The history and evolution of materials used to make automotive engine blocks The engine is an essential part of an automobile that provides tractive force to drive the entire vehicle. Most of the current engines are the integral section of a vehicle which is built in different arrangements and more complex as compared to the early engines. The common parts present in an engine include camshaft, rocker arms, pistons, crankshaft, flywheel, both oil and fuel pumps and other various components. The discovery of both light, as well as stronger engineering materials in manufacturing different parts of an engine, has had an impact on power to weight of the engine thus making the entire automobile very light. An engine block or else cylinder block is the base of an engine that accommodates about all the parts needed for an engine to perform properly. There exist mainly three configurations of an engine block, that is, horizontally-opposed, “V”- shaped as well as inline configurations. The number of cylinders within these block configurations varies from a minimum of two to a maximum of sixteen depending on the power needed. Since an engine block is the most significant part of an engine, it should satisfy quite many functional requirements. The functional requirements include; 1. Housing of the moving components and the fluids, 2. Enduring the varying thermal pressures generated during combustion process, 3. Making the automobile last longer, 4. Maintaining of the engine parts easy.
For the above-mentioned functions to be met by an engine block, the engineering material used to manufacture the block has to possess the following characters; resistance against abrasion by moving components, very high strength, higher elastic module in addition to resistance to corrosion. Due to the cylinder block functional requirements, automotive engineers have used the various materials to manufacture the blocks. This material includes but not limited to gray cast iron, ferrous alloys, white iron, gray iron as well as alloys of aluminum. With gradual changes in material technology, engine block production materials have undergone the several transformations with a lot of exploration materials taking place. In addition to technology, material sciences engineers have carried a lot of research, and they have come up with possible dominant materials to carry out cylinder blocks manufacturing. Therefore, the currently utilized materials in engine block manufacturing majorly include; Compacted Graphite Iron, grey cast iron as well as aluminum. History shows that the earlier engine blocks were made mostly from grey cast iron (Gu, 2007). During this early times, the process of making use of alloys in making engine block was unknown, more so, aluminum was not familiar with a material because a few persons were well knowledgeable with its worthiness. Most of the automotive engineers of the earlier age utilized grey cast iron effectively in cylinder block making. Since there are flakes of graphite in grey cast iron, the mechanical properties of grey cast iron have thus been improved. This material has the higher resistance to wear as well as good resistance to rust. It also possesses good lubrication characteristics that improve its machinability. In addition to flakes of carbon, there exist carbon elements within the grey cast iron which increases its strength as well as toughness. These two elements have also enabled grey cast iron to have high melting point thus enabling it to resist many thermal stresses generated during engine combustion phases. From the experiments carried out by material engineers during the early times, a decent grey cast iron structure was found out to consist of; 6.4 percent manganese, 3.4 percent carbon as well as 2.6 percent silicon. Although this material was used in earlier ages, it is still found in some of the today’s engine blocks, for instance, larger vehicles like Lorries as well as trucks. The benefits of using grey cast iron in this early technology were; it was simpler to produce as well as cheaper when compared to aluminum. It has a bit higher tensile strength as well as greater fatigue strength too at both elevated and room temperatures. Even though grey cast iron had all these benefits, there were some drawbacks to using it as an engine block material. These drawbacks were; there was a need for a larger molding, it has a higher specific gravity in addition to bad surface quality and dimensional inaccuracy caused by higher solidification temperatures. Because of these drawbacks, there was a need to discover an alternative material hence aluminum material experimented. An Aluminum material was looked upon by a number of engine block designers because of its weight majorly in addition to its good heat conductivity property. As for most design, weight is the key factor of consideration; alloys of aluminum were then used by the earlier automotive engineers to mold engine blocks for most of lighter vehicles, for example, saloon cars, vans as well as pick-ups. Despite the fact that cylinder blocks made from aluminum are less durable, its decent heat conductivity makes them favorable for heat dissipation during faster engine performance. Due these properties, an engine made of aluminum material has received higher adoption in the automotive industry since they were first tested until today. There are also experiments performed using composite materials so as to use them in engine block manufacturing in the current century. The main reasons for these trials are because of properties possessed by a composite material such as higher stiffness as well as good toughness. Even if to come up with a good composite material for engine block is very costly as well as technological intensive in the short run, it has various advantages when compared with cast iron. Environmental impact has also been put into consideration in engine block material evaluation. This is measured during metal ore extraction, refinery process of these ores and also during the manufacturing process. Since evaluation is a gradual process, many automotive engineers are still carrying out researches to come up with the best material for an engine block manufacturing.
