Iron Cylinder Research Articles

Detecting near-surface buried targets by a geophysical cluster of electromagnetic, magnetic and resistivity scanners

We recently built up a geophysical cluster that includes three kinds of instruments EM61-MK2, Magnetometer and OhmMapper, which can simultaneously measure the secondary electromagnetic, magnetic and apparent resistivity data. This paper will demonstrate field experiments of using this cluster and development of integrated data proceeding schemes that can individually and simultaneously process the three kinds of data measured by the cluster, and yield integrated images of near-surface buried targets. We conducted mapping experiments on a 20m×20m synthetic field site, beneath which five targets: a cross iron pipe, two small iron cylinder and block, a piece of limestone and PVP pipe are buried in different depths. The results show that the integrated cluster and data-processing schemes are successful in detecting these near-surface buried targets.

Environmental benefits of remanufacturing: A case study of cylinder heads remanufactured through laser cladding

Laser cladding is one of the principal means of equipment remanufacturing and the environmental profiles of this technology has become a research focus. This paper examines the environmental impacts of cast iron cylinder head block remanufacturing through laser cladding using life cycle assessment (LCA), and compares it with the new cylinder head block manufacturing. Resource and energy consumptions of each manufacturing and remanufacturing processes are collected along the production line and then the results of six selected environmental impact categories are calculated. Consistency and sensitivity analysis is also conducted after life cycle impact assessment. The results reveal that cylinder head remanufacturing by laser cladding will achieve large environmental benefits, which can cut environment impact over the entire life cycle by 63.8% on average. This paper also discusses the trend of changes in environmental impacts using scenario analysis over different remanufacturing levels. By taking characterized global warming potential (GWP) as the assessment index, the result shows that remanufacturing will no longer be the preferred option if it needs to repair more than 16 cracks by laser cladding for the cylinder head.

Development of optimum friction new nano hybrid composite liner for biodiesel fuel engine

This work presents the preparation of aluminum (Al) 6061 nano hybrid composite samples reinforced with equal weight percentage of nano-ZrO2, micro-SiC, micro-Gr particles of 0%, 0.75%, 1.5%, 2.25%, and 3% using stir casting method. Friction characteristics of the composite samples under reciprocating conditions were studied at 125°C using L27 orthogonal array and Taguchi method. The results of analysis of variance showed the influencing parameter for friction coefficient in the order of applied load and reciprocating sliding speed, followed by sliding distance and percent reinforcement. Hence, the total combined reinforcement sample of 6.75% was found to be optimum in terms of frictional characteristics and tensile strength. It was selected to synthesize lightweight nano hybrid composite cylinder liner (NL) and to replace the present cast iron cylinder liner (CL) used in biodiesel engine application. The developed NL had a 43.75% reduced weight than the currently used CL. Neat diesel and biodiesel from Jatropha oil and its diesel blends were used as test fuels. Experimental results proved that NL improved brake thermal efficiency, in-cylinder pressure, heat release rate and reduced carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and smoke emission in comparison with the existing liner. The results also showed that emission of the oxides of nitrogen (NOx) increased marginally with the new liner. Thus, the newly developed NL was found suitable for both diesel- and biodiesel-operated internal combustion engines.

Three dimensional analysis of low cycle fatigue failure in engine part subjected to multi-axial variable amplitude thermo-mechanical load

During the E5 engine durability test, the failure happens in cast iron cylinder head. This is characterized as low cycle fatigue. The macro-scale cracks initiate and propagate in valve bridge region. The present investigation focuses on simulating durability test and evaluating low cycle fatigue life of the failed part. The simulation includes one pre-step as a determination of material grid and three steps as fluid, structural and fatigue analyses. In order to cover the durability test, the analysis steps are repeated at five crack speeds, 750, 1650, 2075, 2350, and 2600rpm. The cylinder head is subjected to cyclic multi-axial variable amplitude loads. In fatigue analysis, critical plane and cumulative damage theories are utilized in order to predict fatigue life. A general script is developed and validated so as to calculate fatigue life in the whole model. The numerical results also show that the failure of critical cylinder head can be characterized as low cycle fatigue. The valve bridge region, in which high temperature exists during engine operation, is the critical area in fatigue analysis approach. The simulation results are in a good agreement with the durability test observations.

