JP6463667B2 - Cylinder block - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cylinder block .

  Generally, as a cylinder block of a vehicle engine, a metal block such as aluminum is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). Such a structural member for a vehicle is desired to be reduced in light of recent demands for reducing the vehicle weight for the purpose of energy saving and fuel consumption reduction.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-256665

By the way, the structural member for the vehicle is required not only to achieve the weight reduction but also to have a strength capable of exhibiting sufficient reliability. In particular, structural members such as the cylinder block, the housing of the drive motor, and the transmission case are required to have excellent mechanical strength and thermal strength (heat resistance).
However, in such a structural member for a vehicle, a structural member that has a predetermined strength and is lighter than a metal has not been known yet.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a cylinder block that has a predetermined strength and is lighter than metal.

  The structural member for a moving body of the present invention that solves the above problems includes a metal base and a resin layer that includes a thermosetting resin and is formed on the base. The resin layer includes the base It has the 1st resin layer and the 2nd resin layer in order from the side, At least the said 2nd resin layer is characterized by including the carbon fiber.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a cylinder block that has a predetermined strength and is lighter than metal.

It is a perspective view of an engine provided with a cylinder block concerning an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a partially enlarged II-II longitudinal section of FIG. 1. It is a perspective view which shows a motor unit provided with the structural member for moving bodies as a reference example . It is sectional drawing of the motor housing (structural member for moving bodies) which comprises the motor unit of FIG. It is a graph showing the relationship between the volume content [%] of the carbon fiber in the resin member used for a cylinder block, and an elasticity modulus [GPa]. It is a graph showing the relationship between the volume content [%] of the carbon fiber in the resin member used for a cylinder block, and tensile strength [MPa].

Next, the cylinder block ( moving body structural member ) according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. The moving body in the present invention means a movable structure such as a traveling vehicle, a navigating ship, and an aircraft. The moving body structural member in the present embodiment is an example of a cylinder block of an automobile engine. I will explain to you.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an engine 12 including a cylinder block (moving body structural member) 14 according to the present embodiment. In the following description, the vertical direction is a diagram in which the crankshaft side is the downward direction and the cylinder head side is the upward direction in the cylinder axial direction when the engine 12 shown in FIG. 1 is disposed in the engine room of the vehicle. The direction of the up and down arrows shown in FIG.

  The cylinder block (moving body structural member) 14 according to the present embodiment is mainly composed of a metal / resin / carbon fiber composite structure as will be described in detail later. Below, after explaining the whole structure of the engine 12, the cylinder block 14 is demonstrated in more detail.

<Overall engine configuration>
As shown in FIG. 1, the engine (internal combustion engine) 12 in the present embodiment is an in-line three-cylinder engine arranged so that three cylinders are arranged in the cylinder row direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to, for example, an in-line four-cylinder engine, a V-type multi-cylinder engine in which a plurality of cylinders are arranged along a V bank, a horizontally opposed engine, and the like. Further, the number of cylinders such as a single cylinder or a plurality of cylinders is not limited.

  The engine 12 includes a cylinder block 14 which will be described in detail later, a cylinder head (not shown) assembled on the upper side of the cylinder block 14, and a head cover (not shown) mounted on the upper side of the cylinder head. The cylinder head is provided with a combustion chamber, an intake port, and an exhaust port, and valve bodies provided at the intake port and the exhaust port are driven by a valve operating mechanism having a camshaft and a rocker arm. Incidentally, the cylinder block 14 and a cylinder head (not shown) are sealed with a gasket (not shown).

The engine 12 includes a crankcase 11 that is coupled to the lower surface of the cylinder block 14.
A crankshaft 13 is rotatably supported on the crankcase 11. The crankshaft 13 extends in the crankcase 11 along the cylinder row direction. A connecting rod (not shown) for connecting a piston (not shown) slidably arranged in each cylinder bore 14a to the crankshaft 13 is arranged at a position corresponding to each cylinder bore 14a of the crankshaft 13. .
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 15 denotes a bolt for attaching the cylinder head (not shown) to the cylinder block 14.