Chemical composition of engine block materials
Every material found in the universe is made up of microstructures that are mostly chemically bonded. Although there exist many materials that can be used in manufacturing an engine block, let consider the most used materials with their chemical compositions in detail.
 Alloy of Aluminum
This experimented in mid-nineties after the automotive engineers put much emphasis on weight reduction in their designs. Hence, the main reasons for accepting alloy of aluminum as an engine material includes; engine performance- to-weight ratio improvement in addition to fuel consumption efficiency increasing. The main disadvantage of aluminum alloy usage as cylinder block is the high cost of manufacturing experienced by manufactures when compared to cast iron alloys. In the engine block manufacturing industry, there are two alloys of aluminum that have been in usage occasionally. These are; (a) Aluminum alloy A356- this alloy has higher strength on heating when compared to the other alloy of aluminum. Its chemical composition consists of; 90 to 94 weight percent aluminum, 6 to 7 weight percent silicon, a maximum of 0.2 weight percent copper, 0.3 to 0.4 weight percent magnesium, 0.3 weight percent iron, 0.1 weight percent titanium and finally a maximum of 0.2 weight percent zinc.

(b) Aluminum Alloy 319- this alloy has decent casting characteristic, high heat conductivity as well as ability to resist corrosion effectively. Its chemical composition are as follows; a maximum of 1 weight percent zinc, 2 weight percent iron, 0.2 weight percent magnesium, 0.24 weight percent titanium, a maximum of 0.3 percent nickel, 2 to 3 weight percent copper, 5 to 7 weight percentage silicon and finally 85 to 92 weight percent aluminum. These alloys are the elements that improve aluminum both mechanical as well as chemical properties such as greater strength as well as rigidity for an engine block that has the following compositions; 91.1 to 93.3 weight percent Aluminum, 6.5 to 7.5 weight percent Silicon, 0.25 to 0.45 weight percent Magnesium, in addition to a maxima of 0.2 weight percent Copper, 0.2 weight percent Titanium, 0.2 weight percent Iron as well as 0.1 weight percent Zinc (Anyalebechi, 2005).
 Compacted graphite cast iron
This material has gained much usage in engine block manufacturing although it was discovered accidentally when material engineers where carrying out an experiment on generating ductile cast iron. The result was a material which higher tensile strength as well a greater modulus of elasticity when compared to the parent material, that is, grey cast iron. This improvement has been enhanced by the present of compacted graphite this material’s micro-structure. These compacted graphite particles are tiny as well as thicker and also possess smoother edges. These particles do look like worm-like shaped when seen using a light conservative microscope. The present of a bit complex graphite morphology in addition to rounded edges and also rough surfaces has given a result to a very stronger adhesive force between the graphite as well as the iron matrix. Due to this intense bondage, this material has shown the positive effect of its application in block engine design by offering excellent mechanical properties (Pollock, 2004).
 Gray cast iron alloy
This material was the first to be used in automotive engine block manufacturing. Currently, it is being used mostly in making conservative cylinder blocks that are being powered by gas as a fuel. It is the best for engine blocks which perform under high interior thermal stresses, for instance, diesel fueled engine blocks. Its alloys is made up of; 0.01 to 0.2 weight percent sulfur, 2 to 3.5 weight percent carbon in addition to 0.01 to 1.0 weight percent phosphorus, 0.2 to 1.0 weight percent manganese, as well as 1.5 to 3 weight percent silicon. The present of these compositions has led to its excellent wear resistance as well a high-temperature resistance, ability to possess high damping capability in addition to easier machinability characteristics.
Mechanical properties of engine block materials
These are the properties possessed by a material that enable it to perform it function on the block engine efficiently. The features deal with the forces as well as stresses felt by the engine block elements as the engine is running. They include and not limited to;
 Thermal conductivity-this one of most valuable property possessed by a material because it determines the ability of the material to dissipate heat to the surrounding as well as to conduct excess heat. This property is present in both Compacted Graphite Iron and Aluminum hence the two are the best material for manufacturing engine blocks because a lot of heat has to be dissipated during combustion phase of an engine. Heat generated lead to a rise in temperature within the engine and if no dissipated faster, may cause an engine failure.
