In my mind, another Volvo design question.

Take a look at the hose clamps used by Volvo. They are very, very nice, complex, expensive little clamps. I like them, from a clamp design standpoint. But I am not so sure they are the ideal clamp to use, from a function, reliability standpoint.

Look at the clamps on a Honda (or most Japanese cars). They are those spring steel clamps--they're not screw drive--and they look cheap. I know they are sometimes a pain in the xss to deal with, but, guess what, they are excellent clamps.

Why.

Once you tighten a screw drive clamp, it's "clamping diameter" is fixed. Now, if you clamp a material which is subject to plastic flow (in other words, a material subject to permanent deformation due to load over time), like a hose, the "clamping force" is automatically reduced 'cause the screw clamp doesn't automatically tighten as the hose material moves. So, over time, the clamping force on a fixed-diameter clamp is reduced.

With the spring steel clamps, as used on Japanese cars, as the hose material flows away from the clamped joint, the spring steel compensates, because it is a spring. So, the clamping force is,for the most part, constant, over time.

Volvo's clamps are kind of a hybrid, they appear to have elements of a fixed-diameter clamp, and features of a spring clamp. But they don't appear to be clearly spring clamps.

Just some thoughts on a mundane, but important area of Volvo mechanical design.

Ken