Ceramic coating
02-05-2013, 07:13 AM
#21
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maybe the porous nature of the ceramics can promote flow like a golf ball. Smoother surfaces are "stickier" as air passes by more surface area. So maybe ceramic coating the interior of headers and other internal combustion areas can actually see a slight improvement?
When it comes to flow in a pipe, the only real variables to compare are Reynolds number, which dictates laminar vs turbulant flow. The less bends, restrictions, changes in cross area, etc the better. Considering extruded pipe is pretty dang smooth to begin with, I don't think a coating would help in this department. A much bigger variable to power in ths part of the equation would be primary size, primary length, collector design, ect as opposed to ID coatings. Thus, which metal used isn't important from a power standpoint, but it does factor in to material price, and weight (think corvettes titanium exhaust), as well as corrosion and durability.
02-05-2013, 06:14 PM
#22
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well they also dimpled a car on mythbusters, drag was decreased and mpg was improved so there has to be a benefit to airflow. Also combined with the heat retention I think there could possibly be a slight benefit to coating ID of piping. Whether its cost effective for the gains would be another issue.
02-20-2013, 08:21 PM
#26
Agreed, it makes perfect sense. There alot of companies coating headers now days and they must have a better reason than just the same old "to keep cooler temperatures outside the headers" whenever I think its more big of a deal in the inside of the header.
02-20-2013, 09:26 PM
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Do a search on Swain Tech Coating, or go to Swaintech.com You can coat ring lands, but not every firm wants to do it. The ring grooves must be slightly larger to accommodate for the coatings thickness. You can coat crankshafts, connecting rods, exhaust ports, etc. If you are in a restrictive racing class where you cannot port, you can coat the intake ports to smooth them out.
If you coat the backside of the valves some vendors want you to coat the valves before the valves are ground and lapped. Otherwise, if you get some coating on the seat, it must be removed mechanically, not chemically. Hence, your valve job is ruined.
It is easy to purchase main and rod bearings that are coated. I have piston pins that are DLC (diamond like coating) coated. Very, very smooth. It is said that if you coat the piston tops then you should coat the cylinder head chambers to keep the heat reflected inside the cylinder. A good coating on both the chambers and pistons can allow you to run a tad more compression or advance without worrying about knock.
It's expensive, but it lasts and I've never heard about anyone loosing power from coating.
If you're interested in coating headers, then check out Jet Hot. They have thick coatings that are good to 2500 degrees I believe. But, the thick high-temp header coatings are for function and not appearance.
I have the ring and pinion gears in my GTO coated with a friction reducing, oil shedding coating. They may be a tad louder, but it's one place where getting rid of friction is a no brainer. Some people have transmission gears polished, others have them coated.
I have my new crankshaft micro-polished, so it looks kind of like chrome, but I'm also getting it coated. That along with a vacuum pump is free power through efficiency.
If you coat the backside of the valves some vendors want you to coat the valves before the valves are ground and lapped. Otherwise, if you get some coating on the seat, it must be removed mechanically, not chemically. Hence, your valve job is ruined.
It is easy to purchase main and rod bearings that are coated. I have piston pins that are DLC (diamond like coating) coated. Very, very smooth. It is said that if you coat the piston tops then you should coat the cylinder head chambers to keep the heat reflected inside the cylinder. A good coating on both the chambers and pistons can allow you to run a tad more compression or advance without worrying about knock.
It's expensive, but it lasts and I've never heard about anyone loosing power from coating.
If you're interested in coating headers, then check out Jet Hot. They have thick coatings that are good to 2500 degrees I believe. But, the thick high-temp header coatings are for function and not appearance.
I have the ring and pinion gears in my GTO coated with a friction reducing, oil shedding coating. They may be a tad louder, but it's one place where getting rid of friction is a no brainer. Some people have transmission gears polished, others have them coated.
I have my new crankshaft micro-polished, so it looks kind of like chrome, but I'm also getting it coated. That along with a vacuum pump is free power through efficiency.
03-11-2013, 01:51 PM
#29
PolyDyn makes all sorts of coatings for cylinder heads - valves, combustion chambers, intake and exhaust runners. They have a coating for pretty much anything...pistons, intake manifolds, headers, crankshafts, etc.
04-08-2013, 11:06 PM
#30
For my last engine, I had the pistons ceramic coated (tops) and teflon coated (skirts). The chambers of the heads, valves, and exhaust ports were ceramic coated. With 11.5:1 I could run around town on 87octane in the AZ 110 degree summer (wouldn't do it regularly, just did it to test).
04-09-2013, 03:08 PM
#31
Are you sure about either point?
I fairly certain coatings on the headers are not for velocity flow (temp in not a variable in flow – shape and Reynolds number are) but rather to keep temperature down in that area (hence, displacing heat from the engine bay and extracting it out the exhaust).
I’m 99% sure ceramic coating does not help ‘air flow’ – if it did, the entire inside would be coated. It’s simply an insulator to prevent heat from conducting under the hood and heat soaking everything else.
I fairly certain coatings on the headers are not for velocity flow (temp in not a variable in flow – shape and Reynolds number are) but rather to keep temperature down in that area (hence, displacing heat from the engine bay and extracting it out the exhaust).
I’m 99% sure ceramic coating does not help ‘air flow’ – if it did, the entire inside would be coated. It’s simply an insulator to prevent heat from conducting under the hood and heat soaking everything else.
