Automotive Engine Materials$

B Stojanovic and J Glisovic, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia

r 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Since the rst arrival of the automobile a century ago, the number of cars has rapidly increased in the world, and our social lives
have become more dynamic than ever. The number of cars in the world is constantly increasing, which results in an increase in
emissions of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In recent years, car manufacturers are working intensively to reduce
greenhouse-gas emissions in accordance with the relevant standards and norms that are introduced (EAA Brochure, 2013; Hirsch,
2011). From 2010 to 2020, it is necessary that the average CO2 emissions for European vehicles are to decrease from 142 g km 1
to 95 g km 1 (or 3.9% per year).
Reduction of CO2 emission is possible to achieve by direct reduction of fuel consumption or by application of systems for
pollution reduction or the weight reduction of vehicles. In the last 40 years, the average weight of vehicles keeps growing
(Figure 1). This growth is a result of stricter legal requirements regarding in terms of security (additional body reinforcement,
airbags, curtain airbag), from the aspect of environmental protection (catalysts, lters, EGR systems) as well as the requirements of
customers in terms of comfort (air conditioning, sunroof, electronics, etc.) (Vencl, 2007).
When it comes to cars manufactured in Europe in the period from 2004 to 2011, their average weight ranges from 1337 to
1389 kg (Figure 2; EAA Brochure, 2013; Hirsch, 2014).
In the same period, the average use of aluminum in cars produced in Europe has increased signicantly. The study of European
Aluminum Association shows that the amount of aluminum used per car produced in Europe almost tripled between 1990 and
2012, increasing from 50 kg to 140 kg. The Association predicts the rise of the average consumption of aluminum per car to 160 kg
by 2020, and even reaches 180 kg (Figure 3). This trend depends on whether small and medium cars follow the evolution recorded
in the upper segments of the automobile industry.
High-class cars have the highest aluminum content. Audi A8, Jaguar XJ, and Range Rover have over 500 kg of aluminum in its
composition (EAA Brochure, 2013; Hirsch, 2014). Apart from aluminum, lighter materials as magnesium, titanium, and glass or
carbon ber reinforced plastics are also used.
Aluminum and other light metals have a lower density compare to conventional materials used in the automotive industry
(cast iron and steel). Using these materials reduces weight and therefore, increases efciency, and meets the basic requirements in
terms of fuel consumption and emissions of harmful particles.
Unfortunately, their tribological properties are not satisfactory, which limits their application to produce tribomechanical
components. One solution is to create composite materials with an aluminum base. These materials, although primarily

Figure 1 Evolution of weight in the compact class (Vencl, 2007).

Change History: July 2015. B. Stojanovic and J. Glisovic have updated the text and gures completely from the original article.

Reference Module in Materials Science and Materials Engineering

doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803581-8.01946-9

Automotive Engine Materials

Figure 2 Evolution of the average mass of new cars registered in Europe (EAA Brochure, 2013).

Figure 3 Evolution of average aluminum content per car produced in Europe (EAA Brochure, 2013).

developed for the aerospace and cosmos industry, are often used in the automotive industry, where they are used for making
pistons, cylinders and engine blocks, crankshafts, brake disks, and the transmission system elements (Vencl, 2007).
Typical relative and average absolute weight savings of today's main aluminum applications in mass-produced cars are given in
Figure 4.
Aluminum based metalmatrix composites proved to be successful high tech materials in various application areas. Application of aluminum based metalmatrix composites have signicant advantages, such as better performances (lifespan of parts,
increased productivity), greater efciency (energy savings and lower maintenance costs), and the important role in the environmental protection (lower noise levels and reduced emissions of ne particles in the atmosphere) (Stojanovi, 2013).
The stricter design requirements in terms of increasing service life and weight reduction, and therefore, the construction price
initiated the development and application of new materials, with the light metalmatrix. Metalmatrix composites are nding
increasing application in the manufacturing of engine cylinder bores, pistons, brake disks and drums, drive shafts and other parts
in the automotive and aerospace industry. Aluminum alloys based composites take a special place among all metal materials
based on for a number of good qualities.
Improvement of mechanical and especially tribological characteristics of the hybrid composites is possible by using some
reinforcements, usually SiC, l2O3, and graphite, in an appropriate weight or volume fractions. The newly obtained hybrid
composites with aluminum matrix have signicantly increased wear resistance, increased specic stiffness, and enhanced fatigue
resistance.
The increase in the number of manufactured parts made of aluminum composite materials leads to a price reduction of these
parts, which further expands the application area.

Automotive Engine Materials

Figure 4 Aluminums direct weight savings and market penetration (EAA Brochure, 2013; Hirsch, 2014).

