Production method for forged component made of composite material

Abstract: A production method of a forged component made of a composite material comprises the steps of packing pellet (4) or powdery plastic particles, plastic particles coated on the surface with a metallic material or molten plastic material into a cylinder member (2) made of a metallic material, fixing the cylinder member (2) having the plastic material (4) packed thereinto under the closed state to a sheet member (3) made of a metallic material and equipped with an air vent (6) or air vents (6) so as to form an assembly (10), setting the assembly (10) into a first mold (12) and pressuring a second mold (11) to the assembly so as to forge and mold the assembly into a predetermined shape.

Description: This invention relates to a production method for a forged component such as a piston which incorporates a plastic material inside a metallic member. Conventionally, those components such as pistons for which heat-resistance is required have been produced mainly by heat-resistant aluminum alloy castings or aluminum forgings such as aluminum alloy castings containing nickel (JIS (Japanese Industrial standard) AC8A (Al-Si-Cu-Ni-Mn alloy)) and aluminium alloy castings not containing nickel (JIS (Japanese Industrial standard) AC8C (Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloy)). The reduction of the weight of a component of a reciprocating motion system as typified by a piston contributes greatly to the increase in the number of revolutions of an engine, the reduction of striking noise during operation and the improvement in other engine performance. When the reduction of the weight of components is achieved by use of existing materials such as an aluminum alloy material, rather passive means of analyzing the structure of the component and cutting off its unnecessary thickness is known at present. If a magnesium alloy casting is employed when the material of the component is changed to other weight-reducing material, the weight becomes about 50 % of the weight of the conventional aluminum alloy material and consequently, the effect of weight reduction is great. However, the wall surface of a combustion chamber made of the magnesium material must be converted to a heat-resistant structure by use a ceramic material when the low heat-resistance temperature of magnesium and the level of its high temperature strength are taken into consideration. If the combustion chamber is constituted by use of a plastic material, greater weight reduction can be achieved. However, the heat-resistant temperature of the plastic materials is generally about 200 °C or below whereas the temperature of the engine combustion chamber reaches a high temperature of 350 °C and the plastic materials cannot withstand this high temperature of 350 °C. Accordingly, in order to accomplish the weight reduction of the engine and to obtain a highly heat-resistant structure by use of a plastic material, there remains the problem how to constitute engine components such as a piston. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 119348/1985 (JP-A-60-119348) discloses a piston for an internal combustion engine and its production method. This piston for the internal combustion engine has the structure wherein the head of the piston is made composite by a porous inorganic fiber aggregate, a base metal for constituting the piston is packed into holes in part of the inorganic fiber aggregate and a ceramic material is sprayed to the surface of the head of the piston so that it can be packed into holes in another part of the inorganic fiber aggregate and a sprayed layer can be formed. Holes in part of the inorganic fiber aggregate are left unpacked by the base metal and by the ceramic material in such a manner as to form an air layer consisting of porous continuous or discontinuous spaces between the sprayed layer and the base metal. Furthermore, the production method of a piston for an internal combustion engine disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 119348/1985 described above comprises forming a piston main body by casting while packing a spray metal into holes in part of a porous inorganic fiber aggregate to be fitted to the head of the piston, spraying a ceramic material onto the surface of the head of this piston in such a manner as to be packed into holes in another part of the inorganic fiber aggregate to form a sprayed layer, leaving holes in part of the inorganic fiber aggregate unpacked by the base metal and by the ceramic material, and thus forming an air layer consisting of porous continuous or discontinuous spaces between the sprayed layer and the base metal. When the spray metal is packed into the holes in part of the inorganic fiber aggregate, this production method further includes a step of packing the packing material into the holes in another part of the inorganic fiber aggregate and a step of carrying out the packing process of the spray metal under pressure. A further composite piston is known from FR-A-2522103 in which the peripheral portion thereof comprises carbon steel with an aluminium alloy core. A method for producing a composite tubular product is known from US 4640815. In this method an assembly comprising concentric tubular bodies is filled with a metallic powder, sealed and subjected to heat and extrusion. An object of the present invention is to solve the problems described above. In order to reduce the weight of a forged component such as an engine component, for example a piston, which is exposed to a high temperature and makes