Wear resistant sintered aluminium parts for automotive applications

The automotive industry's focus on weight saving has increased interest in optimised process routes and alloy compositions for light alloy PM components. Conventional pressing, sintering and sizing of aluminium alloys containing about 16% Si has been applied to produce components with high wear resistance and mechanical strength. CISIZE (R), a novel continuous isostatic pressure sintering process, combined with sizing, produces aluminium alloys with finely dispersed Si particles having excellent ductility. Combining parts obtained by these two process routes can give interesting tribological systems. Complete sintered aluminium cam phaser systems, including the sprocket wheel, are being produced in series using this approach, which also shows promise for automotive parts such as oil pumps and rotors.