Evolution of residual stress through the processing stages in manufacturing of bore-chilled sand-cast aluminum engine blocks with pressed-in iron liners

To minimize the carbon footprint of the transportation industry, manufacturers and engineers are continuously trying to improve the efficiency of the combustion engine. However, due to the presence of iron cylinder liners in the engine block, high tensile residual stresses are generated during the manufacturing process which leads to a large reduction of the alloy’s useable strength. Thus, the present study utilized neutron diffraction to study, for the first time, the evolution of residual stress of sand-cast aluminum engine blocks that have eliminated the iron cylinder liners from the casting process and mechanically inserted them after heat treatment and machining operations. Moreover, this study also examined the effects that cylinder bore chills have on the resulting residual stress profiles. The replacement of the iron liners shifted the stress mode from purely tension to purely compression until the bore chills were removed. Following the removal of the bore chills, the maximum tensile stress at the top of the cylinder bridge was ~ 70% lower than the engine’s predecessor which was produced with iron liners. Moreover, in the production-ready state (i.e., T7 heat treated and press-fit liners inserted), the stress mode maintains the partially compressive nature, thereby lowering the material’s susceptibility to crack growth and propagation.Graphical Abstract