F-150 take-rate bolsters SinterCast results

The take-rate of the 2.7 litre V6 gasoline turbocharged engine in America's best-selling vehicle, the Ford F-150, has continued to increase and, for the first half of the 2015, finished at 25 per cent. 

Tupy expects four years' significant growth

Brazilian foundry Tupy SA is forecasting four years of “significant growth” of its compacted graphite iron (CGI) business from the automotive sector.

Tear-downs: paving the way for CGI growth

How will OEMs respond to Ford’s 2015 F-150 pick-up truck with its intensive use of aluminium and a gasoline engine with a CGI block?

China set for 30 million cars by 2015

China is forecast to make 30 million cars by 2015 and account for 30 per cent of the world market.

This is the view of Liu Jincheng of SinterCast Trading (Beijing) Co. Ltd who notes that in 2013, car production and sales amounted to 22,116,800 and 21,984,100 vehicles respectively. The figures show an increase of 14.8 per cent and 13.9 per cent respectively compared to the previous year and account for 25 per cent of the world share.

Land Rover expands V6 diesel use

New uses continue to be found for the Ford V6 diesel engine built at Dagenham, UK, the latest being the Range Rover Hybrid Long Wheelbase unit launched at the Beijing motor show. 

Together with the Range Rover Sport Hybrid, this will be the first diesel hybrid model from any manufacturer to be offered in China.

‘Breakthrough’ CGI gasoline engine to bow soon

The world’s first ‘breakthrough’ gasoline passenger car engine with a compacted graphite iron (CGI) vee cylinder block will bow in the first quarter of 2014.

The first hint of the exciting new engine came a year ago at the annual general meeting in Sweden of process control specialist SinterCast when chief executive officer Dr Steve Dawson said: “We are happy to announce that we have achieved our first high volume commitment for a CGI cylinder block in a passenger car gasoline engine.”

He added: “The engine programme has been approved. We know the start of production (SOP), the production volumes and the applications. Breakthrough would not be too strong a word to use for this. This is an exciting development and a milestone for SinterCast.”

CGI diesels in the news at Navistar

Diesel engines with compacted graphite iron (CGI) cylinder blocks are hitting the headlines at Navistar International.

Navistar has just showcased its production-ready International TerraStar  4x4 commercial truck, one of the company's newest additions to its Class 5-8 portfolio, at the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) Work Truck Show in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Launched in 2010 in a 4x2 configuration, the TerraStar, is the smaller sibling to the DuraStar.

Iveco needs CGI to meet Euro 6

Fiat Group subsidiary Iveco is set to embark on a programme to adopt compacted graphite iron (CGI) in the engines of its commercial vehicles.

Diesel engine specialists and foundry men within the Fiat organisation are already familiar with CGI, following years of development work both at Fiat’s Teksid foundry division and by the group’s diesel engine maker Iveco.

But the time is drawing near for a decisive step to be taken if commercial vehicle maker Iveco is to meet tougher Euro 6 emissions legislation. Euro 6 will emerge in two stages: newly type-approved vehicles from 1 January 2013, and all newly-registered vehicles from 1 January 2014.

The focus of attention centres on Mexico where the Teksid foundry in Monclova has ordered a full refurbishment of its SinterCast CGI process control technology, including an upgrade of its System 3000.

Navistar Big Bore engines to restart in 2013

Navistar International Corporation expects to announce this month the date of start of production (SOP) of its Big Bore engines that have been found to be non-compliant with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.

The US engine builder has been forced to halt production of MaxxForce 13 and 15 diesel engines following the EPA’s decision to oppose the company’s type of engine emissions technology.

So, in an embarrassing about-face, Navistar will adopt SCR technology and is working closely with Cummins to resolve its current issues. Navistar, based in Lisle, Illinois, has opposed SCR technology for years and is now paying the price.

Navistar has come to a long-term supply agreement with Cummins Inc. of Columbus, Indiana to use its heavy-duty diesel engines and “emissions after-treatment systems” for Big Bore engines.

Ford Ecoboost engine set for CGI block?

Speculation amongst some observers suggests there would be no surprise if the “sensational” engine using compacted graphite iron (CGI) block, due to bow in the 2013/2014 time frame (see last post), comes from Ford Motor Company; the engine lying within the company’s Ecoboost family.

Speculation is ignited through the announcement 29 October by global foundry Tupy SA of Joinville, Brazil, that it has placed a contract against SinterCast for its System 3000plus process control technology to use for the production of 300,000-plus high-quality CGI castings a year.

