Cylinder Liner for an Internal Combustion Engine

1. Field of the Invention:

The present invention relates to a ceramic cylinder liner for an internal combustion engine.

2. Description of the Prior Art:

A combustion chamber for an internal combustion engine made of ceramic mass is illustrated on pages 915-916 of the publication entitled "CERAMICS FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE APPLICATIONS-II", published in 1978 by Brook Hill Publishing Company. However, it has been found to be necessary to improve the design of the cylinder liner disclosed in such publication with respect to it's resistance to mechanical stress, heat stress and wear.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cylinder liner made of ceramic material or mass which exhibits good resistance to mechanical stress.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a cylinder liner made of ceramic mass which exhibits good resistance to heat stress.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a cylinder liner made of ceramic mass which exhibits good wear resistance.

These and other objects have now been attained in the present invention by providing a cylinder liner made of ceramic mass which is designed to have a density greater than 95% of theoretical value and a randomly directed and homogeneous structure.

Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood from the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a cylinder liner according to the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a cylinder liner according to the present invention.

The cylinder liner for an internal combustion engine, of the present invention, is made of a ceramic mass designed to have a density greater than 95% of theoretical density value and have a randomly directed and homogeneous structure. The cylinder liner of the present invention is produced by furnace sintering to obtain the above-mentioned design.

Where a cylinder liner is produced by hot pressing, the pressure is applied in the axial direction of the cylinder liner. Therefore, the structure of the sintered body is arranged in a certain direction. Consequently, where nonuniform stress (for instance, caused by thermal insertion) acts upon the cylinder liner, the cylinder liner will be damaged. Additionally, where a generously sized cylinder liner is produced by hot pressing, in general, such has to be formed of composite ceramic articles. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain a homogeneous product.

Where a cylinder liner is produced by reaction sintering, it is necessary to provide spaces for gas passages in the molded mass until reaction completion. Therefore, the ceramic body produced by reaction sintering is of low density and low mechanical strength.

On the other hand, according to furnace sintering, a sintered body is formed by a process including molding by ceramic powder and sintering the molded mass. Consequently, the ceramic cylinder liner produced by furnace sintering has a randomly directed and homogeneous structure, homogeneous density and homogeneous mechanical strength. Therefore, such is not damaged by nonuniform stress. Additionally, where the ceramic cylinder liner is produced by furnace sintering, it is easy to have a density higher than 95% of theoretical value. It is also relatively easy to obtain a flexural strength greater than 50 kg/cm.sup.2 at 800.degree. C. where the ceramic cylinder liner is made of silicon nitride, silicon carbide, an oxynitride such as silicon oxynitride (Si.sub.2 ON.sub.2) and silicon aluminum oxynitride (Si Al ON), silicon nitride-silicon carbide or aluminum nitride.

The value of the above-noted density and flexural strength accordingly are enough for a desirable cylinder liner.

A powdered mixture consisting of 88% by weight of silicon nitride, 5% by weight of yttrium oxide and 7% by weight of aluminum oxide, the mean particle size thereof being 1.5, 1.6 and 1.1 microns respectively, was prepared and added to 5% by weight of paraffin as a binder. The mixture was molded, the size thereof being 160 mm for the inner diameter; 172 mm for the outer diameter; and 350 mm in height, at a pressure of 1000 kg/cm.sup.2. The molding was embedded in a packing of a silicon nitride powder in a carbon vessel and then placed in a furnace for sintering. The sintering was performed at a temperature of 1800.degree. C. for 1 hour in an atmosphere of nitrogen gas. The inner surface of the sintered product was surface finished by grinding to provide a surface roughness of l.0.S, where dimension "S" is used to indicate the surface roughness according to the Japanese Industrial Standard B0601. As a result, the cylinder liner as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 was obtained.

The sintered ceramic body prepared by the same method of the above-mentioned process was cut and then test pieces were prepared. The density, the flexural strength at 800.degree. C., the result of wear testing of the pin-flat method and the result of crack testing are shown in the Table set forth below.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teaching. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.