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Continuous efforts to develop a lightweight alloy suitable for the most demanding applications in automotive industry resulted in a number of advanced aluminum (Al) and magnesium alloys and manufacturing routes. One example of this is the application of 319 Al alloy for production of 3.6L V6 gasoline engine blocks. Aluminum is sand cast around Fe-liner cylinder inserts, prior to undergoing the T7 heat treatment process. One of the critical factors determining the quality of the final product is the type, level, and profile of residual stresses along the Fe liners (or extent of liner distortion) that are always present in a cast component. In this study, neutron diffraction was used to characterize residual stresses along the Al and the Fe liners in the web region of the cast engine block. The strains were measured both in Al and Fe in hoop, radial, and axial orientations. The stresses were subsequently determined using generalized Hooke's law.

The Friction Stir Spot Welding (FSSW) process is a derivative of the friction stir welding (FSW) process, without lateral movement of the tool during the welding process. It has been applied in the production of aluminum joining for various Mazda and Toyota vehicles. Most of the applications and published studies were concentrated in aluminum sheet in the range of 1.0 to 1.5 mm, suitable for non-structural automotive closure applications. The objective of this study is to study the feasibility of FSSW process for automotive structural aluminum joining, up to 3 mm in thickness, for potentially replacement of self-piercing rivets (SPR) process. Joining thicker aluminum with FSSW tooling with a typical smooth concave shoulder and threaded probing pin, requires long process time, which would not be appropriate in mass-production automotive body construction. In this paper, an innovative FSSW tool with grooved shoulder was developed.

Development of lightweight alloys suitable for automobile applications has been of great importance to the automotive industry in recent years. The use of 319 type aluminum alloy in the production of gasoline engine blocks is an example of this shift towards light alloys for large automobile components. However, excessive residual stress along the cylinder bores of these engine blocks may cause problems during engine operation. Therefore, in this study, neutron diffraction was used to evaluate residual stresses along the aluminum cylinder bridge and the gray cast iron liners. The strains were measured in the hoop, radial, and axial orientations, while stresses were subsequently calculated using generalized Hooke's law. The results suggest that the residual stress magnitude for the aluminum cylinder bridge was tensile for all three measured components and gradually increased with cylinder depth towards the bottom of the cylinder.

In recent years, light weight components have been an area of significant importance in automotive design. This has led to the replacement of steel and cast iron with aluminum alloys for many automotive components. For instance, Al-Si alloys have successfully replaced nodular and gray cast iron in the production of large automotive components such as engine blocks. However, excessive residual strain along the cylinder bores of these engine blocks may result in cylinder distortion during engine operation. Therefore, in this study, neutron diffraction was used to evaluate residual strain along the aluminum cylinder bridge and the gray cast iron liners of distorted and undistorted engine blocks. The strains were measured in the hoop, radial, and axial orientations. The results suggest that the residual strain along the aluminum cylinder bridge of the distorted engine block was tensile for all three measured components.

Metal additive manufacturing has high potential to produce automobile parts, due to its shape flexibility and unique material properties. On the other hand, residual stress which is generated by rapid solidification causes deformation, cracks and failure under building process. To avoid these problems, understanding of internal residual stress distribution is necessary. However, from the view point of measureable area, conventional residual stress measurement methods such as strain gages and X-ray diffractometers, is limited to only the surface layer of the parts. Therefore, neutron which has a high penetration capability was chosen as a probe to measure internal residual stress in this research. By using time of flight neutron diffraction facility VULCAN at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, residual stress for mono-cylinder head, which were made of aluminum alloy, was measured non-distractively. From the result of precise measurement, interior stress distribution was visualized.

Additive manufacturing was used to fabricate a head for an automotive-scale single-cylinder engine operating on natural gas. The head was consisted of a bimetallic composition of stainless steel and bronze. The engine performance using the bimetallic head was compared against the stock cast iron head. The heads were tested at two speeds (1200 and 1800 rpm), two brake mean effective pressures (6 and 10 bar), and two equivalence ratios (0.7 and 1.0). The bimetallic head showed good durability over the test and produced equivalent efficiencies, exhaust temperatures, and heat rejection to the coolant to the stock head. Higher combustion temperatures and advanced combustion phasing resulted from use with the bimetallic head. The implication is that with optimization of the valve timing, an efficiency benefit may be realized with the bimetallic head.

The computer-aided-design and analysis of a robust casting process requires the optimization of both mold filling and solidification. A number of commercial casting codes are available for modeling the fluid flow during mold filling and the heat transfer during solidification. The next generation casting process models will build on present capabilities to allow the prediction of microporosity and other defects and microstructure. This paper will discuss the issues involved in the development of next generation casting process models and present results from a computer model for microporosity prediction that is based on first principles, and will take into account alloy composition, alloy microstructure, the initial hydrogen content of the liquid alloy, and the resistance to inter-dendritic fluid flow to feed shrinkage.

Metal Compression Forming (MCF) is a variant of the squeeze casting process, in which molten metal is allowed to solidify under pressure in order to close porosity and form a sound part. However, the MCF process applies pressure on the entire mold face, thereby directing pressure on all regions of the casting and producing a uniformly sound part. The process is capable of producing parts with properties close to those of forgings, while retaining the near net shape, complexity in geometry, and relatively low cost of the casting process. The paper describes the casting process development involved in the production of an aluminum A357 alloy motor mount bracket, including the use of a filling and solidification model to design the gating and determine process parameters. Tensile properties of the component are presented and correlated with those of forged components.

