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| Cylinder head assembly |
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The cylinder head of a modern combustion engine generally contains the entire valve train system as well. Together with the valve train, the cylinder head covers all functions of the charge exchanges in combustion engines.
As a result, the cylinder head is also the “packaging“ of the valve train and as such it is available as a ready-to-install module for engines and engine manufacturers. MAHLE machines cylinder heads and blocks, and then mounts these with the other engine components for cylinder head assemblies or also for complete engines.
Parallel to this, all tasks for cylinder head and engine development can be realized at MAHLE as a service for our customers. This includes all requisite resources from design, calculation, and prototype production through to complete engine testing on the fired test stand and in the vehicle test.
MAHLE is therefore the only automobile supplier worldwide to combine component expertise and its associated technology with knowledge and experience in the development and production of complete engines and engine assemblies.
New developments - mechanically fully variable valve train
A great number of today's modern passenger car engines are equipped as standard with camshaft adjustment systems for improving the performance and torque characteristics. All these systems follow the principle of adjusting the phase position of the camshaft relative to the crankshaft by means of hydraulic or hydro-mechanical adjusting elements. However, due to ever increasing requirements in regard to the exhaust gas quality, consumption, performance, and torque, more advanced systems are necessary, which enable not only a variation in the phase position but also the valve lift.
MAHLE has therefore set the target of developing mechanical systems, which provide as great a contribution as possible for improving these engine characteristics at favorable production costs. Parallel to this, we work using various solution approaches, which extend from a camshaft with phase-adjustable cam lobes (MAHLE CamInCam®) and 2-point lift adjustment through to the infinite variation of lift and opening duration for the valves in order to minimize friction losses inside the engine, the camshaft can be equipped with a roller bearing.
New developments - downsizing
Higher specific power outputs, smaller, and lighter enginesMAHLE answers these challenges with integrated solutions ranging from lightweight components to turbochargers, which keep up with rising exhaust temperatures as well as ever increasing demands in terms of weight reduction and packaging.