• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.109-114
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• 2006

Half-beads of multi-layer-steel cylinder head gaskets take charge of sealing of lubrication oil and coolant between the cylinder head and the block. Since the head lifts off periodically due to the combustion gas pressure, both the dynamic sealing performance and the fatigue durability are essential for the gasket. A finite element model of the halfbead has been developed and verified with experimental data. The half-bead forming process was included in the model to consider the residual stress effects. The model is employed to assess the dependence of the sealing performance and the fatigue durability on the design parameters of half-bead such as the width and height of bead and the flat region length. The assessment results show that the sealing performance can be enhanced without significant deterioration of the fatigue durability in a certain range of the half-bead width. In the other cases the improvement of sealing performance is accompanied by the loss of the fatigue durability. Among three parameters, the bead width has the strongest influence.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.513-517
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• 2005

A full-bead of multi-layer-steel engine head gasket, taking charge of the dynamic sealing of combustion chamber, is susceptible to fatigue failure. The fatigue durability of full-bead was assessed with the finite element analysis results and the high-cycle multi-axial fatigue theory. The assessment aimed to reveal the effects of the forming parameters and dimensions of full-bead. The results show that the selection of embossing parameters producing less deformation of bead plate is beneficial for the improvement of durability while the flatting has marginal influence. The fatigue durability also improves with the increase in the width of full-bead and the radial length of bore-side flat region. However, the dimensional effects are limited due to the occurrence of snap-through.