December 16, 2016
Rheinmetall Automotive AG
NAIAS highlights: lightweight engineering and thermal management inside the engine
First-tier auto-industry supplier Rheinmetall Automotive is emphasizing at this year's North American International Auto Show (Detroit, January 8 through 22, 2017) its extensive capabilities for engines with present and future drive systems. The main topics are lightweight engineering, thermal management, friction and emission reduction, downsizing and turbo-charging as well as the electrification of auxiliary units.
Represented at five locations in the USA and Mexico, Rheinmetall Automotive is exhibiting at the Cobo Center, Room B 353, on an area of almost 140 m².
Among the exhibits awaiting visitors are lightweight structural parts and components in aluminum as well as the company's Liteks piston family. The Liteks design, which is repeatedly being fine-tuned, has been developed specifically for lightweight, low-friction yet rugged gasoline pistons for car engines. Also on show are other pistons with rings, the outcome of the global strategic cooperation with Japan's Riken Corporation. The newest-generation engine plain bearings also showcased, likewise have an emission-reduction effect while the new combination of materials makes them extremely robust.
Thermal management in the sense of the complex control of heat flowing from various sources, is of growing importance on today's engines since it is one way of reducing fuel consumption and emissions. With this mind, Rheinmetall Automotive is displaying a new kind of solenoid valve that, if needed, will stop the piston crown from being cooled. Another part of this year's show presentation is devoted to exhaust-gas recirculation on gasoline engines. The exhibits comprise types of valves for turbo-chargers including an extremely compact exhaust-gas recirculation valve which helps save fuel on both normally aspirated and, especially, turbocharged engines. This valve is already in series production in the USA. Other significant exhibits are oil, water and vacuum pumps which, electrically driven, act independently of the engine load and hence lower fuel consumption and emissions.
About Rheinmetall Automotive
Rheinmetall Automotive AG is the management company of the Automotive sector of Germany’s Rheinmetall Group. Sales amounted to around € 2.6 billion in 2015, including around 16 percent from the companies located in NAFTA. This first-tier supplier has been operating on the international auto markets for more than a century. It has a worldwide workforce of about 11,000. Over 1,800 employees work in the USA and Mexico. Other branches are located in Europe, Brazil, Japan, India, and China.