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| (Photo: Scania) |
Minor revolution
Recent years have seen a minor revolution in technology and performance, where Scania has reduced emissions from its engines by 80 per cent. This has come from the development of systems and electronics for fuel injection and the control of air and temperature.
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TEAM: Håkan Malmstad (right), manager of Scania's "predevelopment" of
new generations of engines, and Carl Gunnar Jonasson from Hydro Aluminium Profiler agree that lightweight materials like aluminium extrusions will become increasingly more important in engines that have less impact on the environment in the future. |
The majority of engine and vehicle makers today are working to meet stricter emission demands from the European Union, and Scania already satisfies those included in EURO 5 that come into force in 2009.
The majority of engines can also run on alternative fuels such as ethanol, rapeseed oil, biogas and synthetic diesel.
Aluminium increasingly important
Today’s engines, like Scania’s new EUR 5 EGR environmental diesel range, a straight-six, 13-liter, 480-horsepower engine, use aluminium extrusions for things like fuel manifolds for high-pressure injection, cable ducts, fan ring fittings, cooling tubes and compressor pipes.
“Lightweight materials will be even more important in vehicles in the future,” predicts Scania’s Håkan Malmstad. “New hybrid technologies mean that vehicles will have to be fitted with even more equipment, and here aluminium will be of decisive importance in order to minimize an increase in weight.”
Extrusions more robust
Scania’s new range of diesel motors includes a “common rail” system where a common manifold supplies fuel to each cylinder head, instead of having separate pipes.
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| SOLUTIONS: Fuel manifolds for Scania’s environmental engines for supplying fuel under high pressure. The nominal working pressure is 15 bars with peaks of up to 50 bars. |
The manifold is designed with low weight and optimal function in mind. The demands for strength, seal and resistance to heat and vibration are great.
Extrusions have proved to be far more robust than cast-iron components. Hydro, working according to the strict automotive ISO/TS 16949 quality standards, has supplied fully machined fuel manifolds that are ready to install on the engine production line.
Tolerances are tight and each component is tested for quality and seal before delivery.
According to Scania engineers, extrusion technology gives valuable freedom when developing components and low tooling costs make it possible to produce prototypes for testing.
Consequently, aluminium extrusions are of major importance in the continuing development of engines from Scania.
The extrusions undergo advanced machining and are delivered, pressure and quality tested, ready for fitting on the engine blocks.
So you can say that heavy transport is really lightening up – with aluminium.
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| HEAVY TRANSPORT: For engine parts, the demands for strength, seal and resistance to heat and vibration are great. Aluminium extrusions have proved to be far more robust than cast-iron components. (Photo: Scania) |