 Stiffness – is a property that make a material not to bend during application of a variety of loads. For instance, for machine tables or else frames, cast iron is the most favorable because they are stiffer. Additionally, it does not deflect prospectively so as to loss the alignment as well as accuracy. For a good engine block designing, this property is imperative because any misalignment of the block will lead to vibration that if not looked into critically, will make an engine to fail.
 Ductility – this a property of a material that enable it to undergo deformation process without fracturing when it is subjected to tensional or else compressional loadings. This property is present in both composite materials as well as aluminum that have been used in engine block manufacturing. Using a material that possess this property in manufacturing a cylinder block will improve the durability of the whole engine system as well as its performance.
 Elasticity – this is a property of a material that enable distortion of the material under loading, but the material recovers its original shape as well as size when the loadings are removed. An element with this property has to retain its length during or else after removal of the loads. This property is found in aluminum alloys thus after molding and loads applications, an engine made of alloys of aluminum will retain its accuracy without any change in shape.
 Malleability – this property possessed by a material that enable it to resist distortion under compression loadings without cracking. On the other hand, it is a substantial property that allow a certain percentage of plastic deformation to occur when the compression force is applied to the material without fracturing. Both gray irons as well as alloys of aluminum has this property. Hence, it is easier to machine an engine block molded from these two materials. Occasionally, an engine block is always subjected to compressional forces by components mounted on it thus this property reduces its rupture capacity.
 Tensile strength- this is a property of a material that allow it to resist tensile forces application without failure. Since cylinder block houses numerous components, there are some varying forces felt by the block. This fluctuating loading causes stretching thus there is a need for the material used in manufacturing to resist the stretching and improve the engine block’ durability. For example, most cast iron materials are able to resist up to 740MP stress.
 Hardness –this is a property possessed by a material that allow it to resist abrasion or else scratching by another harder object thus indicating wear resistant of the material. This property is available partially by Compacted Graphite Iron as well as gray iron that are always used in engine block manufacturing. From the research, most engines function under extreme temperature, a material used should be hard enough so as to resist wearing which may result from a collision during its function.
 Toughness – this a material property that allows it to endure bending without fracturing. For instance, rubber, as well as plastic materials, cannot break. Hence, they possess toughness as a property. Owing to this feature, the composite material can be considered to be the toughest material if used to manufacture engine block because it consists of more than two elements combined. This property is important in an engine block material because it will reduce the chances of an engine failure due to varying forces resulting from the combustion process. Manufacturing methods of engine block
There are many manufacturing processes available that can be employed in making an engine block. But the mostly used is casting or else molding.

Casting Processes
This a process of manufacturing whereby a molten material is typically discharged into a mold containing a cavity shaped in the final product using a pattern, and the molten material is allowed solidify. This solidified component is called a cast, and it should be removed from the mold cavity to end the casting process. This is, therefore, the most used manufacturing process in engine block industry by many automotive engineers globally. The following reasons advocate for its usage; (a) materials to carry out the casting process are always available. (b) The method can be employed in molding complex. (c) The entire process is less expensive as well as easy to design when compare with other manufacturing processes. (d) Vast engine blocks can be molded using this process quickly. (e) This process can also be utilized to make accurate parts without difficulty. (f) The tooling used in this process are also quite cheap.
There exist two casting methods used in casting engine block for about all the discussed materials mostly. These are; lost foam molding as well as green sand casting methods. Foam casting process had been started by General Motors to manufacture most of their automobile engine blocks. It is a bit popular in most automobile industries due to these reasons; it provides exact tolerances when working with a detailed design; it can produce a part with a near-shape; it also provides room for cost reduction as well as machine conservation. On the other hand, green sand molding is still the mostly used in numerous industries when comparing the two methods. This is due to low material cost as well as the easier casting off most metals by this method (Luther, 2005).

