Materials Piston Pins and Rings are made up of

Piston pins play a crucial, literally very important, role in acting against the heat of the internal combustion engine. Mechanically piston pins are an extremely simple material and, in their most basic structure, could be defined as a short and simple length of a solid bar.

Of course, many production piston pins are not much different in form from this simplest definition of a piston pin, being a very thick-walled cylinder made of the plain steel.Piston Rings generally have a more complex structure than different kinds of pins, in some kind of rings, mass comes in an absolute minimum and the products are less concerned with cost. Any change in material from a simple piston pin is costly, especially if we have to manufacture both ends of the ring or the pin.

The most common material used for manufacturing piston pins, in general, is steel. The surface of the steel is often hardened so as to get more resistance, and the type of hardening method which is used for the pin will spell the choice of material. There are two different types of the cylinder for hardening - carburising popularly termed as case hardening and nitride hardening.

Both have an advantageous side-effect of giving out significant compressive residual stresses to the part of the surfaces, which in turn results in the improvement of combustion resistance compared to a part without these stresses.

Carburising steels have the basic materials consisting of low carbon content and have also additional materials like manganese and nickel-chromium. The low carbon content of the carburising steels actively helps in the diffusion of carbon into the body of the steel.

Nitriding steels have elements in addition to the above-mentioned materials such as chromium, aluminium and titanium and they make up very powerful nitride formers. These nitriding steels are very much and in structure and elements to the kind of steel that we the manufacturers normally use to make racing crankshafts.

For manufacturing the pins, there are many makes of higher strength steels which might not be as helpful for nitride hardening, but which it is certainly possible to nitride with these different kinds of steel and which would make excellent raw materials for piston pins.

The role of surface treatments and coatings is important when it comes to the manufacturing of piston pins. If the kind of raw material is selected properly, the steel can significantly increase the durability of the piston rings. If we look at the very common type of a steel piston pin, there are a lot of possible surface treatments and coatings. The best type of piston pin, is, however, very often made from nitriding steel, or other types of steel that respond well to nitriding even if they are not specifically made for this purpose.

The nitriding treatment has many benefits on the pin. It hardens the surface and puts it into a shape of residual compressive stress. The hardening of the surface is an important factor in the making of the piston pins. The surface of the pin is made from nitriding steel becomes adaptable to damage, and the compressive residual stress means the pin is much more durable.

Piston rings mainly help in increasing power and efficiency of the engine and to reduce the maintenance interval.