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Race Engine Technology issue 021 : MARCH/APRIL 2007
MW Industries’ springs
FOCUS : VALVE SPRINGS THE COMP CAMS FILE PRODUCT
High performance camshafts, related components and valve train technology development
RACING MARKET Alan Johnson: MAKING A 330+ MPH WINNER THE COMMUNICATIONS HUB OF THE RACING POWERTRAIN WORLD
F1 TECH 2007 Grand Prix engine and gearbox engineering
CORVETTE EXCLUSIVE
Inside the multiple Le Mans winning Small Block V8
BIG BANG
INSIGHT How uneven fi re can gain grip on the loose
MARCH/APRIL 2007 USA $20, UK £10, EUROPE e15
Spring forward R
A valve spring is in some respects the most highly stressed component within the engine. Glen Smale asked leading suppliers for their views on contemporary technology
ace engine valve springs have demands made upon them as never before and have benefited from some really high tech research to meet these requirements.
Spring Material The majority of valve spring steel in use today is derived from SAE 9254 Chrome-Silicon chemistry. However, in the early days of Chrome-Silicon spring wire, inadequate control of the steel chemistry left the wire with inclusions. As the steel billets were rolled into rod and the rod was converted to wire, these brittle inclusions broke up into angular shapes, which created significant internal stress concentrations that were ideal locations for fatigue crack initiation. That limited valve spring life.
Comp Cams’ springs
says: “Our metallurgical lab has several methods to determine the cleanliness of the steel used. We utilize a method called Statistics of Extreme Values (SEV) to understand which mills and chemistries are cleanest. Once that is understood, we confirm it with rotating beam cycle testing. From this we choose the best for our racing springs”. That material is not necessarily straightforward Chrome-Silicon.
The main limitation of Chrome-Silicon spring wire is that the strength is not sufficient for typical high performance applications these days. As engine speeds have increased, valve spring natural frequencies have needed to increase, driving manufacturers toward lighter-weight springs, which can only be achieved by operating at higher stress levels. However, higher stress levels are only attainable by beginning with higher wire strength levels. The first significant improvement in this area came with the introduction of low levels of Vanadium to the basic Chrome-Silicon chemistry. The addition of Vanadium enabled wire producers to push
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MARCover.indd 1 5/10/10 21:27:22 44 44-53 Valve
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All major US markets, including NASCAR and NHRA. Technology partnerships with undisclosed teams in various international motorsports arenas HEADQUARTERS Memphis, Tennessee WEBSITE
www.compcams.com KEY PEOPLE
CEO: Ronald Coleman VP of Research & Development: Paul “Scooter” Brothers
Paul “Scooter” Brothers THE CRANE CAMS FILE Billy Godbold
A method was developed which reduced the harmful effects of these inclusions and the company that developed this technology gave it the name ‘Superclean’ Chrome-Silicon. In fact, Superclean steel has about the same level of inclusions as the original Chrome-Silicon wire, but the benefit comes from controlling the inclusion chemistry as opposed to the quantity of inclusions. Superclean technology improved the wire chemistry making the inclusions smaller and centrally located within the wire. There are only a handful of steel mills in the world that manufacture wire rod to the exacting standards necessary for race engine valve springs, although they are not able to use the ‘Superclean’ name. “Over time, steel manufacturers learned how to better control
the chemistry so that the inclusions were no longer brittle, and by eliminating the internal stress concentrations, the fatigue life capability of Chrome-Silicon spring wire increased significantly”, said Robert Stone of Matthew Warren, Inc., Logansport, Indiana. Chris Osborn of PAC Racing Springs in Southfield, Michigan,
Chief Camshaft Designer: Billy Godbold Chief Test Engineer: Thomas Griffin V.P. of Operations: Chris Brown V.P. of Sales: Rick Sparks SCALE OF OPERATION Total workforce of 400; racing and street performance are substantial portion of business BACKGROUND
Founded by partnership of four performance enthusiasts in 1976. Still privately owned, has grown into the cornerstone of the COMP Performance Group, which includes numerous other industry leading automotive aftermarket companies GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION Currently distributing internationally
the strength levels up approximately 20% beyond standard Chrome- Silicon strength levels. Subsequent proprietary developments in heat- treating processes have increased the strength levels even further. Thomas Griffin, Chief Test Engineer for COMP Cams in Memphis,
Tennessee, says: “Chrome-Silicon has been used for years but alloying agents have been tweaked to the point where we have increased the strength of the material to unprecedented levels. Some other materials, like H-11, Maraging Steel or Titanium have been used in other types of racing but have not made their way into Cup or Le Mans engines because of durability issues. They are plenty strong but lack in the longevity needed for those applications”. Mark Campbell of Crane Cams in Daytona Beach, Florida, says: “For most all of the competition springs that we now offer, we specify Extra High Tensile Chrome-Silicon valve spring wire. All wire of this type is superclean - the use of the term ‘superclean’ is now redundant as all Chrome-Silicon wire currently used for valve springs is ‘superclean’ by virtue of its specifications”. At Crane Cams, this means that a valve spring can be installed without worrying about an initial ‘load loss’ period. The material experiences very little load loss as long as the lift profile of the cam lobe does not adversely aggravate the natural frequency points of the spring design.
