news letter from Mahle

8/12/2019 news letter from Mahle

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PerformanceC O M P O N E NTS AN D S Y S TE M S F O R TH E E NG IN E AN D ITS P E R I P H E R Y 1 /2 0


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Dear readers,

W e are pleased to present the new M AH LE

Performancea platform for wo rldw idedialog w ith our cu stom ers. D riven by p er-

form anc efollow ing this slogan , we w ill

report on all asp ects m otivating ourselves

and the sector and reveal the exp ertise

beh ind M AH LE . This w ill provide you w ith

inform ation o n a b road spec trum of sub-

jects such as: innovations, R esearch &

D evelopm ent or trend s in the m arket. W e

report from both the M AH LE G roup a s w ell

as from ind ividu al bu siness un its. W e p ro-

vide insight into o ur current p roduct po rt-

folio, discuss produ cts in specialist contri-

butions and offer inform ation on new pro-

duc tion p rocesse s and techn ologies. W e

also sho w you e xtend ed a pp lication p os-

sibilities for our products and present pio-

nee ring solution s to prob lem s, giving you

a direct cutting ed ge in an increasingly

com petitive globa l m arket.

At the sam e tim e, proxim ityis especially

im portant to u s. As a glob al player am ong

the 30 largest autom otive supp liers, w e

are d irectly on site w ith 80 loc ation s

w orldw ide and w ith Re search and D evel-

op m ent cen ters in all key regions o f the

autom otive ind ustry. W e deve lop an d

m anufacture a w ide variety of com po nents

and m odules. That m akes us one of the

lead ing spe cialists w ith continuo usly grow -

ing system com petence in the field o f

eng ine an d p ow ertrain technology. O ur

sales organization, m anag ed a s a g lob al

key ac count organization, ensures direct

contact to o ur custom ers w orldw ide.

O ur driving force is close integration w ith

the deve lopm ent processes o f our custom -

ers. O ne of ou r strengths is our ab ility to

w ork very closely together with you in

com plex p rojects and to d o so interna-

tionally. O ur Rese arch and D evelopm ent

cen ters en able us to ha ve a flexible p res-

ence w ith correspo nding c apac ities e ve-

rywh ere, w hether in Europe , Asia, North

Am erica or South Am erica. W e alw ays set

new standa rds as a tech nolog ical lead er,

m easuring o ur perform ance aga inst the

very best. O ur continuously grow ing corecom petence for the com bustion eng ine

com plete system allow s us to integrate

directly through develop m ent tools in the

internal proce sses of our custom ers, and

henc e spur on developm ents with greater

efficienc y, process safety and cost optim i-

zation thanks to synergy effects. In this

w ay, for exam ple, w e seek a co ntinuo us

dialog w ith our custom ers over the entire

project m anag em ent period w ith inter-

disciplinary team s from D evelopm ent, Pro-

duction, Q uality Assurance a nd P urchasing.

O ur aim is to synch ronize all processes

op tim ally for the very best perform anc e.

Integrated solution s suc h as com plete

po w er cell un its typically offer synergy

effects and eno rm ou s po tential. Eve n

du ring the d evelopm ent phase, the indivi-

dua l com pon ents can be optim ally coo rdi-

nated w ith each other by m eans of sim u-

lation . Expenditure is redu ced, less test

runs are necessary and the

tim e can thus be sh ortened

tow ards com plete m odu le

several com po nen ts w hile inte

tion al function s is set to con

area of air m ana gem ent

m anagem ent system s, w e

new conce ptual insights an

solutions. A nd w ith c ylinde r

les, w e offer com plete exp

basic developm ent to prod uct

other supplier. The integratio

Po w ertrain has en abled us to

engineering and system com

further.

In the future as w ell, w e

enh anc e o ur internationa lly

research, developm ent and

exp ertise at the focal po ints

m otive ind ustry and in the w o

m arkets.

W herever you w ork together

in the w orld: O ur aim is to

our outstand ing perform ance

aptly named M AH LE Performhelp achieve this very goal. W

an interesting and enjoyab le

Your

Pe

Dr. Bernd Mahr, Member of the Corporate

Manageme nt Committee, Sales, Research and

Advanced Engineering

C O N T E N T

THE COMPANY

C orporate o rgan ization for m ore perform ance w orldw ide

ENGINEERING SERVICES

Ad vanced engineering and system com petence: M AH LE P ow ertrain

MOTORSPORTS

Form ula 1: Rac ing b y new rules:

The cha lleng e for engine develop ers, drivers and team s

PISTONSYSTEMS

The ECOFORM piston: con tinuous develop m ent for greater

perform ance an d less w eight

CYLINDER COMPONENTS

PVD coated p iston p in for highest fatigue resistance

VALVE TRAINSYSTEMS

C ylinder heads: a new M AH LE achievem ent

AIR MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Integration saves installation spa ce and costs: crankcase ventilation

w ith oil m ist sep arator

LIQUID MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

N ew two -stage d iesel fuel filter with integrated w ater separation

MAHLE POWERTRAIN

D ow nsizing reduc es fuel con sum ption

INTERVIEW

N ew regional Headq uarters in S hanghai: M AH LE Performance

spok e to D r. U w e M ohr, D irector R esearch and A dvanc ed E ngineering

of MA H LE International G m bH

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

2 Per for mance

VISIT US:

3. 6. April SAE W orld Congress Society of Autom otive

En gineers International (D etroit, U SA )

27. 28. April 27. Engine Symp osium W ien (Vienna, Austria)

9. 11. M ay European Autom otive Components Expo 2006/Engine Expo

(Stuttgart, G erm any)

26. 30. August M IM S Autosalon (M oscow, Russia)

21. 28. Septem ber IAA H eavy Duty Vehicles (H anover, G erm any)

9. 11. O ctober Aachener Colloquium Engine and Vehicle Technique

(Aachen, Germ any)

18. 27. N ovem ber Au to C hina International Autom otive Indu stry Exhibition

(Beijing , Ch ina)

MASTHEAD

PublisherM AH LE InternationalG m bHPragstrae 2646D-70 376 Stuttgartww w.mah le.com

Responsible for the contentDr. Bernd M ahr

Contactsales@m ahle.comPhone + 49 (0) 7 11-5 01-1 46 12Fax +49 (0) 7 11-5 01-4 41 4 6 12

Picture creditsM AHLE Archiv

Concept and designLorenz & Com pany W erbeagentur Gm bH

R ep rint, eve n pa rtially,only in acc ordance w ith and afterautho rization throu gh the e ditor. M A H L E G m b H , 2 0 06

00007432 DE EN


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C O R P O R A TE O R G A N IZ AT IO N

FOR MORE P ERFORMANC EW O R L D W ID E

Pe

T H E

4 Per for mance

As a global, pioneering leader in tech-

nology, MAHLE has aligned its corpo-

rate organization to the growing re-

quirements of international markets.

With these structures, we can offer

our customers working on global plat-

forms and projects across continents

more performance, more benefits,more synergies and more service for

integrated systems solutions.

