HEF Group is using the 2017 Engine Expo to showcase its latest developments in surface coatings, which ensure higher durability of piston pins in newer, efficient engines.
New environmental standards, and the latest investigations for better engine efficiency, have lead to new concepts and designs for moving parts in internal combustion engines. This step change has resulted in higher thermal and mechanical constraints on different engine components and especially on piston pins, where behavior and lifetime prediction is a great challenge.
To keep at least the same durability, new concepts of pistons with new materials and new geometries have been designed, tested and validated or are today under development. Most of the time those concepts lead to higher temperatures and mechanical pressures on piston pins.
For those reasons HEF Group, a global leader in surface engineering, decided to enlarge its knowledge and skills on that engine component. Different aspects, from coating process technologies to testing tool panels have been investigated and validated. As a result of HEF’s research, coatings based on higher temperature resistance such as its ta-C coatings have been developed.
The new surface properties offered by the solutions from HEF Group enlarge the range of usage and secure the durability of piston pins. In addition, new in-house testing tools such as piston pins test rigs are today available for more representative and reliable investigations at lower costs.
HEF Group can be found at Engine Expo 2017, on stand number 3616.