<Cylinder block>
Next, the cylinder block 14 as a moving body structural member will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the cylinder block 14 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is long in the cylinder row direction. The cylinder block 14 is formed with a cylinder bore 14a in which the piston (not shown) is disposed.

The cylinder block 14 is provided with a water jacket 18 through which cooling water flows.
As shown in FIG. 1, the water jacket 18 is formed so as to continuously and circulate so as to surround substantially the outer periphery of the three cylinder bores 14 a along the cylinder row direction in a top view.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a partially enlarged II-II longitudinal section of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the upper end portion of the water jacket 18 is formed to be open, and the lower end portion of the water jacket 18 is formed to be closed inside the cylinder block 14. The water jacket 18 is tapered so that the width gradually decreases from the upper end on the opening side to the lower end on the closing side.

Although not shown, the cylinder block 14 is provided with a cooling water inlet for supplying cooling water into the water jacket 18 and a cooling water outlet for discharging the cooling water after cooling the engine 12 out of the water jacket 18. It has been.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 19 denotes a cylinder liner formed of a thin cylindrical body that forms a sliding surface with the piston 16 in the cylinder bore 14a. As a material of the cylinder liner 19 in the present embodiment, for example, an aluminum alloy, a steel material, a ceramic, or the like is assumed, but is not limited thereto. Reference numeral 17 denotes a connecting rod.

As described above, the cylinder block 14 as the moving body structural member in the present embodiment is composed of the metal / resin / carbon fiber composite structure.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the cylinder block 14 includes a metal base 20 and a resin member 21 disposed on the base 20. The resin member 21 has a first resin member 22 and a second resin member 23 containing carbon fibers, as will be described in detail later.

The base material 20 in this embodiment has the base-material main-body part 20a and the flange part 20b, as shown in FIG.
The base body 20a is integrally formed by connecting substantially cylindrical members 24 (see FIG. 1) having a columnar space inside which the cylinder liner 19 is inscribed in the cylinder row direction. Although not shown, the flange portion 20b (see FIG. 2) connects the lower ends of the substantially cylindrical members 24 (see FIG. 1) to each other. Incidentally, the flange part 20b in this embodiment forms the rectangular plate body in which the flange part 20b extended from each substantially cylindrical member 24 is united. As shown in FIG. 2, the outer end surface of the flange portion 20 b and the outer wall surface of the first resin member 22 to be described later are formed to be flush with each other in the vertical direction of the cylinder block 14.

Although the aluminum alloy is assumed as the metal forming the base material 20 in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and a metal other than the aluminum alloy used in the conventional cylinder block is used. You can also.
In addition, the base material 20 in this embodiment is subjected to a surface roughening process on a portion where a first resin member 22 described later is joined. This surface roughening treatment will be described in detail later.

As shown in FIG. 1, the resin member 21 is disposed outside the base material 20 and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is the outer shape of the cylinder block 14.
The resin member 21 has the first resin member 22 and the second resin member 23 as described above. The first resin member 22 and the second resin member 23 are joined and integrated with each other.
The resin member 21 constitutes a “resin layer” as defined in the claims, the first resin member 22 constitutes a “first resin layer” as defined in the claims, and the second resin member 23 constitutes a patent. The “second resin layer” referred to in the claims is formed.

Although the external shape of the 1st resin member 22 is not illustrated, it has shown the substantially rectangular parallelepiped inside the 2nd resin member 23 shown in FIG.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the first resin member 22 includes a separation portion 22 a that is separated from the base body portion 20 a so as to form the water jacket 18, and the base body portion 20 a below the separation portion 22 a. And a joining portion 22b to be joined.
The first resin member 22 is also bonded to the upper surface of the flange portion 20b of the base member 20.

