SAE TECHNICAL

PAPER SERIES 2004-01-0608

Performance and Reliability of Deep Drawn

Hollow Valves in the Automotive Engines
Klaus Gebauer and Adrian Gavrilescu
TRW Automotive – Engine Components

Reprinted From: Compression Ignition and Spark Ignition Power Cylinder Systems
(SP-1820)

2004 SAE World Congress

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 2004-01-0608

Performance and Reliability of Deep Drawn Hollow Valves

in the Automotive Engines
Klaus Gebauer and Adrian Gavrilescu
TRW Automotive – Engine Components

Copyright © 2004 SAE International

ABSTRACT also be presented. The paper will conclude with results

Engine efficiency and environmental issues have
increased the need for high performance engine parts.
Of significant importance is the moving mass of the valve
train components. Lower masses reduce inertia and this
reduces friction losses. New technology inquiries from
customers, market competition, possible weight
reductions of 20-50%, and the ability to withstand
increased operating temperatures by 100-150°C, have
increased the need to develop high performance
automotive engine valves at competitive costs.
Lightweight hollow valves could be mentioned as one of
the major targets for the development work. Achieved
goals can directly be translated into lower engine working
temperature or higher compression ratios for
conventional engines. Also, there is a close cooperation
between TRW’s development and design teams of the
lightweight valve project and the electromagnetic valve
actuation programs (EMVA).
from cold rig and live engine testing, and outline
opportunities for future developments.
BACKGROUND
The historical method for manufacturing hollow valves is
the gun-drilled method that evolved into three types. The
“tube to solid” type (Figure 1), is a solid stem piece drilled
from the stem end, joined to the basic tip body by friction
welding. A second variant is “draw-in” or “tube to tube”
type (Figure 2), where the body is also drilled from the
stem end, but the bore is closed by inductive heating of
the larger diameter stem and then forged together. A
third variant is the “hollow head valve” (Figure 3), where
valves are drilled and machined from the head side, the
opening being closed by inserting a cover through a
special process [1].

INTRODUCTION

The objective of this project was to design and fabricate

a hollow valve using conventional or non-traditional valve
manufacturing methods. The hollow valve will meet
typical customer durability requirements and be feasible
at a competitive cost. Recent TRW developments
utilizing stamping, deep drawing and various welding
processes have enabled the fabrication of this type of
lightweight engine valve.

This paper will describe several design options selected

as being the most beneficial. Evaluations were
conducted based on manufacturing, patent and
performance issues. The selected design was a three-
piece concept consisting of a stamped cap, deep drawn
body and a semi-finished stem/tip. Characteristics of
these valves, manufacturing methods, materials and
welding procedures were investigated. Mechanical and
thermal properties, as proven through FE Analyses will
Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3
This report documents the development of a lightweight
hollow engine valve manufactured by the following
processes: stamping, deep drawing, cold forming, and
laser/PTA/friction welding. The valve is a three-piece
design consisting of a cap, a deep drawn hollow body

