Oddball engines and prototypes

[Frits Overmars]

Stuff the spellcheck, they don't know when to shut up (like me) - But ....... Do I detect then that you are thinking aluminium could possibly be an alternative to resin?

I merely wanted to express my preference for aluminium over that aluminum yankee stuff. But come to think of it, fiber reinforced metal matrix composites look promising.
https://www.researchgate.net/publica...and_Properties

[WilDun]

Titanium is quite popular for conrods. Honda, Yamaha, Renault and others have used them. I'm not sure if any alloying elements help.

I just saw a price of about US $2500 for an aftermarket titanium conrod!

Cutting edge technology fortunately is not necessary in everyday life and the most expensive stuff is only used for competition, where it is severely tested to the limit - (sometimes past the limit) it also enables the rich and famous to say "look at me, I'm rich". -
By the time it's filtered down to us 'street plebs' everything has moved on, out of our grasp - the bucketeers however plod on, are grateful for everything that has been handed down to them and try to improve it - imitating the "Gods" of the past! (and enjoying it).
Then maybe I'm wrong!

[WilDun]

Frits,
I was thinking I had gone a step too far with my thoughts - maybe I'm not dumb after all! Just glanced through that one, will read it properly tonight. It all seems much more sensible to me than resin (how about sintered iron or aluminium powder and CF ?) - just another dumb thought. Then again we might have to be careful with our choice of powders, to prevent a thermite reaction taking place!!
Hope that thought isn't dashed by finding someone else got in first! - but knowing my luck .....

I merely wanted to express my preference for aluminium over that aluminum yankee stuff.

I heard a retort by an English guy (who had just been admonished by an American guy for calling it aluminium) saying that something over 80% of the people in the world called it "Aluminium" but, to be fair he could see why a big dumb country boy with a mouth full of "baccy" would find it easier to say "Aluminum".

I did apologise to our US guys earlier, but it didn't come up for some reason - so please forgive me and don't take me too seriously! - As I said before too, my grandfather on my mother's side was a US citizen.

[husaberg]

I merely wanted to express my preference for aluminium over that aluminum yankee stuff. But come to think of it, fiber reinforced metal matrix composites look promising.
https://www.researchgate.net/publica...and_Properties

They were available and were used they even deleted the big end bearing and ran it as a plain big end
The link to the seller is dead now i will try the way back when machine.

From the wayback when machine screenshots.

[WilDun]

They were available and were used they even deleted the big end bearing and ran it as a plain big end
The link to the seller is dead now i will try the way back when machine.

I had never heard of this till now and I reckon it makes total sense, why are they still fiddling around with with resin?

[husaberg]

I had never heard of this till now and I reckon it makes total sense, why are they still fiddling around with with resin?

MMC has been used since the mid 90's at least, for brake calipers anyway, AP were the first as far as i know, they could be made far stiffer for the same weight.
https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/s...post1130374962

[tjbw]

They were available and were used they even deleted the big end bearing and ran it as a plain big end
The link to the seller is dead now i will try the way back when machine.

From the wayback when machine screenshots.

They were used by Husaberg, must be very good

Also needed good clean oil supply, tight cold clearance.

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/vi...onnecting-rods

[WilDun]

I kept away from bikes between 1990 and 2010 so there's a gap in my motorcycle experiences and I see that I've completely missed a lot of these new developments - feels weird!

[OopsClunkThud]

On some MMX, the fibers form in place by precipitating out of the alloy as the casting cools. At university (20+ years ago) there was a group working on this strategy with (I think) boron fibers in a titanium matrix. In many ways metals should be the ideal matrix for composites, as the goal is to be ductile and transfer the loads between the fibers.

[WilDun]

On some MMX, the fibers form in place by precipitating out of the alloy as the casting cools. At university (20+ years ago) there was a group working on this strategy with (I think) boron fibers in a titanium matrix. In many ways metals should be the ideal matrix for composites, as the goal is to be ductile and transfer the loads between the fibers.

I'm surorised that there doesn't seem to be much progress in this area despite all the research - got to be a reason for that - cost of production? - probably not really needed for the moment. Bet if there was a war on, it would be sorted straight away!

[husaberg]

I'm surorised that there doesn't seem to be much progress in this area despite all the research - got to be a reason for that - cost of production? - probably not really needed for the moment. Bet if there was a war on, it would be sorted straight away!

I would say F1 "cost saving" rules happered development a bit as well as safety concerns with Beryllium alloys.

There was a lot of research being done with "bubble metals" which added air into the structure of the material giving it a cross section not that different to the bone structure on a birds wing.
Nature is clever like that.

http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM...hart-0012.html
Ford was racing plastic compost engines in the late 60s or early 70s an american company still markets the bits and pieces i have posted about them before.
http://blog.caranddriver.com/is-this...-engine-block/
Polimotor

http://www.carstuffshow.com/blogs/a-...that-right.htm
http://www.solvay.com/en/markets-and...alty-polymers/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasti...ne#Version_One
http://www.materialsforengineering.c...-engine/89448/

[WilDun]

Ford was racing plastic compost engines in the late 60s or early 70s an american company still markets the bits and pieces i have posted about them before.

Some interesting stuff there I must say!

But I was most interested in the fact that Ford did their bit for the planet by making "compost" engines!

[Grumph]

Some interesting stuff there I must say!

But I was most interested in the fact that Ford did their bit for the planet by making "compost" engines!

The German regs on the proportion of recyclable materials in motor vehicles almost makes new Mercs and BMW's compostable....

[WilDun]

The German regs on the proportion of recyclable materials in motor vehicles almost makes new Mercs and BMW's compostable....

I have watched kids bikes (mostly made of steel tube nowadays) and other machines, being made over the years out of more and more plastic and the more plastic they used, the more useless the machine became! that is of course those being made from the types of plastic we are used to.

I had an engraving machine and it was so useless and badly designed that I rebuilt it replacing all the plastic crap with aluminium and steel, doing away with all the overhung spindles etc. (I hate cantilevers) and made them supported at both ends - it now works a treat!
I also saw a successful little engraving machine being marketed a few years back manufactured for schools. Then someone (smartass) in the company decided it should be made completely of plastic - that was in production for only a few months and they have now gone back to the old successful tubular steel one!
Also I see that Hobbyking have replaced the plastic mini 3D printer they market with a modified version - it has a more hefty aluminium frame instead (wise move)!

Same problems are probably experienced with plastic engines as well!

Plastic generally has some big problems, one is distortion another is it's inability to stand heat and requires steel inserts for bearings.
We are of course talking about reinforced plastics here - I would be more in favour of having carbon fibre with a metallic matrix - however, it was discussed a few posts back and it would seem that there has not been a helluva lot of success in that area so far! ........ but if successful, could it actually be called a plastic?

And ........... I could be wrong.

[guyhockley]

One of my neighbours is a forester with his son and they will only use Stihl chainsaws "with the plastic engine". I haven't got a look at one, but a quick google does seem to prove that the crankcases are partly some sort of plastic.