METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING PISTON FOR DIRECT INJECTION ENGINE

Abstract

A piston for a diesel engine is prepared as a piston for a direct injection engine, a cavity face of the piston is grinded, and a squish face thereof is masked. Next, a high-purity aluminum coating is formed on the cavity face, and the masking of the squish face is removed and the entire area of the piston top face is subjected to an anodizing treatment. Thereafter, the cavity face is masked, and the squish face is subjected to a sealing treatment.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a piston for a direct injection engine that directly injects fuel into a cavity portion that is formed in a concave shape in a piston top face, the method comprising the steps of: preparing a piston that has the cavity portion and that is made of an aluminum alloy having an aluminum purity of less than 99.0%; forming an aluminum coating having an aluminum purity of 99.0% or more over an entire area of a surface of the cavity portion; after formation of the aluminum coating, forming an anodic oxide coating having pores over an entire area of the piston top face by subjecting the piston top face to an anodizing treatment; and after formation of the anodic oxide coating, forming a sealing coating that seals the pores of the anodic oxide coating on an outer side relative to the cavity portion of the piston top face.

2. The method for manufacturing a piston for a direct injection engine according to claim 1, wherein the aluminum coating which is formed on the surface of the cavity portion has a predetermined thickness, and the anodizing treatment is performed under conditions such that an aluminum alloy that is on an inner side relative to the aluminum coating of the predetermined thickness is not anodized.

3. The method for manufacturing a piston for a direct injection engine according to claim 1, wherein the aluminum coating which is formed on the surface of the cavity portion has a predetermined thickness, the method further comprising the step of, after preparation of the piston made of an aluminum alloy and before formation of the aluminum coating, grinding inwardly a surface of the cavity portion by an amount corresponding to the predetermined thickness.

4. The method for manufacturing a piston for a direct injection engine according to claim 1, wherein the direct injection engine is a diesel engine.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0024] FIG. 1 is a flowchart for describing the embodiment of the method for manufacturing a piston for a direct injection engine.

[0025] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a piston 10 for a diesel engine.

[0026] FIG. 3 is a view for describing the anodizing treatment at the squish portion 26.

[0027] FIG. 4 is a view for describing the anodizing treatment at the cavity portion 20.

[0028] FIG. 5 is a view for describing the anodizing treatment at the cavity portion 20 in the embodiment.

[0029] FIG. 6 is a view for describing the anodizing treatment at the cavity portion 20 in comparison to the anodizing treatment of FIG. 5.

[0030] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional schematic view of the vicinity of the squish portion 26 after the sealing treatment.

[0031] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional schematic view of the vicinity of the cavity portion 20 after the sealing treatment.

[0032] FIG. 9 is a view for describing a deformation of the embodiment.

[0033] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional schematic view of a direct injection engine in which a piston manufactured by the flow of operations illustrated in FIG. 1 is mounted.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0034] Hereunder, an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a piston for a direct injection engine will be described referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 10. Note that, in each of the drawings, the same or corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and a description of such portions is simplified or omitted.

Method for Manufacturing Piston

[0035] FIG. 1 is a flowchart for describing the embodiment of the method for manufacturing a piston for a direct injection engine. In the present embodiment, first, a piston for a diesel engine is prepared as a piston for a direct injection engine (step S1). FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a piston 10 for a diesel engine. Similarly to a common engine piston, the piston 10 is formed by casting an aluminum alloy. As shown in FIG. 2, the piston 10 is constituted by a cylindrical skirt portion 12 having a side face that slidingly contacts an inner face of a cylinder block (not shown), a crown portion 14 having a predetermined wall thickness that is formed at an upper end portion of the skirt portion 12, and a pin boss portion 16 that supports a piston pin (not shown).

[0036] Three piston ring grooves 18 are formed on the side face of the crown portion 14. A cavity portion 20 is provided in a concave shape in the center of the upper face (hereunder, also referred to as piston top face) of the crown portion 14. The cavity portion 20 is constituted by a side wall portion 22 that is formed so as to face the inner part of the crown portion 14 from an opening edge 20a of the cavity portion 20, and a truncated cone-shaped ridge portion 24 that is formed to rise upward from a deepest part of the side wall portion 22. A squish portion 26 of the same height as an outer edge 14a of the crown portion 14 is formed on the outside of the cavity portion 20. A recess for preventing contact with an intake valve and an exhaust valve is provided as necessary in the surface (hereunder, also referred to as squish face) of the squish portion 26.