1
and a semi-finished stem, joined together in two
locations. Even with the addition of an assembly
operation, the deep drawn hollow valve can be
competitively priced compared with traditional hollow
valves.
DESIGN CONFIGURATIONS AND MATERIALS
During the previous years of development, several
design options for lightweight valves were evaluated
based on manufacturing limitations, patent issues and
performance characteristics [4,6]. Of the various
manufacturing methods, the concept of deep drawn
components was selected as being one of the most
beneficial [7].
A three piece concept (Figure 4), consisting of a
stamped head (cap), deep drawn body (under-head and
partial stem), and a stem was selected [2,3]. The three-
piece design concept was chosen for several
performance and manufacturing related features. The
welded assembly of the stamped cap and deep drawn
body forms a cavity that can be filled with sodium for
increased heat transfer capability [5]. This allows the
under-head material of the exhaust valve to operate at
lower temperatures. Thereby increasing the range of
spark settings and fuel octane levels will give engine
designers more freedom in their designs. The stem/tip
allows for traditional groove geometry, tip hardening and
protects the stem seal. In addition, it provides added
strength and stiffness for alternative valve train
configurations such as roller-finger-follower and push rod
applications that exhibit higher transverse loads on the
valve stem.
STEM
BODY
CAP
Figure 4 – Deep Drawn Hollow Valve Design Concept (Sect.)
As materials for the cap, 300 series stainless steel was
chosen. These materials combine corrosion and
oxidation resistance with high strength and good
weldability. Proposed material for the body of the hollow
exhaust valve has a high degree of ductility, excellent
drawing properties, while maintaining corrosion
resistance and high temperature strength. Other
considerations for component materials included
weldability. For the laser welding method only materials
with less than 0.20% carbon were considered. For deep
drawn materials, this is typical of the 300 series stainless
steel. Lower grades of stainless steel, such as the 400
2
series are also being considered for the hollow intake
valves development. One can hypothesize that in some
specific cases the peak intake operating temperature
may be low enough to eliminate sodium filling.
Improvements were made to maintain low manufacturing
costs. The deep drawn body overall length and some
tolerances were limited. To reduce cost and eliminate
manufacturing procedures after assembly, the design of
the stem was changed to have the groove and tip
already machined. In addition, by choosing the proper
materials we could provide the required mechanical
properties and tip hardness of Rc52+. The total valve
weight was reduced by 25% compared to the standard
solid valve.
MANUFACTURING PROCESS
The welding process was investigated through different
approaches: welding cap to body using a YAG and/or
C02 Laser or PTA, and welding stem to body using a
YAG or Diode Laser or Friction Welding.
In the electric PTA welding process (plasma transferred -
arc), the powdered hard-facing material is melted in an
ionized gas and deposited on the workpiece. The
advantage of this method is that alloying elements in the
powder can easily be varied and the process is fully
automated. Other advantages include easy
maintenance, low operating costs, enhanced operator
safety, precise plasma beam control, superior reliability,
and high melting capacity. The PTA enhances the alloy's
wear-resistant performance, and results in a smooth
surface finish for an easier and quicker finishing and
machining. In our case, the method is used to weld cap
to body and also hard facing the seat area.
Friction welding is a process in which the heat generated
by friction and contact pressure of two components in
axial alignment is used to create the conditions of a high
integrity welded joint. This method has the advantages of
creating a narrow heat affected zone; no filler material or
gases are required and is a consistent, repetitive
process. Friction welding is a widely used method for
manufacturing bi-metal valves, and in this case is used
to weld body to stem, providing the Rc52+ tip hardness
and having the additional advantage of using
conventional lock groove area.
Laser welding is known as an economical process. From
a cost and quality standpoint the YAG lasers are
essentially equivalent with C02 laser up to 2.5 kW power
level. At higher powers the Nd:YAG is significantly more
expensive, however it is more flexible with regards to
beam delivery. The Nd:YAG laser uses fiber optics,
which is very advantageous when considering robot
applications. Easy beam alignment, beam switching and
beam sharing are a plus. Nd:YAG delivers high peak
powers with high energy per pulse. In addition it requires
less floor space. The High Power Diode Laser (HPDL) is
a high power, highly efficiently laser, with an overall
efficiency of more than 30%. HPDL is an inexpensive
manufacturing tool with low running costs. The compact Stock -flash removal -finish stem grind
industrial design allows easy integration into production Removal after -grind to length
systems with minimum floor space requirements. It has a weld -rough stem grind
good focusability (i.e. beam quality), deep weld -finish stem grind
penetration, wider weld width, and simple maintenance. -form grind

The welding parameters as defined to date were

developed as a compromise between time, penetration
and hermetic seal constraint. The hermetic seal
requirement is for containment of the heat transfer
media, sodium, which is placed inside the hollow cavity.
Separate sets of parameters were developed for the two
welds: cap to body and body to stem. Laboratory reports Flash
have been prepared documenting the various welding
trials.

An important feature of the laser welding process is that

the focused beam results in a minimal heat affected
zone and minimal material distortion. This precise
concentration of intense heat results in a very narrow
weld bead with a well controlled penetration, no flash
material in the welded section, and constant overall
length.

