The role of the physicist in the automotive industry

JAN 01, 1960

Gerald M. Rassweiler

Physics has been described as the science of matter and energy. Looking at this in slightly different but analogous terms, the definition encompasses the principal interests of the automotive industry, namely materials and power. As shown in Table I this industry uses very sizable percentages of our total US consumption of certain materials. The materials in this list are chiefly metals but the list could be expanded to include a variety of others such as plastics, glass, and textiles. These materials in the hands of our customers are required to withstand severe mechanical vibration and impact together with a gamut of environmental conditions such as extremes of temperature, dirt, rain, ice, and snow. Thus the materials must be continually improved so that they can meet this service with ever‐increasing reliability.

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More about the authors

Gerald M. Rassweiler, General Motors Corporation Research Laboratories, Warren, Mich..