Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Jianghuai Yang

Qigui Wang

James Dwight Cremonesi

Daniel J Wilson

Dale A Gerard

Martin Stephen Kramer

Zhe Li

Yucong Wang

Huaxin Li

Liang Wang

William A Berry

Paul J Gelazin

David Charles Klemstine

Oliver Patrick Jordan

Kiran Mistry

Guirong Cao

Anil Kumar Sachdev

Mark R Claywell

Maurice G Meyer

Steven L Burkholder

Michael John Braskich

An automobile vehicle crankshaft including a crankshaft casting of a nodular iron. The crankshaft casting includes multiple main journals coaxially aligned on a common crankshaft casting axis. Multiple crankpin journals are fixedly connected to the main journals by individual webs. Multiple lightening holes have individual ones of the multiple lightening holes integrally formed within individual ones of the crankpin journals during casting. A bubble space is located proximate to a mid-portion of selected ones of the multiple lightening holes of the crankpin journals. The bubble space locally increases a passage size of the selected ones of the multiple lightening holes and reduces a mass of the individual ones of the crankpin journals.

Lightweight nodular iron crankshaft for heavy duty engine

A method for manufacturing a crankshaft for an internal combustion engine with a plurality of journals having a hardened case with a first microstructure. The crankshaft is comprised of a steel comprising between about 0.3 wt % and 0.77 wt % Carbon. The first microstructure of the hardened case of the journals comprises between about 15% and 30% ferrite and a balance of martensite and the resultant subsurface residual stress between 310 MPa and 620 MPa.

Crankshaft and method of manufacture

Systems and methods of making a cast steel alloy crankshaft for an internal combustion engine are provided. The method comprises providing a mold of the crankshaft. The mold has cavities to form the crankshaft. The method further comprises melting a first metallic material at between 1400 degrees Celsius (° C.) and 1600° C. to define a molten metallic material. In addition, the method further comprises feeding the molten metallic material at a riser connection angle of between 30° and 75° in the cavities of the negative sand cast mold. The method further comprises cooling the molten metallic material at a solidification time of between 5 seconds (sec) and 20 sec in the negative sand cast mold with at least one chill member to define a solidified metallic material having dimensions of the cast steel alloy crankshaft. Furthermore, the method comprises separating the solidified metallic material from the negative sand cast mold to define the cast steel alloy crankshaft.

System and method of making a cast steel alloy crankshaft having low porosity

A high elastic modulus, high ultimate tensile strength, and low alloy gray cast iron for cylinder liners. The gray cast iron includes from 2.60 wt % to 3.30 wt % Carbon (C); from 1.50 wt % to 2.30 wt % Silicon (Si); from 0.30 wt % to 0.80 wt % Manganese (Mn); from 0.15 wt % to 0.35 wt % Phosphorus (P); from 0.05 wt % to 0.11 wt % Sulphur (S); from 0.60 wt % to 1.20 wt % Copper (Cu); from 0.10 wt % to 0.30 wt % Chromium (Cr); from greater than 0.0 wt % to 0.1 wt % Nickle (Ni); from 0.15 wt % to 0.40 wt % Molybdenum (Mo); and balance wt % Iron (Fe). The total wt % of Si, Mn, P, S, Cu, Cr, Ni, and Mo is less than about 4.10 wt %. The gray cast iron has a Carbon Equivalent (CE) from 3.00 wt % to 3.90 wt % and the product of Mn %*S % is from 0.025 to 0.045.

High-modulus, high-strength, low alloy gray cast iron for cylinder liners and automotive applications

A method and system for manufacturing a cast iron crankshaft for a vehicle are provided. The system comprises a molding unit arranged to form a negative sand cast mold of the cast iron crankshaft. The mold comprising at least one molded cavity having a pattern with dimensions of the cast iron crankshaft. The system further comprises a feeding mechanism comprising a riser having a connector through which molten metallic material flows to the cast mold. The feeding mechanism feeds the molten metallic material at a riser connection angle in the at least one mold cavity. The riser connection angle corresponds to a connector modulus. The connector modulus is 20% greater than a cast modulus. The riser geometry corresponds to a riser modulus. The riser modulus is 20% greater than the connector modulus. The system further comprises a furnace, a cooling area, a separation unit, a controller and a power source.

System and method of making an enhanced cast iron crankshaft

A damper for suppressing vibrations of a crankshaft of a vehicle is disclosed. The damper comprises a hub having a circular wall extending about a rotational axis to define a bore formed therethrough. The wall comprises a step portion radially extending therefrom and having a first arcuate portion formed thereon. The hub comprises a body portion radially extending from the wall to a lip to define an open cavity. The damper comprises a weld nugget disposed between the hub and the plate. The weld nugget has a root extending therethrough concurrent with the rotational axis to join the hub and the plate. The root has tip defining a profile such that the hollow channel is disposed at an angle tangent to the profile to lessen cracking due to stress.