reciprocating motion and to achieve its highly heat-resistant structure, it is proposed to provide a forged component of a composite material wherein a plastic material is incorporated in a metallic member to attain the reduction of weight and is sealed into the metallic member to attain a highly heat-resistant structure. According to the present invention there is provided a method of production of a forged component made of a composite material, comprising the steps of: forming a cylindrical member of a metallic material equipped with an open end at one end portion and with a closed bottom at the other end thereof, and forming a sheet member of a metallic material capable of closing said open end and equipped with air vents; packing a plastics material into said cylindrical member via said open end thereof; forming an assembly by closing said open end of said cylindrical member having said plastic material packed thereinto by said sheet member and fixing the sheet member to the cylindrical member; placing said assembly inside a first mold part having a predetermined shape; pressing a second mold part having a predetermined shape onto said first mold part to enclose said assembly, and forging to mold said assembly into a shape defined by the mold parts; and cutting and removing plastics material which has flowed out via said air vents of said sheet member at the time of forging and molding of said assembly. By these means the plastics material can be sealed into the metallic member, can secure the strength of the component itself, can reduce drastically the weight and can produce an engine component which is highly heat-resistant, which is particularly advantageous for an engine component exposed to a high temperature and making reciprocating motion, such as a piston. In the production method of a forged component made of a composite material described above, the plastics material may be as pellets or powdery plastics particles; consequently, the plastic material can be handled easily during the production process, the production process can be simplified and heat-insulating layers can be formed in the spaces between the particles. Alternatively, in the production method of the forged component made of the composite material described above, the plastics material may consist of plastics particles which are coated on their surfaces with a metallic material. For this reason, the component itself can be constituted in a heat-resistant structure. In other words, the metallic coating material over the plastic particles can reduce the degree of thermosoftening of the plastic material inside them even at a high temperature above the softening point of the plastic material, providing a structure in which the internal plastic particles come to have a high heat-resistance. Alternatively, in the production method of the forged component made of the composite material described above, the plastics material can be molten plastics material. Accordingly, packing of the molten plastics material into the metallic cylinder member can be made easily and the plastics aterial can be packed uniformly. In a further aspect, the invention resides in a method of production of a forged component made of a composite material, comprising the steps of: forming a cylindrical member of a metallic material equipped with an open end at one end portion and with a closed bottom at the other end thereof, and forming a sheet member of metallic material capable of closing said open end and equipped with an air vent; packing a plastics material into said cylindrical member via said open end thereof; forming an assembly by sealing said open end of said cylindrical member having said plastics material packed thereinto by said sheet member and fixing the sheet member to the cylindrical member; connecting an end of a degassing pipe to said air vent of said sheet member, said degassing pipe being connected at its other end to a vacuum pump; operating said vacuum pump to remove the air inside said assembly through said degassing pipe; closing said air vent of said sheet member connected to said degassing pipe and then cutting off said degassing pipe from said sheet member in order to keep the interior of said assembly under a negative pressure state; placing said assembly inside a first mold part having a predetermined shape; and pressing a second mold part having a predetermined shape onto said first mold part to enclose the assembly and forging to mold said assembly into a shape defined by the mold parts. The invention also resides in a piston formed by the production methods described above. An embodiment of the production method of a forged component made of a composite material in accordance with the present invention will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is an explanatory view useful for explaining an embodiment of the production method of a forged component made of a composite material in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is an explanatory view useful for explaining another embodiment of the forged component made of a composite material in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 3 is an explanatory view useful for explaining the state where an assembly is molded by an upper mold part and a lower mold part; and Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a forged component made of a composite material in accordance with the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, a crucible-like bottomed cylinder member 2 is produced by use of a metallic material such as an aluminum alloy for forging (e.g. A6061, A5051) and a sheet member 3 which serves as a cover and is made of a metallic material is produced by use of an aluminum alloy for forging (e.g. A6061, A5051). A plurality of air vents 6 are formed in this sheet member 3. Plastics particles 4 such as pellets or powder are produced by use of a plastics material such as polypropylene and polystyrene resin. The production method of the forged component made of this composite material is as follows. The plastics particles 4 are packed into the inner space 7 defined by the metallic cylinder member 2 and then the mouth of the metallic cylinder member 2 is closed by the metallic sheet member 3. The contact portion between the metallic cylinder member 2 and the metallic sheet member 3 are bonded by brazing 5 and an assembly 10 is formed by these metallic cylinder member 2, metallic sheet member 3 and plastics particles 4. Next, Fig. 3 shows an example where a piston as an engine component is molded. In order to mold this assembly 10 by forging, the assembly 10 is placed inside a first mold part such as a lower mold part 12 fixed at a predetermined position. Next, a second mold part as a movable upper mold part 11 is pressed to the lower mold part 12 in which the assembly 10 is disposed, so as to mold the assembly in a predetermined shape of a piston. Here, the shape which is formed in advance in the lower mold part 12 is hole-like shape having a bottom surface 13 for forming the head surface 15 of the piston 1 and a cylindrical surface 14 for forming the piston skirt surface 17. The shape which is in advance formed in the upper mold part 11 is a projection-like shape having a surface 18 for forming the back surface 16 of the piston 1 on the opposite side to the head surface 15. The forging temperature of this assembly 10 is preferably from 150 to 300 °C in the same way as the temperature at the time of forging of the aluminum material. The plastic particles 4 inside the assembly 10 molded at such a forging temperature are molten inside the metallic cylinder member 2 and flow out via the air vents 6 formed in the metallic sheet member 3. This outflowing plastic material is cut off and removed by machining and the predetermined piston shape is shaped. Alternatively, in order to prevent the outflow of the molten material of the plastic particles 4 molten inside the metallic cylinder member 2 at the forging temperature described above via the air vents 6 formed in the metallic sheet member 3, a metallic degassing pipe 8 is connected to one air vent 6 formed in the metallic sheet member 3 with the other air vents 6 being closed by welding, or the like, and degassing for removing the air inside the metallic cylinder member 2 therefrom is made by operating a vacuum pump 9. When forging of the assembly 10 is carried out by the upper mold 11 and the lower mold 12 under this state, the outflow of the molten plastic material from the metallic cylinder member 2 can be prevented. In the production method of the forged component made of one composite material in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the plastic particles 4 of polypropylene, polystyrene, nylon, or the like in the pellet or powder form are used as the plastic material to be packed into the metallic cylinder member 2. However, it is also possible to use the molten plastic material in place of the particles. Alternatively, it is also possible to use coated plastic particles by molding the plastic material into the plastic particles 4 in the pellet or powder form and then applying a metallic material such as aluminum, copper, or the like, to the surface of the plastic particles 4, in order to provide the plastic material with heat-resistance. When the metallic material is applied onto the surface of the plastic particles 4, the following effect can be obtained. Namely, if the plastic particles 4 coated with the metallic material are used inside the metallic cylinder member 2, the degree of softening of the plastic material can be reduced by the coating metal even at a high temperature above the softening temperature of the plastic material inside the metallic cylinder member 2 and consequently, the internal plastic particles 4 become highly heat-resistant. In this case, nylon 66, polystyrene resin, or the like, can be used as the material of the plastic particles 4 as the nuclei besides polypropylene described above, and these resins are molded into the pellet or powder. Thereafter, aluminum or copper is plated onto the surface of the resulting plastic particles so as to prepare the particles made of the composite material. It is further possible to use polyolefin resin powder, vinyl chloride resin powder, acrylic resin powder, acrylonitrile resin powder, phenolic resin powder, silicone resin powder, fluororesin powder, and the like, as the plastic material. Furthermore, subsitution plating and electroless plating can be used as plating or coating technique for the plastic particles 4. Alternatively, the plastic particles 4 can be produced by a magnetron spattering which is developed for mass-production and is a dry process requiring a relatively economical production cost or powder fluidized bed system electroplating which is a wet process. Fig. 4 shows an example of a piston as the forged component made of the composite material and produced in accordance with the production method of the present invention. This piston 1 has the structure wherein its outer peripheral portion is made of an aluminum alloy for forging and the plastic material is packed inside the outer peripheral portion made of the aluminum alloy.