Value for money is a major reason for the application of these materials. What is obvious is that, for the time being, metal
matrix composites are mainly used for car parts signicant in terms of security and reliability (Stojanovi, 2013).
Todays engines are an integral component of an automobile that are built in a number of congurations and are considerably
more complex than early automotive engines. Technological innovations such as electronic fuel injection, drive-by-wire (i.e.,
computer-controlled) throttles, and cylinder-deactivation have made engines more efcient and powerful. The use of lighter and
stronger engineering materials to manufacture various components of the engine has also had an impact; it has allowed engineers
to increase the power-to-weight of the engine, and thus the automobile. Common components found in an engine include
pistons, camshafts, timing chains, pushrods, and other various parts. When fully stripped of all components, the core of the engine
can be seen: the cylinder block. The cylinder block (popularly known as the engine block) is the strongest component of an engine
that provides much of the housing for the hundreds of parts found in a modern engine. Since it is also a relatively large
component, it constitutes 2025% of the total weight of an engine.

Cylinder Blocks and Cylinder Liners

The cylinder block is a high-temperature chamber where ignition takes place. The cylinder block accommodates continuous
impacts from the pistons, and must therefore have very good wear resistance, fatigue strength, and creep resistance. Engine
blocks and cylinder heads were previously made with cast iron, and in recent years are designed and manufactured in aluminum
and its alloys, resulting in signicant weight savings. Due to the poor wear resistance of aluminum, the cylinders must be lined
with a better wear resistant material. Cylinder liners are usually made of cast iron. Cylinder liners are usually made of cast iron.
Cast iron is durable, but is over twice as heavy as the aluminum it replaces and has poor thermal characteristics. Poor heat transfer
properties in the cylinder require more robust solutions of heat dissipation and cooling, which further increases the engine
weight.
From 1999 to 2007, the number of engines manufactured from aluminum alloys constantly growing, while the number of
engines manufactured from cast iron in Europe is declining. In the same period, the number of aluminum made motors is
doubled (Figure 5). Since 2007, the ration between the number of aluminum and cast iron made motor is constant (Polk, 2008).
One solution is to use an in situ MMC, composed of hypereutectic aluminumsilicon alloy (AlSi) that relies on the silicon in
the hypereutectic range solidifying in a hard, crystal structure to operate as a wear surface instead of the aluminum. AlSi cylinder
liners provide superior thermal conductivity, while decreasing the overall weight of the engine compared to a cast iron liner and
they have been used by several different automotive manufactures, including General Motors, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes Benz,
Volkswagen, and BMW under various commercial names.
Serial production of aluminum MMC cylinder liners was started in 1990. It was rst applied in the 2.3 l engine Honda Prelude
(Hunt and Miracle, 2001). The hybrid composite consisted of an AlSi matrix with 12 % Al2O3 for wear resistance and 9 % carbon
for lubrication. The composite was integrally cast with the engine block, had improved cooling efciency, and exhibited improved
wear and a 50 % weight saving over cast iron, without increasing the engine package size. Cylinder liners are produced by the
squeeze casting with medium pressure. This engine is shown in Figure 6.
Wear resistance of aluminum MMC is better compared to the wear resistance of cast iron. The total weight of the engine block
using the MMC is reduced by 20%. Further, aluminum MMC has a higher thermal conductivity, and therefore, the engine

Automotive Engine Materials

Figure 5 The number of engine blocks produced in gray iron and aluminum in Europe from 1999 to 2010 (Polk, 2008).

Figure 6 Hybrid particulate reinforced Al matrix composite used as a cylinder liner in the Honda Prelude (Hunt and Miracle, 2001).

operating temperature is lower and engine life is longer. The thickness of the aluminum cylinder liner is smaller compared to the
liner of cast iron, which allows an increase in volume of the same engine without its redesign.
While this concept was initially implemented in the Honda Prelude 2.3 l engine, it has also been used in the Honda S2000,
Acura NSX, and Porsche Boxster engines (Chawla and Chawla, 2013; Hunt and Miracle, 2001). Engine of the model Toyota Celica
2000 also has a cylinder liner of MMC. Finally, an aluminum MMC cylinder liner is used in high-performance Honda motorcycles,
using a powder metallurgy (P/M) process.
The latest research shows that aluminum alloys reinforced with graphite are also used in the production of cylinder liners in
order to ensure good lubrication. Graphite in aluminum composite leads to a reduction of the friction coefcient and reduced
wear. Furthermore, graphite prevents the appearance of the boundary lubrication.