[0037] The method for manufacturing the piston will now be described with reference again to FIG. 1. After the piston 10 is prepared in step S1, the entire area of the surface of the cavity portion 20 (hereunder, also referred to as cavity face) is ground (step S2). Grinding the cavity face in this manner causes the cavity face to recede to the inner side of the piston 10. To suppress the occurrence of a difference in level between the ground face (refers to the cavity face after grinding; the same applies hereunder) and the squish face, grinding of the cavity face is preferably performed only to a degree that grinds an amount of the face that corresponds to a coating thickness T.sub.Al (described in detail later in step S4) of a high-purity aluminum coating that is to be formed on the ground face.

[0038] After step S2, masking of the squish face is performed (step S3). The masking technique is not particularly limited, and for example a masking tape may be attached to the squish face, or a masking member that is formed to conform to the shape of the piston 10 may be pushed against the squish face.

[0039] Following step S3, a high-purity aluminum coating is formed on the cavity face (step S4). The high-purity aluminum coating can be formed by an electroplating method, an evaporation method, a thermal spraying method or a cold spraying method, and forming the high-purity aluminum coating by an electroplating method or an evaporation method in which it is difficult for the intervention of impurities such as aluminum oxide to occur is preferable. The aluminum purity of the high-purity aluminum coating formed by the process in step S4 is 99.0% or more, and preferably is 99.5% or more. Further, it is preferable to make the coating thickness T.sub.Al of the high-purity aluminum coating a thickness that is equal to one half or more of a target coating thickness T.sub.TARGET of an anodic oxide coating (described in detail later) that is to be formed on the cavity face, and it is more preferable to make the coating thickness T.sub.Al a thickness that is equal to one half of the thickness of the target coating thickness T.sub.TARGET.

[0040] After step S4 the entire area of the piston top face is subjected to an anodizing treatment (step S5). More specifically, first, the masking is removed from the squish face and the piston 10 is placed in an electrolyzer. The electrolyzer includes an electrolytic bath containing an electrolyte therein, a cathode and a power source (none of which are shown in the drawings). Next, the cathode and the piston 10 as an anode are placed in the electrolyte, and an anodic oxide coating is formed by passing a current between the two poles.

[0041] The details of the anodizing treatment in step S5 will now be described referring to

[0042] FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. FIG. 3 is a view for describing the anodizing treatment at the squish portion 26, and illustrates a cross-section in the vicinity of the squish portion 26. FIG. 4 is a view for describing the anodizing treatment at the cavity portion 20, and illustrates a cross-section in the vicinity of the cavity portion 20.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 3, at the squish portion 26, an aluminum alloy is oxidized from the squish face towards the inner part thereof, and an alumite coating (that is, an anodic oxide coating) 28 grows in a perpendicular direction to the squish face. The alumite coating 28 includes pores (nanopores) 28a of several nm to several tens of nm that are formed from the surface thereof towards the inside, and pores (micropores) 28b of several tens of mm that are formed inside the alumite coating 28. The micropores 28b originate from additives (mainly silicon) in the aluminum alloy that is the base material of the piston (more specifically, an aluminum alloy such as AC8A or AC8B according to JIS H5202 (2010)). The formation of the micropores 28b increases the porosity of the alumite coating 28 and can further lower the thermal conductivity and thermal capacity. The porosity (=total volume of nanopores 28a and micropores 28b100/volume of alumite coating 28) of the alumite coating 28 becomes 20% or more as a result of the formation of the nanopores 28a and micropores 28b. However, concavities 28c arise in the surface of the alumite coating 28 when the micropores 28b are formed, and a surface roughness Ra (refers to an arithmetic mean roughness in accordance with JIS B601 (2001); the same applies hereunder) of the alumite coating 28 becomes 3 mm or more (average of 4 to 5 mm).

[0044] On the other hand, in the cavity portion 20, as shown in FIG. 4, a high-purity aluminum coating is oxidized from the surface towards the inner side thereof. However, the aluminum alloy on the inner side of the high-purity aluminum coating is not oxidized. Therefore, an alumite coating 30 having only nanopores 30a grows in a perpendicular direction to the cavity face. The surface roughness Ra of the alumite coating 30 is 3 mm or less. Further, the porosity (=total volume of nanopores 30a100/volume of alumite coating 30) of the alumite coating 30 becomes 20% or less as a result of the formation of the nanopores 30a.

