Why is The Cylinder Block of Diesel Generator Set Cast?

Due to the cold current, diesel generator set users were unprepared. Many units failed to discharge the cooling water in the radiator completely, which finally caused the diesel generator set cylinder block to freeze and crack. This not only causes a certain loss of profits for users, but also makes maintenance more difficult. Generally, the cylinder block of diesel generator set is a casting, which is difficult to repair once it is cracked, and most of the cylinder blocks need to be replaced.

Cast iron cylinder block accounts for the vast majority of diesel generator set engines. From the use point of view, the advantage of cast aluminum cylinder block is light weight, which can save fuel by reducing weight. In addition to the difference in weight, there are many differences between cast iron cylinder block and cast aluminum cylinder block in the production process. The cast iron production line covers a large area, pollutes the environment greatly, and the processing technology is complex; The production characteristics of cast aluminum cylinder block are just the opposite.

The physical properties of iron and aluminum are different. The heat load capacity of cast iron cylinder block is stronger, and the potential of cast iron in engine power increase is greater. There are still some cast iron materials used inside the aluminum cylinder block engine, especially the cylinder, which should be made of cast iron. The first disadvantage of aluminum engines is their size. Due to the light weight of aluminum, the structural strength per unit volume of aluminum is less than that of cast iron. Therefore, the volume of aluminum cylinder block is generally larger than that of cast iron, which is difficult to achieve the compactness and small volume of cast iron cylinder block.

The second is corrosion resistance and strength. As we all know, aluminum is easy to react with water generated during combustion. Therefore, its corrosion resistance is far less than that of cast iron cylinder block, especially for supercharged engines with higher requirements on temperature and pressure. The third is the friction coefficient of diesel generator set engine. The cast iron cylinder block is also superior to the all aluminum engine. The engine with aluminum alloy cylinder block will naturally have a higher price than the cast iron engine. In addition to the above reasons, more from the cost and price, there are still some cast iron materials used inside aluminum cylinder block engines, especially for cylinders. The non-uniform thermal expansion rate of cast aluminum and cast iron after fuel combustion is the so-called problem of deformation consistency, which is a difficult problem in the casting process of cast aluminum cylinder block.

When the diesel generator set engine is working, the cast aluminum cylinder block engine equipped with cast iron cylinders must meet the sealing requirements. How to solve this problem? In the case of the same displacement, although the cast aluminum cylinder engine is about 20 kg lighter than the cast iron cylinder engine, compared with the weight of the vehicle, the contribution of the cast aluminum cylinder engine to weight reduction is not obvious.

Starlight Power was founded in 1974 and is one of the earliest manufacturers of generators and diesel generator sets in China. If you want get more information, please feel free to send email to sales@dieselgeneratortech.com we will pay highly attention on your question.