Investigation of Two Engine Pistons by FEA

The aim of this work is to compare two different materials for the engine piston: Aluminum alloy A390-T5 and Ductile Iron 65-45-12 using a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and thus choose the best suited material. Despite low thermal expansion, thermal conductivity and high mechanical strength of Ductile Iron 65-45-12, its high density causes high inertial forces on the engine. Although the Aluminums Alloy A390-T5 has a larger thermal expansion, a larger thermal conductivity and a lower mechanical strength at high temperature than ductile iron, due to its lower density it was possible to design a piston meeting all the design requirements and weighting about 66 % less than Ductile Iron piston design