[0045] Preferably, the anodizing treatment in step S5 is performed under conditions such that the aluminum alloy on the inner side of the high-purity aluminum coating is not oxidized. It is known from empirical knowledge that the coating thickness of an alumite coating is proportional to the current density and the electrolysis time. In step S5, an electrolyte containing 20% sulfuric acid is used, and constant-current electrolysis is performed for 45 minutes at a current density of 51.6 A/cm.sup.2 while maintaining the piston temperature (or electrolyte temperature) at 105 C. By this means, only the high-purity aluminum coating is oxidized without oxidizing the aluminum alloy on the inner side of the high-purity aluminum coating, and an alumite coating having a coating thickness that is approximately equal to the target coating thickness T.sub.TARGET is formed.

[0046] In the present embodiment, by making the coating thickness T.sub.Al of the high-purity aluminum coating formed in step S4 equal to or greater than one half of the target coating thickness T.sub.TARGET and also performing anodizing treatment under the conditions described above in step S5, it is possible to transform only the high-purity aluminum coating into the alumite coating 30 (FIG. 5). If, for example, the coating thickness T.sub.Al were made less than one half of the target coating thickness T.sub.TARGET, the anodizing treatment performed under the conditions described above in step S5 would cause the aluminum alloy on the inner side of the high-purity aluminum coating to be oxidized and micropores 30b that are similar to the micropores shown in FIG. 3 would be formed and concavities 30c would arise in the surface of the alumite coating 30 (FIG. 6).

[0047] Accordingly, it is preferable that, after taking into account the coating thickness T.sub.Al of the high-purity aluminum coating formed in step S4, the anodizing treatment in step S5 is performed under conditions (electrolyte composition, piston temperature, current density and electrolysis time) such that the aluminum alloy on the inner side of the high-purity aluminum coating is not exposed.

[0048] The description of the method for manufacturing a piston will now be continued referring again to FIG. 1. After performing the anodizing treatment in step S5, the cavity face is masked (step S6). The masking technique is not particularly limited, and for example a masking tape may be attached to the cavity face, or a masking member that is formed to conform to the shape of the piston 10 may be pushed against the cavity face.

[0049] After step S6, the squish face is subjected to a sealing treatment (step S7). More specifically, first, a sealing agent is coated onto the squish face. A silicon-based polymer solution that includes silicon in a main chain backbone (more specifically, a polymer solution containing polysilazane or polysiloxane) is used as the sealing agent. The polymer solution may include an additive as necessary. A method for coating the sealing agent is not particularly limited, and a spray method, a blade coating method, a spin coating method and a brush application method may be mentioned as examples thereof. After coating the sealing agent, the sealing agent is dried and baked to form a sealing coating. The conditions (temperature, time period and the like) for drying and baking the sealing agent are appropriately adjusted in accordance with the coating thickness of the sealing agent.

[0050] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional schematic view of the vicinity of the squish portion 26 after the sealing treatment, and corresponds to the cross-sectional schematic view in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 7, a sealing coating 32 is formed on the surface of the alumite coating 28. By forming the sealing coating 32, the concavities 28c in the surface of the alumite coating 28 can be covered by the sealing coating 32, and the surface roughness Ra of a heat-shielding coating 34 constituted by the alumite coating 28 and the sealing coating 32 can be smoothed to a surface roughness Ra that is less than or equal to 3 mm. Further, by forming the sealing coating 32, the entry of fuel or gas into the micropores 28b via the nanopores 28a can be suppressed.

[0051] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional schematic view of the vicinity of the cavity portion 20 after the sealing treatment, and corresponds to the cross-sectional schematic view in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 8, a sealing coating is not formed on the alumite coating 30. However, because the alumite coating 30 is obtained by subjecting the high-purity aluminum coating to an anodizing treatment, the surface roughness Ra of a heat-shielding coating 36 constituted by the alumite coating 30 is less than or equal to 3 mm, and is adequately smoothed even without forming a sealing coating.

[0052] After the sealing coating 32 has been formed, the entire area of the piston top face is polished as necessary after removing the masking from the cavity face. Prior to polishing the piston top face, it is preferable to grind the opening edge 20a so that the squish face and the cavity face are continuous with respect to each other. Thus, by performing the above described steps, the piston for a diesel engine of the present embodiment is manufactured.