Multi-surface topography targeted plateau honing for the processing of cylinder liner surfaces of automotive engines

Cylinder bores of automotive engines are ‘engineered’ surfaces that are processed using multi-stage honing process to generate multiple layers of micro geometry for meeting the different functional requirements of the piston assembly system. The final processed surfaces should comply with several surface topographic specifications that are relevant for the good tribological performance of the engine. Selection of the process parameters in three stages of honing to obtain multiple surface topographic characteristics simultaneously within the specification tolerance is an important module of the process planning and is often posed as a challenging task for the process engineers. This paper presents a strategy by combining the robust process design and gray-relational analysis to evolve the operating levels of honing process parameters in rough, finish and plateau honing stages targeting to meet multiple surface topographic specifications on the final running surface of the cylinder bores. Honing experiments were conducted in three stages namely rough, finish and plateau honing on cast iron cylinder liners by varying four honing process parameters such as rotational speed, oscillatory speed, pressure and honing time. Abbott–Firestone curve based functional parameters (Rk, Rpk, Rvk, Mr1 and Mr2) coupled with mean roughness depth (Rz, DIN/ISO) and honing angle were measured and identified as the surface quality performance targets to be achieved. The experimental results have shown that the proposed approach is effective to generate cylinder liner surface that would simultaneously meet the explicit surface topographic specifications currently practiced by the industry.

Cavitation erosion and wear behaviour of a boron cast iron cylinder liner under bio-fuel conditions

The use of renewable bio-fuel in internal combustion engines is the trend for the near future.

Effects of Borided Cylinder Liner on Engine Performance in a Firing Diesel Engine

The correlations between engine performance and the borided cylinder liner have been investigated experimentally on firing diesel engine. The inner surface of cast iron cylinder liners of the engine was boronized using powder box-boronizing technique at 780 °C for 4 h. The boronizing thickness was approximately 25μm at the cross section of cast iron cylinder liner after boronizing process. Diesel engine was operated with original cylinder liner and borided cylinder liner. Engine performance data were measured with the help of a hydraulic dynamometer. Indicated mean effective pressure was measured through the in-cylinder pressure detector. Indicated and brake parameters were compared for both motors. Borided engine liner temperature was measured as higher than that of original engine. Similar measurements were seen in the exhaust temperatures. Mechanical efficiency is improved about 6% with cylinder liner boronizing.

Lightweight Design of Cast Iron Cylinder Blocks

Lightweight Design of Cast Iron Cylinder Blocks

Transient analysis of residual strain during heat treatment of multi-material engine blocks using in-situ neutron diffraction

Aluminum engine blocks with gray iron cylinder liners are prone to tensile residual stresses along the cylinder bores, which may cause distortion and reduce engine efficiency. This study pioneered the application of in-situ neutron diffraction to measure the residual strain in the cylinder bores of Al engine blocks as a function of time during solution heat treatment, simulated at the spectrometer. This involved designing and incorporating a unique heating system for the engine blocks. The results indicated gradual relief in residual strain with time due to creep until strain was completely relieved. Furthermore, post-treatment cooling led to the development of tensile residual strain due to thermo-mechanical mismatch between the gray iron liners and the surrounding Al alloy.

Synthesis of new aluminum nano hybrid composite liner for energy saving in diesel engines

This work aims to replace the conventional cast iron cylinder liner (CL) in diesel engine by introducing lightweight aluminum (Al) 6061 nano hybrid composite cylinder liner (NL) by analyzing the performance, combustion, and emission characteristics of an engine. NL was fabricated by bottom pouring stir casting technique with nano- and micro-reinforcement materials. Experimental results proved that the use of NL increased brake thermal efficiency, in-cylinder pressure, heat release rate, and reduced carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and smoke emission in comparison with CL. However, oxides of nitrogen slightly increased with the use of the new liner. No differences in wear or other issues were noted during the engine teardown after 1year of operation and 2000h of running. Thus, NL has been recommended to replace the CL to save the energy and to reap environmental benefits.

