ANALYSIS OF MANUFACTURING OF ENGINE BLOCK

1Manshu Lakesh 2Pankaj Garhwal 3Dr. Ashok K. Madan

B. Tech. Undergraduate B. Tech. Undergraduate Professor
Delhi Technological Delhi Technological Delhi Technological
University, Delhi University, Delhi University, Delhi

ABSTRACT
The engine block, popularly known as the cylinder block, is the main structure of the engine that
provides space for the cylinders and also provides passages for the coolant, exhaust, and intake
gases to flow over the engine, crankcase, and Camshafts. The present review report will address
process of manufacturing of an engine block. It will also discuss all the technical aspects of
material selection and all the functional requirements for the production of an engine block.

*Keywords: Engine Block, Aluminum, Cast Iron, CGI Sand Casting, AMC SC1 and HPDC.

INTRODUCTION the engine that provides space for the

cylinders and also
Today's engines are fully developed
provides passages for the coolant, exhaust,
and will continue to be developed over the
and intake gases to flow over the engine,
next few years. These developments have led
crankcase, and Camshafts. The engine block
to increased engine performance, durability,
is the main casing for hundreds of parts found
wear resistance, and efficiency. The material
in modern engines. Moreover, it is the largest
used to build the engine block has given the
among the engine parts and accounts for 20-
engine greater strength with lower weight,
25% of the total engine weight. The first
which is more critical to engine performance.
successful internal combustion engine that
The engine block has been manufactured
can be used in a car was built by Siegfried
from cast iron alloys for many years, which
Marcus around 1864. It was a vertical, single-
is characterized by its strength and low cost,
cylinder, two-stroke gasoline engine.
as well as its resistance to wear. However, as
the engine got complicated, engineers came
up with new materials to reduce its weight
and increase its strength and resistance to
wear. A commonly used alloy is aluminum
alloy, which is more popular due to its
lightweight but is mainly used in gasoline
engines.

The engine block, popularly known

as the cylinder block, is the main structure of
Fig1. Finish Block
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FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS MANUFACTURING MATERIALS

Since the engine block is the main body of the To meet the mentioned functional
engine, it must meet several requirements. requirements, the material used to make the
These requirements include wear resistance, product must have many properties. The
durability, maintenance, and resistance to material must have high strength, elastic
pressure generated during combustion. It
modulus, wear resistance, vibration
must also withstand high temperatures and
resistance, and corrosion resistance. In the
vibrations when the engine is in operating
condition. For many of the requirements, the case of diesel engines, high compression
main character is the material used. ratios are concerning compared to
gasoline/petrol engines. For diesel engines,
• Thermal conductivity: Modern the compression ratio is usually 17: 1 or
aluminum engine blocks reach 150°C in more, but for gasoline engines, it is almost
crankshaft bearings and up to 200°C in 10: 1. The material must also have a low
the inter-bore regions. The excessive density to reduce its weight but with greater
thermal conductivity of cast aluminum strength. It should also have low thermal
alloys ensures efficient heat dissipation expansion at high operating temperatures and
into the coolant. good thermal conductivity to dissipate heat in
• Strength at elevated temperatures: A the shortest time possible. During the
good enough static strength level as much manufacturing process, the material must
as temperatures of 150°C (oil have good machinability and formability to
temperature) is required, especially
reduce time and costs. As if the material were
within the joint face with the cylinder
head because of the load of the head bolts too hard, manufacturing time and cost
and within the bearing saddles to resist increase. When the engine is running, it
the forces coming from the rotatory generates higher levels of vibration due to
crankshaft and the thermal expansion of movements in internal parts such as the
the cylinder block. crankshaft and pistons, so the material must
• Strength/hardness at room absorb vibration energy without breaking.
temperature: A minimalistic room
temperature strength/hardness of the In addition, the cylinder block must assure
aluminum alloy is necessary to ensure the suitable sealing condition to the piston
good machinability (depending on the assembly in the cylinders (or liners), as well
machining parameters) and assembly. as keep the ideal oil reserve required to the
• Fatigue strength: During engine cylinder-piston ring system, through the
operation, the engine block is subjected to texture provided by a special process such as
cyclic tensile stress in a vast temperature the honing. This cylinder machining process
region ranging from sub-zero is specific to each application, depending on
temperatures (when the engine is started the piston skirt and ring pack and vice versa
in the winter) to elevated temperatures to ensure expected durability. Four operates
corresponding to the oil temperature of with minimal friction values.
about 150°C. An essential material
characteristic for engine block design is, Engine cylinder block layout principles were
therefore, fatigue strength. being evolved to take into account the
neighborhood mechanical stresses within the
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numerous factor regions, taking advantage of less costly due to its availability. However,
the solid iron mechanical properties. It has gray cast irons are relatively weak and are
been stated that there may be a bent for inner prone to fracture and deformation. Due to
stress growing withinside the Otto cycle these problems, compacted graphite iron has
engine/petrol engines cylinders because of a recently begun to compete with gray cast iron
developing call for overall performance- as the choice material to produce diesel
engine blocks.
enhancing technics, such as the direct
injection and turbo. Such stress increment Aluminum Alloys: Aluminum alloy use
would possibly toughen the aluminum usage have significantly gained popularity since the
in positive applications. 1960s to reduce the overall weight of the
vehicle. The whole assembly, including
Other statements point out that using
liners and bedplate, can be about 20% lighter
aluminum has expanded in vehicles to lessen than the cast iron cylinder block. The
weight and fuel intake without impairing drawbacks of using aluminum alloys in
overall performance or protection for the engine blocks are that they are more
occupants. An instance is the substitution of expensive than cast iron alloys. However, the
grey iron engine blocks with the aid of using strength-to-weight ratio of aluminum alloys
high-overall performance aluminum alloys. is hard to ignore, and manufacturing
processes developed throughout the years
have minimized the cost disparity between
aluminum and cast iron. The Young’s
modulus of aluminum alloys (modulus of
elasticity) represents about fifty to sixty
percent of the cast iron modulus, impacting
stiffness.