As listed in Tables I & II and illustrated by Figures 5 & 6,

the laser welding process requires less machining Figure 5 – Stem to Body
operations and reduced welding time. FRICTION Weld - View before flash removal

Table I - Cap to body weld: Comparison between PTA weld

process and LASER weld process

Process PTA Weld LASER Weld

Time (sec.) Time (sec.)

Weld Time 6 2.6

Index 3 3
Load/Unload
Time

Stock 2.3 mm 0.8 mm

Removal after -rough turn and -seat grind
weld finish
-seat grind

Figure 6 – Stem to Body

Table II - Body to stem weld: Comparison between FRICTION LASER Weld - Longitudinal section before finish stem grind
weld process and LASER weld process
For the all these welding processes, weld and index time
Process FRICTION Weld LASER Weld were approximated.
Time (sec.) Time (sec.)
FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS
Weld Time 3 1.2
All finite element analyses were conducted using internal
Index 3 3 developed modeling procedures and ANSYS 7.1. Models
Load/Unload evaluated include temperature distribution, thermal
Time expansion, combustion pressure, and seating velocity.
Several sets of models were conducted to compare
Weld Flash YES NO standard solid valves with gun-drilled valves, and
Removal multiple designs of deep drawn hollow valves.

3
 (a) (b)

(b) (c)

Figure 8 - Valve Pressure Load Stress: (a) solid valve, (b)

(c) gun-drilled, (c) deep drawn hollow valve

In the past, 300 series stainless steel material was used

for cap stamping and parts passed cold and hot rig tests.
However, testing was also done in a turbo engine to
prove reliability under extreme conditions. Boundary
conditions were changed for the FE Analyses. Features
such as the lock groove, head O.D. chamfer, and tip
chamfer were dropped to simplify each model without
significantly affecting the results. Effects like corrosion,
welding notches, wear, material aging, and the effects of
local hot spots due to combustion residues on the valve
surface are not taken into consideration in this analysis.

Figure 7 - Valve Temperature: (a) solid valve, (b) gun-drilled,
(c) deep drawn hollow valve
From the FE Analyses it could be observed that changes
made to the valve design will significantly change the
values and areas of maximum temperature, pressure or
load stress (Figures 7 & 8).
(a)
The resulting operating temperature range in the cap
area was between 600-700°C, with a maximum pressure
load stress of approx. 250 MPa (36.3ksi). These values
were too close to the material tensile strength and as it
will be seen later, failures are expected. For this reason
several sets of models were analysed to compare solid
production valves with deep drawn sodium filled hollow
valves. Analyzing different designs, the influence of
various design factors such as the angle of the cap
dome, the under-head angle, and the seat angle were
observed. The most significant factor was the material
selection (Table III). We concluded this development
step by selecting a material with higher tensile strength
and elongation, better oxidation resistance and
metallurgical stability at higher temperatures.

