Engine block manufacturing process

Engine block manufacturing process

Introduction
Cylinder block which is also called as engine block is the main structure of the
engine which give the space for the cylinders, and it also give passages for the
coolant, exhaust, and in take gases to pass over the engine and host for the
crankcase and cam shafts. Engine block is the main housing of hundreds of parts
found in modern engines. And it is the largest among the engine parts and it also
constitute 20% to 25% of the total weight of the engine. The first successful internal
combustion engine which can be used in an automobile was built by Siegfrid Marcus
in about 1864. It was a upright single cylinder, two stroke petrol engine.
Today's engines has come to their maximum development and still being developed
for the next years too. These developments have caused to increase the power,
durability, resistance to wear, and efficient of the engine. Material used to build the
engine block has being given the engine a higher strength with low weight which is
more important for the power of the engine. For many years the engine block has
being manufactured using cast iron alloys, it is due to its strength and low cost and
its wear resistance. But as the engine become more complicated engineers found
new materials to reduce its weight as well as to increase strength and wear
resistance. A common alloy which is widely used is aluminum alloy, it is more
popular due to its low weight but mostly within petrol engines.

Fig01: Finished engine block

Functional requirements of an engine block

As the engine block is the main housing of the engine it has to include number of
requirements. These requirements include the wear resistance, long lasting,
maintenance, and withstand the pressure created when combustion take place. It
also has to withstand high temperature, vibration when the engine is in the running
conditions. For many of the requirements the main feature is its material used.
Material used in engine block casting
In order to meet the above functional requirements the material used for
manufacturing the product should contain many properties. They are, the material
should contain high strength, modulus of elasticity, wear resistance, ability to
withstand vibrations, and corrosion resistance. High strength is mostly concerned in
diesel engines because of their high compression ratios compared with petrol
engines. In diesel engine its compression ratios are normally 17:1 or greater, but in
petrol engine it is nearly 10:1. The material also should have low density to reduce
its weight but with higher strength. It should also have a low thermal expansion
under high operating temperatures and also a good thermal conductivity to give out
the heat in minimum time. When it come to the manufacturing process the material
should have good machinability and castability to reduce the time and cost
consumed. As if the material is too hard the time and cost for manufacturing
increases. When the engine is in running conditions it generates a higher vibration
due to the motions in the internal parts like crank shaft and pistons, therefore the
material has to be able to absorb the vibration energy with out fracturing.
Based on the above features the most widely used material are cast iron and
aluminum alloys to manufacture the cylinder block. Cast iron alloys are used
because they contain good mechanical properties, low cost, and availability
compared with other metals. But certain aluminum alloys contain most of the
characteristics of cast iron but with low weight. And also aluminum alloy casted
engine block gives a good surface finish and high macinability compared with cast
iron alloys. As the technology increases the engineers has found new materials such
as graphite cast iron which is lighter and stronger than the grey cast iron mentioned
above.

Grey cast iron alloys

Grey cast iron is the first and most material used for manufacturing of engine
blocks. Though the aluminum alloy also contain many similarities with low weight, it
is still used in the manufacturing of diesel engine blocks because their internal
stresses are higher. Grey cast iron contains 2.5 4 % of carbon, 1 -3 % of silicon, 0.2
- 1% manganese, 0.02 - 0.25 % of sulfur, and 0.02 - 1 % of phosphorus. It has a
excellent damping absorption, good wear and thermal resistance, and it is easily
machinable and less cost due to its availability.
Aluminum alloys
Aluminum alloys main feature for its popularity is its low weight, this reduce the
weight of the engine as well as in the vehicle. But the main disadvantage is their
cost compared with grey cast iron. Aluminum alloy has a good machinability
properties compared with grey cast iron. There are two aluminum alloys that are
mainly used in manufacturing of engine blocks, they are 319 and A356.
319 aluminum alloy contains 85.8 - 91.5 % of aluminum, 5.5 - 6.5 % of silicon, 3 - 4
% of copper, 0.35% of nickel, 0.25% of titanium, 0.5% of manganese, 1% of iron,
0.1% of magnesium, and 1% of zinc. This alloy has good casting features, corrosion
resistance, and good thermal conductivity. Under the heat treatment of T5 process,
it generates high strength and rigidity for the engine block.
A356 aluminum alloy contains 91.1 - 93.3 % of aluminum, 6.5 - 7.5 % of silicon, 0.25
- 0.45 % of magnesium, 0.2% of copper, 0.2% of titanium, 0.2% of iron, and 0.1% of
zinc. Although the mechanical properties are similar to 319, when it is under the
heat treatment process T6 it gains higher strength than 319. But it has lower
modulus of elasticity (72.4 GPa) than 319 with modulus of elasticity of 74 GPa.
Compacted graphite cast iron
Compacted graphite cast iron has a higher tensile strength and modulus of elasticity
compared with grey cast iron. It is due to the compact graphite found on the
microstructure of CGI. Similar to grey cast iron it has a good damping absorption
and thermal conduction, but its low machinability has limited its wide usage.
Tooling required for casting engine block
The main tool needed for sand casting is the mold, the mold is generated by a
mixture of sand, clay, and water. The pattern is the main tool required to form the

mold, it is normally machined by wood or aluminum which can be easily machined.

