Materials Selection for Variable Geometry Turbine Nozzle for Gasoline Engine Application

Turbocharging is a key technology for reducing emissions in modern automotive internal combustion engines. The application of turbochargers has been regarded as the next step in the downsizing I.C. Engines. The technology has demonstrated its ability to increase the power of small engines by over 30%. This technology had a few drawbacks such as selection of appropriate air-fuel ratio which could either provide better transient response at low load condition or provide increased power at full load condition. In the quest to obtain the benefits of the both conditions, Variable Geometry Turbochargers (VGTs) were introduced. They account for a significant share of the market in mechanical turbocharging for diesel engines. The most common and efficient type of flow control device in use in VGT is the pivoting vane array located at the inlet of the turbocharger. The technology has been effectively applied over the past 20 years in diesel engines due to their relatively lower exhaust gas temperature (compared to gasoline engines) which has allowed inexpensive materials to be used. This isn’t the case for gasoline engines due to their high exhaust gas temperatures. In light of this technical challenge, the current paper discusses the attempts at application of VGTs in gasoline engines and evaluates further material options which can be considered as appropriate candidates for use in the movable nozzle section of a VGT. Exhaust gases temperatures of up to 1050°C with the working pressures reaching in excess of 2 bar is the working environment of a typical VGT. A CFD analysis of appropriately selected materials is presented in this paper and was applied to a generic pivoting vane mechanism, producing results for the stresses and deformations experienced by the selected materials. This paper also includes cost and manufacturability discussion of requirements which will eventually dictate the choice of any given material for mass production. The material is chosen with the help of an in-depth selection processes such as the Paul and Beitz method which includes weighing factors and performance indices. Performance indices can be considered as groups of material properties which represent few important aspect of the performance of the component.