Quote:
|
Originally Posted by MikenOH
Just for grins, I looked up the specs on the C5 Z06 motor and they mentioned that the main bearing caps and connecting rods were made out of powered metal. The crank was Cast Nodular Iron with Undercut and Rolled Fillets.
Not to beat this to death but I did a search and couldn't fin much on the technology of making these types of parts from powered metal;briefly, what's the process of turning powered metal into these parts?
thanks for any help.
|
Basically, what happens with powdered metal is that small metal spheres are placed into a mold and heated and pressurized. The little pieces of metal are soft enough from the heat that they stick to each other but they don't technically melt together as their grain strictures are not combined.
It's a good way to make light parts relatively inexpensively. There isn't much wasted material or post machining required. The resulting material is lighter than a forged part, for example, of the same material because it's somewhat porous. It's also not as strong, but that can be overcome with the right design.