GFC activities

The GFC consists of five committees :

Transmission Lubricants Technical Committee (CTLT)

CTLT, Comité Technique des Lubrifiants de Transmissions – French equivalent to the former TLTC (Transmission Lubricants Technical Committee – CEC) was created in 1967. It deals with on and off-highway transmission lubricants for all types of applications (passenger cars, heavy duty vehicles, farm tractors …).

Objectives

• Facilitating exchanges and communication between vehicle manufacturers, oil and additive industry, as well as end users
• Initiating studies on specific topics of interest to the GFC members and developing new test methods or codes of practice on these subjects
• Coordinating the participation of French companies in European working groups and
• communicating on these European activities.

Engine Lubricants Technical Committee (CTLM)

The CTLM objectives are to identify National needs for test procedures for the evaluation of engine lubricant performance, develop, publish and distribute these procedures and ensure they are kept up to date. The CTLM is the French equivalent of the previous ELTC (Engine Lubricants Technical Committee) of CEC and ensures the liaison with other standardisation groups’ research (CEC, BNPé).

Engine Fuels Technical Committee (CTCM)

The Engine Fuels Technical Committee is, within the GFC, a forum for discussing and studying matters related to fuels and engines of all types. The Committee incorporates French experts in technical fields whose main purpose is to share national and European know-how and manage the relevant working groups.

Statistical Analysis Technical Committee (GAS)

The aim of the GAS within the GFC is to turn STATISTICS into a tool aiding decision-making.
(Statistical Applications Advisory Committee) analyses and comments the results of procedures of development for defining repeatibility, reproductibility… of GFC Test Methods. Other relevant tasks are test methods validation, accuracy criteria, new multi-varied analysis methods, GFC applies rules identical or equivalent to CEC's.

Other Fluids Technical Committee (CTAF)

In 1991 the task of the GFC working group was enlarged beyond the coolants domain and was integrated in CEC as FSG, i.e. Fluids Special Group which became a CEC Technical Committee in 1996, viz. ECTC, Engine Coolants Technical Committee, until 2001. At a meeting held in Paris on 20 April 2001, ECTC was seen as lacking in vitality and then reverted to GFC to become the CTAF with the same Belgian, British, French, German, Italian and Spanish members.

Today’s CTAF comprises some fifteen participants who meet 3 to 4 times a year. Participation keeps increasing since 2001 and the CTAF remains a European GFC working group, as there is no equivalent committee in CEC. The CTAF concentrates on Coolants. To date, already some of the 1990 test methods have been reworked and others are due to be revised in the very near future. To these must be added the new test methods initiated in CEC and being finalised by GFC, or originating from GFC research.