Advanced radiation techniques for inspection of diesel engine combustion chamber materials components. Final report

摘要

Heavy duty truck engines must meet stringent life cycle cost and regulatory requirements. Meeting these requirements has resulted in convergence on 4-stroke 6-in-line, turbocharged, and after-cooled engines with direct-injection combustion systems. These engines provide much higher efficiencies (42%, fuel consumption 200 g/kW-hr) than automotive engines (31%, fuel consumption 270 g/kW-hr), but at higher initial cost. Significant near-term diesel engine improvements are necessary and are spurred by continuing competitive, Middle - East oil problems and Congressional legislation. As a result of these trends and pressures, Caterpillar has been actively pursuing a low-fuel consumption engine research program with emphasis on product quality through process control and product inspection. The goal of this project is to combine the nondestructive evaluation and computational resources and expertise available at LLNL with the diesel engine and manufacturing expertise of the Caterpillar Corporation to develop in-process monitoring and inspection techniques for diesel engine combustion chamber components and materials. Early development of these techniques will assure the optimization of the manufacturing process by design/inspection interface. The transition from the development stage to the manufacturing stage requires a both a thorough understanding of the processes and a way of verifying conformance to process standards. NDE is one of the essential tools in accomplishing both elements and in this project will be integrated with Caterpillar's technological and manufacturing expertise to accomplish the project goals.