Industry insiders suggest the projected annual volume of over 300,000 a year of the new CGI blocks from Tupy SA is too high for a vee-diesel production run. This implies either an in-line diesel or a gasoline engine.

IF the new application is for a gasoline engine, the block could be in-line or vee configuration. For an in-line engine, Ford is one speculated OEM customer to take such high volumes.

But, on the other hand, IF the new CGI block is intended for a vee gasoline engine, then General Motors could be the customer. However, GM has no previous experience of machining CGI on such a massive scale. And over 300,000 blocks a year is ‘big scale’. All IFs and BUTs.

The EcoBoost is a family of direct-injected gasoline engines developed by Ford in association with FEV Engineering. They range from the three-cylinder I-3 of 100-123bhp, through the 1.6-litre I-4, the 2-litre I-4 and up to the 3.5-litre V6 giving 350bhp.

The speculation would fit in with suggestions (in the previous post) that the cylinder block of the upcoming engine is an I4 of around 1.6 to 2-litres and not a vee diesel engine configuration. Indeed the idea could be taken a stage further – the engine could be an I-3 three-cylinder 1.6-litre or an I-4 four-cylinder 2.2-litre gasoline engine.

The benefits of CGI have now become well established and well-proven through the efforts of numerous OEMs, with Audi and Ford leading the pack in passenger vehicle applications: lighter weight, higher strength, higher stiffness, and improved rigidity and NVH. In theory, a CGI block can be as light as an aluminium block and would be of great advantage in the Ford Focus or light duty truck use in the US.

CGI would assist with Ford’s programme of down-sizing whilst retaining improved performance and fuel economy. For example, a 2.2-litre I4 gasoline engine with a performance of 125bhp/litre could deliver 257bhp and 300ftlb torque. With 150bhp/litre this would give 330bhp. Eventually, around 380bhp might be possible with 2-litres being seen as a possible company in-line capacity limit in years to come.

In the absence of mature information at this stage, speculation further fuels the nature of the upcoming engine family. For example, it is known that Ford has carried out work over the years on HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Ignition Engines) in partnership with PSA in France on the 2.7-litre V6 engine with a CGI block. Both companies have experience of machining CGI cylinder blocks. Could HCCI be a step too far for Ford at this stage?

In an HCCI engine, fuel and air are mixed and injected into the cylinder. The piston compresses the mixture and spontaneous combustion occurs. (In HCCI, the engine combines the fuel and air pre-mixing of a spark ignition engine with the instantaneous combustion of a diesel engine.)

Ford also has supported HCCI research through Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and oil giant BP. Ford executives believe an HCCI engine can give near-diesel engine fuel efficiency but with the lower cost of the gasoline engine. However, to be successful, the conventional gasoline cylinder block must be strengthened and this is where a CGI block could be of advantage.

Ford is not alone. General Motors too has tested HCCI in Aura and Vectra mid-sized cars. But GM has not machined CGI blocks before in production-environment volumes. It has yet to introduce its own CGI engine, though GM Europe, must have ‘looked over the shoulder’ of VM Motori in Italy with its vee diesel. GM has plans for a CGI V8 diesel but they are believed to be still on the back burner.

Another variation is GDCI or Gasoline Direct-Injection Compression Ignition where low emissions are combined with high efficiency. In 2010, Delphi Corporation with Hyundai America Technical Center and academics from Wisconsin University won a US$7.48 million grant from the US Department of Energy to develop a GDCI engine; details were presented at the 2012 SAE World Congress in Detroit.

In GDCI, air is compressed in the cylinder before partially pre-mixed fuel is injected into the cylinder. As air is compressed, the heat generated is sufficient to ignite the mixture without need for a spark plug.

GDCI differs from HCCI in that with the latter, air and fuel are mixed before compression begins. Compression of the air/fuel mixture causes self-ignition, rather than introducing air/fuel into the hot compressed air at or near top dead centre, as with GDCI. GDCI would benefit also from a CGI block.

Among those working on advanced powertrain systems in the UK is CAFDR, the Centre for Advanced Powertrains and Fuels Research at Brunel University, Uxbridge. Sponsoring companies include Ford Motor Company and Delphi Diesel Systems.

Global machine tool supplier MAG IAS LLC of Erlanger, Kentucky, is probably the pack-leader in terms of most experience of developing and supplying machining centres for CGI, though Grob-Werke GmbH of Mindelheim, Germany cannot be discounted through its association with Audi. This year, Grob-Werke opened a production base in Liaoning, China – its fourth. MAG claims to have successfully used cryogenics to machine CGI, and has supplied Ford with machine tools for its latest V8 diesel engine lines in Chihuahua, Mexico. The Chihuahua Engine Plant (CEP) makes engines for Ford’s F-series trucks. These vee engines use CGI blocks from Tupy SA.