Autom ob ile m anu facturers are placing in-

creasing em pha sis o n c oop eration for the

joint use o f platform s and eng ines. So-

called w orld engines are often produ ced

in d ifferent reg ion s an d cou ntries. At the

sam e tim e, the n um ber of interfaces and

sup pliers is decreasing w hile sub -process-

es and produc ts are being o utsourced

through increasing use o f m odu les and

system s. This develop m ent calls for glo-

ba lly active supp liers w ith a presence in

all regions, com bined w ith extensive tech-

nical and financial potential.

Global reach plus proximity to the

customer

Ag ainst this bac kgroun d, we h ave re-

aligned our corporate organ ization to be

bo th glob ally effective and yet custom er-

oriented w ith a ke y account structure in

the sales divisions and a un iform presen ce

in the m arket. Follow ing the one face tothe custom erprinciple, key acco unt

m anag ers represent all products and ser-

vices across the e ntire produ ct spec trum

on site at our custom ers. To ac hieve this,

they w ork close ly w ith the relevan t Produc t

Lines in all projects. Th e region ally-ba sed

sales team s of the various key acc ount

m anag ers guarantee con tinuo us and rapid

ava ilab ility on site w ith their technical spe -

cialists. This yields be nefits suc h as the

redu ction of interfaces, sign ificantly sim pli-

fied com m unication and po sitive e ffects, in

pa rticular for large projects realized across

Produ ct Lines or cou ntries. Thank s to o ur

global sales o rganization, we are in a per-

fect position to fulfill the future req uire-

m ents of the g lob al m arket. Th e integrat-

ed sales a ctivities play a significa nt role in

increasing efficienc y and h enc e ensuring

faster resp on se tim es.

The five g lob ally orga nized Prod uct Lines

P iston System s, C ylinde r C om pon ents,

Valve Train S ystem s, Air M anage m ent

System s and Liquid M anagem ent System s

are close ly integrated w ith one ano ther

via c entrally organ ized R esearch a nd Ad -

vanced D evelop m ent, sales and p rocure-

m ent divisions. The five p roduc t lines coverthe original equipm ent for the autom otive

ind ustry toge ther w ith the en gineering

service p rovider M AH LE Po w ertrain, w hich

w as integrated in 2 005 .

As autono m ously ope rating p rofit cen ters,

organ izational structures po sitioned be side

these serve the Afterm arket, M otorsports

as w ell as Sm all Eng ine C om pon ents,

Large Eng ine C om pon ents and Industrial

Filtration m arket segm ents w ith a spe-

cial custom er structure.

Valve Train Systems

C om plete valve train system s as w ell as

their com pon ents: cast and com posite

cam shafts, rocker arm s, cam follow ers,

rocker arm s hafts and lever m od ules,

valves, flat and roller tapp ets, valve sea t

inserts and g uide s, m ach ined cylind er

head s and en gine blocks as w ell as m ount-

ed c ylinder head s and eng ines, precision

sintered p arts, turbo cha rger pa rts.

Air Management Systems

C om plete air m anag em ent system s, air fil-

ters, crankc ase ventilation system s (w ith

oil m ist sepa ration and pressure regu la-

tion), cylinder head and eng ine c overs,

cabin air filters, actuators, blow -by h eating

system s.

Liquid Management Systems

O il filter m od ules, oil and fuel screw -on

filters, fue l filter m od ules, fue l pressure

regulators, inline fuel filters, activated car-

bo n filter m od ules, hea t exchan gers for

eng ines and transm issions, hydraulic o il

filters, air dryers.

R&D

Sales

Procurement

Product Lines

Piston Systems

Cylinder Components

Valve Train Systems

Air Management Systems

Liquid Management Systems

Aftermarket

Small Engine Components

Large Engine Components

Motorsports

Industrial Filtration

MAHLE Powertrain: increasing

engineering and systems competence

W e have streng thened o ur eng inee ring

and system s com petence w ith the acqui-

sition of the C osw orth Tech nology G roup

on January 1, 2005, now M AH LE Pow er-

train. Th is strategic expansion allow s us to

offer our custom ers an even greater spec-

trum of services from developm ent ser-

vices throug h to integrated pow ertrain an d

engine equipm ent.

Read more about M AHLE Powertrain on

pages 6 and 7.

PRODUCT LINES

Piston Systems

Alum inum pistons for gaso line and diesel

eng ines, articulated and steel pistons for

com m ercial vehicles, piston asse m blies

and m odules.

Cylinder C omponents

Piston rings, piston p ins, con nec ting rods,

cylind er liners, bearings a nd bu shings for

com bustion en gines and other autom otiveap plication s, piston inserts.

Profit Centers


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Pe

E N G IN E E R IN G

6 Per for mance

E N G IN E E R IN G S E R V IC E S

MAHLE plus Cosworth Technology

equals MAHLE Powertrain. An equa-

tion with tangible results for our

customers. At the beginning of 2005,

MAHLE acquired the Cosworth Tech-

nology Group with its expertise gained

since 1958 in the area of development

and production for road-going high-

performance engines. (Not to be con-fused with Cosworth Racing, now

Cosworth Ltd., the manufacturer of

Formula 1 engines). Successful inte-

gration in the MAHLE Group and re-

naming to MAHLE Powertrain on July

1, 2005 has enabled us to substantial-

ly extend our international engineering

and systems competence.

Power for the future

As a system s pa rtner, w e aim to fully uti-

lize future p otentials bo th ec onom ically

and techno log ically for our custom ers and

m ake e ngines e ven m ore efficient: op ti-

m ized for m ore pow er, long er service

lives, reduc ed fuel consum ption and low er

em issions. W ith M AH LE Pow ertrain, we

offer exp ertise and exp erienc e, w hich

exten d far beyo nd their origin in the field

of developing high-perform ance engines.

The com petence of M AH LE P ow ertrain

covers a broad spectrum from engineering

services o r integrated prototype h ardw are

and so ftw are for the entire pow ertrain

through to the developm ent of com plete

eng ines and their production. O ur glob alM AH LE sales and developm ent netw ork

allow s us to u tilize w orldw ide synergies for

inno vative so lutions. M AH LE Po w ertrain

has four locations for the d evelopm ent,

production a nd assem bly of engines: The

tw o developm ent centers in N ortham pton

(U K) and N ovi near Detroit (M I/US A) are

integrated in joint projects in the M AH LE

research an d d evelopm ent activities, and

w ork together w ith the o ther five d evelop-

m ent centers of the M AH LE G roup. The

two p roduc tion locations in W orcester (U K)

and W ellingb orough (U K) are respon siblefor the casting, prod uction a nd m ach ining

of cylinde r heads and engine blocks as

w ell as engine a ssem bly for sm all lots. The

first Au di R S4 and R S6 engines as w ell as

the Aston M artin V 12 eng ines, for instance,

all had their origin here and the A ud i/VW

V6 2.4 and 2.8 liter engines also c om e o ff

the p roduction line at this site.

