New alloys, R&D efforts keep Winsert on leading edge - Engine Technology

Due to the very nature of its business, valve seat insert manufacturer Winsert Inc. has always had close ties with the combustion engineers at many of the world's leading industrial engine builders. As with other critical components in any engine combustion chamber, valve seat inserts are an integral part of continuous improvement programs as new insert materials are needed to meet future engine design requirements.

While often customer driven, product development is often also pushed from within. In the case of Winsert, a competitive advantage can be gained by developing new, lower cost alloys that can replace existing materials. The significance is that these new alloys are designed to retain or improve upon the wear characteristics of the previous alloy.

Throughout the past few years, Winsert has invested heavily in expanding its in-house R&D capabilities in an effort to provide its customers with the highest level of engineering support possible. One result of this ongoing R&D is Winsert's recent patent award for W210, an alloy designed specifically for diesel exhaust inserts. W210, along with a similar alloy W211, were formulated to give engine design engineers low-cost alternatives when specifying nickel-base alloy materials for diesel engine applications.
W210 and W211 are designed to provide a level of resistance to oxidation and wear that is comparable to conventional nickel-base alloys, with an advantage of a lower price. Dr. Xuecheng Liang, Winsert's director of research and development, designed the W210 alloy with smaller carbides than typically characterized nickel-base alloys. The refined carbide structure and base material formulation result in an alloy whose performance is capable of providing lower sliding friction, according to the company. "As emission standards become increasingly more stringent, alloys that provide both low cost and high sliding wear resistance offer an attractive alternative to other, more expensive nickel-base materials," Strong said.

In its development processes, Winsert benefits greatly from its ability to quickly produce samples, as well as test and analyze the performance characteristics of various materials. "With our testing and analysis equipment, we can try a great number of insert chemistry formulation models and examine the results. For example, we are relating microstructure with the demonstrated wear and between the microstructure and the wear, we're also looking at what properties we have changed to bring about improvement," Strong said.

The company recently completed an expansion of its Marinette facility, which now comprises 60,700 sq.ft. A majority of the new space is dedicated to the company's research and development department and a redesigned wear-testing laboratory.

As Winsert characterizes the needs of a new material, those new material ideas can be mentally formulated and then cast as specimens for testing. In-house designed and built hot hardness, pin on disk, pulse load wear simulation and thermal expansion equipment is used to evaluate the potential capability of those materials. "We made the decision very early that if we were going to develop new materials, these test capabilities would need to be in-house in order to reduce analysis times," said Strong.

Certain tests are still conducted by outside agencies and they include compressive yield and ultimate strength testing, thermal conductivity testing, and elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio material properties analysis. Other outsourced analysis work includes wear evaluation under scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDX) to study the insert material removal process.

Trisha La Via, sales and marketing manager, said, "As Gary and his group develop new materials, we call internal R&D meetings where sales and engineering discuss these materials as they're being developed. Once they are at the level where we can offer them to the 'general public,' we then compile a list of existing and potential customers whom we believe would benefit from that material. We offer samples and then offer to evaluate the samples after an engine test. Many of our customers eagerly embrace this concept."