Such first resin member 22 is formed of a thermosetting resin.
Examples of the thermosetting resin include, but are not limited to, phenol resin, epoxy resin, polyimide resin, melamine resin, unsaturated polyester resin, allyl resin, furan resin and the like. In view of mechanical strength, heat resistance, ease of handling, manufacturing cost, etc., phenol resin is particularly desirable.
Although the 1st resin member 22 in this embodiment assumes what is formed only with a thermosetting resin, the 1st resin member 22 can also contain the filler mentioned later.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the second resin member 23 forms four side surfaces of the cylinder block 14. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the second resin member 23 is flush with the outer wall surface of the first resin member 22 disposed so as to surround the base body 20a. It arrange | positions so that the outer side end surface of the flange part 20b formed may be covered. That is, the cylinder block 14 according to the present embodiment includes the first resin member 22 (first resin layer) and the second resin member 23 (second resin layer) on the base body 20a constituting the base 20. Are arranged in this order.

The second resin member 23 includes a thermosetting resin and carbon fiber.
As a thermosetting resin, the same thing as the thermosetting resin which comprises the said 1st resin member 22 is mentioned.
Examples of the carbon fiber include polyacrylonitrile (PAN) -based, rayon-based, and pitch-based carbon fibers. Among these, PAN-based carbon fibers having an excellent balance between strength and elastic modulus are desirable.

  In addition, the second resin member 23 is preferably one in which carbon fibers are oriented in a predetermined direction in a thermosetting resin. As such a 2nd resin member 23, it can also comprise using the prepreg which laminated | stacked the carbon fiber orientated in the predetermined direction, such as 0 degree, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, 135 degrees, for example, and carbon fiber cloth It can also comprise using a prepreg containing (woven fabric). Moreover, the 2nd resin member 23 can also be comprised by laminating | stacking UD material.

  The carbon fiber content is based on the total amount (V1 + V2) of the volume V2 of the thermosetting resin contained in the first resin member 22 and the volume V2 of the thermosetting resin contained in the second resin member 23. The volume ratio of the volume V3 of the carbon fibers contained in the second resin member 23 [100V3 / (V1 + V2)] is preferably 25% or more.

Next, a manufacturing method of the cylinder block 14 (moving body structural member) according to the present embodiment will be described.
The manufacturing method of the cylinder block 14 according to the present embodiment includes a first step of forming a preform having the shape of the second resin member 23 by heating and semi-curing a carbon fiber impregnated with a thermosetting resin in advance. The preform, the base material 20 (see FIG. 2), the bolt 15 (see FIG. 1), and the water jacket 18 are placed at predetermined positions in a mold having a cavity imitating the outer shape of the cylinder block 14. The second step of placing the core imitating the shape of (see FIG. 2), the thermosetting resin in the mold and mold-clamping, the semi-cured preform and the cast heat And a third step of completely curing the curable resin. And after performing mold opening, a core block is taken out and the cylinder block 14 is obtained.

  In this manufacturing method, the first resin member 22 is formed by curing the cast thermosetting resin, and the second resin member 23 is formed by the cured preform. Further, the water jacket 18 is formed at the trace where the core is taken out by performing mold opening.

  The preform used in the first step can also be formed by semi-curing a commercially available prepreg in which a carbon fiber is impregnated with a thermosetting resin. Such a semi-cured preform has the advantage of good shape retention. Further, in the third step, the semi-cured preform and the cast thermosetting resin are completely cured in the mold, so that the first resin member 22 and the second resin member 23 have good bondability. It becomes.

  In the second step, a completely cured preform can be placed in the mold. In this case, the thermosetting resin cast in the mold in the third step enters a fine gap formed on the surface of the completely cured preform and is cured. Thus, the thermosetting resin that has entered the gap and hardened exhibits an anchor effect between the first resin member 22 and the second resin member 23, and the bonding strength between the first resin member 22 and the second resin member 23. To improve.

Moreover, the base material 20 arrange | positioned in a metal mold | die is joined to the surface which contacts the cast thermosetting resin, in other words, the junction part 22b (refer FIG. 2) of the 1st resin member 22 shown in FIG. A surface roughening treatment is applied to the contacting surface.
Examples of the surface roughening treatment method include a known physical or chemical method for etching the surface of the substrate 20. Examples of the physical etching method include laser processing, blast processing, cutting processing with a tool, and the like. Moreover, as what uses a chemical etching method, the Amalfa (MEC Co., Ltd. registered trademark) process is mentioned, for example.
By such surface roughening treatment of the base material 20, the bonding strength between the first resin member 22 and the base material 20 is improved.