4
Table III - Various materials behavior
For the final design FE Analysis the load conditions
were: cylinder combustion chamber pressure 12Mpa, the
deck tilt (seat insert run out) 0.03mm, valve stem to
guide clearance 0.065mm, and valve closed spring load
180N. The maximum calculated displacement of the
TOH was 0.0242mm (Figure 9a), and the reliability
analysis results are presented below (Figure 9b&9c). The
consumed life for the part with material “C” was less than
10%. One area of high-consumed life was in the center
of the top of head dish. Nevertheless, this is a
compressive stress, which it is not necessarily
damaging. Another is the under-head area, but the value
is relatively low.
(a)
(b)
5
(c)
Figure 9 – Deep Drawn Hollow Valve: (a) Displacement,
(b&c) Fatigue Life
MODELING AND SIMULATIONS
Significant improvements to tool life need to be
addressed for mass production of the hollow valve cap.
Several DEFORM analyses indicate that redesigning the
cap with specific inner and outer angles will significantly
reduce the loading of the stamping punch and minimize
the maximum compressive stress in the part.
We identified critical design parameters early in the
design process using LMS DADS kinematic and dynamic
motion simulation analysis. We were also able to
calculate loads, positions, velocities and accelerations of
the complete valve train on different design
configurations. Light weight valves are decreasing the
valve train friction due to lower inertia forces and spring
loads, or increase engine speed and power by allowing a
more aggressive cam profile design without increasing
stress level in valve train components.
Modeling of stamping/forging tools and valve train
simulations are important variables in quantifying the
influence of various design parameters, however these
discussions are beyond the scope of this report.
TESTING RESULTS
To check the durability and reliability of the defined
design of the deep drawn hollow valve, several tests (rig
and life engine test) have been carried out. As
mentioned before valves are manufactured from three
parts by using different welding technologies. The weld
joints of components should be considered to evaluate
the durability. The best results were achieved by using
PTA and friction welding, and the test results presented
below were done with parts manufactured by these
processes. However, the laser welding process is still
considered as a viable, performing, cost reducing
alternative process, as the process has the potential to
be more economical than traditional processes.
To determine the wear of the functional areas of the
valves (tip end, stem, seat), they were measured before
and after the test runs, to be able to identify wear or
abnormal behavior. The valves were assembled in a
1.8L turbo engine cylinder head to carry out the rig test
and the live engine test. The main data of the engine are Figure 10a -
shown in Table IV. New valve,
convex structure
Material “A”
Table IV – Engine data

Engine 1.8L Turbo Charged

Number of Cylinders 4
Maximum Power 110 kW / 5700 rpm
Maximum Torque 210 Nm / 1750 rpm
Max. Exhaust Gas Temp. 980 °C
Valve Train System DOHC, Hydraulic Tappets
Seat Ring Material Sintered Alloy Steel
Figure 10b -
a) Rig Test Valve after test,
concave structure
Initial tests were carried out on a test rig to prove the
wear at relevant areas and the basic durability of the
hollow valves. On a test rig the cylinder head is mounted
on an adapter plate, which provides the cylinder head
with conditioned oil and cooling water. An electric motor
drives the camshafts. A rig test is an economical
possibility to test valves without the risk of destroying an
engine in case a valve would fail. The purpose of the rig Figure 10c
test is to check if the critical areas such as the hard Valve after test,
facing, the welding and the deep drawn hollow body are cracks in the head rim
durable at high speeds. of the valve

The valves completed a 200 h-test run with a maximum

camshaft speed of 3100 rpm. On the intake side deep
drawn hollow valves and series steel valves were
installed, and on the exhaust side only deep drawn
hollow valves were assembled. Examinations of the
valves after test showed no significant wear. The wear
behavior of the intake valves is comparable to the series
valve. Cracks could not be detected. Due to these
favorable results, a test in a fired engine was started.
The strong deformation of the caps resulted from the
insufficient heat resistance of the material “A” at high
temperatures. A further 10 hours test run with new deep
drawn hollow valves confirmed the results. The
deformation already occurs after a short running time
under the extreme load of this engine (Figures 11).

b) Live Engine Test

The hollow valves, which just successfully completed the

rig test, were assembled in a turbo engine to carry out a
live engine test.

The test program includes several steps with different

speeds mainly at full load. One cycle takes about 3 hours
and is repeated until 300 hours are reached. During the
test run exhaust gas temperatures of about 980°C were
reached in every cycle.

PERFORMANCE, DURABILITY, RELIABILITY

A first visual inspection after 120 hours running time

showed strong deformation in the top of head of all
intake and exhaust sheet metal valves. The shape of the
caps is manufactured convex (Figure 10a). The high
temperature and the combustion pressure during the test
caused the concave deformation (Figure 10b). As a
result of the strong bending, cracks were generated at
the head rim (Figure 10c).
Figure 11: Failure in the area of seat
hard facing
New valves (Figure 12) were manufactured with more
heat resistant caps out of an austenitic material “B”. This
material is used for conventional bi-metal valves and has
higher heat resistance.

