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Author(s): Alexandre Bois-Brochu, Anthony Lombardi, Comondore Ravindran, Eli Vandersluis, Franco Chiesa, Robert MacKay

Keywords: aluminum alloys, edx, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (edx), engine cylinder heads, om, optical microscopy, optical microscopy (om), rockwell hardness testing, scanning electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (sem), sem, specific heat, thermal conductivity, tps method, transient plane source, transient plane source (tps) method, x-ray diffraction, x-ray diffraction (xrd), xrd

Abstract: Although much research had been conducted to improve the ability of engine cylinder heads to respond to thermal stresses, not much research had been conducted on reducing thermal stresses. The authors set out to determine the thermal conductivity of a commercial aluminum 319 type alloy cylinder head with the future goal of improving the thermal conductivity of cylinder heads to better reduce the stress induced by increasing temperature. The cylinders were subjected to two different heat treatments and were then observed for physical and thermal properties. It was found that the thermal conductivities differed depending on the heat treatment used. This was thought to be due to increased precipitation of Al2Cu during overaging in the T7 heat treatment which would deplete solute from the sample, reducing electron scattering, allowing for more efficient heat transport. Further work will be done to determine how best to increase the thermal conductivity of cylinder heads.

Reference: Materials Science and Engineering: A, 648 (2015) 401-411

DOI: 10.1016/j.msea.2015.09.091