Stronger stainless steel castings are critical to the regeneration of ceramic honeycomb filters used to produce cleaner exhaust systems and upgraded turbocharger housings for diesel engines. Improvements to these castings could result from test projects now under way at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Temperature Materials Laboratory. A research team led by ORNL's Phil Maziasz is using an R&D 100 steel alloys technology developed by ORNL and Caterpillar to determine durability of exhaust components that must sustain higher temperatures and severe thermal cycling to meet upgraded and stringent EPA air quality standards. Caterpillar and Honeywell are partnering with ORNL on the collaborative testing for the turbocharger application. The funding source is DOE's FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies program, sponsored by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
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