2009/06/30 Pressing & Sintering

New Materials for Powder Forged Connecting Rods

The iron-copper-carbon material system is well established in the manufacture of powder forged connecting rods. Utilizing this system takes advantage of the brittleness of the material to fracture split the large end of the connecting rod streamlining the shape and reducing the weight of the final component. Recent advancements by competing technologies have shown similar fracture splitting properties while increasing the fatigue strength. This paper explores new material systems for powder forged connecting rods which exhibit compressive yield strength and machinability properties similar to or better than the competing technologies.