Application of the Billet Casting Method to Determine the Onset of Incipient Melting of 319 Al Alloy Engine Blocks

The increased use of Al for automotive applications has resulted from the need to improve vehicle fuel efficiency. Aluminum alloy engine blocks fulfil the need of lightweighting. However, there are many challenges associated with thermo-mechanical mismatch between Al and the gray cast iron cylinder liners, which result in large tensile residual stress along the cylinder bores. This requires improced mechanical properties in this region to prevent premature engine failure. In this study, replicating billet castings were used to simulate the engine block solution heat treatment process and determine the onset of incipient melting. Microstructural changes during heat treatment were assessed with SEM and EDX, while thermal analysis was carried out using differential scanning calorimetry. The results suggest that solution heat treatment at 500 °C was effective in dissolving secondary phase particles, while solutionizing at 515 or 530 °C caused incipient melting of Al2Cu and Al5Mg8Cu2Si6. Incipient melting caused the formation ultra-fine eutectic clusters consisting of Al, Al2Cu, and Al5Mg8Cu2Si6 on quenching. In addition, DSC analysis found that incipient melting initiated at 507 °C for all billets, although the quantity of local melting reduced with microstructural refinement as evidenced by smaller endothermic peaks and energy absorption. The results from this study will assist in improving engine block casting integrity and process efficiency.

Lightweight Design of Cast Iron Cylinder Blocks

Lightweight Design of Cast Iron Cylinder Blocks

Copper Ion Cementation in Presence of a Magnetic Field

AbstractThe effect of an electromagnetic field (EMF) on the rate of copper(II) cementation from copper sulfate solutions on a rotating iron cylinder was investigated. The studied variables were cylinder rotation speed, magnetic field strength, and magnetic field direction. The application of EMF increased the rate of cementation in both parallel and perpendicular direction of the magnetic field where the latter proved to be more effective. The rate of mass transfer under an EMF was found to be more than doubled. The enhancement of copper recovery in presence of the EMF is due to the induced motion of Fe+n in the solution which is limited to a certain range of cylinder rotation speed. The power consumption for cementation of copper could be significantly reduced by utilizing EMF.

Semi-Dirac points in two-dimensional phononic crystals

A two-dimensional phononic crystal (PC) composed of a triangular array of square iron cylinders embedded in water is designed, in which the accidental degeneracy of the Bloch eigenstates is utilized to realize a semi-Dirac point at the Brillouin zone center. In the vicinity of the semi-Dirac point, the dispersion relation is linear along the Y direction but quadratic along the X direction. Rotating the iron cylinders around their axis by 45 and slightly tuning the side length of the cylinders, a new semi-Dirac point can be realized at the Brillouin zone center, where the dispersion relation is quadratic along the Y direction but linear along the X direction. To gain a deeper understanding of the semi-Dirac point, a k p perturbation method is used to investigate this peculiar dispersion relation and study how the semi-Dirac point is formed. The linear slopes of dispersion relations along any direction around the semi-Dirac point can be accurately predicted by the perturbation method, and the results agree very well with the rigorous band structure calculations. Furthermore, the mode-coupling integration between the degenerate Bloch eigenstates is zero in one direction but non-zero in the perpendicular direction, and this is the ultimate reason for the forming of a semi-Dirac point. With the help of the perturbation method, an effective Hamiltonian can be constructed around the semi-Dirac point, so that the Berry phase can be calculated, which is found to be zero. Actually, the different values of Berry phase indicate an important distinction between the semi-Dirac points and Dirac points. In addition, the acoustic wave transmission through the corresponding PC structure has been studied, and a switch-like behavior of the transmittance is observed along different directions. Along some particular direction, there exist deaf bands around the semi-Dirac point, and these bands cannot be excited by the externally incident plane waves due to the mismatch in mode symmetry. But the situation is different along the other direction, where the bands are active ones and therefore can be excited by the incident plane waves. Actually, such properties of the bands can be easily changed as long as the iron cylinders are rotated around their axis. The work described in this paper is helpful to the understanding of semi-Dirac point in phononic crystals and suggests possible applications in diverse fields.

