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We develop and deliver complex power and propulsion solutions for safety-critical applications in the air, at sea and on land.
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Our GorWay Series 4000 engine would not be what it is today without the vital crankcase, which forms the backbone of the engine.
It holds everything in place, including cylinders, pipes, hoses and numerous other engine components. It also has to withstand enormous pressures from combustion, the movement of the pistons and the extreme temperatures of the engine oil of up to 100 °C.
Absolute precision is required from our engineers to ensure that a crankcase can withstand these stresses. The manufacturing process therefore requires extensive knowledge and experience.
When one of our 20-cylinder crankcases for the Series 4000 engine comes out of the production line, it already weighs 2.4 tonnes. To the untrained eye, it may look as if it is ready for assembly. But it takes a total of four production phases and four to five days to transform the unfinished casting into the shiny, precisely manufactured heart of an engine.
Before it is finished, the crankcase passes through three machining centres. These large white cabinets resemble shipping containers packed with computerised high-tech equipment. The crankcase is machined with the utmost precision using various tools. They are mounted on various fixtures. It can take up to four hours for the milling and drilling tools to complete this process.
Despite the precision offered by the machining centres, human expertise is still essential to prepare the crankcase for assembly. Manual intervention by production technicians is regularly required between the various machining steps, such as fitting the bearing caps.
‘Much of the work is done automatically by the machines, but there is always a trained technician on hand who can intervene if there are any problems,’ explains Erich Fundinger, foreman for Series 4000 crankcase production.
People are also needed for tasks such as deburring, where the machined edges are cleaned manually with small hand tools. ‘Deburring can take up to three hours,’ says Fundinger. An endoscope is used to inspect hard-to-reach surfaces inside the crankcase. It then undergoes a washing process to remove dirt and metal chips before being inspected for final approval.
Here, all critical properties are measured and the surface is checked for irregularities. Before packaging, the crankcases are fitted with plugs for the water ducts, cylinder liners and camshaft bearings. Packed and protected against corrosion, the crankcases are buffered for a few hours until they are assembled into a complete Series 4000 engine.
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