Claims: A method of production of a forged component made of a composite material, comprising the steps of: forming a cylindrical member (2) of a metallic material equipped with an open end at one end portion and with a closed bottom at the other end thereof, and forming a sheet member (3) of a metallic material capable of closing said open end and equipped with air vents (6); packing a plastics material (4) into said cylindrical member (2) via said open end thereof; forming an assembly (10) by closing said open end of said cylindrical member (2) having said plastic material (4) packed thereinto by said sheet member (3) and fixing the sheet member (3) to the cylindrical member (2); placing said assembly (10) inside a first mold part (12) having a predetermined shape; pressing a second mold part (11) having a predetermined shape onto said first mold part (12) to enclose said assembly (10), and forging to mold said assembly (10) into a shape defined by the mold parts (10,11); and cutting and removing plastics material (4) which has flowed out via said air vents (6) of said sheet member (3) at the time of forging and molding of said assembly (10). A method of production of a forged component according to claim 1, wherein said metallic material for constituting said cylinder member (2) and said sheet member (3) is an aluminum alloy for forging. A method of production of a forged component according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said plastics material (4) is polypropylene. A method of production of a forged component according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said plastics material (4) is a polystyrene resin. A method of production of a forged component according to any preceding claim, wherein said plastics material (4) consists of pellet-like plastics particles. A method of production of a forged component according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said plastics material (4) consists of powdery plastics particles. A method of production of a forged component according to claim 1, wherein said plastics material (4) consists of plastics particles to which a metallic material has been applied to the surfaces thereof. A method of production of a forged component according to claim 7, wherein said metallic material applied onto the surface of said plastics particles (4) is aluminum. A method of production of a forged component according to claim 7, wherein said metallic material applied onto the surface of said plastics particles (4) is copper. A method of production of a forged component according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said plastics material (4) is a molten plastics material. A method of production of a forged component according to any preceding claim, wherein the shape into which said first mold part (12) is formed defines a cavity having a bottom surface (13) for forming the head surface (15) of a piston (1) and a cylindrical surface (14) for forming a piston skirt surface (17), and the shape into which said second mold part (12) is formed has a projection having a surface (18) for forming a back surface (16) of a piston (1) on the opposite side to said head surface (15). A method of production of a forged component made of a composite material, comprising the steps of: forming a cylindrical member (2) of a metallic material equipped with an open end at one end portion and with a closed bottom at the other end thereof, and forming a sheet member (3) of metallic material capable of closing said open end and equipped with an air vent (6); packing a plastics material (4) into said cylindrical member (2) via said open end thereof; forming an assembly (10) by sealing said open end of said cylindrical member (2) having said plastics material (4) packed thereinto by said sheet member (3) and fixing the sheet member (3) to the cylindrical member (2); connecting an end of a degassing pipe (8) to said air vent of said sheet member (3), said degassing pipe (8) being connected at its other end to a vacuum pump (9); operating said vacuum pump (9) to remove the air inside said assembly through said degassing pipe (8); closing said air vent of said sheet member (3) connected to said degassing pipe (8) and then cutting off said degassing pipe (8) from said sheet member (3) in order to keep the interior of said assembly (10) under a negative pressure state; placing said assembly (10) inside a first mold part (12) having a predetermined shape; and pressing a second mold part (11) having a predetermined shape onto said first mold part (12) to enclose the assembly and forging to mold said assembly (10) into a shape defined by the mold parts (11,12). A method of production of a forged component according to claim 12, wherein the portion of said degassing pipe (8) connected to said sheet member (3) is made of a metallic material. A piston when produced by the method of any preceding claim.

Inventors: KAMIMURA TADASHI, TUJIMURA AKIRA, KAMIMURA, TADASHI, TUJIMURA, AKIRA
Applicants: ISUZU MOTORS LTD, ISUZU MOTORS LIMITED
Application year: 1991
Main classification: B22F3
IPC codes: F02F7, B21K23, B22F3, B29C43, B21J5, B29C70, F02F3, B22F7