Specialist CGI foundry Tupy plans to supply the 300,000-plus CGI cylinder blocks from its newly-equipped foundry in Saltillo, Mexico.

Meanwhile, back to square one – all IFs and BUTs. But whatever, this will prove to be a “landmark” CGI engine application – the biggest-ever single order for such a prominent and vital engine component.            ∎                                                                

Sensational CGI cylinder block breakthrough

The biggest contract ever placed by an OEM for a compacted graphite iron (CGI) cylinder block has been placed against the foundry Tupy SA of Joinville, Brazil.

The contract calls for production to ramp up to over 300,000 passenger car cylinder blocks a year, starting 2013. Production will be based at Tupy’s North American base in Saltillo, Mexico.

The contract makes the programme the highest-volume CGI block in the world. The block will be Tupy’s eighteenth CGI component, further reinforcing the company’s global leadership in the production of these components.

Rumours in the automotive industry point to the castings being employed in a “sensational” engine that will mark a “new era”, reflecting “new thinking” in engine technology. The rumours further point to Ford Motor Company as the OEM, however the identity of the OEM will be released, it is expected, in March/April 2013.

Meanwhile, to produce the new castings in Saltillo, Tupy is ordering SinterCast’s System 3000Plus process control technology to automatically control the base treatment, process control measurement and final adjustment of magnesium and inoculant prior to casting.

This will be SinterCast’s most comprehensive installation with a capacity of 15 ladles per hour and over nine hours of production a day.

Tupy is tantalisingly vague as to the OEM and the nature of the engine configuration that will use the CGI block.

However, SinterCast claims the contract will yield over 300,000 engine equivalents a year. Insiders who follow SinterCast closely well know that each engine equivalent weighs 50kg. So, on the basis of matching volume to the equivalents, suggests a cylinder block weight of 50kg.

Up to the present time, all of SinterCast’s current production passenger vehicle cylinder blocks are vee-diesel configuration.

Interestingly however, a production volume of 300,000 a year is too large a production run for a vee-diesel engine. The implication therefore is that the contract is for either an in-line diesel or in-line gasoline engine.

However, those who follow SinterCast’s activities with more than passing interest, will be aware that at the May 2012 Annual General Meeting, Dr. Steve Dawson, chief executive officer of SinterCast referred to a “pending petrol engine order”.

To put the single-order, one-block 300,000 volume into context, one only has to refer to comments made by Dawson at a conference in 2007 on the benefits of CGI. Dawson noted that “today, 40,000 CGI cylinder blocks are produced each month for OEMs,, including Audi, DAF, Ford, Hyundai, MAN, Mercedes-Benz, PSA and Volkswagen”. That figure covered both passenger car and commercial vehicle applications.

 Dawson pointed to the weight-saving benefits of CGI, namely the material offers double the fatigue limit of conventional grey iron (and aluminium alloys), while the improved strength and stiffness of CGI enhances dimensional stability to reduce piston slap, bore wear, oil consumption and blow-by; as well as NVH performance.

In addition, CGI can help engineers as they deal with increasing cylinder pressures, though in the case of a gasoline engine this is less significant.

The benefits of CGI’s weight-saving characteristics to the current Tupy contract can be seen from figures Dawson released in 2007. He noted that a 2-litre I4 gasoline engine would weigh 31.8kg in grey iron but only 26.6kg in CGI, a reduction of 16.4%. In another example, he cited a 2.2-litre I4 gasoline engine could yield a 28% weight reduction.

Likewise, he noted that a 1.8-litre, I4 diesel engine of 38kg in grey iron would weigh 29.5kg in CGI – a reduction of 22.4%.

Highlighting all-round benefits, Dawson noted that a fully-assembled CGI engine can be 5% lower, 5% narrower, 13% shorter and 9.4% lighter. These figures highlight the contribution made by CGI to downsizing and power-up objectives, indicating some of the reasons why CGI was selected by the OEM for this application.

The high-volume nature of the contract (300,000 a year) suggests a single facility working nine hours a day, five days a week for 48 weeks a year, would deliver the equivalent of 140 jobs an hour. On double shift this would be 70 jobs an hour.

These figures suggest that any manufacturing implications that might have been associated with the choice of CGI have now been eliminated, or can be accommodated

As to the blocks' eventual destination, it is known that Tupy exports a significant amount of its production to both North america and Europe.                              ∎