[0053] Note that, in the above described embodiment, step Si corresponds to a piston preparation step in the above described first invention, steps S3 and S4 correspond to an aluminum coating formation step in the first invention, step S5 corresponds to an anodic oxide coating formation step in the first invention, and steps S6 and S7 correspond to a sealing coating formation step in the first invention. Further, step S2 corresponds to a grinding step in the above described third invention.

[0054] In this connection, in the above described embodiment, after the entire area of the cavity face is ground in step S2 in FIG. 1, the squish face is masked in step S3, and a high-purity aluminum coating is formed on the cavity face in step S4. However, as shown in FIG. 9, after step S2 and before step S3, the ground face may be subjected to a blasting treatment to increase the adherence between the ground face and the high-purity aluminum coating (step S2).

Configuration of Piston

[0055] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional schematic view of a direct injection engine in which a piston manufactured by the flow of operations illustrated in FIG. 1 is mounted. FIG. 10 corresponds to a cross-section A-A in FIG. 2. In FIG. 10, the piston 10 is positioned at compression top dead center. As shown in FIG. 10, the heat-shielding coating 34 is formed on the surface of the squish portion 26, and the heat-shielding coating 36 is formed on the surface of the cavity portion 20.

[0056] Naturally, the heat-shielding coatings 34 and 36 both have lower thermal conductivity as well as lower thermal capacity per unit volume than the aluminum alloy. The heat-shielding coatings 34 and 36 also have lower thermal conductivity and lower thermal capacity per unit volume than a conventional ceramic-based heat-shielding coating. According to the heat-shielding coatings 34 and 36, rather than constantly maintaining the surfaces on which the coatings are formed at a high temperature as in the case of the ceramic-based heat-shielding coating, it is possible to cause the temperature of the surfaces on which the coatings are formed to follow the temperature of gas that fluctuates during the cycle of the engine. That is, the temperature of the surfaces on which the coatings are formed can be made a low temperature during a period from an intake stroke to a compression stroke (the upstroke in the case of a two-cycle engine), and made a high temperature during a period from an expansion stroke to an exhaust stroke (the downstroke in the case of a two-cycle engine). Accordingly, by applying the piston on which the heat-shielding coatings 34 and 36 are formed to a direct injection engine, since not only the thermal efficiency of the engine but also the air intake efficiency thereof can be improved, advantageous effects of improving the fuel consumption and reducing the amount of NOx emissions can be obtained.

[0057] Further, high pressure injection of fuel from an injector 38 shown in FIG. 10 is performed prior to the compression top dead center. Since an injection hole is provided in the tip of the injector 38, fuel injected at high pressure from the injection hole is injected towards the side wall portion 22 along an axial line of the injection hole as shown in FIG. 10, the fuel collides against the side wall portion 22 in the vicinity of the compression top dead center and self-ignites, and a flame arises as a result. Broken-line arrows shown in FIG. 10 indicate the direction in which a flame that arises grows. That is, the flame flows along the surface of the side wall portion 22 and grows towards the center direction of the ridge portion 24.

[0058] As described above referring to FIG. 8, the surface of the heat-shielding coating 36 is smoothed. Accordingly, when the flame is growing as illustrated in FIG. 10, a decrease in the fluidity of the flame due to the heat-shielding coating 36 can be suppressed. Furthermore, the heat-shielding coating 36 is constituted by the alumite coating 30, and does not include a sealing coating. Therefore, the problem that the sealing coating formed on the cavity face is damaged by the penetrating force of fuel that is injected at high pressure from the injector 38 originally does not arise. Thus, the piston manufactured by the flow of operations illustrated in FIG. 1 can cause a heat shielding effect that is produced by the heat-shielding coating 36 to be exerted to the maximum.

Reference Signs List

[0059] 10 piston [0060] 14 crown portion [0061] 14a outer edge [0062] 20 cavity portion [0063] 20a opening edge [0064] 22 side wall portion [0065] 24 ridge portion [0066] 26 squish portion [0067] 28, 30 alumite coating [0068] 28a, 30a nanopores [0069] 28b, 30b micropores [0070] 28c, 30c concavities [0071] 32 sealing coating [0072] 34, 36 heat-shielding coating [0073] 38 injector