Ford Motor Company and the Firestone tyre recall

This paper was prepared as the basis for a class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. It may be appropriate for public affairs, business and public policy, and/or crisis management courses at the undergraduate or graduate level. In conjunction with this case, it may be useful to use the framework for crisis management developed by Dr Ian I. Mitroff, the Harold Quinton Distinguished Professor of Business Policy at the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California. This best practice model is discussed in ‘Managing Crises Before They Happen’, which Mitroff published in 2001 with Gus Anagnos, Vice President of Comprehensive Crisis Management. This case leads the audience through the Ford–Firestone tyre crisis from 1997—when Ford began to learn of a problem with Firestone tyres on its popular Explorer sport‐utility vehicle—up until the summer of 2001, just after Ford recalled 13 million Firestone tyres and the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration cleared Ford of further investigation into potential defects in the Explorer. The case addresses potential causes of the tyre problem, how Ford handled the crisis from a corporate public affairs perspective and, tangentially, how Firestone handled the issue. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

立体轮胎痕迹的数码照相提取

立体轮胎花纹多发现于各类案件现场,它可为寻找、认定涉案车辆提供重要线索和依据。通常对立体轮胎花纹往往采用制模法提取其特征,而照相法尽用于平面轮胎痕迹的提取。对一些立体轮胎印痕也可以采用已广泛应用于平面痕迹提取的数码摄相法进行提取,并进一步采用图像处理软件对其特征进行加强。实验表明:数码照相能反映轮胎痕迹的一部分重要特征,通过软件处理这些痕迹特征得到加强。     

地面轮胎拖印与道路交通事故现场再现

地面轮胎拖印是车辆发生事故时,在地面上留下的痕迹。它对道路交通事故现场再现,进而对交通事故各方当事人进行责任认定有着极其重要的作用。本文结合相关案例,根据一定的计算方法,对此进行了相关分析研究。     

利用“WA”花纹的车胎印痕推定轮胎规格

对于“WA”花纹的车胎印痕,根据其花纹的结构可以进一步推定轮胎的规格,这对于确定犯罪嫌疑车辆有着非常重要的意义.本文从胎面“WA”花纹的排布规律入手,结合外界条件的变化对花纹的影响,阐述了这种推定的可行性.     

裂解气相色谱-质谱法分析鉴别轮胎胎面胶

目的对裂解气相色谱-质谱法分析橡胶的裂解条件进行优化,研究利用橡胶特征裂解产物鉴别轮胎胎面胶。方法采用裂解气相色谱-质谱法,确定对NR、BR、SBR的裂解条件及其特征裂解产物,然后根据特征裂解产物及其相对含量并结合聚类分析,对38种轮胎胎面胶进行区分鉴别。结果确定了裂解温度590℃、裂解时间15s及三种橡胶的特征裂解产物;将38个轮胎胎面胶样品的主体成分归为4类,其中NR类5个、SBR类12个、NR/BR并用类5个、NR/SBR并用类16个,且能够对大部分并用类轮胎胎面胶进行鉴别。结论通过优化裂解条件,裂解产物重复性好,特征裂解产物明显,能够确定轮胎胎面胶的主体成分类别并能对大多数并用类轮胎胎面胶样品进行区分鉴别。     

傅立叶红外光谱（ATR）法无损检测轮胎橡胶

该实验利用傅立叶红外光谱（ATR）法对不同品牌的轮胎橡胶进行了检测,并根据实验所得FTIR光谱图在红外范围内出现特征峰个数的不同,将被检轮胎橡胶样品进行了分类。该检测方法为无损检测,所需样品量小且检测速度较快。