Automotive Supply-Chain - New Piston Ring Coating Improves Fuel Economy and Reduces Emissions

SOUTHFIELD, August 12, 2011: Federal-Mogul Corporation has developed a new piston ring coating that supports vehicle manufacturers' efforts to make gasoline engines more fuel-efficient. The company's patented CarboGlideŽ coating delivers a direct improvement in fuel economy and CO2 emissions by reducing ring friction by up to 20 percent as compared to nitride or other commonly used coatings. CarboGlide's high wear resistance will withstand an engine's full operational life -- even in the latest generation of high-output gasoline engines with turbocharging or direct injection. CarboGlide additionally protects the cylinder surface from scuffing and scoring, especially under the most critical lubrication conditions, because of its high chemical and physical stability.

"CarboGlide provides engine manufacturers and vehicle owners with a strong advantage over other coated rings in the market by delivering an extremely low friction coefficient, superior wear resistance and long life," said Rainer Jueckstock, senior vice president, Federal-Mogul Powertrain Energy. "Our CarboGlide-coated rings provide engine manufacturers with an immediate, cost-effective fuel economy improvement that is easy to implement. The friction-reducing, fuel-economy improvement benefits contribute also to reduce the carbon footprint of gasoline-powered vehicles," Jueckstock added.

CarboGlide's superior coating properties are achieved due to a multi-layer microstructure and a special coating composition that contains carbon, deposited in diamond-like form, as well as hydrogen and tungsten. The unique structure can be produced for a coating thickness of 10 microns, more than three times that of the industry's latest state-of-the-art DLC coating. A specialized advanced process based on the combination of Physical Vapour Deposition and Plasma-Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition, specifically developed for piston ring application, is used in applying CarboGlide. The coating's multi-layer architecture, together with the company's surface machining and finishing expertise, ensure the integrity of the coating structure, optimal adhesion of the coating and high coating stability on both steel and cast iron rings.

"Federal-Mogul tests on engines, using both cast iron and high-silicon aluminum cylinder surfaces, have shown that CarboGlide-coated rings minimize friction and scuffing for the full expected life of the engine, even in the challenging environment typical of GDI turbo engines," said Dr. Marcus Kennedy, Federal-Mogul's manager, Physical Coatings. "It is highly stable due to its non-metallic nature. The unique combination of low friction, low wear and scuffing resistance also makes the technology attractive for application to other Federal-Mogul products developed for extreme conditions like face seals on construction machinery," Kennedy added.

CarboGlide is Federal-Mogul's third and most advanced generation of the company's DLC coated ring technology. The coating was developed in Burscheid, Germany, at one of the company's 18 globally-networked technical centers.