Aluminum alloy 319 has a composition of

85.8-91.5 wt.% aluminum, 5.5-6.5 wt.%
silicon, 3-4 wt.% copper, 0.35 maximum
wt.% nickel, maximum 0.25 wt.% titanium,
Fig2. Grey cast iron block and Aluminum maximum 0.5 wt.% manganese, maximum
HPDC block 1% iron, maximum 0.1 wt.% magnesium,
and maximum 1 wt.% zinc. The alloy has
Grey cast Iron: Grey cast iron is the good casting characteristics, corrosion
dominant used material for the resistance, and thermal conductivity.
manufacturing of conventional petrol engine
blocks. Though the wide use of aluminum Aluminum alloy A356 has a composition of
alloys has reduced the popularity of this 91.1-93.3 wt.% aluminum, 6.5-7.5 wt.%
material, it still finds wide use in diesel- silicon, 0.25-0.45 wt.% magnesium, and
fueled blocks, where the internal stresses are maxima of 0.2 wt.% copper, 0.2 wt.%
much higher. Grey cast iron contains 2.5 – 4 titanium, 0.2 wt.% iron, and 0.1 wt.% zinc.
% of carbon, 1 -3 % of silicon, 0.2 - 1% However, Mechanical properties are similar
manganese, 0.02 - 0.25 % of sulfur, and 0.02 to that of aluminum alloy 319.
- 1 % of phosphorus. It has excellent damping
absorption, good wear, and thermal
resistance, and it is easily machinable and
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 Material Tensile Youngs manufacture engine blocks. There have been
Strength Modulus some magnesium alloys that met or passed
(MPa) (GPa) the necessities demanded via way of means
of producers for an engine block. However,
Al Alloy 178 74 inadequate material balance at excessive
319 T5
temperatures hindered their actual use.
treatment
Moreover, in 2003 material scientists and
Al Alloy 215 72.5 engineers from the Cooperative Research
A356 T6 Center for Cast Metals Manufacturing and
treatment the Australian Magnesium Corporation
provided their discovery of sand-solid AMC-
Table 1 (Source: Search Engineering SC1 magnesium alloy. This grade of
Material by Property Value (matweb.com) ) magnesium alloy incorporates distinctive
earth elements, lanthanum, and cerium and
Compacted Graphite Iron: Compacted
changed into heat-dealt with T6. This
graphite cast iron (CGI), was discovered
stabilizes the energy of the alloy at excessive
accidentally while trying to obtain ductile
engine running temperatures, which is an
cast iron, possesses higher tensile strength
important requirement for a cylinder block
and elastic modulus than gray cast iron due to
material. the most significant point is that the
the compacted graphite found in the
yield strength of AMC-SC1 essentially stays
microstructure of CGI.
the same at 177ºC as it does at room
Material Tensile Youngs temperature. This means that the material is
Strength Modulus able to tolerate a wide range of operating
(MPa) (GPa) temperatures without a loss in strength. Other
Gray Cast 160-320 96-110 properties of the magnesium alloy 10 include
Iron good thermal conductivity, excellent
CGI 300-600 170-190 machining and casting qualities, and
Table 2. (Source: Search Engineering excellent damping characteristics. So far,
Material by Property Value (matweb.com)) BMW is the only known company to use
Magnesium Alloys: Magnesium alloys were magnesium alloy for production of cylinder
utilized in engines before, however now no blocks.
longer for cylinder blocks. Rather, they have AMC- 298K 423K 450K
been used as valve covers, cylinder head SC1
covers, consumption manifolds, rocker arm Yield 120 116 117
covers, air consumption adaptors, induction Strength
systems, and accent power brackets. The (MPa)
most considerable enchantment for producers Table 3. (Source: Search Engineering
is that the material is plenty lighter than solid Material by Property Value (matweb.com))
iron and aluminum alloys and has the
MANUFACTURING PROCESSES
identical strength as solid iron and aluminum
alloys. Material scientists and engineers are The process used to manufacture the engine
decided to take advantage of those traits of blocks is Sand casting. However, die casting
magnesium alloy and use them to is also used, as it is more cost-effective as the
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die wears out quickly as a result of the high (called the ‘hot box’ procedure) or cooled
temperature of the molten metal. The casted (“cold box” procedure). Most manufacturing
engine block is then machined to get the industries currently use the cold box method
surface finish and coolant passages. because of the much lower energy
consumption.
Sand casting and die casting consist of
pouring hot metal into the mold, cooling it When put into shape, the sand mold itself
until it solidifies. The type of mold used in mirrors all the parts and openings of the final
casting varies to a great extent. Die casting engine block. After treatment and cooling,
uses molten metal, which is forced into the the mold is then moved to the second section,
mold and subjected to high pressure to where the liquid aluminum flows into the
solidify (HPDC). Sand casting generally mold. The block cools before entering the
employs silica sand as its primary material third section, where the mold and cast
for the mold. Sand, as the mold material, is component are heat-treated; this is important
because of its characteristics and the fact that for tempering the casting and burning off the
it is cheap. The mold's strength is critical in organic binder held together with the sand
the manufacturing process, and using the core. Once the binder burns, the sand grains
correct type of grains size can significantly let go of the casting and fall onto a conveyor
increase the strength. belt. About 98% of the sand can afterward be
used again for producing the next mold.
Sand Casting: In the sand-casting process,
the molds and cores are employed only once.
The metal enters the cavity either through
gravity or low pressure. For more extensive
production series, molding and core-forming
machines are used to manufacture molds and
cores. The molding material is compacted by
vibrations or by shooting or by pressure-
wave impulse. The cores are generally blown
or shot. Fig3. the final casted and tooled V- motor
engine block of ford mustang Shelby
Advanced sand-casting process (e.g., GT500 (source: auto evolution)
the Core Package System or CPS) can
overcome even the highest degree of High Pressure Die Casting (HPDC):
complexities. In this way, we can integrate Currently, most aluminum engine blocks,
water pump housing, oil filter flanges, and oil particularly 3 to 6 cylinder in-line engines,
galleries. The help of cooling chills enhances are produced by the HPDC technique due to
directional solidification and mechanical cost-effectiveness and higher productivity.
properties. In the CPS process, the first main In principle, the HPDC technique
concern is the production of so-called sand- allows the fabrication of open deck engine
cores. The sand is then held together by the blocks only. But with a reduced water jacket
use of organic binders. These binders act like depth and cylinder bores that are molded
adhesive between the sand grains. In general, together, the realization of an open deck
the tools to form the molds are either heated variant with a sufficiently strong cylinder