Moreover, although the manufacturing method in this embodiment assumes that the transfer molding method is used, injection molding may be used.
Further, the thermosetting resin to be cast in the mold is preferably a thermosetting resin of the same system as the thermosetting resin used for the preform. That is, if the thermoplastic resin of the preform is a phenol resin, it is desirable that the thermosetting resin cast into the mold is also a phenol resin. In this case, a fluid or semi-fluid thermosetting resin is used for the prepreg forming the preform, and the thermosetting resin to be cast in the mold is solid at room temperature and has a predetermined temperature. It is desirable that the material be fluidized when heated to be cured and further cured by heating.

  Further, in this manufacturing method, the water jacket 18 is formed using the core in the second step. However, without using the core, a male mold that imitates the shape of the water jacket 18 in advance is placed in the cavity. The metal mold | die which has can also be used.

Next, the effect which the cylinder block 14 (structural member for moving bodies) which concerns on this embodiment show | plays is demonstrated.
According to this cylinder block 14, a part of a conventional cylinder block (for example, refer to Patent Document 1) can be configured in place of resin, so that the weight of the cylinder block 14 can be reduced.

  Moreover, according to this cylinder block 14, since it is comprised with the said metal, resin, and carbon fiber composite structure, sufficient intensity | strength requested | required of moving bodies, such as a vehicle, can be exhibited. In particular, a resin member 21 (see FIG. 2) containing 25% or more of carbon fibers can exhibit a strength substantially equal to or higher than that of metal (aluminum).

  Further, in the cylinder block 14, the resin member 21 rich in heat insulation is disposed so as to surround the base material 20 having the cylinder bore 14a, so that the thermal efficiency of the engine 12 is improved.

Further, since such a cylinder block 14 can be formed of a resin molded product except for the cylinder liner 19 and its peripheral members, it is possible to use a conventional simple resin molding method in which the cylinder liner 19 and its peripheral members are inserted. Can be formed. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be significantly reduced.
In particular, since the water jacket 18 can be formed between the base material 20 and the first resin member 22, the design freedom of the water jacket 18 is further increased.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can implement with a various form. In the following other embodiments, the same components as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

In the embodiment, the water jacket 18 is formed between the base material 20 and the first resin member 22, but the water jacket 18 may be formed in the base material 20.
In this case, although not shown, the outer surface of the base body 20a and the first resin member 22 are joined over the entire vertical direction. Therefore, the entire surface of the base body 20a is subjected to surface roughening.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the 1st resin member 22 is formed only with the thermosetting resin, in this invention, a filler can be included in the 1st resin member 22. FIG. Examples of the filler include short carbon fibers and other inorganic fillers. The filler can improve the heat resistance of the first resin member 22.

In the above embodiments, taking the cylinder block 14 as an example has been described moving body structural member, the present invention can be applied to other vehicle structural member.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a motor unit 30 including a moving body structural member as a reference example .

As shown in FIG. 3, the motor unit 30 is for an electric vehicle (EV), and includes a coaxial drive motor 31 and a gear box 32. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 33 denotes a frame for attaching the motor unit 30 to the vehicle body side.
The drive motor 31 includes a stator (not shown), a rotor, and a rotor shaft that houses a drive shaft in a motor housing 34.
The gear box 32 includes a differential gear (not shown), a final gear, and a counter gear.

4 is a cross-sectional view of the motor housing 34 constituting the motor unit 30 of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the motor housing 34 as a moving body structural member includes a base material 20 made of an aluminum alloy, and a first resin member 22 laminated on the surface of the base material 20, and the first resin member 22. The 2nd resin member 23 is laminated | stacked on the surface.
The base material 20, the first resin member 22, and the second resin member 23 are the base material 20 (see FIG. 2) and the first resin member 22 (see FIG. 2) in the cylinder block 14 (see FIG. 2) of the embodiment. ) And the second resin member 23 (see FIG. 2) can be used.
According to such a motor housing 34, sufficient strength can be exhibited and the weight of the motor housing 34 can be reduced.