Design, Research and Development

Today M AH LE Po w ertrain w ork is involved,

am ong st other things, w ith e xhaust em is-

sions a nd drivability of eng ines, fuel savingcon cep ts, diagno stics as w ell as the

redu ction of developm ent tim es from the

conc ept and p rodu ction through to dea ler

supp ort. This allow s M AH LE Po w ertrain to

offer a w ide range of services from

sho rt-term prototype p rojects through to

com plete engine program s w ith self-de-

velop ed eng ine c onc epts including the

prod uction an d develop m ent of electronic

diagno stics. The e xpe rienc e ga ined in the

area of com bustion engines extends from

one-cylind er to V1 2 a nd all variants in be-

tw een. Com puter-aided developm ent and

ana lysis processes enable rapid and cost-

effective designs, w hich ca n be verified

later in relation to com po nents or in the

entire eng ine w ith va riou s test facilities.

For this purpose, M AH LE P ow ertrain has

18 fired eng ine test bench es an d four

vehicle cha ssis dynam om eters. In ad dition

to pow er and torque be havior, the entire

em ission sp ectrum can also be recorded

and certified . This is of particular b enefit

to our custom ers in rega rd to stricter

exhau st gas regulations due to b e im ple-

m ented in the future.

Production and assembly through to

the complete engine

Besides com ponents, M AH LE P ow ertrain

also produ ces its ow n co m plete engines.

This includes casting and m ach ining cylin-

der crankcases and cylinde r heads w ith

series prod uction o f up to 120 ,00 0 un its

each year. At the sa m e tim e, our exten-

sive eng inee ring expe rienc e ensures that

each solution w e de velop is also optim ized

for prod uction in its d esign. M oreove r, we

also o ffer our custom ers the c om plete

assem bly of eng ines tested and deliv-

ered read y to install. Th anks to its broad

range o f services and the effective co m -bination of developm ent and produc tion

expe rtise, M AH LE P ow ertrain has been

involved in o ver 30 significan t program s

for new engine con cepts over the p ast few

years in the autom otive, m arine, aviation,

m otor racing an d industrial sectors. W e

invest continuously in research p rogram s

in o rder to secure our lead ing po sition in

autom ob ile techn ology. M AH L

is currently sup po rting bo th

jects as w ell as p rojects at

versities in England .

MAHLE Powertrain Integ

powertrain technology:

D evelopm ent, production a

of high-perform ance eng ine

From individua l com pon en

system s throug h to com ple

assem blies for prototypes

production

C om plete engine programcon cep t draft throu gh to p

D em on stration en gines an

po w ertrain installation s

Fe asibility stud ies

Product developm ents

Sub -system design p rogram

Value en gineering

Ben chm arking of com petin

Electron ic engine co ntrols

diagno stics

You can read more about MA

train in the article Downsiz

fuel consumption on pages

The origin of MAHLE PoweThe fine-sound ing n am e C osw

self and closely ass ociated

Found ed in 1958 by the two E

C ostin and K eith Duckw orth,

ed rapidly in the sixties an d se

cess ful inno vative program s and m otorsport engines. The f

eng ine (Do uble Fou r Valves) h

15 5 G rand P rix victories b y

dom inate Form ula 1 for decad

m ade a na m e for itself with

gines for series prod uc tion v eh

engines for Me rcedes-Benz a

oped and p roduced by C oswo

A D V A N C E D E N G IN E E R IN G A N D S Y S TE M C O M P E TE N C E

MAHLE P OWER TRAIN

Keith Duckworth , Graham Hill (behind the wheel),

Mike Cost in and Colin Chapman 1967 together with

the Lotus 49 and Cosworth Ford engine

The combinat ion Jim Clark/Lotus 49 with the DFV

engine changed th e face of Formula 1 racing in

1967

Final assembly at MAHLE Powertrain


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M O TO R S P O R TS M O T

The Formula 1 season 2006 is set t o

s ta r t w i t h new r u les . Thei r a im is to

lower costs, increase safety, reduce

c i r cu i t t imes and boos t exc i t emen t .

The mos t impo r t an t change a f f ec t s the

dr ive units of t he racing cars. The FIA

has consequen t l y spec i f i ed the use o f

V8 engines with 2.4 l i ter displacement

an eno rmous cha l lenge fo r t he teamsand eng ine manu fac tu r e r s invo lved .

In other words, everyone has to star t

aga in f r om scr a t ch . And tha t means

a po ten t ia l sh i f t in the r e la t i ve

s t r eng ths o f t he Fo rmu la 1 teams. The

season star t in Bahrain looks set to

herald an excit ing Grand Pr ix 2006.

Power limits: The new V8 rule is a real

challenge

Ac cording to the new regulations , the

new ly d evelop ed 2.4 liter V8 engines have

a po w er of around only 740 H P instead

of 900 at a speed of m ore than 19,000

rpm . In co m parison to the previous drive

units that rep resents a po w er loss of

around 2 0 p ercent. At the sam e tim e, the

eng ine m ust reliably cop e w ith tw o racing

w eeken ds an d h ence a service life of up

to 1,500 km . In 20 08, this requirem ent w ill

even be three racing w eeken ds and around

2,200 km . An e norm ous challenge for

developm ent and production at M AH LE

M otorsports.

MAHLE Motorsports Formula for

success

M AH LE b ecam e involved in m otorsport

as early as the 1 93 0's a truly w inning

com bination: In 20 04, for exam ple 16 out

of a total 18 G rand Prix races w ere w onw ith M AH LE m otorsport com ponents. In

2005 M AH LE sup plied six of the ten team s

yet aga in both the driver's cha m pionship

and d esign eng ineer cham pionsh ip w ere

w on w ith M AH LE m otorsport com ponents.

An d in 2 006 , six of the eleven team s

op ted for the p erform anc e a nd reliability

of our com po nents: B M W Sa ube r, Ferrari,

M idland F1 R acing, Red Bu ll Ra cing,

R enau lt and Toyota.

M AH LE M otorsports has set about tackling

the rule ch ang es at any early stage, coo rdi-

nating develop m ents intensively w ith its

custom ers do w n to every detail. All core

processes for m otorsport are b rought to-

gether at our m otorsport plant in Fellbach.

Around 190 engineers, designers and pro-

du ction or qu ality specialists w ork he re in

close coo peration und er one roof w ith

one com m on o bjective: greater perform -

ance. The m otorspo rt com po nents provid-

ed m ust alw ays be d esigned to reduce

friction and w eight w hile retaining the

required d urab ility. The end effect: to further

enha nce the engine pow er. The exp erts at

M AH LE a re in con tinuo us con tact with our

custom ers, enab ling them to respond

rapidly and flexibly to the d em and ing re-

quirem ents. In this w ay, for exam ple, the

piston m ass could be reduced by 5% onaverage from 20 04 u ntil 20 05 d esp ite

increasing sp eeds and a d oub led runn ing

tim e. M AH LE is one of the d riving forces for

outstand ing m otorsport success a relia-

ble and com petent partner in pole position.

Bad Vibrations

In a Form ula 1 engine around 9 00 m oving

parts m ust tolerate an d survive sp eeds of

m ore than 1 9,000 rpm . M ore vibrations

occu r in the new V8 eng ine g eneration than

in a V 10 eng ine d ue to physical factors: The

other ignition seq uen ces a nd ignition gaps

lead to co m pletely altered vibration and

less b alanc ed m om ents of inertia. This

results in co nsiderably higher m ech anical

loads for the o verall system , w hich has a n

effect on the reliab ility and service life of the

drive units and the m ain co m po nents, such

as the pistons. O w ing to the low er speed

range w hich can be utilized and low er torques

of the V 8 en gine w ith a defined intake p ipe

length, a highe r full-load sha re results in

contrast to the V 10 eng ine in relation to a

com plete racing d istance o f around 1 0% .

