Low-friction, wear-resistant aluminum-silicon cylinder bore surfaces

In order to satisfy the requirements now being imposed on internal combustion engines with regard to fuel consumption and emissions, monolithic engine blocks made of hypereutectic aluminum alloys have moved to the fore, owing to their low-weight design. Due to the growing specific engine power, the tribology of the aluminum cylinder running surface plays an increasingly prominent part in the development of modern motor engineering. With the aim of gaining greater insight into the underlying friction and wear mechanisms, KSPG and the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials conducted studies of a piston ring/cylinder tribometer and a running one-cylinder engine in accordance with the floating liner principle.