2015 Ford F-150 the trend toward aluminum engine castings
Only at that year's Detroit auto show, Ford's F150 nabbed headlines with its brave move to aluminum for bed and the whole cab, possibly saving countless pounds. Equally brave, but less reported, is Ford's alternative of substances for the 2015 F150's 2.7-liter twin-turbocharged "Nano" V-6 engine: it's a cast iron cylinder block.
Conventional wisdom says that iron is not too light for trucks and modern automobiles. Ford's first fabricating expert, Charles "Cast Iron Charlie" Sorensen, earned his nickname by incorporating the Model T's important engine and transmission parts into just a couple of casts. But during the previous two decades, engineers have methodically changed heads and blocks to aluminum.
So the apparently retrograde move to an iron block for the F150's 2.7-liter V6, particularly when the three discretionary engines of this truck have heads and aluminum blocks?
In the 1950s, developing cast iron greatly superior to the Model T material was begun by metallurgists. All cast iron is a mix with smidgens to fine tune the 1950s' properties of iron and graphite (carbon). Gray iron that is basic is very good. More Powerful malleable iron makes crankshafts that are exceptional.
Under the gaze the graphite bunches like coral tentacles in CGI look. These entangled curlicues grasp the surrounding iron matrix, in contrast to the spherical clumps of nodular iron and gray iron's thin flakes. CGI also shines in internal and thermal conductivity -damping features. The inherent damping helps minimize shaking and engine noise.
When European high-speed trains suffered brake-rotor heat- cracking and assessing, CGI saved. It is the substance of choice for turbocharger casings, exhaust manifolds, and flywheels. NASCAR racers and hardworking turbodiesel engines have had CGI blocks.
High-priced or no cylinder liners bore-surface treatments are needed inside the powerful CGI, an important cost economies.
Because CGI is being used by Ford, its new V6 is more compact, tougher, and more affordable than the all -aluminum choice. To put it differently, this can be a fantastic way to counterbalance the additional price of the aluminum cab and bed of the F150. Cast Iron Charlie would undoubtedly approve.
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