This en tails high er piston tem peratures,

w hich in turn requires an op tim ization of the

piston cooling or the use of hea t-resistant

alloys.

A further o bjective is to redu ce eng ine vi-bration s to a tolerable leve l. Ea ch individu al

engine com ponent is com puted and ana-

lyzed in the sim ulation , while its behavior is

asc ertained w ithin the overall interplay. A

new spe cification o nly gets the go-ahead

for racing after extensive end urance runs

on dyn am om eters involving thousand s of

kilom eters. This is bec ause the ne w V8 en-

gines have to exhibit the sam e stability as

their tried-and-tested prede cessors righ t

from the beginning, thus setting the highest

dem and s for the q uality of all com po nen ts.

No variable intake, exhaust and valve

controls allowed

A further crucial cha nge in the ne w set of

rules is the proh ibition of variab le air intake

system s w hich w ere previously used for

optim izing the torque and po w er. A m ore

narrow speed range is now available ow ing

to the fixed pa ssage lengths. Th erefore, this

calls for a com prom ise betwe en m axim um

po w er and go od drivab ility. B esides the

variab le a ir intake system s, variab le

exhaust system s as w ell as valve controls

are prohibited. In the sam e w ay, a long list

of exotic m aterials have been ruled out

the regulation s stipu late co nve ntion al tita-

nium and alum inum alloys for connec ting

rods, valves an d p istons.

O ne thing is clear: Th e co nce

from V1 0 to V8 entails eno rm

fort and exp ense, not only in t

also the entire veh icle.

H ow ever, the objective in m ot

struction rem ains the deve lo

perfectly co ordinated com ple

W ith high p erform ance and rel

FOR MULA 1: R AC ING B Y NEW RU LEST H E C H A LLE N G E FO R E N G IN E D E V ELO P E R S , D R IV E R S A N D T E A M S

The most important rules for engines from

2006

From the 200 6 season onw ards, only V8 e ngines

w ith m axim um 2.4 liters displacem ent are perm it-

ted as w ell as older V1 0 d rive un its with a sp eed

lim itation still to be de fine d b y the F IA for a tran s-

itiona l pe riod . Turbines , diese l, W ank el engines o r

sup ercharging are not perm itted . Also proh ibited

are variab le exh aus t pipe leng ths, oval piston s and

energy acc um ulators wh ich sup port the en gine in

its op eration.

In the 2006 sea son, an engine m ust withstand two

entire racing w eeken ds. Re pair w ork on add itional

units of the en gine such a s the oil pu m p is allow ed .

An engine chang e is penalized b y m oving the d river

ba ck ten p lace s in the s tart line-u p.

Considerable changes expected for engine

manufacturers from 2008 and 2009O n Dece m ber 21, 2005 the FIA annou nced the pro-

spective rules w hich are to app ly from 200 8 on -

w ards in relation to co st redu ction a nd g ene ral

stand ardization. T here is a provision al neg otiation

basis between the FIA and the autom obile m anu-

facturers.

From 200 8 on w ards, the

w ithstand three instead o f

for the transm ission, this n

Each team m ay only use tw

chassis) at the racing w eek

Th e s pe ed lim it is to be p

to 19,000 rpm , w hereby a

rpm is no t ruled ou t.

A 5.75% com pon ent of th

of a biologically prod uce d

hybrid e ngines are to be p

The m inim um w eight wi

605 to 550 kg.

O nly m aterials authorized

used in ch assis and engine

A m ajor change to the C onc

vide s for cha ssis and en gi

from one team to the next

it easier for new team s to

R evo lution ary tech no log ies dual team a com petitive ad

and force the other team s

cos t intensively are to b e

of the first seaso n.

8 Per for mance Pe


6/12

As a leading manufacturer of light-

weight pistons for gasoline engines,

MAHLE has constantly redefined thelimits of performance through continu-

ous development and innovative con-

cepts. With the rising price of fuel

making efficient engines ever more

attractive, MAHLE can now offer its

customers an even more economical

solution for engines thanks to its pat-

ented ECOFORM piston. This makes

the ECOFORM piston superior to con-

ventional pistons in terms of mass and

performance. When combined with

other refined engine components, the

reciprocating masses of the engine are

reduced.

Continuous development in production

C ontinuo us de velopm ent and o ptim ization

is the ke y to techn ical advancem ent for anyproduct and com pany. M AH LE is renow ned

throughout the w orld for setting the p ace o f

inno vative piston d evelopm ent. O ne of the

latest developm ents in reduc ing the m ass

in its pistons for ligh tweight ga soline en-

gines, the EC O FO RM piston, has already

been launched on the m arket.

The ECO FORM piston is sim ilar to con-

ven tion al alum inum alloy pistons. B oth

have the sam e m aterial w hile the casting

m olds are also sim ilar. H ow ever, im prove-

m ents in the casting p rocess a nd m old

design have ena bled a significan t reduction

in the m ass by up to 20% w ith the EC O -

FORM piston.

The difference s in the m old design affect

the d em olding process. In co nventiona l

pistons, the s ide co re is released by

straight pulling of the core aw ay from the

cast piston (see figu re 1). Th is casting pro-

cess prevents ring belt undercuts in the

direction of the p in an d restricts the design

of the skirt area. Th e box w alls are parallelor sym m etrical to the p iston ce nter axis

(see figu re 2).

In the ECO FO RM process, the w indo w

insert rotates o n a pin as the p in c ore is

pu lled straigh t ou t of the m old (see figu re

3). Th is en ables u ndercuts of the piston

ring grooves. This ne w casting m ethod

offers design en gineers new op po rtunities

for w eight reduction . A large p ocket in the

balcon y in the direction of the bo lt reduce s

the m ass o f the p iston, w hile the sha pe

can be ch anged to m eet the design and

perform ance requ irem ents of the cu stom er.

Instead of the ed ge o f the w indo w being

pa rallel to the centerline as in con ven tion al

piston s, it is obliqu e an d rou nd in sh ape

w ith the EC O FO RM piston. The d istance

from the ce nter of the piston is large r at the

bo ttom of the skirt than at the top; this

gives the skirt a be ll-like shap e. The com bi-

nation of chang e in the window shap e and

inclination of the w indow w all provide a

redu ction of abou t 19% in the su rface area

of the skirt.

The inner core needs to b e cha nged in or-

der to m atch the w indo w incline. The inner

shape d esign can b e adap ted w ith repo -

sitioned w indow w alls, w hich reduces the

w eight of the p iston. By m aintaining a co n-

stant w all thickn ess, the inne r core follow s

the curvature of the rounded w ind ow . This

ad ds stiffness to the skirt. Th e use o f a sin-

gle piece inner core can then be a n op tion.

A draft is no t need ed since over ha lf of the

surface area that w ould ne ed to be d rafted

in co nve ntional pistons is already ang led .