Removal of Copper From Wastewater By Cementation From Simulated Leach Liquors

Every year, tons of precious and/or toxic metals are thrown away in industrial liquid effluents and most frequently directly in natural environment. The recovery of those metals in dilute solutions is an everyday problem associating both ecology and economy. Copper is among the most prevalent and valuable metal used by industry. Cementation is one of the most effective and economic techniques for recovering toxic and or valuable metals from industrial waste solution and from leach liquors obtained by leaching low grade copper ore. The present study was carried out to investigate the removal of copper metal ions from synthetic waste water by cementation using a rotating iron cylinder. The study covered the effect of different parameters in batch mode which are: Initial copper concentrations, pH values, rotational speed, and reaction temperature on the rate of cementation. The rate of cementation was found to increase with increasing rotational speed, temperature, and pH till a value of 2.1 and then starts to decrease .On the other hand as the initial copper ions concentration increases from 0.2 to 0.4 M the rate of copper ions removal increase. The rate of copper recovery ranged from 10% to 90% per hour depending on the operating conditions Rates of cementation which can be expressed in terms of the rate of mass transfer were correlated to the controlling parameters by dimensionless equation: Sh=0.18 SC0.33 Re0.961. This equation can be used in the design and operation of high-productivity cementation reactor.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Gray Iron Cylinder Blocks Casting

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Gray Iron Cylinder Blocks Casting

Dry Sliding Wear Behaviour of Titanium and Boron Carbide Nano Coated Grey Cast Iron Cylinder Liner

Among several nanocoatings, Ti and B4C hard coating shows excellent wear performance in cutting tool operation. This hard nanocoating Implemented on GCI substrate using EB-PVD coating is to make them suitable for engine components and to act as a protective coating against surface wear and reduce the wear of the components. The wear test was conducted using Pin-on-disc equipment at the room temperature and surface roughness was measured using surface roughness tester.The wear parameters such as sliding speed and sliding distance were kept constant and the load is varied. Coating hardness was measured using Brinell hardness tester.The investigation shows that Ti, B4C coatings have significant effect on GCI sleeve. Also, the result shows that the coating of Ti, B4C improved the wear resistance of the grey cast iron.

Lifetime Prediction of EN-GJV 450 Cast Iron Cylinder Heads under Combined Thermo-Mechanical and High Cycle Fatigue Loading

Lifetime Prediction of EN-GJV 450 Cast Iron Cylinder Heads under Combined Thermo-Mechanical and High Cycle Fatigue Loading

Improvements in Mechanical Properties of 319 Al Alloy Engine Blocks Through Cost-Effective Solution Heat Treatment

The use of Al engine blocks has increased significantly to improve vehicle fuel efficiency. However, the gray cast iron cylinder liners cause the development of large tensile residual stress along the cylinder bores which necessitates the optimization of mechanical properties in this region to prevent premature engine failure. This study compared the microstructure of T4-treated Al billet castings of varying cooling rate to that of the cylinder region of T4-treated (current production schedule) Al engine blocks. The aim of this study was to develop a cost-effective small scale heat treatment optimization method for engine block production. Comparisons in microstructure between the engine block and the billet castings were carried out using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The results suggest that the microstructure and hardness at the top, middle, and bottom of the cylinder were similar to those of each representative billet casting, indicating that heat treatment resulted in successful replication of the engine block locations. In addition, tensile testing revealed that the YS and UTS increased slightly following T4 treatment for all billet castings, which was also observed at the middle of the engine block cylinder bridge. As such, this method can be an effective forerunner for future heat treatment optimization in Al engine block production.

Cast Iron Solidification Structure and how it is Related to Defect Formation

In this work, the meaning of the solidification structure and how it is related to defect formation in grey cast iron will be discussed. The work also confirms observations made earlier. In previous work the formation of shrinkage porosity in grey cast iron cylinder heads was investigated. It was found that the defect is located around solidification units resembling primary austenite grains. The solidification of grey cast iron starts with the formation of primary austenite grains, followed by the eutectic solidification. The primary grains nucleate and grow either as columnar or equiaxed grains, creating a columnar to equiaxed transition between the two zones. Based on the presence of a migrating hot spot, and other characteristics found on the cylinder heads, a geometry was developed that promote the formation of shrinkage porosity. The primary solidification structure, normally transformed during the solid state transformation, was preserved using a technique called Direct Austempering After Solidification (DAAS). After solidification, the samples were cut and prepared for investigation using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) equipped with a detector for Electron Back Scattered Diffraction (EBSD). Individual grains were identified and the primary solidification structure around the defects was revealed. The investigation shows how shrinkage porosity is formed and located between primary austenite grains. This confirms that the primary solidification structure has a large influence on the formation of defects in grey cast iron. The investigation also confirms the correctness of earlier results as well as the validity of the DAAS technique.