Laser welded damper having enhanced fatigue performance

A nodular iron alloy and automotive components, such as a crankshaft, are provided. The nodular iron alloy may include iron, about 2.2-3.2 wt % carbon, about 1.7-2.3 wt % silicon, about 0.2-0.6 wt % manganese, a maximum of 0.03 wt % phosphorus, a maximum of 0.02 wt % sulfur, about 0.2-0.6 wt % copper, about 0.1-0.4 wt % chromium, about 0.4-0.8 wt % nickel, about 0.15-0.45 wt % molybdenum, about 0.2-1.0 wt % cobalt, about 0.02-0.06 wt % magnesium, and a maximum of 0.002 wt % rare earth element(s). The nodular iron alloy may have a Young's modulus in the range of 175-195 GPa and an as-cast ultimate tensile strength in the range of 750-950 MPa. This alloy possesses favorable strength, stiffness and noise/vibration/harshness qualities, making it suitable in crankshaft applications. A method of forming the nodular iron alloy includes feeding a magnesium-based material into a molten iron alloy through a continuous system at a constant amount.

High-modulus, high-strength nodular iron and crankshaft

A crankshaft for an internal combustion engine is provided. The crankshaft comprises at least four main journals aligned on a crankshaft axis of rotation defining a centerline. The crankshaft further comprises at least three pin journals. Each pin journal is disposed about a respective pin journal axis and positioned between the main journals. Each of the pin journals is joined to a pair of crank arms. Each pair of crank arms is joined to a respective main journal. Each of the main journals, pin journals, and crank arms is made of a first metallic material. Each crank arm has an over-molded counterweight metallurgically bonded thereto. Each counterweight is disposed opposite a respective pin journal relative to the centerline for balance and stability. Each counterweight is made of a second metallic material. The crankshaft has a weight ratio of the second metallic material to the first metallic material of between 0.20 to 0.50.

System and method of making a crankshaft with alternate materials

A composite metal flexplate is disclosed that includes an aluminum center plate and a steel ring gear joined to the aluminum center plate by a solid-state joint. The solid-state joint that joins together the aluminum center plate and the steel ring gear may be formed by friction welding. During the friction welding process, a surface of an annular body of the steel ring gear is preheated, followed by bringing the preheated surface of the annular body into contact with a surface of a periphery of a circular body of the aluminum center plate. The two contacting surfaces are then caused to experience relative rotational contacting movement, which generates frictional heat therebetween and softens adjacent regions of the steel ring gear and the aluminum center plate. Once this occurs, an applied force is administered to compress and forge the contacting surfaces together, thereby establishing the solid-state joint.

Composite metal flexplate

A method of forming an engine component includes providing a cylinder liner main body having a curved interior wall forming a cylinder bore extending along a bore axis and a curved exterior wall formed circumferentially about the curved interior wall. The method includes disposing a coating layer onto the interior wall and the exterior wall. A cylinder liner is provided that includes a main body and a coating layer disposed on an exterior wall and on an interior wall of the main body.

Coated cylinder liner

A method of manufacturing a cylinder block for an engine comprises providing a cylinder liner for the cylinder block and keeping the cylinder liner in a controlled atmosphere, removing the cylinder liner from the controlled atmosphere, removing moisture and gaseous contamination from the cylinder liner, and positioning the cylinder liner in a mold and over-casting a cylinder block in the mold.

Thermal processing of cylinder liners

An improved surface activation technique improves the adhesion of thermal spray coatings, which is useful for engine cylinder bores. The new method includes compressing the cylinder bore surface to create a surface profile on the surface, such as through rolling a roller along the surface. An engine block is also provided, which includes a plurality of cylinder bores, each cylinder bore having an inner surface, and each inner surface having a surface profile that includes a helical groove and other surface profiles formed in the inner surface. A thermal spray coating is formed on the inner surface of each cylinder bore, the thermal spray coating being adhered to the surface profile of the inner surface. A roller assembly for activating the surface is also provided.

Adhesion of thermal spray using compression technique

A bearing shell for an automotive propulsion system is provided, along with a crankshaft assembly and an engine having a bearing shell. The bearing shell comprises an inner layer having an inner layer thickness. The inner layer defines a bearing surface on an inner side. The bearing surface of the inner layer is configured to support and contact an oil film. The bearing shell also has an outer layer disposed around the inner layer and radially outward of the inner layer. The outer layer has an outer layer thickness that is greater than the inner layer thickness, the outer layer thickness being at least one millimeter. The outer layer is formed of an outer layer material comprising an aluminum alloy and/or a metal matrix composite material. The inner layer is formed of an inner layer material, wherein the outer layer material is stronger than the inner layer material.

Bearing with lightweight backing substrate

A system for inspecting thermal spray coated cylinder bores of aluminum alloy cylinder blocks, the system includes a failure detection apparatus, a heating apparatus, a cooling apparatus, and a control unit in electronic communication with each of the failure detection apparatus, the heating apparatus, and the cooling apparatus, and wherein the control unit includes a memory and a control logic sequence for operating the system.

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Rochester Hills, MI, United States of America

Jianghuai Yang