As described above, the EC O FO RM piston

and con ven tion al pistons a re visually differ-

ent (see figure 4). The w eight of the E C O -

FORM piston is low er and is disting uished

by im proved d urab ility.

Continuous development in piston

performance

W ith the reduction of m ass an d running

surface in the sk irt area, the EC O FO RM

piston has enabled a red uction in friction

and hence an im provem ent in the running

condition. The results reco rded in the graph

below (see figu re 5) indicate the suc cess of

THE EC OFORM P IS TONC O N T IN U O U S D E V ELO P M E N T

F O R G R E A TE R P E R FO R M A N C E A N D L E S S W E IG H T

10 Per f or m an ce Per f

P IS T O NP IS T O N S Y S TE M S

Figure 3:

Swivel window mold cast ing tool

Figure 4:

Conventional pisto n (left) versus

ECOFORM piston (right)

Figure 2:

Side view of a conventional piston

Figure 1:

Conventional mold

the ECO FORM piston a long w ith weight-

op tim ized ring s and con nec ting rod s (test

num bers 2 and 3) in com parison to con-

ven tion al pistons (test num be r 1). Prelim i-

nary testing on a piston w ith 25% less sk irt

surface area show ed that it even im proved

the hyd rodyn am ic prope rties of the E C O -

FORM piston, w ith a sign ificant reduction

in the m idd le and upp er engine sp eed

range (test num ber 4). These results revea l

that M AH LE is on the right cou rse w ith

developm ent of the EC O FO RM piston.

A p iston op tim ized in this w ay form s a very

com pact lightw eight assem bly in co m bina-

tion w ith a stepped co nnecting rod using

M AH LE's new 36M nVS 4 forged steel and

a p iston pin w ith conical end s. Initial deve l-

op m ent resu lts ind icate that the oscillating

m asses of the piston/ring/bolt/conn ecting

rod unit could b e reduced b y 17 to 18%

w ithout dec reasing the streng th of the

individua l com pon ents.

The ECOFO RM piston is a trem end ous step

tow ards m ore efficient gasoline e ngines

w ith low er fuel consu m ption. Thanks to tar-geted and continuous d evelopm ent, M AH LE

rem ains the d riving force for greater perform -

ance w ith innovative d esigns and conc epts

as the w orld's lead ing piston m anu facturer.

Figure 5:

Performance scuffing resistance


7/12

C Y L IN D E R C O M

MAHLE has always been enhancing

innovative developments which are

more powerful than anything yet exist-

ing through research and development.

By thinking in systems and interrela-

tions and the optimized coordination of

all components, further performance

reserves can be mobilized. The piston

pin may be a small component but it

plays an important role for the perform-

ance of an engine. MAHLE piston pins

excel through utmost quality, precision

and application variety. The product

portfolio comprises diameters from 6

to 250 mm. For the application in pas-

senger car engines, piston pins are form-

ed by MAHLE with the latest multiple-

stage molding presses thus achieving

innovative and complex molds for high-

er stress-resistance. The increasing

ignition pressures require a permanent

optimization of the piston pins stress

resistance. For highly stressed en-

gines, MAHLE has therefore developed

piston pins of case-hardened steels or

nitrided steels with PVD coating.

PVD Coated Piston Pin

Piston p ins m ust have a high fatigue resis-

tance as w ell as w ear and seizure resis-

tance d uring c ontact w ith the p iston an d

conn ecting rod. C ase-hardened steels and ,

in a sim ilar w ay, nitride d steels revea l opti-

m um prop erties for achieving these re-

qu irem ents. Nevertheless, bushings in the

bo res are often nec essary in o rder to

attain acceptab le tribo log ical cond ition s.

For bo th w eight and cost reduction, en-

gine m anufacturers pu rsue the aim of

sup erseding bushings. The resulting stress

con ditions and con tact partners often

m ake the use o f a coa ted p iston p in ne-

cessary. Furtherm ore, a po sitive influen ce

on the friction perform anc e is exp ected.

In racing ap plications, coating s ba sed on

PV D (plasm a vap or depo sition, physical

gas pha se sep aration process, high-vacu-

um vap orization p rocess), w hich are often

based o n D iam ondLikeC arbon (D LC ), have

prove n the ir m erit. Tests a re cu rren tly

being carried out for the se ries production

cap ab ility of PVD -coated piston pins.

C oating tem peratures abo ve 200 C seem

to be critical for co ating case -hardened

steel, as high tem pe ratures lead to a

redu ction of surface hardness and core

strength. In such con dition s, nitride d steel

can be used b ecause increased tem pera-

tures w ill not reduce the co re streng th and

surface ha rdness.

M AH LEs experience m eans value enha nce-

m ent for custom er produ cts.

Exp erience w ith PV D coa tings for various

products.

Exp erience w ith P VD coatings for case-

hardend and nitrided steels.

Experienc e w ith PVD coa tings for piston

pins of Form ula 1 as w ell as high-per-

form anc e application s.

M ono layer coatings such as C rN, D LC ,

W C/C, TiN.

M ultilayer coatings such as a com bina-

tion of CrN and DL C .

C Y L IN D E R C O M P O N E N T S

Per f12 Per for mance

P VD C OATED P IS TON P INFO R H IG H EST FATIG U E RES ISTAN C E

Testings which leave nothi

For highly stressed com pon ent

m aterial testing and qu ality c

increased c om pon ent safety

of engine dam ages. Therefore

and w ill further inves t m u

ods in this sector. The m ost sure that the com pon ents ar

in p ractical test run s. The high

of the au tom otive ind ustry are

Performance scuffing resistance

A P VD -coated piston p in inc

resistanc e, cuffing resistanc e

sistance and dry-running pro

redu cing friction .


8/12


It is the cylinder head that makes the

engine intelligent. Although there is

nothing exclusive about this state-

ment, the complexity of the assembly

is beyond doubt a complexity which

has increased in recent years due to

extensive measures aimed at greater

flexibility in sub-systems for carbure-

tion and charge exchange for instance.

The performance characteristics of a

combustion engine, its fuel consump-

tion and raw emissions are determined

by charge exchange, carburetion and

combustion performance parameters

and, more so than ever, by the cylinder

head and its adjoining components. Atthe same time, the cylinder head com-

plete system plays a crucial role in

determining the manufacturing costs

of the complete engine, as this essen-

tially defines the engine concept.

Cost-effective series solutions in the

sense of an intelligent simplicity

require a uniform and simultaneous

development for this, owing to the di-

verse and reciprocal dependencies

between the individual systems in re-

lation to the combustion process.

In response to this, M AH LE p ursues a

m od ular approac h in con junc tion w ith

cylind er hea d refinem ent, and is ab le to

develop and produce cylinder head m od-

ules itself. The p roven c om petence o f its

subsidiary M AH LE Po w ertrain in the d evel-

opm ent of high-perform ance engines

form s the basis beh ind the system s ex-

pertise of M AH LE. This know -how co m -

plem ents the Va lve Train S ystem s Produ ct

Line o f the p arent G roup in a unique w ay.

It is especially im po rtant in this co ntext

that M AH LE Po w ertrain a lso o ffers its o w n

produc tion fac ilities (prec ision ca sting ,

m achining, assem bly and production) for

prototypes and larger series in addition to

its developm ent exp erience.