Pistons
The piston operates in a very difcult dynamic, thermal, and mechanical environment. It is loaded by cyclic mechanical stress,
frequencies B100 Hz, so that the fatigue is primary. The piston must also ensure tight t inside the cylinder, and to withstand a
maximum pressure of combustion. Fatigue strength, excellent wear resistance, and coefcient of thermal expansion (CTE) are
necessary characteristics which piston should have. It is also necessary that the head of the piston can withstand a temperature of
about 300 1C. Due to thermal gradients and thermal cycle, the high thermal (heat) conductivity is required in order to reduce the
overall temperature and heat waves (Kainer, 2006).
Aluminumsilicon (AlSi) alloy is most commonly used as a base material. Silicon in a primary alloy is a very important
component in the composition, because it leads to a reduction in the CTE (Elmarakbi, 2014). It would be very helpful that the
coefcients of thermal expansion of the cylinders and the pistons are close to each other (or equal) in order to achieve the better
control of the clearances between the cylinder wall and the piston, and therefore, the sealing.

Automotive Engine Materials

Figure 7 Pistons made of aluminum MMC (Stojanovic and Ivanovic, 2015; Bullinger, 2009).

The turning point in the application of aluminum MMC represents production of reinforced aluminum pistons in the Toyota
diesel engine (Chawla and Chawla, 2013; Hunt and Miracle, 2001). Serial production of these pistons has begun in Japan in 1983.
The material of pistons is a composite with an aluminum alloy matrix reinforced with ceramic particles and bers to reduce wear
and improve resistance to thermal fatigue. These composites were prepared by the squeeze casting technique. Thanks to the high
production of over 100 000 units per month, parts of excellent quality with reasonable price were obtained.
Composites with metallic matrix with ceramic reinforcements which are used for manufacturing pistons have signicantly
improved wear resistance compared with the base material. At the same time, the piston has a low CTE, thanks to precise
tolerances, resulting in higher pressure and improved heat transfer properties (Hunt and Miracle, 2001; Stojanovi and Ivanovi,
2015). Less weight of the pistons also contributes to improved performances. Furthermore, casting process of MMC is much
simpler compare to the traditional production processes of pistons. Overall, despite higher prices for aluminum materials per unit,
the total price is less relative to the pistons manufactured from traditional materials. A higher number of positive performances
preferred application MMC for making pistons. Silicon carbide (SiC) is commonly used as reinforcement for metalmatrix
composites, especially for racing cars. MMC pistons are used in Asian and Western European manufacturers (Figure 7).

Valves and Valve Lifters

Intake and exhaust valves coordinate the transfer of the air-fuel mixture for combustion and the exhaust gases in automotive
engines. Both intake and exhaust valves are subjected to cyclic mechanical loading at frequencies as high as 50 Hz, so fatigue
properties are of primary importance. The valves must also possess good resistance to sliding wear in the valve guide. The exhaust
valve operates in gas temperatures as high as 900 1C, so good creep resistance is required at the neck, where the maximum stress
occurs. The atmosphere of exhaust gases changes, depending on acceleration, but the average gas composition is oxidizing, so that
the exhaust valve material must have a good oxidation resistance. Finally, the valve is subjected to high-frequency hammering
forces, and good resistance to galling adhesion on the valve seat is required. Automotive valves are typically produced from
austenitic steel.
Discontinuously reinforced titanium (DRTi) MMCs has been used as automotive valves since 1998 in the Toyota Altezza 2.0 l
L-4 engine (Saito, 2004; Stojanovi, 2013). The DRTi is made by a powder metallurgy process using low-cost titanium hydride
powder, powders of the appropriate master alloys, and TiB2. The cost of the DRTi valves is currently about twice as high as for steel,
due to the relatively low volume of production. However, the cost has been projected to be comparable to steel for full-scale

Automotive Engine Materials

Figure 8 Discontinuously reinforced titanium automotive valves for the Toyota Altezza (Stojanovic, 2013).

Figure 9 Aluminum alloy MMC pushrods (Stojanovic and Ivanovic, 2015).

production. The price of these valves slowly declines, due to the large reduction in weight (30%), and high wear resistance. No
defective units have been reported in exploitation so far. Figure 8 shows an intake and exhaust valve set used in the Toyota Altezza.

Pushrods
Cylindrical pushrods translate motion from the cam to the valve train in overhead valve (OHV) engines. It is vital that the pushrod
faithfully reproduces the desired motion from the cam to the valves. High pushrod stiffness is required to control bending, a low
mass is needed to reduce lofting, and good damping is essential to limiting vibration. A ber reinforced aluminum MMC is used in
pushrods for high-performance OHV racing engines (Figure 9). 60% of Nextel 610 Al2O3 bers are used as reinforcement and a
base is made of aluminum alloy. The company 3 M Corporation was a rst manufacturer of these parts. The aluminum MMC
pushrods provide 25% higher bending stiffness and twice the damping capacity relative to 4340 steel pushrods. The MMC density
is less than half that of steel, so that engine speed can be increased by an average of 250 to 400 rpm before valve bounce begins.
Furthermore, it has been projected that the use of aluminum MMC pushrods could provide an extension in spring life of up to
600% as a result of the improved damping characteristics of the MMC. Service life of these pushrods is far greater than steel ones
(Stojanovi, 2013; Mehedi, 2011).