A new spot joining technology relying on a consumable joining bit has been developed and evaluated on dual phase (DP) 980 steel and a dissimilar combination of aluminum alloy 5754-O and DP 980. This new process, called friction bit joining (FBJ), uses a consumable bit to create a solid-state joint in sheet materials by the action of cutting and frictional bonding. A series of experiments were done in which different welding parameters were employed and lap shear tension testing was carried out to evaluate performance. The best lap shear values averaged 6.5 kN.

The Heavy Vehicle Propulsion Materials Program provides enabling materials technology for the U.S. DOE Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies (OHVT). The technical agenda for the program is based on an industry assessment and the technology roadmap for the OHVT. A five-year program plan was published in 2000. Major efforts in the program are materials for diesel engine fuel systems, exhaust aftertreatment, and air handling. Additional efforts include diesel engine valve-train materials, structural components, and thermal management. Advanced materials, including high-temperature metal alloys, intermetallics, cermets, ceramics, amorphous materials, metal- and ceramic-matrix composites, and coatings, are investigated for critical engine applications. Selected technical issues and planned and ongoing projects as well as brief summaries of several technical highlights are given.

In September 1993, the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) program, initiated a cooperative research and development (R&D) program between the federal government and the United States Council Automotive Research (USCAR) to develop automotive technologies to reduce the nation's dependence on petroleum and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by improving fuel economy. A key enabler for the attainment of these goals is a significant reduction in vehicle weight. Thus the major focus of the PNGV materials program is the development of materials and technologies that would result in the reduction of vehicle weight by up to 40%. The Automotive Lightweighting Materials (ALM) Program in the Office of Advanced Automotive Technologies (OAAT) of the Department of Energy (DOE), the PNGV Materials Technical Team and the United States Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP) collaborate to conduct research and development on these materials.

The benefits of energy and operational cost savings from using copper rotors are well recognized. The main barrier to die casting copper rotors is short mold life. This paper introduces a new approach for manufacturing copper-bar rotors. Either copper, aluminum, or their alloys can be used for the end rings. Both solid-core and laminated-core rotors were built. High quality joints of aluminum to copper were produced and evaluated. This technology can also be used for manufacturing aluminum bar rotors with aluminum end rings. Further investigation is needed to study the lifetime reliability of the joint. The improvement of manufacturing fixture through prototype test is also required.

Aluminum alloys containing cerium have excellent castability and retain a substantial fraction of their room temperature strength at temperatures of 200°C and above. High temperature strength is maintained through a thermodynamically trapped, high surface energy intermetallic. Dynamic load partitioning between the aluminum and the intermetallic increases mechanical response. Complex castings have been produced in both permanent mold and sand castings. This versatile alloy system, using an abundant and inexpensive co-product of rare earth mining, is suitable for parts that need to maintain good properties when exposed to temperatures between 200 and 315°C.

Surfaces of A356 castings were treated by friction stir processing to reduce porosity and to create more uniform distributions of second-phase particles. Dendritic microstructures were eliminated in stir zones. The ultimate tensile strength, ductility, and fatigue life of the cast A356 was increased by friction stir processing. Tensile specimens of cast and friction stir processed metal were also given a T7 heat treatment. Higher tensile strengths and ductilities were also measured for these friction stir processed specimens.

The objective of the Heavy Vehicle Propulsion Materials Program is to develop the enabling materials technology for the clean, high-efficiency diesel truck engines of the future. The development of cleaner, higher-efficiency diesel engines imposes greater mechanical, thermal, and tribological demands on materials of construction. Often the enabling technology for a new engine component is the material from which the part can be made. The Heavy Vehicle Propulsion Materials Program is a partnership between the Department of Energy (DOE), and the diesel engine companies in the United States, materials suppliers, national laboratories, and universities. A comprehensive research and development program has been developed to meet the enabling materials requirements for the diesel engines of the future.

The HTML (High Temperature Materials Laboratory) is a U.S. Department of Energy User Facility, offering opportunities for in-depth characterization of advanced materials, specializing in high-temperature-capable structural ceramics. Available are electron microscopy for micro-structural and microchemical analysis, equipment for measurement of the thermophysical and mechanical properties of ceramics to elevated temperatures, X-ray and neutron diffraction for structure and residual stress analysis, and high speed grinding machines with capability for measurement of component shape, tolerances, surface finish, and friction and wear properties. This presentation will focus on structural materials characterization, illustrated with examples of work performed on heat engine materials such as silicon nitride, industrial refractories, metal-and ceramic-matrix composites, and structural alloys.

We examine the effects on materials temperatures and engine efficiency via simulations of engines operating at temperatures which exceed the thermal limits of today’s materials. Potential focus areas include high-speed, high-load operation (in the fuel-enrichment zone) as well as conditions of selective cooling at lower speeds and loads. We focus on a light-duty DISI and a heavy-duty CI engine using GT-Power. Temperature distributions within the head, block, piston, and valves were obtained from 3D FEA simulations coupled with 1D GT-Power representations of the engine’s gas flow and combustion regions.