The acqu isition of Co sw orth Tec hnology by

M AH LE in 2005 m arked an extension to

the product po rtfolio u nprecede nted in the

history of the co m pan y. D ecad es of expe-

rienc e in developing high-perform ance an d

m otorsport engines especially w orth

noting h ere is the lege nd ary DFV Fo rm ula

1 eng ine of the 19 60s an d 19 70s, wh ich

notched u p a total of 155 G rand P rix vic-

tories, an d the first fou r-valve eng ines for

M ercedes and O pel at the end of the

1980 s have created a skilled team , w hich

recen tly provide d a crucial contribu tion to

O EM engine developm ents with bench-

m arking po tential. The broad horizon of ex-

perience in de velop m ent activities e xtends

from con cep tual studies, all areas of C AE

ana lysis, design , func tional developm ent

on com ponent and dynam om eters as w ell

as eng ine a pp lication and calibration

throug h to co m plete vehicle integration.

The fact that the ch arge exch ang e w ith the

resultant (bec ause indu ced ) com bustion

cham ber m ovem ent can m ore or less be

rega rded as an elem ent conn ecting a ll

developm ent wo rk on the eng ine form s the

basis un derlying the profound expertise o f

our en gineers in the area of cylinder head

developm ent. The n am e C osw orth is close-

ly associated w ith high-perform ance en-

gines w hose unrivalled perform ance prop-

erties are the result of m eticulou s fine-

tuning of their gas-dyna m ic param eters.

Valve tim ing, valve lifts, channel geom etries

and intake pipe lengths, as w ell as co llec-

tor volum es a nd their distribu tion have

alw ays be en stand ard features of our devel-

op m ent activities. 10 0 H P/lfrom a na tu-

rally-aspirated eng ine under conventional

series con ditions are not the result of exot-

ic high-tech app lications, but rather target-

ed a nd hen ce efficient system coo rdination.

D irect injection, the d esire for increased

perform ance through su percharging as w ell

as the required reduction in u ntreated en-

gine em issions e.g. through internal or cool-

ed external exhaust gas recirculation po se

new cha lleng es w hich significantly extend

our stand ard repertoire o w ing to the in-

creasing nu m ber of individual com po nen ts

w hich have to be ha rm onized w ith each

other. Only an und erstand ing of all interre-

lations guarantees o ptim um (cost/benefit)

and robust solutions (tolerance and sensi-

tivity to w ear) now and in the future.

M AH LE is currently w orking on num erous

new de velop m ents w hich w ill further

increase op eration al flexibility and hence

the efficienc y o f future m ass-produc tion

engines. These developm ents are co n-

centrated on the cylinde r head an d b ene-

fit from the expertise of M AH LE Po w er-

train. System s for valve deactivation or for

valve lift chan geover, as w ell as system s

w hich ultim ately enable com pletely new

com bustions p rocesses, such as con trolled

auto-ign ition in gaso line e ng ine s are

w orthy of note here. As su ch system s

som etim es require ch ang es to existingbasic de signs of the cylind er head or have

to be taken into ac cou nt righ t from the

start w ith new designs, being ab le to

develop the cylinde r head system from a

sing le sou rce represen ts an ob viou s

advantage.

The driving force beh ind the developm ent

process is the sim ulation, wh ich suppo rts

the conc ept form ulation and design pro-

cess a nd p rovides im po rtant inform ation

on the test program s required. W hether

charge exchan ge and engine process cal-

culations, non-linea r therm o-m echanical or

dyn am ic structural ana lyses, CFD calcula-

tions e.g. for designing c harge e xchang e

elem ents, com bustion cham ber geom e-

tries, injection system configurations o r flow

analyses in the coo ling w ater jacket, dynam -

ic m ultibo dy sim ulations and N VH op tim i-

zations: the c ylind er head com plete system

is righ t at the center of this work. The sim u-

lation w ork is co ordinated according to

requirem ents on the basis of spec ified pro-

ject m ilestones. Targeted trials, com ponen t

tests or dam age a nalyses are applied for

this, all of w hich c an be provided at our

com pan y. Sim ultaneou s engineering con sti-

tutes an essential factor for efficient use of

the sim ulation . This in turn c alls for speed

and an accurate selection of the sim ulation

tools. Experience and com petence are

ind ispensab le here, as is integrated project

planning w ith agreed d esign review s during

the d evelopm ent phase.

Th e prod uction facilities, alread y used pre-

dom inantly for the p rod uction and assem -

bly of cylind er hea ds, co nstitute a further

cornerstone of our system s com petence.In a dd ition to the e fficient foundry for pre-

cision die-cast parts in a lum inum , M AH LE

Pow ertrain also ben efits from m ach ining

cen ters suitable for series prod uction as

w ell as a ssem bly lines w ith a level of flexi-

bility allow ing for the prod uction an d

assem bly of prototype batch sizes at the

sam e tim e.

The foundry uses the patented C O SC AS T

process w hich h as b een specially de velop-

ed for true-to-shap e and w eigh t-op tim ized

com pon ents capable of w ithstanding ex-

trem e loads. Very sm all w all thicknesse s

can be realized thanks to the use of zir-

con sand , w hich exhibits the low est possi-

ble core displace m ent ow ing to its low

therm al exp ansion in the m elt. M oreove r,

the m elt is extrem ely pure due to the na -

ture of the p rocess w hen m elting the

alum inum feed stock, w ith the result that

trem endo usly hom oge nous structures can

be achieved in the subsequent com po-

ne nt. In p articu lar, filling the m old via a

m elt pu m p from be low , i.e. head first,

gua rantees m inim um turbulences du ring

the ca sting . Th is typically preve nts the

oxide layer alw ays p resent from interacting w ith the co r

the co m po nen t, instead al

pen etrate the w alls o f the

com ing into contact w ith th

controlled m old filling also re

few gas traps in the com pon

low est possible residual stres

In order to ensure the high est

ity, all the q ua lity tests neces

(com po nent m easurem ents,

m aterial testing , real-tim e X -ra

sure tests, eng ine hot tests)

gral com pon ent of our produ c

M AH LE Po w ertrain ha s the ta

the op tim um solution und

bound ary conditions. C om plian

utory em ission lim its, ach ievin

possible fuel consum ption a

low production costs with high

ability are ind ispe nsable elem

w ork. W e are also pleased to

add ed b onus for our custom

and perform ance values be

for driving pleasure an d c om

da y road traffic.

C YLINDER HEADS :A N E W M A H L E A C H IE VE M E N T

3d in-cylinder flow field (left), mixture formation (middle) and combu stion (right) in a GDI eng

Thermal Stress on the cylinder head (a), instantaneous surface temperatures (b),

cooling flow in the water jacket (c) and contact p ressure distribution to the cylinder head g asket (d)

(a)

(b)(c)

(d)

V A L V E TR A IN


9/12

MAHLE crankcase ventilation systems

are reliably cleaning the oil-loaded

gases out of the crankcase. Thus, oil

consumption can be decreased further

and emission limits are fulfilled. The

oil mist separator, integrated into the

crankcase ventilation, separates the

aerial from the liquid elements. The

extracted oil is newly integrated into

the oil circulation and the purified air

into the intake system. The quality ofthe oil mist separator has direct

influence on the combustion and the

oil consumption of the engine. Oil mist

separators steadily gain importance

due to the pollution during changing

operating conditions of premium com-

ponents such as mass-airflow sensor,

turbo charger, charged air cooler or

exhaust sensor.

