BrandonS

I just had a thought.... i'm no gearhead, so don't flame me. Could anyone fabricate a carbon fiber engine block? They make Carbon fiber gun barrels, so why not. Personally, there has to be a reason why not, so someone tell me what it is. Cant take the heat, or maybe the compression? Here's a link to the barrel's http://www.titanarms.com/CarbonFiberBarrel...s_moreinfo.html So whats up with all this?

Brandon

BrandonS

It states the carbon fiber is the out barrel. So say chrome in the middle, CF on the outside. So would this be comparable to a CF block with sleeves??

Brandon

slalom44

For starters, an engine block isn't a gun barrel. Engine blocks are made of Gray cast iron or aluminum because these metals have a very high heat transfer coefficient. This dissipates the heat quickly, and transfers it to the coolant, where the heat is removed through the radiator.

Furthermore, compared to graphite, cast iron and aluminum have a very high modulus of elasticity. In layman's terms, that means that it is much stiffer and rigid, allowing less distortion and flex. Strength and modulus are not the same thing.

Other problems: Carbon fiber has to be embedded in some type of medium, such as epoxy. It would have to be able to withstand heavy thermal cycling, thermal and mechanical fatigue, and be inert to oil and coolant.

Carbon fiber would be very inappropriate for an engine block. I could see a ceramic engine block being developed, although there would probably be concerns over strength and thermal stress.

slick rick

There was a French company who built an engine out of some sort of therma plastics with metal inserts (bearings, sleeves, etc.).

It didn't make into production for some reason.

PWRMKR

R&D of many car companies have been looking into weight reduction, including plastic/composite blocks. To date we have not seen one.

slalom44

The first time I saw a prototype engine block made from plastic was close to 20 years ago. Chances are good that someone will be working on developing one 20 years from now as well. If they can get around the problems with using these materials, then it is possible to make it work. But I'm willing to bet a grand that you won't see one in mass production in the next ten years.

Ford developed a stamped steel engine a couple of decades ago. It was lightweight, low cost, and had excellent cooling due to the thin walls. Apparently they didn't resolve the stiffness issue. I've seen a prototype engine at a design firm that looked more like a truss bridge than an engine. It was lightweight, rigid, and very functional. But manufacturing something like this would be very expensive.

Red_Ohio_Rocket

Formula 1 engines rev to 18000 put out 900 HP are 3.0 Liter V10
and weight same as our S2000 engines...of course lots of light weight stuff on inside

There blocks Are aluminum, there head are also (I think) are made out of Aluminum
For lesser teams to buy F1 engines from the big boys..its about 1 million PER Engine
Consider F1 is pure technical marvel as far as cars go

I think CF blocks are a bit aways

LO CACHE

One other thing they do with F1 engines is they make the internals aerodynamic. Parts spinning at 18k causes a lot of drag, especially with oil slung over them. I am surprised not to see this method used in production vehicles.

MacGyver

[QUOTE]Originally posted by LO CACHE
[B]Parts spinning at 18k causes a lot of drag, especially with oil slung over them.

VFROOOM

Just a note that there have been carbon fibre gearboxes tried in F-1 for some time. I believe even Minardi has tried one.