The pattern is kept on the wood or metal frame and the sand mixture is poured in to
it, then vibrations are applied for the mixture to get free from air bubbles. After the
mould has being hardened it can be used for the casting process.
After the casting process is over the casted engine block is passed through few
machines to get the surface finish and correct dimensions. Computerized milling
machines and boring machines are used in this operations.

Manufacturing process of engine block

Manufacturing of engine blocks are mainly done using sand casting, although die
casting also used it is more cost effective as the die wear out easily due to the high
temperature of the molten metal. The casted engine block is then machined to get
the surface finish and coolant passages.
In the sand casting processors the widely used in engine block casting is green sand
mould casting. The term green denotes the present of moisture in the sand mold. A
combination of silica sand, clay, and water are poured in to the one half of the
aluminum block pattern with wood or metal frame. The mould is then compacted by
applying pressure or vibrating on the metal frame. This process is repeated for the
other half of the mold. Then both halves of the mould are removed from the pattern.

Fig02: Patterns

The core shown below provides the space for water jackets around the cylinders.
The core has being painted to seal the gas formed during the casting process within
the core. And the pink colored ends are not painted to let the gas escape to the out
side. Aluminum reinforcing rods are used to give more strength to the core. These
rods get melted due to the molten metal poured during casting.

Fig03: core shown above provides the space for water jackets
around the cylinders

Then the water jackets and cylinder molds are arranged in the main mold as a one
cube. The mold is then tightened using clamps to withstand the pressure of gravity
when pouring molten metal.

Fig04: main mold as a one cube

Now the mould is ready for the casting. The molten metal is poured in to the mold
through the smaller front center hole which fills the mold from bottom back up to
the top through the risers, which can be seen as 8 large holes. When the casting is
cooling down the molten metal in the riser is drawn back down in to the casting.
The risers act a main part in the casting process by supplying required molten metal
during shrinkage.

Fig05: Just removed cast from the mold

The rough aluminum block casting is shown above after the removal of the sand
mold. the sand is removed by applying vibrating on the casting. The casting has to
be machined to get correct dimensions and smooth surfaces of the engine block.

Fig 06: Finlay machined to get correct dimensions and smooth

surfaces

The rough aluminum cylinder block is done with surface grinding to get smooth
surfaces in the head gasket face and the faces where other components are fitted.
Then the block is ready for the line boring of the main bearing bores. Bearing caps
are fitted temporally for the line boring of the main bearing bores. Then in to the
line boring of the crank and the cam shaft bearing housings. The boring bar
contains multiple tools so in one operation all the boring operations are done.
Therefore the boring bar is carefully positioned in the mold. After the boring has
being finished the crank and cam shafts are fitted temporally to check the
clearances at the bearings. Now the engine block is ready for the further fittings of
crank, cam, cylinders, connecting rods, and valves.
Theory behind casting
Casting is a solidifying process which means solidification phenomena controls the
most of the properties of casting. And most of the casting defects occur during
solidification. Solidification occurs in two steps, they are nucleation and crystal
growth. In nucleation stage solid particles are formed within the liquid and these
solid particles have lower internal energy than the surrounded liquid. There for they
go below the freezing temperature because of the extra energy required. Then
again it get heated up to form crystal structures.
Quality consideration during the production
The quality of the sand used widely affects the surface finish of the engine block.
The sand should contain these features to get the required finish.

Strength of the sand has to be high to maintain a rigid shape.

Permeability is the size of the sand grains. Higher permeability can reduce
the porosity of the mold, but a lower permeability would let to have a good
surface finish.

The thermal stability of the mold should be high to resist the damages such
as cracking due to the molten metal.

Ability of the sand to compress during solidification has to be high, unless the
casting will not be able to shrink freely in the mold and it may result in
cracking.

The sand has to be reusable for next sand molds to be formed, because one
sand mold can be only once used.

The sand mixture must be well compressed around the pattern to get a
higher strength, unless it will get cracked during the casting or when the
molds are set on each other.

The risers has to be well planed to make sure they does not get solidified
until the whole block has being solidified.

The contains in the molten alloy must be up to the standard to over come the
defects.

The clearance in the cylinder bores, crank and came bearings has to be up to
the correct standard measurements.

The cooling rate has to be up to the standard. The cooling rate is mostly
controlled by the molten metal and the surrounding temperature, therefore
the casting should be done in its certain thermal conditions.

Possible defects during the production

Any defect will reduce the strength of the engine block, as the engine block is
running under higher temperatures small defect can be a reason for any failure of it.

If the permeability of the sand used for casting is high, the strength and the
surface finish of the mold will be reduced.

If the thermal stability of the sand is low, the mould may crack due to the
molten metal.

If the compression of the sand is low the casting would not be able to shrink
and will end up with cracking.

If the risers get solidified before the other parts of the casting, it would give a
engine block with less strength.

If the molten alloy is not up to standard it will failure in high running

conditions.

If the clearances in the cylinder bores, crank, and came bearings are not up to the
standard measurements, under the running conditions it may arise with unwanted
friction or loose.