulb in the luggage compartment to light both back-up lamps. The bulb transmits light from the collector to the back-up lamps via fiber optic cables. If you carry this technology to its extreme, it may be possible to light the entire front or rear of a vehicle using a single light source."

The development of the RLS posed a labyrinth of engineering obstacles - more than encountered with any lighting system ever attempted on an automobile. Ford conducted considerable research to develop this technology, and there is still much work to be done to realize its full potential. The difficulties that faced Sykes’ team included collecting the light into a minute focal point so it could be coupled into the fiber optic cable; coupling the collector to the cable in a way that minimizes light loss; working with currently available, low-efficiency fiber optic cables; and distributing the light from the cable in a manner that satisfies federal requirements. Sykes says solving that last problem will involve developing new light manifolds and special lensing techniques.

Ford outfitted SYNTHESIS-2010’s interior with an impressive array of forefront technology, including an advanced computerized navigational system, voice-activated cellular phone with voice recognition, and mini-CD player.

Laura Meso, an engineer with Ford Electronics Division, says that incorporating these and other new features into the car’s design and making them compatible with each other was the biggest challenge for her electronics team.

"Getting these components to work with each other," she says, "was a great achievement. The team worked very closely to pull off a huge challenge."

The navigational system directs the driver to any specified destination with spoken and visual cues, and even provides contingency directions if the driver misses an exit or otherwise fails to follow the correct route.

SYNTHESIS-2010’s cellular phone — the same model available in the 1993 Lincoln Town Car, Lincoln Continental, and Ford Crown Victoria -- is also voice-activated, allowing hands-free operation. By responding to the driver’s spoken commands, it can automatically turn the phone on or off, dial one of 30 preprogrammed numbers, and hang up. The phone prevents unauthorized outgoing calls through a built-in voice recognition program.

Door handles and entry keys are unnecessary on SYNTHESIS-2010. Ford engineers have designed a key- and handle-free entry system that represents a breakthrough in the use of piezoelectric materials.

Solar cells in SYNTHESIS-2010’s windshield use photovoltaic technology to power an interior hot-air purge system, which removes hot air and circulates fresh, outside air into the vehicle’s interior when the car is parked. The outside air cools the vehicle’s interior so the driver returns to a more comfortable car.

SYNTHESIS-2010 is neither a production vehicle nor one that could be produced in high volume. Instead, Ford designed the car to push automotive technology to the limit and beyond. As such, it is a rolling test-bed of experimental technologies, and will play a vital role in Ford’s development work.

Stuef, SYNTHESIS-2010 program manager, cites SYNTHESIS as the type of project that allows Ford to make major advances in technology.

"Through the SYNTHESIS-2010 project," he says, "we’ve tremendously expanded our understanding of what aluminum can and can not do. Ford is already the world leader in high-volume automotive applications of aluminum, and this program has helped us take the technology one step further. "

And Ford is moving quickly and effectively to deal with outstanding issues associated with aluminum construction.

"Foremost among these issues," Stuef says, "are cost and perfecting welding and bonding techniques for application in mass production. These two issues are what have kept auto makers from producing affordable all-aluminum vehicles; however, Ford has made rapid progress in this area and is the leader in automotive applications of aluminum.

"For example," Stuef adds, "we use aluminum in the construction of approximately 350,000 vehicle hoods annually, which enables us to reduce vehicle weight significantly — especially in larger cars like the Mercury Grand Marquis, Ford Crown Victoria and the Lincoln Town Car. The aluminum content in our cars and trucks averages about 240 pounds per vehicle as compared with an industry average of 160 pounds per vehicle. Moreover, we expect our cars to have an average of 315 pounds of aluminum by 2005."

With SYNTHESIS-2010 and programs like it, Ford is exploring experimental technologies and ascertaining which hold the greatest promise of meeting customer expectations and addressing societal concerns about the transportation solutions of tomorrow.

Synthesis 2010 looks pretty conventional - not the exaggerated, niche-focused, radical creation that is expected from a "concept". Yet, Synthesis 2010 ranks among the most significant lots offered here.

That is because Synthesis 2010 is aluminum and estimated at 98 recyclable. Its interior volume is the same as the contemporary Mercury Sable. Its curb weight is just 2,250 pounds, a 28 reduction in mass with no sacrifice in function. It was designed for a tiny, by Sable standards, engine - initially a 1.2-liter 3-cylinder 2-stroke, later with a 1.8-liter 4-stroke Escort engine. Less mass means comparable performance even with smaller engines. Smaller engines mean greater economy and lower emissions and in theory this concept would in the future have used alternative fuel motors.

Synthesis 2010 uses aluminum extensively in the drivetrain, brakes and suspension arms but most importantly in its complete lightweight aluminum unit body. The aluminum stampings are joined with an experimental "weld bonding" process which combines resistance spot welding with chemical bonding techniques for strength, longevity and reduced noise, vibration and harshness.

A project team of Tom Scott, Director of International Design, Bill Stuef, Manager of Advanced Vehicle Engineering and Mark Conforzi, International Design Manager, managed the realization of Synthesis 2010. Stuef's work is the hardest to see while Scott's and Conforzi's contributions are right out front. Synthesis 2010's appearance results from aluminum's reluctance to be stamped. It likes to spring back into its original shape and requires designers to work within new limitations, limitations which Synthesis 2010 embodies in its appearance.

Synthesis 2010 is a four-door sedan, riding on 5-spoke 16" cast alloy wheels with P215/60R-16 Goodyear tires. Brakes are discs at all four corners. The leather trimmed interior features front bucket seats with a console-mounted shifter for the automatic transmission and sound system controls mounted on a flexible stalk. The instrument cluster with blue-faced gauges is tightly packed directly in front of the driver's 4-spoke leather-rimmed steering wheel. Bright aluminum trim accents the dash, instruments and console. The interior's present condition shows use. Other novel features include a blue tinted windshield with a solar panel in the top (which in concept charged the battery and worked a fan), a chrome and cloth steering wheel, a keyless entry system and a distinctive asymmetrical design to the trunk lid.

The exterior finish is called Ceramic Blue, a semi-transparent coating applied over the polished aluminum panels, and shifts in effect from a light, almost ice blue, hue to nearly plain natural silver depending upon lighting and view angle. Like the interior, the exterior shows use, some scratches and other surface blemishes. There is also a broken quarter glass in the right rear. Small "Synthesis 2010" emblems are engraved on each side of the hood.

This Synthesis 2010 was an early example of the visions embodied by PNGV, Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles. This was a voluntary government industry initiative founded in 1983 that included seven federal agencies, the U.S. DOE's national laboratories, universities, suppliers and the U.S Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), a cooperative effort among Ford, Chrysler and GM. On the anniversary of PNGV in October 1994, the Synergy 2010 appeared at the White House and was inspected by President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and Technology advisor Jack Gibbons. An important step on the road to recyclable, fuel efficient, low emissions vehicles, Synthesis 2010 is an influential example of the essential interaction between engineering and styling in practical design.

SOURCE: Christie’s