Oil mist separator and pressure

regulation

For gasoline a nd diesel eng ines, pressu re

in the crankcase is lim ited b y ventilation

using spring-load ed valves either regulat-

ing the pressure or lim iting the flow rate.

The valves are developed at M AH LE and

are designed as either m em brane or

throttle valves integ rated in the ven tilation

system . D ifferent separators can be a p-

plied to sep arate the oil m ist from the ga sflow . The sep arator is cho sen w ith resp ect

to requirem ents such a s the nece ssary

sep aration rate an d p erm issible pressure

drop , the existing installation space as w ell

as costs and m aintenance requirem ents.

Per f

A IR M A N A G E M E N T

16 Per for mance

A IR M A N A G E M E N T S Y S T EM S

What purpose does crankcase

ventilation with oil mist separation

serve?

D uring the c om bustion process o f a piston

eng ine, gase s w ill alw ays p ass by pistons

and rings into the crankcase. Du e to high

tem peratures and high p ressure differen-

ces betw een the com bustion cham ber and

crankc ase, the o il adhering at the piston

is carried along and dispersed into fine oil

m ist.

For environm ental reaso ns, it is not accept-

ab le to em it the engine ventilation into the

atm osp here. Instead, the b low -by gases

are clean ed of the oil m ist and returned to

the com bustion proce ss. This gives rise to

two tasks. The resulting overpressure in

the crankcase m ust be discharged to a

defined vacu um level using a ventilation.

In add ition to this, the ven tilation m ust be

clean ed of the oil droplets by sep aration.

The q uality of the oil m ist separation has

a significan t im pac t on the em ission b eha v-

ior of an eng ine and crankc ase ventilation

is thus of increasing im po rtanc e w ithin

engine developm ent.

Separation mechanisms and their

implementation

M AH LE u ses inertia-driven sep arators,

developed either as a passive o r as an

active system . Am on g the passive inertia-

driven sep arators a re sp irals, im pactors

and cyclones. Base d o n a sim ple con struc-

tion princ iple, they a re resistant to d irt,

m aintenance-free an d ac hieve a g ood to

very goo d separation perform ance . In the

case of a passive system w ith very highsep aration requirem ents, additional fiber

filter elem ents ca n b e u sed follow ing the

inertia-driven sep arator. Am ong the ac tive

system s are driven c entrifug es, such a s

the plate separator which co m bines low

pressure drop w ith outstand ing se pa ration

perform anc e. Inside the en gine, sep aration

system s are also c om bined , e. g. w ith the

cam shaft.

M AH LE integrates crankcase ventilation

system s in valve co vers or oil m od ules. This

results in integrative com po nen ts w hich save

costs and installation spa ce. The se ha vebeen developed at M AH LE w ith respect to

future requ irem ents regarding ventilation ,

sep aration and func tional integration.

IN TEG RATIO N SAVES IN STALLATIO N SPAC E A N D C O STS

C RANKC AS E VENTILATIONW ITH O IL M IST SEPAR ATO R

Multi-cyclo ne as oil mist separator w

regulating valve


10/12


11/12


M A H L E P O

Direct injection opens up new oppor-

tunities for supercharging in gasoline

engines, as downsizing really comes

into its own in conjunction with high-

pressure charging. The combination of

direct injection and supercharging is

today's prior art in diesel engines. It is

this development in particular which

has paved the way for advances in the

specific power and torque of low fuel-

consumption, auto-ignition systems

and played a crucial role in the diesel

boom of the last few years.

Th e introd uction of direct injection in gas-

oline e ngines creates new op po rtunitiesfor sup ercharging in these eng ines as w ell.

Som e of the d raw backs in supercharged

m ulti-point injection e ngines a re now com -

pensated for w ith direct injection. Ab ove

all, the vap orization of the fuel within the

com bustion cham ber plays a significant

role in coo ling the co m bu stion p rocess.

The lim it tem perature w as also increased

further thanks to advance s in the m ateri-

als for turbocharge rs. As a result, the fuel/

air m ixture no long er needs to b e g reased

to such an e xtent at higher load s. A sig-

nificant red uction in fuel co nsu m ption is

conseq uently ac hieved in real-life driving

m ode.

The torqu e is proportionally dep end ent on

the displacem ent and the break m ean

effective pressu re. Increasing the b reak

m ean effective p ressure m eans that the

displacem ent can also be redu ced w ith-out ad versely affecting the en gine perform -

anc e. In o ther wo rds, dow nsizing entails

increasing the p ow er and torque p erform -

anc e of sm aller engines so that they can

replace larger eng ines. Th ese e ng ines

have the follow ing a dva ntage: sm aller en-

gines w ith less displacem ent (possibly w ith

less cylinders) consequently w ork in m ore

effective op erating po ints, w hile e xhibiting

less losse s through friction and cha rge

exchan ge, accom pan ied b y im proved effi-

cienc y. This red uce s the fuel consum ption

yet furthe r.

N evertheless, m any cha lleng es still rem ain

as regards d ow nsizing . In particular, the

increase d therm al and m ech anical stresses

as w ell as kno cking tende ncies in the com -

bustion p rocess create problem s. Thu s, for

instance, the respo nse p erform ance of

dow nsized turbo eng ines d uring acce lerationfrom low er speeds is m uch less effective

than in large r naturally-asp irated en gines.

Engine

2.4-liter V6

1.8 T

Max.

Performance [kW]

125

120

Max.Torque

[Nm]

230

225

Vmax

[km/h]

225

228

0 100 km/h

[sec.]

8.8

8.6

Fuel Consumption (l/100 km

Within City Limits Outside City Limits

13.611.3

7.26.4

% Improvement

Figure 2

Performance, torque and fuel consump tion for a

vehicle with 2.4-liter engine compared to an engine

with 25% less displacement through downsizing

DOWNS IZINGR E D U C E S FU E L C O N S U M P TIO N

M A H L E P O W E R T R A IN

Intensive work is currently being carried

out tow ards so lutions for these problem

areas. Turbo chargers w ith variable geo m -

etry, two -stage turbocharging or also a

com bination o f turbo and m echan ical

cha rgers are op tions here. Neve rtheless,

these system s all have an uppe r lim it in

the leve l of cha rging .

Su percharging w ith c harging pressures o f

m ore than three bar loo ks set to provide

a further increase in efficiency. H ow eve r,

the com po nen t streng th then req uires

eng ine o peration in the M iller proce ss,

w hich thereb y restricts the propo rtion ally

increasing m axim um pressure. Pa rt of the

com pression is displaced outw ards as a

result. The co oled ch arge air has a ve ry

high density, resulting in b reak m ean effec-

tive p ressures w ell above 25 bar. At the

sam e tim e, the low final com pression tem -

perature prevents kno cking during com -

bustion. Suc h a c once pt enables the en -

gines to be dow nsized e ven further and

allow s correspo nding consum ption ad van-

tages, provided that the respo nse p erform -

ance and low -end torque are at an effec-

tive level as a result.

