In terms of engine development leading materials development, modern gas turbines are an excellent example. Since the days of Sir Frank Whittle, these engines have been able to progress only through parallel development of materials that are capable of operating at ever-increasing temperatures and at higher levels of stress.
Such high-temperature materials are not just fancy Read more…
RET Focus: Advanced Metals, view the latest magazine article here.
It’s an interesting but nevertheless slightly surprising fact that the vast majority of premature bearing failures in engines are as a direct consequence of the presence of dirt. Such were the conclusions of a report I read recently, and while lack of lubrication, misalignment, overloading and corrosion all figured in the findings, well over 50% of all bearing-related engine failures recorded were put down to foreign bodies in the lubrication system. Read more…
RET Focus: Bearings, view the latest magazine article here.
It is sometimes easy to forget that after all the efforts a cam manufacturer makes in producing his products, the greatest cause of failure is not in the installation or its timing but in the first few seconds and minutes of its active life.
It’s a sobering thought but no matter how fine the surface finish or accurate the machining, inevitable imperfections - however slight - will lead to contact high spots at first run. Unless these are carefully ground Read more…
RET Focus: Camshafts, view the latest magazine article here.
Many of the applications discussed in the RET-Monitor articles where thermal barrier coatings are concerned have been on the subject of exhausts. Thermal barrier coatings here have the aim of reducing radiated heat, although in some cases a benefit of such coatings can be to improve the efficiency of the turbocharger turbine by retaining heat within the exhaust flow rather than rejecting it to atmosphere prior to the turbine. Read more…
RET Focus: Coatings, view the latest magazine article here.
When we come to describe a ‘traditional’ racecar con rod for a four-stroke engine, we would imagine a split rod with a bushed small end (or at least many of us would). The bushed small end has been with us for many decades, but the bushless steel con rod is becoming more popular, and bushless rods are a possibility in a number of other materials. As reported in the con rods ‘Focus’ article in Race Engine Technology (issue 48, August 2010), some rod suppliers have been supplying Read more…
RET Focus: Conrods, view the latest magazine article here.
In the search for increased performance, the common direction of engine development has been to increase engine speed incrementally. While this trend is somewhat on the wane - owing to various regulations such as absolute rpm limits as in Formula One, fuel capacity/flow limits or the NASCAR ‘gear rule’ - high engine speeds are a good way to raise performance, providing that efficiency can be maintained. Read more…
RET Focus: Crankshafts, view the latest magazine article here.
In previous issues of RET-Monitor we have looked at the wide variety of dynamometers designed to measure engine power output or gauge the parasitic losses of particular components. However, engines are not the only area of a racecar that can benefit from dynamometer testing. In the upper levels of motorsport, every tiny performance gain counts, and the transmission and final drive is an area where considerable gains can be made. Enter the transmission dyno, the most direct method of quantifying improvements in Read more…
RET Focus: Dynamometers, view the latest magazine article here.
As a young man (many years ago), although my spelling was never entirely satisfactory, the subject of mathematics never daunted me. Matrix manipulations, Laplace transforms and complex differential equations were as meat and drink to me as I endeavoured to find order in this apparently disordered world. It was only later, as I discovered karting, that this world was slightly shaken, when I lost my ability to count. Read more…
RET Focus: ECU-EMS, view the latest magazine article here.
World Superbike remains a popular series in motorcycle racing, its enduring appeal stemming from the fact that the machines are based on the same motorcycles that you can find in your local showroom. Twenty years ago, it was a competition full of limited-production homologation machines, such as the Honda RC30 and Yamaha OW-01, which were produced at great expense and which required a racing kit that at the time dwarfed the cost of the motorcycle. In 1990, if we discount the Bimota machine, the most expensive road bike was the Read more…
RET Focus: Exhausts, view the latest magazine article here.
The subject of the plating of fasteners is one that causes some debate. Many companies refuse to contemplate the use of plated fasteners, while some manufacturers will supply them only at a customer’s insistence and with a waiver that absolves them of any responsibility for losses resulting from a breakage.
Other companies are much happier to supply plated fasteners, however, having taken every precaution to minimise the chances of embrittlement before, during and Read more…
RET Focus: Fasteners, view the latest magazine article here.
I wish I had a fiver (about $8) for every time a racing driver mentioned the word ‘balance.’ The post-practice or post-race interview of explanations and excuses as to why he (or she) didn’t win invariably attributes the cause to the relative grip between front and rear tyres, thus allowing the car to oversteer (loose) or understeer (push). And away from optimum handling, how could he (or she) possibly ever be expected to win? But in the world of engine lubricants the word ‘balance’ assumes an Read more…
RET Focus: Fuel, view the latest magazine article here.
In today’s world the possibilities for producing complex castings are much more sophisticated than ever. Whereas in the old days we only needed to worry about making patterns out of wood or steel/cast iron, now we can look at how to integrate as many functions as possible in as effective a solution as possible on a mass scale. So we no longer use only the traditional method of pattern making, but rapid prototyping techniques as well.
