Federal-Mogul Powertrain has been selected as a 2017 Automotive News PACE™ Award Finalist for its new DuraForm G91 alloy. DuraForm G91 is a premium diesel piston aluminum alloy that provides between three and five times the component life of established as-cast materials in modern, highly loaded, diesel engines. The increased strength of the new material also supports higher mechanical loads, allowing engines to operate at higher specific power and more efficiently, according to the manufacturer.
In testing, the new material has shown 3-5 times the component life of current materials used in modern diesel engines. The company says that as a result, the material supports higher mechanical loads, which will allow engines to operate at higher specific power.
“We have employed specially designed accelerated base engine tests combined with ‘engine-like’ rig testing procedures,” said Roman Morgenstern, Specialist, Material Development and Characterization, Global Pistons, Federal-Mogul Powertrain. “Engine-like rig testing combines thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) with high cycle mechanical fatigue (HCMF), which directly reflects the fatigue-critical load conditions seen by automotive diesel pistons in the engine.”
The new material allows pistons with lower compression height and reduced mass, helping reduce CO2 emissions. The product’s increased fatigue strength worked especially well in the high temperature range diesel pistons see under boost in testing, the manufacturer said.
“The improved silicon and intermetallic morphology provides a microstructure with increased resistance to complex thermomechanical loading, while maintaining the required thermo-physical properties, such as expansion, density and thermal conductivity,” explained Dr. Frank T. H. Dörnenburg, Director of Technology, Global Pistons, Federal-Mogul Powertrain.
Testing has also shown the wear rates of the DuraForm G91 material to be equivalent to the best current aluminum-silicon piston materials, and the company has released pre-production sample pistons to customers for further evaluation.
Innovations from 30 different automotive suppliers representing seven countries have been named finalists for the 2017 PACE Awards. A total of 34 innovative new products, ranging from short-range radar to a direct fuel-injection system to an in-car artificial intelligence supercomputer, are in the running for the award.
The award, celebrating its 23rd year, recognizes innovations in products, information technology, and manufacturing process and capital equipment. The awards are regarded as the Oscars of the automotive components industry.
Federal-Mogul Powertrain, a division of Federal-Mogul Holdings Corporation, is a leading global supplier of engine components to the world’s manufacturers of vehicles and equipment in the automotive, light, medium and heavy-duty commercial, marine, rail, power generation and industrial markets.
The company was founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1899, and today maintains its worldwide headquarters in Southfield, Michigan. Federal-Mogul Powertrain has more than 37,000 employees, 90 manufacturing facilities and 14 technical research and development centers worldwide.
For more information, visit the company website at www.federalmogul.com.
