Upgraded Coating for Heavy Duty Piston Rings from Federal-Mogul Powertrain

New technology on display at IAA Commercial Vehicles will allow rings to withstand higher mechanical and thermal loads 

Burscheid, Germany, 2 August 2016 … Federal-Mogul Powertrain, a division of Federal-Mogul Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: FDML) has developed an upgrade to its GOETZE® Diamond Coating (GDC®) for piston rings, a technology that has been satisfying heavy-duty diesel engine requirements for more than a decade. The new coating, GDC60, features higher diamond content than the established GDC50 to further reduce wear and has demonstrated lower friction and greater scuff resistance during testing. It will be on show this September alongside other Federal-Mogul heavy-duty technologies, at IAA Commercial Vehicles in Hanover.

“GDC60 will enable our customers to develop new, more efficient engines with higher cylinder pressures while staying with a familiar, well-proven ring coating technology,” commented Gian Maria Olivetti, Chief Technology Officer, Federal-Mogul Powertrain. “This means they can continue to benefit from design features such as the inlays and Blitzchrom® flank protection that are already well established in the market with GDC50, as well as lower validation costs compared to a completely different ring coating technology.” 

Federal-Mogul Powertrain’s GDC coatings are galvanic, enabling use of the very high coating thicknesses required for heavy-duty engines. As cylinder pressures increase, however, greater scuff resistance is required, especially for the first compression ring. The challenge for Federal-Mogul’s engineers has been to maintain the high robustness and cost-effective design advantages associated with GDC coatings, while meeting the increased demands.

In rig tests, GDC60 reduced the friction coefficient up to 7 percent and first engine tests have shown the potential for wear reduction of up to 10 percent compared to GDC50 coatings. This will also benefit the function of the oil rings.

In order to provide GDC60 with greater scuff resistance under high thermal load conditions, Federal-Mogul Powertrain has improved upon the microstructure of GDC50, creating a finer microcrack network containing increased numbers of nanodiamond particles that are also more uniformly distributed.

When conventional fresh oils are used, GDC60 shows a scuff resistance improvement of up to 20 percent on already high levels of thermal load capacity; the improvement is even higher when operating with aged oil. Confirmation studies carried out with very low viscosity lubricating oils (HTHS2.6) demonstrated that GDC60 can withstand the same thermal load level as PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) coatings.

For specific applications, increased scuff resistance in combination with the proven high level of robustness under borderline loads makes GDC60 the optimum technical option within conventional piston ring coating families. Initial results from endurance testing in a highly loaded heavy-duty engine have confirmed the results of the rig test investigations.

GDC60 will complement the wide portfolio of piston ring coatings offered by Federal-Mogul Powertrain. Comprising galvanic, PVD and other technologies, the range also includes the premium Dragline®product, an amorphous carbon-based coating that contains a high percentage of diamond-like-carbon and which set a new benchmark for low friction and wear when introduced in 2014.

“Our expertise with a range of coating technologies means we can provide each customer with a ring pack specification tailored to their particular requirements,” explained, Dr. Steffen Hoppe, Director Technology, Rings & Liners, Federal-Mogul Powertrain. “For some applications, an innovative development such as DuroGlide provides the only robust solution; for others, an incremental improvement such as GDC60 offers a highly cost-effective answer that is convenient to implement, quickly validated and can be used in combination with existing and well-proven design features.”

Federal-Mogul Powertrain’s new GDC60 technology will feature in the company’s display at IAA Commercial Vehicles in Hanover, Germany, which runs from September 21-29, 2016. Federal-Mogul Powertrain will exhibit at Booth C28 in Hall 13.

About Federal-Mogul

Federal-Mogul Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: FDML) is a leading global supplier of products and services to the world’s manufacturers and servicers of vehicles and equipment in the automotive, light, medium and heavy-duty commercial, marine, rail, aerospace, power generation and industrial markets. The company’s products and services enable improved fuel economy, reduced emissions and enhanced vehicle safety.

Federal-Mogul operates two independent business divisions, each with a chief executive officer reporting to Federal-Mogul's Board of Directors.

Federal-Mogul Powertrain designs and manufactures original equipment powertrain components and systems protection products for automotive, heavy-duty, industrial and transport applications.

Federal-Mogul Motorparts sells and distributes a broad portfolio of products through more than 20 of the world’s most recognized brands in the global vehicle aftermarket, while also serving original equipment vehicle manufacturers with products including braking, wipers and a range of chassis components. The company’s aftermarket brands include ANCO®wiper blades; Champion®lighting, spark plugs, wipers and filters; Interfil®filters; AE®, Fel-Pro®, FP Diesel®, Goetze®, Glyco®, Nüral®, Payen®and Sealed Power®engine products; MOOG®chassis components; and Ferodo®, Jurid®and Wagner®brake products and lighting.

Federal-Mogul was founded in Detroit in 1899 and maintains its worldwide headquarters in Southfield, Michigan. The Company has more than 53,000 employees globally. For more information, please visit www.federalmogul.com.

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