6

Figure 12: New deep drawn hollow valves
Again, a test of over 300 hours was carried out. To
control the valves during the test run, a visual inspection
was made every 50 hours to check the valves for cracks
and deformation. Deep drawn hollow valves were
installed on the intake and on the exhaust side. The
several inspections showed that the new heat resistant
cap material avoids deformation in the top of head area
(Figure 13).
Figure 13: After test deep drawn hollow valves
Table V shows the maximum wear data of the valve
seat, the stem and the tip end of the valves. An
additional visual inspection of the grooves shows that all
wear data are insignificant under these tests conditions.
Table V- Wear data after 300 hours running time in live engine
On the deep drawn hollow bodies at the inner side
surface, imperfections have been found and they may
reduce the durability of the tested parts. However, it
needs to be mentioned that these cracks are related to
the deep drawn process and in none of the many tested
valves did these cracks further propagate into the
material during operation (Figures 14). In addition, the
hollow valve bodies’ suppliers significantly improved the
manufacturing process. At this point in time, the surface
quality is considerably better with maximum depths of
7
ruptures on the surfaces of 0.006-0.008 mm on outer
diameter, and 0.017-0.025 mm on inner diameter.
Figure 14: Surface of the inner side of a
deep drawn hollow body
CONCLUSIONS
Tests with this valve design were successful and
promising. The different welding processes and the
manufacturing operations of the deep drawn hollow body
were optimized to increase the durability and reliability.
This is essential in order to initiate a series production.
Successful development of the deep drawn hollow valve
hinges upon two main areas: the manufacturing of the
cap and body components made from heat resistant
materials and the welding operating parameters for PTA
and friction welding to further improve process.
Further engine testing will verify the durability of the laser
weld design and address specific engine performance
issues, thus quantifying benefits.
In recent times, engines have become increasingly
complex. Consequently, material selection, heat
treatment and design details have become very
important design factors. Specifically, to design low risk
components and accelerated tests, accurate
determinations of temperatures and stresses in time play
a critical role. Also, modeling and simulation integration
embedded with engine tests enhance the performance,
reliability and control of the design development system.
Even if still a few questions remain, it needs to be
understood that a valve made from these materials and
using the discussed technologies has the capabilities to
withstand dynamics, temperature and corrosion during a
long high-speed test in a turbocharged engine.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank all those who contributed
to this paper:
Antonius Wolking and Patrick Nagle at TRW Automotive
- Engine Components, Product Development for their
very thoughtful discussions throughout the FEA
simulations;

Klaus Segtrop, Jens Gaertner in Germany and Shawn

Veneskey, Art Hilgendorf, James Davis in U.S.A., for
their efforts to instrument the engines, run the different
tests and collect the data.

The authors also would like to thank the reviewers, Dr.

Dan E. Richardson and Stephen W. Cecil from Cummins
Inc. for their valuable feedback.

REFERENCES

[1] Thomson Products Inc. – Valve Division, “A

Symposium on Internal Combustion Engine
Valves”, The Electric Printing Co., January 1956.

[2] TRW Inc., “ Poppet Valve with Embossed Neck

Structure“, United States Patent No.: 5,771,852,
June 1998.

[3] TRW Deutschland and Gmbh, Klaus Gebauer,

“Hollow Valve for Internal Combustion Engines“,
United States Patent No.: 6,006,713, December
1999.

[4] Andreas von Kaenel, Peter Grahle and Marcus

Abele, “A New Concept For Steel-Composite
Lightweight Valves”, SAE 2000 World Congress,
March 2000.

[5] Mercedes- Benz AG, “Process for the Production

of a valve”, United States Patent No.: 5,054,195,
October 1991.

[6] Eaton Corporation, “Ultra light engine valve”,

United States Patent No.: 5,413,073, May 1995.

[7] Takemi Murayama, “ Hollow Puppet Valve and

the Method for Manufacturing the same“, United
States Patent No.: US6,378,543 B1, April 2002.

CONTACT

Dr. Ing. Klaus Gebauer,

Director Global Research & Development

TRW Automotive - Engine Components,
klaus.gebauer@trw.com

Adrian Gavrilescu, M.S.

Principal Product Development Engineer –

Global Manager Hollow Valve Project
TRW Automotive - Engine Components,
adrian.gavrilescu@trw.com