Alusil
Appearance
Alusil as a hypereutectic aluminium-silicon alloy (Al17Si4CuMg or A390) contains approximately 78% aluminium and 17% silicon.[1][2] This alloy was created in 1927 by Schweizer & Fehrenbach[3] of Baden-Baden Germany and further developed by Kolbenschmidt.[2]
The Alusil aluminium alloy is commonly used to make linerless aluminium alloy engine blocks.[4] Alusil, when etched, will expose a very hard silicon precipitate. The silicon surface is porous enough to hold oil, and is an excellent bearing surface. BMW switched from Nikasil-coated cylinder walls to Alusil in 1996 to eliminate the corrosion problems caused through the use of petrol/gasoline containing sulfur.
Engines using Alusil include:
- Audi 2.4 V6[1][5]
- Audi 3.2 FSI V6[5]
- Audi 4.2 FSI V8[1][3]
- Audi 5.2 FSI V10
- Audi/Volkswagen 6.0 W12
- BMW M52TU I6
- BMW N52 I6
- BMW M62 V8
- BMW N62 V8
- BMW N63 V8
- BMW N63TU V8
- BMW M70/M73 V12[6]
- Mercedes 560 SEL M117 V8
- Mercedes M119
- Porsche 928 V8
- Porsche 924S I4
- Porsche 944 I4
- Porsche 968 I4
- Porsche Cayenne V8[3]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "ALUSIL - Cylinder Blocks for the new Audi V6 and V8 SI engines" (PDF). KS Aluminium-Technologie AG. KSPG-AG.com. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- ^ a b "What is Alusil coating?". finishing dot com. finishing.com. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- ^ a b c "Rheinmetall's tradition of automotive excellence". Rheinmetall Defence. Rheinmetall-Detec.de. January 2006. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- ^ "High-performance engine blocks for tomorrow's challenges". Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG. KSPG-AG.com. 12 September 2005. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- ^ a b "KS Aluminium-Technologie: engine blocks for the new Audi A6". Rheinmetall AG. Rheinmetall.de. August 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- ^ "High-tech products for the new and advanced BMW V12". Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG. KSPG-AG.com. 10 January 2003. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
External links
- Kolbenschmidt Pierburg - official website of Alusil trademark holder