Connecting Rod
Connecting rods (Figure 10) experience a signicant loading in the automobile engine in both compression and tension, but need
to be lightweight to reduce reciprocating mass. Currently, the connecting rods are made from steel, aluminum, or titanium alloys
and composites. All these materials have certain advantages and disadvantages. As materials for the connecting rod's production,
composites with aluminum base reinforced with SiC (Nissan) i Al2O3 (Dupondt, Chrysler) are used (Prasad and Asthana 2004).

Automotive Engine Materials

Figure 10 Cross-section of a passenger car engine showing the location of the connecting rod (Chawla and Chawla, 2013).

Making the connecting rod from aluminum composite leads to mass reduction by 57% compared with the steel made connecting
rod. Reduced weight connecting rods, in combination with lighter weight pistons and wrist pins lead to signicantly reduced NVH
(noise, vibration, and harshness). Moreover, there is a reduction in the load of the crankshaft and its bearings, as well as the
reduction of friction losses and improved engine performance, including fuel economy (Miracle, 2005). In fact, it has been stated
that for every 1 kg of weight removed from the connecting rods, 7 kg of weight required by steel connecting rods for support and
counterbalance can be removed (Miracle, 2005). Connecting rods require strength, fatigue performance, stiffness (particularly the
big end), and wear resistance. The strength and fatigue performance of titanium are more than sufcient for this component,
however stiffness and wear resistance need enhancement via reinforcement particles and coating. Novel concepts such as bimetallic
steel (lower part of the big end) titanium components allow a shifting of the connecting rods center of gravity towards the
crankshaft, giving a positive effect on piston guidance.
The latest research related to the connecting rods obtained by casting with aluminum alloy matrix reinforced with graphite. These
connecting rods are tested for small engines (Elmarakbi, 2014). Nano-particle reinforced aluminum products are being developed
that look to be an excellent alternative to existing materials for connecting rods. These materials are being developed utilizing both:
powder metallurgy processes and casting processes incorporating stir-mixing and/or ultrasonic particle incorporation (Elmarakbi,
2014). The prototype of this connecting rod is shown in Figure 11. Tests of these parts are in progress.

Crankshafts and Camshafts

The crankshaft is essentially the backbone of the internal combustion engine. The crankshaft is responsible for the proper
operation of the engine and converting a linear motion to a rotational motion. Crankshafts should have very high fatigue strength
and wear resistance to ensure long service life. The crankshaft experiences high levels of cyclical loading. A high value of the CTE
can be a problem when choosing materials for crankshafts and camshafts. Ductile iron, forged steel, and titanium are commonly
used as materials for manufacturing shafts like in the Prosche GT3 RS. Crankshafts made of aluminum composites reinforced with
SiC and graphite are in the development stage (Elmarakbi, 2014). Aluminum composites meet all the requirements, except they
will inevitably fail when exposed to cyclical loading. An example of an aluminum crankshaft reinforced with SiC and graphite
particles is shown in Figure 12.

Timing Chains
In the internal combustion engine application, the timing belt connects the crankshaft to the camshaft(s), which in turn controls
the opening and closing of the engine's valves. Gear or chain systems can also be used to connect the crankshaft to the camshaft at

Automotive Engine Materials

Figure 11 Connecting rods from aluminum MMC (Chawla and Chawla, 2013; Hunt and Miracle, 2001).

Figure 12 Aluminum/SiC-graphite crankshaft (Elmarakbi, 2014).

the correct timing. However gears and shafts constrain the relative location of the crankshaft and camshafts. Chain gear
was originally used and 1962, the timing belt was for the rst time built in an automobile, Glas 1004. Engine of Glas 1004
was the rst engine where the timing belt was utilized as the camshaft drive (Synchroex). Since then, both the drives are
applied. Initially timing belts were made of rubber, and today, materials as neoprene, urethane, and polyurethane are
increasingly applied, and traction element is made from steel, berglass, and polyester. Materials for making pulley are steel,
cast iron, plastics, and recently aluminum alloys AlCuMgPb, AlZnMgCu0.5-F48, AlCuMgSi (En Aw2017A), (Stojanovi and
Blagojevi, 2015).
Different types of steel are mainly used to make a chain and chainring. Most commonly used are hardened steels (C15, CK15,
17Cr3, 16MnCr5) and tempered steels (C45, C60, 40Mn4, 34Cr4, 41Cr4, 50Mn7) (Stojanovi and Blagojevi, 2015).

Automotive Engine Materials

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