https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Engine remanufacturer expands locomotives services

WORKSHOP CAPABILITY
Laser alignment technology enables Metric Automotive Engineering to achieve repeatable results with accuracy
ENGINE REMANUFACTURING
Metric Automotive Engineering is capable of remanufacturing cylinder heads to a zero-hour rating
Engine remanufacturer  expands locomotives services

Metric Automotive Engineering operations director Andrew Yorke tells Engineering News about the company’s latest investment

WORKSHOP CAPABILITY Laser alignment technology enables Metric Automotive Engineering to achieve repeatable results with accuracy

ENGINE REMANUFACTURING Metric Automotive Engineering is capable of remanufacturing cylinder heads to a zero-hour rating

6th November 2015

By: Donna Slater

Features Deputy Editor and Chief Photographer

  

Font size: - +

Germiston-based large- engine remanufacturer Metric Automotive Engineering has invested in new equipment to extend its services to larger engines for the locomotives industry, says operations director Andrew Yorke.

Initially, Metric Automotive Engineering undertook engine components remanufacturing for off-highway truck engines for mining clients. These engines are typically large-capacity heavy-duty diesel engines, with cylinder configurations of up to V16, and internal engine components several metres long and weighing hundreds of kilograms.

He tells Engineering News that Metric Automotive Engineering decided to start with locomotive engine components remanufacturing in mid-2014, as part of the company’s natural progression: “We had the equipment and expertise to service large off-highway engines, so the new equipment will help us extend our service offering to the larger locomotive engines.”

The new equipment includes a crankshaft grinder capable of grinding crankshafts of up to 4.7 m long and weighing up to 5 t. This grinder was commissioned about a year ago. “The commissioning of this crankshaft grinder had a lead time of about two-and-a-half years, owing to its custom build and inherent requirement for fine-tuning,” he adds.

Yorke notes that crankshafts of this size require special compensators to suspend the crankshaft between two chucks while it is being ground, adding that these kinds of compensators are not available in South Africa and have to be sourced from Italy. The compensators also assist in preventing deflection in the form of bowing and sagging, as the crankshaft spins on the machine. The compensators also help to remove ovality and taper.

He notes that the crankshaft grinder is the largest new automotive grinder to be brought into South Africa in 35 years and that, while Metric Automotive Engineering knows of a similar-sized crankshaft grinder being used in South Africa, it is considerably older and subsequently far less precise, owing to its extended use.

Yorke further notes that Metric Automotive Engineering uses softer-than-normal grinding wheels to grind crankshafts, owing to its improved ability to produce better engineered and longer-lasting crankshafts. He says it is common in the indus- try to use hard grinding wheels, which can be used to grind more crankshafts and are cheaper than soft grinding wheels.

However, while the softer grinding wheels are more expensive, Yorke believes that the cost is justified, as it ensures that clients are provided with quality-controlled products, which will lead to greater efficiency and longer life spans.

These custom-built soft grinding wheels also produce significantly less heat, which, in turn, mitigates grinder burn and chatter; it also helps prevent flaws from forming in the crankshaft. “We take a knock in using more grinder wheels, but our products are guaranteed to be 100% in order,” he notes, adding that Metric Automotive Engineering can also polish crank- shafts.

Engine Remanufacturing

Metric Automotive Engineering can perform line boring and reboring of engine blocks, as well as remanufacture cylinder heads to a zero-hour rating, providing a client with a brand-new cylinder head.

It can also remanufacture high-tolerance engine components, which is especially relevant in an industry that is increasingly looking at ways of decreasing engine tolerances to improve engine efficiency and reduce emissions.

Meanwhile, Yorke emphasises the compre-hensiveness of Metric Automotive Engineering’s service provision, highlighting the company as a “one-stop shop for engine remanufacturing”, whereas the local competition can offer services only on single components or portions thereof, such as half an engine block.

He further notes that this leads to several service providers at different facilities having to perform engine remanufacturing. This, in turn, causes several problems, most notably warran-ties that are divided among the service providers, which brings with it several unnecessary complications and room for error, as well as the associated shifting of blame among them and a subsequent lack of accountability. “This is likely to increase costs and extend delays as the components will have to be worked on at different facilities,” he adds.

Further, Metric Automotive Engineering is hoping to acquire certification from some of the major locomotive original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as General Electric, to ensure it remains at the forefront of engine remanufacturing services for the locomotive industry, Yorke states.

This certification will ensure that Metric Automotive Engineering is a trusted service provider for locomotive engine remanufacturing in South Africa, creating opportunities for more work and extending the company’s expertise and skills in the servicing of large locomotive engine components.

“We are chasing the major locomotive role-players, such as Transnet and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, to get their approval, which Metric Automotive Engineering aims to use to attract more business. “We aim to get their approval as quickly as possible,” says Yorke.

He notes that, for the company to be certified as a trusted third-party service provider for locomotive OEMs, the OEMs need to send auditing officials to inspect and report on Metric Automotive Engineering’s capability and workmanship.

Yorke points out, however, that Metric Automotive benefits from its existing ability to perform work on off-highway truck engines.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

Comments

Showroom

Booyco Electronics
Booyco Electronics

Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Universal Storage Systems (SA)
Universal Storage Systems (SA)

South African leader in Steel -Racking, -Shelving, and -Mezzanine flooring. Universal has innovated an approach which encompasses conceptualising,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.082 0.135s - 155pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now