Aluminum alloy-made part

Abstract

An aluminum alloy-made part of the present invention includes an aluminum alloy, and an anodic oxide coating which coats a surface of the aluminum alloy and contains at least one of silver and copper. The aluminum alloy-made part is capable of enhancing the heat conduction performance in the interface between the anodic oxide coating and the base material and the heat radiation performance on the surface of the part concerned, thereby making it possible to make the heat resistance and the adhesion resistance compatible with good beat conductivity and good heat radiation property.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a structure of an anodic oxide coating of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a piston for a diesel engine;

FIG. 2B is a plan view showing the piston of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2C is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a piston for a gasoline engine;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a structure of an intake valve for an internal combustion engine;

FIG. 4A is a conceptual view showing a status where heat is radiated through an intake valve on which an anodic oxide coating of the present invention is not provided;

FIG. 4B is a conceptual view showing a status where the heat is radiated through an intake valve on which the anodic oxide coating of the present invention is provided;

FIG. 5 is a graph showing a relationship between a fuel consumption improvement ratio and a silver content in the anodic oxide coating in Example 1;

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a relationship between a peel strength of the anodic oxide coating and the silver content in the anodic oxide coating in Example 1;

FIG. 7 is a graph showing relationships between regions where the anodic oxide coatings are formed and the fuel consumption improvement ratio in Example 2;

FIG. 8 is a graph showing relationships between the fuel consumption improvement ratio and area ratios of the anodic oxide coatings of a piston top and a piston top back in Example 3;

FIG. 9 is a graph showing relationships between the fuel consumption improvement ratio and average thermal emissivities of an umbrella front and an umbrella back in Example 4;

FIG. 10 is a graph showing relationships between a fuel evaporation rate and the average thermal emissivities of the umbrella front and the umbrella back in Example 4;

FIG. 11 is a graph showing relationships between the fuel consumption improvement ratio and the average thermal emissivities of the umbrella front and the umbrella back in Example 5;

FIG. 12 is a graph showing relationships between a temperature of a center of a cylinder head and the average thermal emissivities of the umbrella front and the umbrella back in Example 5;

FIG. 13 is a graph showing relationships between the fuel consumption improvement ratio and the silver content in the anodic oxide coatings in Example 6;

FIG. 14 is a graph showing an effect of the anodic oxide coating to an abrasion amount of a shaft end in Example 7;

FIG. 15 is a graph showing an effect of the anodic oxide coating to an abrasion amount of a valve face in Example 7;

FIG. 16 is a graph showing an effect of the anodic oxide coating to an abrasion amount of a stem in Example 7;

FIG. 17 is a graph showing an effect of the anodic oxide coating to an abrasion amount of a cotter groove in Example 7; and

FIG. 18 is a graph showing an effect of removing a growth layer of the anodic oxide coating to an abrasion amount of the valve face in Example 8.

Claims

1. An aluminum alloy-made part, comprising: an aluminum alloy; andan anodic oxide coating which coats a surface of the aluminum alloy and contains at least one of silver and copper.

2. The aluminum alloy-made part of claim 1, wherein silver and/or copper are unevenly distributed in a vicinity of an interface between the anodic oxide coating and the aluminum alloy, and silver and/or copper are contained by 2 to 30% by mass in a range of at least 1 μm from the interface between the anodic oxide coating and the aluminum alloy.

3. The aluminum alloy-made part of claim 1, wherein the aluminum alloy-made part is a piston for an internal combustion engine, andthe anodic oxide coating is provided on at least one region selected from a piston top, piston top back, and piston ring groove of the piston.

4. The aluminum alloy-made part of claim 3, wherein, in the piston, the anodic oxide coatings are provided on regions other than a piston skirt and an inner circumferential surface of a piston pin boss.

5. The aluminum alloy-made part of claim 3, wherein following relationships are established: a≧0.6and/or b≧0.8where a is a ratio of an area of the anodic oxide coating formed on the piston top to an area of the entire piston top, and b is a ratio of an area of the anodic oxide coating formed on the piston top back to an area of the entire piston top back.

6. The aluminum alloy-made part of claim 3, wherein, on the piston top, the anodic oxide coatings are formed on regions excluding a pin-direction lip in a piston cavity.

7. The aluminum alloy-made part of claim 1, wherein the aluminum alloy-made part is an intake valve for an internal combustion engine, andthe anodic oxide coating is provided on at least one of an umbrella front and umbrella back of the intake valve.

8. The aluminum alloy-made part of claim 7, wherein average thermal emissivity of at least one of the umbrella front and the umbrella back is 0.5 or more.

9. The aluminum alloy-made part of claim 7, wherein average thermal emissivity of at least one of the umbrella front and the umbrella back is 0.7 or more.

10. The aluminum alloy-made part of claim 7, wherein the anodic oxide coating is provided on at least one selected from the group consisting of a shaft end, a valve face, a stem, and a cotter groove in the intake valve, or on an entire surface of the intake valve.

11. The aluminum alloy-made part of claim 10, wherein a growth layer of the anodic oxide coating formed on any of the shaft end, the valve face, the stem, and the cotter groove is removed, and a barrier layer and permeation layer of the anodic oxide coating are retained.