Cryogenic Treatments
Page 1 of 1
Cryogenic Treatments
"Cool stuff"
When putting more power through an engine you need to ensure that every part will perform at its optimum.
One of the motorsports favourite techniques to improve the durability of an engine is a process know as cryogenic treatments.
As you can guess from the use of the word Cryo - it involves the
cooling and heating of the engine block to temper the metal changing
its structure.
First the engine is slowly cooled in liquid nitrogen. The liquid
nitrogen is added to the sealed tank in very precise measures, too fast
and you risk causing stress fractures in the metal.
After you have reached around -350F the engine temperature is slowly raised up again to over 300 F over a 12 hour period or so.
This process is repeated 3 or 4 times over the course of a week. The
process will work on any metal engine part with popular use for
hardening the block, pistons and crank.
The camshaft is also a high wear area of a performance tuned engine
and will benefit from cryo treatment. It is best that the parts are
cryo treated separately and then assembled.Extreme cooling and heating has a massive effect on the engines durability and reliability.
The cooling and heating of the metal aligns the 'metal molecules'
and allows them to be much more tightly packed together. This cooling
and heating actually traps carbon atoms that do not have time to
diffuse out of the crystal structure.
It forms a more symmetrical crystalline lattice which is much
tougher than untreated metal. Known as a Martensitic structure this
process has been used to strengthen blades and cutting surfaces and is
now being applied to engine tuning.
It allows the head gasket and valves to seat better and this will
also improve engine efficiency and power. It also improves the
lubricity of 2 surfaces as there are less friction causing
imperfections again raising the power output of the engine.
Rather than just affecting the surface of the metal the slow temperature changes allow the entire metal to attain the benefits.
Any stress points in the metal are thus removed and the result is
that the engine is much harder and will cope with a lot more stress.
The internal friction of the surfaces is reduced giving an instant
power gain. Because internal friction is lower the engine is more
reliable and some sources quote 8 times the wear resistance for certain
metals after a cryogenic treatment along with improved tensile strength.
There are not many places offering this service but there are some
specialists out there. The relative cost to benefit ratio is fantastic
and will give you a distinct advantage in the competitive motorsports
arena allowing you to raise the bar of your engine power.
Not only will you gain power and a longer engine life you will also
get better fuel consumption as the engine is more efficient with less
internal friction. TorqueCars see Cryogenic treatments as a win/win
situation.
We anticipate that performance parts suppliers will be listed "cryo
treated" items as premium parts alongside their usual catalogues. As
interest in this grows you are best to get in there quickly and gain
the competitive advantage.
When putting more power through an engine you need to ensure that every part will perform at its optimum.
One of the motorsports favourite techniques to improve the durability of an engine is a process know as cryogenic treatments.
As you can guess from the use of the word Cryo - it involves the
cooling and heating of the engine block to temper the metal changing
its structure.
First the engine is slowly cooled in liquid nitrogen. The liquid
nitrogen is added to the sealed tank in very precise measures, too fast
and you risk causing stress fractures in the metal.
After you have reached around -350F the engine temperature is slowly raised up again to over 300 F over a 12 hour period or so.
This process is repeated 3 or 4 times over the course of a week. The
process will work on any metal engine part with popular use for
hardening the block, pistons and crank.
The camshaft is also a high wear area of a performance tuned engine
and will benefit from cryo treatment. It is best that the parts are
cryo treated separately and then assembled.Extreme cooling and heating has a massive effect on the engines durability and reliability.
The cooling and heating of the metal aligns the 'metal molecules'
and allows them to be much more tightly packed together. This cooling
and heating actually traps carbon atoms that do not have time to
diffuse out of the crystal structure.
It forms a more symmetrical crystalline lattice which is much
tougher than untreated metal. Known as a Martensitic structure this
process has been used to strengthen blades and cutting surfaces and is
now being applied to engine tuning.
It allows the head gasket and valves to seat better and this will
also improve engine efficiency and power. It also improves the
lubricity of 2 surfaces as there are less friction causing
imperfections again raising the power output of the engine.
Rather than just affecting the surface of the metal the slow temperature changes allow the entire metal to attain the benefits.
Any stress points in the metal are thus removed and the result is
that the engine is much harder and will cope with a lot more stress.
The internal friction of the surfaces is reduced giving an instant
power gain. Because internal friction is lower the engine is more
reliable and some sources quote 8 times the wear resistance for certain
metals after a cryogenic treatment along with improved tensile strength.
There are not many places offering this service but there are some
specialists out there. The relative cost to benefit ratio is fantastic
and will give you a distinct advantage in the competitive motorsports
arena allowing you to raise the bar of your engine power.
Not only will you gain power and a longer engine life you will also
get better fuel consumption as the engine is more efficient with less
internal friction. TorqueCars see Cryogenic treatments as a win/win
situation.
We anticipate that performance parts suppliers will be listed "cryo
treated" items as premium parts alongside their usual catalogues. As
interest in this grows you are best to get in there quickly and gain
the competitive advantage.
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
|
|