Armin Göhl, Sales Engineer at Kurt Kauffmann Ltd in Fellbach, Germany, says: “The wire as our raw material is very important for us.
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PRODUCT Camshaft and related valve train components, also racing ignitions, distributors, spark plug wires and related components RACING MARKET Circle track (including ARCA, USAR Pro-Cup, ASA, IMCA, Dirtcar Sprints, Late-Models, and Modifieds); Drag Racing (including Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock); American Le Mans Series and many other types of racing HEADQUARTERS Daytona Beach, Florida WEBSITE
www.cranecams.com KEY PEOPLE CEO: Lance Harris VP, Market & Product Development: Mark Campbell Chief Cam Designer: David Bly Cam and Valvetrain Product Mgr.: Chase Knight Director, Branded Sales and Marketing: Glen Howard SCALE OF OPERATION Workforce of 225; racing is 40% of business BACKGROUND
Founded by racer/engineer Harvey Crane, Jr. in 1953; frustrated by the inaccuracies of camshafts of the day he developed Crane as a manufacturer of camshafts with exceptional “lobe-to-lobe” accuracy. Crane Cams was acquired by Mikronite Technologies in October 2006
GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION
USA and territories; Canada; Australia; European market concentrating in the UK, Norway, Sweden and Italy
Especially in racing, where every mass reduction is welcomed, we have to stress the material to its maximum”. In recent decades new materials have been offered (especially for competition engines purposes) such as Chrome-Silicon Vanadium+Mo, Ni and Ti alloy wires, where weight and wire resistance at high rates and temperatures, were key factors.
MW Industries’ spring
021 contents • INSIGHT:
F1 POWERTRAIN 2007 Grand Prix engine and gearbox technology
• SHORT TAKE: WET FLOW BENCH Visualising the flow through the cylinder head
• PREVIEW: ENGINE EXPO 2007 Looking forward to the annual road/race crossover event
• PROFILE:
CORVETTE LE MANS V8 Exclusive insight into the current GM Racing Small Block
• SHORT TAKE:
POWERTEC BIG BANG Using uneven fire to gain tyre grip on loose surfaces
www.highpowermedia.com • MOTORCYCLE: ILMOR’S
MOTOGP STRATEGY Tackling the need for extreme precision at low throttle openings
• FOCUS: VALVE SPRINGS How the suppliers view current and future technology
• REPORT: AETC Highlights of the last Advanced Engineering Technology Conference
• SUPPLY CHAIN: AJPE How Alan Johnson interacts with his Top Fuel component suppliers
• IRED: PRO STOCK
MOTORCYCLE The NHRA engine builders
ISSUE 021 race engine TECHNOLOGY MARCH/APRIL 2007
F1 POWERTRAIN • CORVETTE LS7R • AJPE • VALVE SPRINGS • BIG BANG • AETC • WET FLOW BENCH • ILMOR IN MOTOGP • IRED PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
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