When a world-leading multi-national manufacturer of large surface mining equipment began researching a method of extending the service life of its cylinder heads, SIFCO ASC’s selective brush plating outperformed welding on a number of key criteria.

For one of the world’s most renowned manufacturers of large surface mining equipment, the salvaging of failing cylinder heads – a vital component within any combustion engine – was identified as an area for improvement. Initial research suggested that approximately 35% of all cylinder head failures were due to fretting; a common issue with multiple solutions available on the market, such as thermal/cold spray, sleeving, welding, replacement or selective brush plating.

An improvement plan was activated, with welding and selective brush plating identified as the two favored remanufacturing methods. Each solution was put to the test and evaluated against strict criteria for performance, cost and lead time.

The trial results.

While welding the worn areas of the cylinder head cost less, it provided insufficient quality deposits and the potential of heat distortion. Each cylinder head was then selectively plated with nickel for dimensional restoration and wear resistance. Selective plating, although slightly more expensive, proved to be 16% faster and delivered a good quality deposit with little risk for part distortion since the operation is performed at room temperature.

The benefits of selective brush plating.

The benefits of selective brush plating include the ability to accurately focus the plating onto specific areas of a component, enabling parts to be plated in-situ, which can drastically reduce downtime and minimize production delays.

Ongoing remanufacturing partnership.

Following extensive trial successes, this renowned manufacturer implemented the SIFCO Process® as its preferred method salvaging end-of-life cylinder heads, citing the key benefits as reduced materials consumption and waste, lower energy consumption and the realization of considerable annual savings of approximately $95,000 as compared to new or replacement parts.

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