Figure 1:

Shift in operating point through downsizing

These benefits in real-life cust

tion im prove the acc eptance o

eng ines. Increasing fuel prices

peop le to chan ge their w ays

Su percharging w ill increasingl

fuel saving in gasoline eng ines

just as a m eans to bo ost pe

top m otorizations.

As a system s pa rtner to the

ind ustry, M AH LE c an offer it

com petent sup po rt for tech no

ership w ith integrated so lution

of dow nsizing.


12/12

MAHLE is represented in all key re-

gions of the automotive industry with

development activities as well as its

own technology centers. A further de-

velopment center in Shanghai/China is

set to open its doors on April 19, 2006.

This ensures that MAHLE is present

with technological expertise in one of

the most important growth regions of

the world. MAHLE Per f o rmancespoke

to Dr. Uwe Mohr, Director Research

and Advanced Engineering of MAHLE

International GmbH about the oppor-

tunities in China, as well as interna-

tional networking and regional anchor-

ing of our technological expertise in

the markets.

China a growth market. What tasks

will the new regional Headquarters

in Shanghai assume central researchand development projects as well?

The new regional H eadq uarters in S hang -

hai w ill com bine ce ntral functions for our

prod uction plants in C hina, for instance

developm ent, testing , laboratories, sa les,

hum an resources, IT a nd finances. W e sha ll

not have a research center there in the

sense of fund am ental research, as has

been incorrectly portrayed b y som e in the

m edia. O ur app roach is no t to transfer

core com petencies in the areas of resea rch

and predevelopm ent to C hina, but instead

to serve the loc al m arket w ith its specific

requ irem ents through a local developm ent

team . The develop m ent center is therefore

integrated w ithin the new region al H ead -

qua rters develop m ent functions such as

design, com putation, com po nent testing,

engine testing , electronics lab oratory, che-

m ical laboratory, m etallog raphy etc. being

loca ted h ere. In o ther w ords, all the func-

tions required to develop a p roduc t from

the blank shee t of pape r to testing in the

eng ine and , finally, approval by the custom -

er. W e ha ve R &D centers in S tuttgart, Nor-

tham pton, Detroit, So Pa ulo, Tokyo a ndshortly in S hang hai too. A nd only a few of

these are ac tually invo lved in p ure re-

search and prede velopm ent w ork.

What does the market in China call

for? How do you collaborate

with automobile manufacturers?

In g eneral, all the reg ion s have their ow n

requ irem ents. O ur aim is to fulfill them re-

giona lly as w ell, w ith reg ion al contacts and

close interaction betw een custom ers and

supp liers. The C hinese m arket dem ands

products at very low prices. The local ex-

hau st gas regu lations a re currently at the

level w e ha d se veral years ago. W hen it

com es to developm ent, autom obile m anu-

facturers in C hina tend to follow the tradi-

tion al rou te: The y w ill typically have the

com plete eng ine d eveloped by a Europe-

an e nginee ring service p rovider, and then

produce it in C hina.

Why is MAHLE going to Shanghai

then?

In the future, Ch ina w ill have its ow nautom otive ind ustry w ith self-sufficient

areas of developm ent. And w e can expect

this trend to continue at a fast pac e. W hat

is lacking for the tim e being, tho ug h, is

the expertise of a sup plier in the country,

w ho speaks the sam e language and can

be integrated sim ultaneously in the d evel-

opm ent process. W e have decided to

bu ild up a local developm ent cap acity just

w here the m arket need s it. If w e sup ply

our custom ers on site tod ay, that w ill give

us unrivalled op po rtun ities for establishing

lasting and viab le su pp lier relation s w ith

a h igh level of custom er loyalty. W e there-

fore attach c on side rable im po rtance to

project team s w ith sales peo ple an d d e-

velop ers w ho know the regional cond itions

in this m arket, w orking together effective-

ly w ithin a close ne twork. An d all this on

the ba sis of a standardized M AH LE p rod-

uct developm ent process, which is acce pt-

ed internationally and ensures perm ane nt

qu ality righ t from the start.

How extensive is the knowledge

transfer to China?W e alread y carry out production at seven

plants in C hina. Nu m erous com pan ies lim it

their activities in C hina to p rodu ction for

com petitive reason s. You can view this

from two sides. W e be lieve that a collabo-

ration b ased on the de velopm ent of tech-

nological com petence in the c ustom er's

ow n language enables an open dialog

and offers m ore op po rtunities on a long-

term basis. In S han ghai, we are prim arily

conce rned w ith cu stom er requirem ents

and developm ent over the n ext three tofive ye ars. To this en d, em ployees from

Shan ghai have received spe cial training on

our Product Lines in different regions over

a pe riod of 6 to 9 m onths. But one thing

is clear: Th e fundam ental exp ertise at

M AH LE rem ains at central locations w here

w e actually carry out fundam ental research

and custom er-indep ende nt predevelop-

m ent. There we w ork on tasks wh ose

sign ifican ce is trans-regional and lon g-

term , and d evelop products for the n ext

decade.

How does the international network-

ing of development centers work?

Through extensive p roject m anag em ent

w ith internation ally exp erienced p roject

m anag ers w ho are fam iliar w ith the unique

character of a coun try's culture an d c ustom -

ers, and w ho provide targeted im petus to

developm ent w ith p ow erful process tools

and the very best staff. Key priorities a re

defined together w ith the individu al devel-

op m ent centers in the regions, de term in-

ing w hich issue s requ ire greater attention.

In this w ay, w e can com bine o ur energies

and ach ieve synergy effects.

What advantages does MAHLE offer

the market with its structure?

W hen it com es to the interaction of com -

po nen ts and products, it is safe to say

that we en joy the m ost com prehensivesystem s exp ertise there is in the a rea of

com bustion en gines an d eng ine pe riph-

erals. That pu ts us in a very strong p osi-

tion for the future. To rem ain a hea d in re-

spect to costs, perform ance and w eight in

an increasingly com pe titive fie

zation, you need a firm grasp

relations. The m ore you un de

how the produ cts influen ce

the g reater the op tim ization p

can ach ieve. Th is is reinfor

close co ntacts w ith science a

com bined w ith our expertise

netw orked g lob ally and firm ly

gion ally.

What are your personal int

Dr. Mohr?

I am pa rticularly interested in

of know ledge m anagem ent

or to en sure that the expe r

bu ilt up is availab le to ev

need s it for their work. After a

tive is to insp ire our custom e

standing pe rform ance tim e

M AH LE resem bles a d ynam ic

organism and , as such, ena

do us sco pe for individu al cre

it is extrem ely satisfying to

achieve our goals with this cr

Dr. Mohr, we thank you for

interview.

N E W R E G IO N A L H E A D Q U A R TE R S IN

S HANG HAI

22 Per f or m an c e Per f

INT ER VIEW

Dr. Uwe Mohr, Director Research an

Engineering of MAHLE International

The new regional Headquarters of MAHLE

in Shanghai

news letter from Mahle

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