Curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing 1989-2025
-----
Crankshaft coating to allow roller bearings
Q. Hello,
I race a mini Cooper "s" in Australia and I am at the end of the road in terms of technical development towards hp/reliability in the old a series engine. Like any one that races I am always looking at going faster and being more reliable. We have been able to achieve 153.3 flywheel horsepower out of a controlled original head and ideal compression/stroke/squish formula. I am very excited about my idea to rollerize the crank main and conrod bearings. I have been able to attain the roller bearings of low enough profile and speed and load rating however because of this low profile I need to run the needle rollers directly on the crankshaft. I have had people tell me that cryo tempering and then triple nitriding will make this suitable. Does anyone know of a coating that would be resilient enough onto en40b crankshaft material.
Thanks.
hobbyist - Sydney, NSW, Australia
2004
A. Hello Ben,
I work for a surface engineering company and we regularly treat en40b crankshafts used in racing cars. The treatment we apply is plasma nitriding (pulsed). This gives to the cranks a case depth of 0.3 to 0.4.
Cheers,
- Farnborough, UK
A. Thanks Marie, it sounds like the process I am after my heat treatment guy recommends to triple nitride. Will the plasma nitride give me deeper case than this? Is the plasma nitride an exotic treatment or should I be able to get it done over here.
Benjamin T [surname deleted for privacy by Editor]- Sydney, NSW, Australia
2004
A. The way to go with split roller bearing for crankshaft and con-rods is carbon nitride, we just test our roller crankshaft system and work perfect.
Jose Maciasautomotive engineering - Edinburg, Texas. USA
April 7, 2008
Q, A, or Comment on THIS thread -or- Start a NEW Thread