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area to cope up with the requirements of most • Low thermal stability of sand can
in-line engines is possible. High pressure die result in the cracking of mold due to
castings are near-net-shape parts that offer hot liquid metal.
fairly accurate contours and extremely • If the compression of the sand is low,
narrow tolerances in dimensions, shape, and the casting will not shrink. Moreover,
position. Due to the very turbulent mold it will end up cracking the mold.
filling, a certain amount of casting defects are • If the risers get solidified before other
unavoidable. The application of advanced casting parts, it will produce a feeble
engine block.
vacuum technologies can compensate for gas
• If the clearances in the cylinder bores,
inclusion defects. In thin wall areas, the high
came bearings, and crank are not up
rate of solidification of high-pressure die
to the standard measurements, they
castings leads to significant strength levels. may lead to unwanted friction or loss
The speedy filling of the mold in the HPDC under the running conditions.
process allows forming of highly thin-walled,
shell-like structures. Therefore, high pressure QUALITY CONSIDERATION
dies cast engine blocks are generally lighter
than engine blocks produced by other casting The quality of sand used greatly affects the
techniques. The conspicuous ribs, cambering, surface finish, the sand must possess some
and preferably closed-profile elements basic features.
compensate for the rigidity deficits of • Sand must have high strength to
aluminum. maintain rigidity.
• Permeability must be accurate.
Higher permeability can reduce the
porosity and lower permeability can
Detroit surface finish.
• Thermal stability must be high to
resist cracking when molten metal is
poured.
• Stand must have proper
compressibility, as during
solidification, unless the cast shrinks
Fig4. Open deck inline BMW 6-cylinder freely in mold cracks can show up.
engine produced by HPDC (source: • Risers have to be planned accurately;
BMW) they should not solidify before the
rest of the cast.
DEFECTS DURING CASTING • Clearances for cranks, cam bearings
and cylinder borings must meet
As the engine block works under extreme standard measurements.
conditions; even minor defects can be the • Cooling rate must be standard, as it
reason for any failures. greatly impacted by the surrounding
temperature and molten metal,
• Highly permeable sand can and will therefore certain thermal condition
reduce the strength of mold and must be met so as to produce a cast
surface finish. with good strength.

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