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English   MAN celebrates 150 years Rudolf Diesel
14.03.2008 von admin



World War II -- standardization and armaments production

In 1938, by order of the Army Ordnance Office, production of a standard diesel is commenced, designed by MAN, Henschel and Humboldt-Deutz. Behind this is an attempt by the Armed Forces to reduce the diversity of its truck models. MAN is called upon to produce a 4.5- and a 6.5-tonne model. But the focus in armaments is on building battle tanks -- the building of trucks and buses is later halted, with the exception of spare parts in Nuremberg. Quite apart from this production, MAN continues the development of high-performance diesel engines. Together with a partner enterprise, MAN presents an air-cooled V16 diesel engine with an exhaust turbocharger that produces unbelievable 900 hp at 2200 rpm, for a sensational weight/horsepower ratio of only 1.7 kg. The 4.5-tonner developed for the forces, named SML, becomes the prototype of a modern semi-forward-control truck, and the basis for post-war production. The Army Ordnance Office is especially impressed by the 110 hp direct injection diesel working by the G principle -- it saves up to six liters per 100 kilometers compared to competitor models.

After the war -- from debris and scrap to an economic miracle

On April 16, 1945 the US Army arrives and confiscates what is left of the MAN works in Nuremberg. War damage here is especially severe: 70 percent of the buildings are destroyed, the rest damaged to a greater or lesser degree. Nevertheless, at the end of 1945 already the first 4.5-tonners of the type ML 4500 roll out of the patched up factory shops, and in 1946 the output is all of 129 units. Working away under the short bonnets of the two-axle trucks are six-cylinder inline engines, using the G principle to produce 110 and 130 hp, and consuming only 18 liters of diesel to travel 100 kilometers fully loaded.

In 1950 MAN presents its first post-war heavy-duty truck in the F8. The nucleus of the imposing 10-tonner (10 tonnes payload) is Germany's first water-cooled V8 diesel, generating 180 hp from 11.6 liters cubic capacity and capable of handling the heaviest truck trains. The cab is just as generously scaled as the engine; a special design feature of the F8 is the headlights integrated in the wings.

1951 -- the first diesel truck with turbocharger

In 1951 MAN surprises visitors to the IAA in Frankfurt by presenting the first German truck engine with exhaust turbocharging. This technology, already adopted in marine engines, locomotives and stationary diesel engines, makes it possible to achieve higher power with more injected fuel, and to make better use of the energy. The six-cylinder of the two-axle MAN MK 26 is named D 1546 GT, and instead of the usual 130 hp the engineers produce 175 hp from 8.72 liters displacement, a remarkable 35 percent more. But for the moment the turbocharged six-cylinder is a prototype -- its technology shows the way for the future however, and features today in every diesel engine.


A 6-cylinder MAN diesel engine on the test bed at the MAN plant in Nuremberg.

Exhaust turbocharging

An exhaust turbocharger improves the performance of piston engines by increasing the fuel/air mix throughput per power stroke. The idea was invented by the Swiss Alfred Büchi, who filed a patent for it in 1905. Turbochargers make use of the exhaust gas energy loss of combustion engines -- when they leave a cylinder, because of the high temperature, the exhaust gases still possess high residual energy. A turbine integrated in the exhaust tract uses the energy contained in the fast flowing exhaust gas to drive a compressor in the intake tract, which impels compressed intake air into the combustion chambers. This means there is more oxygen for the combustion of a larger amount of fuel. The engine torque also increases with the turbo induction -- it produces more power. Charging enhances the overall efficiency of the engine. Today even the smaller turbodiesel engines produce much higher power than the voluminous unsupercharged engines of days gone by -- peak figures of 48 hp per liter are not unusual for a modern truck turbodiesel (MAN D0836).

1953 -- the M principle cultivates the diesel

This principle, applied to all MAN engines from 1954 onwards, stems from the work of an engineer named Siegfried Meurer. He joins MAN in 1938 and from 1950 heads the research department for fast running diesel engines. The new M principle -- named after the spherical combustion chamber in the middle of the piston head and not its inventor -- is the result of intensive study of reactive kinetics and micro operations in the combustion chamber. The soft combustion of the M engine ensures a constant rate in the conversion of thermal and pressure energy. The engine is highly elastic, its exhaust gases are cleaner. And because the fuel burns better, higher specific power is possible. Last but not least, the M engine proves to be fairly insensitive to the fuel that is used, consuming everything from light gasoline to lubricating oil. The procurement office of the German Army is convinced, and in 1955 it awards a contract for 35,000 trucks of the five-tonne 630 L 2 AE class with a multi-fuel engine. Its six-cylinder inline engine has 8.276 liters capacity for a moderate 135 hp.


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