In general, an engine block casting consists of a number Read more…
RET Focus: Heads Blocks, view the latest magazine article here.
If we look at the high end of the market as far as racecar alternators are concerned, we see very special productions by only a few manufacturers. Such alternators are chosen for a number of reasons, not least of which is their notable compactness. They are permanent magnet machines, and can be found nestled alongside the engines in Formula One cars. The same technology is used widely in industry and the military, and is also commonly found in various hybrid systems, Read more…
RET Focus: KERS, view the latest magazine article here.
In any internal combustion engine, the design or configuration of the cylinder or its liner is of critical concern. Exposed to the full effect of combustion at its upper part, which falls as we go down the cylinder, the component has to be as light as possible yet still retain its mechanical robustness with minimal distortion. As bmep (brake mean effective pressure) and engine speeds increase, cooling therefore assumes a major importance. Read more…
RET Focus: Liners/Sleeves, view the latest magazine article here.
It is a fact that wet-sump oiling systems are rare in racing. Given the g-loadings that most racecars experience, controlling the oil level while ensuring a constant supply of lubricant is far easier with a dry-sump set-up. However, some series still require the use of a wet sump, notably those for touring cars running to the FIA S2000 regulations.
Running wet sumps has caused problems for many years, as one engineer from a notable engine manufacturer Read more…
RET Focus: Oil Pumps, view the latest magazine article here.
Stanton Racing Engines in Nicholasville, Kentucky, is known for its USAC Midget and Sprint engines. While once predominantly a Mopar/Dodge house, three years ago the company began to build/rebuild Toyota USAC Midget engines, taking over the work from California-based Toyota Racing Development (TRD).
Erik Milholland manages Stanton’s racing division, and travels with the USAC circuit, handling any powertrain Read more…
RET Focus: Pistons, view the latest magazine article here.
In the previous article on rocker stands, and as a general theme to the subject of pushrod valvetrains, the importance of stiffness was stressed. Also important though is that the mechanism is set up on the engine as intended when designed.
This means that the relationship between the tip of the valve, the roller tip and rocker pivot are as designed. Not only does a badly set-up mechanism deviate away from the designed valve lift profile, but the relationship of the Read more…
RET Focus: Pushrods, view the latest magazine article here.
Nitrogen is a colourless, tasteless, odourless, mainly diatomic gas that makes up about 78% of the air we breathe. Chemically it’s almost inert, and as well as being a critical part of human DNA it can also often be an essential part of the DNA make-up of a piston ring. For example, titanium nitride and chromium nitride are popular piston ring coatings. Applied to the bore-contacting outer surface of steel rings, such surfaces Read more…
RET Focus: Rings, view the latest magazine article here.
Of the many gaskets and seals in an engine, probably the most annoying and terrifying in equal measure, when it fails, is that at the mid or lower liner. On dry-liner engines this doesn’t exist of course, so the product developers can sleep soundly at night. But in wet-liner designs this seal can be the greatest source of nightmares, because when it fails the area is so inaccessible. As ever, it always boils down to issues such as manufacturing cost and trying to keep things simple. But simple doesn’t always mean reliable, and Read more…
RET Focus: Seals / Gaskets, view the latest magazine article here.
The use of phosphate conversion surface treatments, usually referred to as ‘phosphating’, are common in industrial applications, often serving as an underlayer for further coating processes such as painting. However, they have a number of applications in race engines and transmissions where they are not combined with further coating processes. In these applications they are applied in order to improve lubrication or for corrosion resistance. In terms of lubrication, phosphate conversion Read more…
RET Focus: Surface Treatments, view the latest magazine article here.
Formula One transmissions are the most advanced in the racing world, with an unparallel combination of performance, weight and packaged size. A key part of the gearbox is the casing, as it forms not only a housing for the gearbox internals but also acts as an integral part of the car’s structure. Here I will look at some of the construction methods and materials used to create these casing. Read more…
RET Focus: Transmission, view the latest magazine article here.
Finding the right valve springs for an inline four-cylinder USAC National Midget engine that makes upwards of 365 hp at the wheels could be a difficult procedure. But, says Erik Milholland, manager of the racing division at Kentucky-based Stanton Racing, “In the last couple of years we’ve found some really good springs.”
Stanton Racing fields both Mopar and Toyota Midgets in USAC competition. The company took over the build and rebuild procedures for California-based Toyota Racing Read more…
RET Focus: Valve Springs, view the latest magazine article here.
The question of valve material selection has been discussed before in the RET-Monitor. Much of the motivation for a given selection is provided by the operating conditions in which the valve must operate. Some materials are not suited for very high temperature use while others are too dense to be used in conjunction with very extreme valve lift profiles. In previous articles, we have looked mainly at the different classes of Read more…
RET Focus: Valves, view the latest magazine article here.
