All aluminum alloys are not created equal, as evidenced by the brand-new alloy created by Federal Mogul Powertrain‘s engineers for their diesel piston lineup.

In their testing, the new material–called DuraForm-G91–has between three and five times the component life of current materials in modern diesel engines. As a result of this improved strength, the company says that the material supports higher mechanical loads, which will allow engines to operate at higher specific power. Get ready for turbochargers producing more boost!

“We have employed specially designed accelerated base engine tests combined with ‘engine-like’ rig testing procedures,” said Roman Morgenstern, Specialist, Material Development and Characterization, Global Pistons, Federal-Mogul Powertrain. “Engine-like rig testing combines thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) with high cycle mechanical fatigue (HCMF), which directly reflects the fatigue-critical load conditions seen by automotive diesel pistons in the engine.”

The new materials permit the pistons to be designed with lower compression height and reduced mass, helping to reduce CO2 emissions in the process.

The alloy’s increased fatigue strength works especially well in the high temperature range diesel pistons seen under boost.

“The improved silicon and intermetallic morphology provides a microstructure with increased resistance to complex thermomechanical loading, while maintaining the required thermo-physical properties, such as expansion, density and thermal conductivity,” explained Dr. Frank T. H. Dörnenburg, Director of Technology, Global Pistons, Federal-Mogul Powertrain.

So far, their testing has also shown the wear rates of the DuraForm G91 material to be equivalent to the best current aluminum-silicon piston materials, and the company has released pre-production sample pistons to customers for further evaluation.