Also, moving body structural member is not limited to the cylinder block 14 and the motor housing 34, suspension members, such as the suspension of the vehicle, it can also be used in such a vehicle body frame.
Further, in the exemplary form state, the second resin member 23 is assumed to constitute the outermost layer (movable body structural member), the present invention is a further layer on the second resin member 23 It can also be set as the structure which has the 3rd member to form. Examples of the third member include a metal member and a resin member made of another material different from the resin member 21 (for example, a resin member made of a thermoplastic resin).
Also, moving body structural member is not limited to the one for the vehicle, it can be applied to structural members such as those used in vessels and aircraft.

  Below, the strength test done about the resin member 21 (refer FIG. 2) in the structural member for moving bodies of this invention is demonstrated. Here, the resin member 21 is assumed to be composed of one layer including a carbon fiber oriented in one direction with a phenol resin as a matrix. And the simulation test was done about the thing whose volume content rate of the carbon fiber with respect to a phenol resin is 0 to 100%, and those elastic modulus [GPa] and tensile strength [MPa] were calculated | required.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the volume content [%] of carbon fiber in the resin member 21 used in the cylinder block 14 and the elastic modulus [GPa].
FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the volume content [%] of carbon fiber in the resin member 21 used in the cylinder block 14 and the tensile strength [MPa].

In FIGS. 5 and 6, carbon fiber is replaced with glass fiber as a reference example, and the elastic modulus [GPa] and tensile strength [MPa] with respect to the volume content [%] of the carbon fiber in this reference example. Changes are also shown with a one-dot chain line.
In FIG. 5, a broken line indicated by “AL 70 GPa” is a reference line indicating 70 GPa that is an elastic modulus of the aluminum alloy (ADC12). In FIG. 6, the broken line indicated by “AL 245 MPa” is a reference line indicating 245 MPa which is the tensile strength of the aluminum alloy (ADC12).

As shown in FIG. 5, the elastic modulus in the resin member 21 having a volume content of carbon fiber of 25% or more is equal to or higher than the elastic modulus of the aluminum alloy (ADC12).
Moreover, as shown in FIG. 6, the tensile strength in the resin member 21 in which the volume content of carbon fiber is 25% or more exceeds the tensile strength of the aluminum alloy (ADC12).
Incidentally, in the reference example including glass fiber, both the elastic modulus and the tensile strength are lower than those of the example including carbon fiber.

From the above, the structural member for a moving body having the resin member 21 having a volume content of carbon fiber of 25% or more exhibits an elastic modulus equal to or higher than that of the aluminum alloy (ADC12), and the tensile strength of the aluminum alloy (ADC12) It was verified to show a tensile strength exceeding the strength.
In addition, as described above, the cylinder block 14 and the motor housing 34 include the resin member 21 using a prepreg including a plurality of prepregs having carbon fibers oriented in one direction or a prepreg including a carbon fiber cloth (woven fabric). Assumed. Therefore, these will more reliably show higher strength than the aluminum alloy (ADC12).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Crankcase 12 Engine 13 Crankshaft 14 Cylinder block 14a Cylinder bore 15 Bolt 16 Piston 18 Water jacket 19 Cylinder liner 20 Base material 20a Base material main body part 20b Flange part 21 Resin member 22 1st resin member 22a Separation part 22b Joint part 23 2 resin member 24 substantially cylindrical member 30 motor unit 31 drive motor 32 gear box 34 motor housing

Claims (2)

A metal substrate;
A resin layer containing a thermosetting resin and formed on the substrate,
The resin layer has a first resin layer and a second resin layer in order from the base material side,
Of the first resin layer and the second resin layer, only the second resin layer contains carbon fiber,
A cylinder block, wherein a water jacket is interposed between the base material and the first resin layer . 2. The cylinder block according to claim 1, wherein a volume content of the carbon fiber with respect to the thermosetting resin in the resin layer is 25% or more.

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