 Green Sand Molding
Apart from green sand molding, there are other casting methods in the same category. These are; composite molding, dry-sand casting, expanded casting as well as skin-dried casting. When comparing all of these methods, green sand casting method emerges the best. Since, in this method, there is present of moisture in the casting sand, the name green is used. This casting process initiates with a mixture of water, clay as well as silica sand. This mixture or else compound is at that moment discharged into an engine block a half pattern that is made either of metal frame or wood. The mold is then compacted through jolting process so as to reduce the chances of defects occurring in the final cast. This similar procedure has to be done on the other remaining half pattern because they generally exist in the pair, that is, drag flask that is the bottom half-pair as well as cope, that is, the top half-pair. There exist a core made of hardened sand whose primary function is given support. A gating system designing process the follows in both mold pair. The gating system is made up of; parting line, runner, an ingate, a well, sprue, riser as well as mold cavity made of engine block pattern. The readily molten metal material, that is, either molten aluminum alloy, molten cast iron or else compacted graphite cast iron is then poured into gating system through sprue after combining the drag with cope. The molten metal material after filling the mold cavity is allowed to solidify for at least some hours or a day while the excess molten material escapes through the riser. After the cast has solidified, the two halves are removed, and the engine block cast is taken out for cleaning as well as defect inspection, for example, visual inspection, radiographic inspection, and ultrasonic inspection before taken for final machining.
 Lost foam casting
This is the second most applied casting method in numerous automotive industries to manufacture cylinder block. Comparing it with green sand casting method, it is more efficient as well as dependable casting method for engine blocks. This process commences with the preparation of polystyrene droplets. These droplets are then put into a pre-expander that performs damp expansion and at the same time regulate bead size in addition to density. The expanded polystyrene droplets are then used to make about four different blocks casts which must be stuck together to produce a final ultimate mold (Christopher, 2003). As soon as this preparation is accomplished, a metallic tool is them warmed so as to clear any moisture that might be available within the mold and then the beads are filled into the mold. For a mold to be formed accurately, this tool has to be heated via steam that has been inserted inside an autoclave exposed to a high pressures. To finalize the cast formation, the metallic device has to be taken out from the autoclave and then immersed within the water basin. For a smooth, high engine block cast with a good dimensionally accurate to be achieved, there should be a specific regulation on heating as well as cooling processes. The final engine block produced is of the highest quality has very few defects in addition to high accuracy. Because these features, this molding method is gaining more preference by many automobile engine block manufacturers throughout the world.
Machining process
This a process of using both conventional as well as CNC machines to carry out the finishing process on the cast engine block. The most common devices used to implement this process include; milling machine, planning machine, drilling press, boring machine as well as lathe machine. Most of cast engine blocks contain excess parts protruding from either riser or else from sprue. For the cast block to have good finishing, these protruding parts have to be machined off with a lot of accuracies. What follows this is the boring sections for mounting engine components such as, stud holes, crankshaft insertion section, fuel as well as oil pump mounting section and other significant parts. About all of these sections have to be bored using the boring machine or else drilled using a drilling machine by an experienced machinist. Due to the availability of the variety of boring tool standards, a definite tool size can be chosen in the boring process depending on the size of the cast engine block. Machining process it imperative in every manufacturing process hence it must be done with a lot of care under the supervision of a production engineer. All the safety measures must also be put into consideration because most of these machines are driven using electric motors.

Strengthening mechanism of each automotive engine block material
This is the mechanism put in place so as to improve both mechanical, physical as well as chemical properties of the engine block, thus increasing its durability, its efficiency as well as its effectiveness when performing its duty. The primary strengthening mechanism used in strengthening metals is surface heat treatment.
Surface heat treatment
From its name, it involves hardening the surface of an engine block before addition of any components to it. The main reason for carrying out this process is to improve the mechanical properties of the cylinder block. This process is imperative since the engine block is always subjected to extreme temperature during combustion phases. Surface hardening thus helps in normalizing the thermal stresses and at the same time, it expose the entire engine block to the similar extreme temperature that resembles the actual engine operation conditions.
For any engine block, methods of surface hardening that can be applied includes;

 Case hardening
Currently, this is the commonly applied method of surface hardening used all over the world by the majority of material engineers in automotive industries to harden their casted engine blocks. This method is essential in changing the ductility of most ductile materials such as iron alloys as well as alloys of aluminum that have extensive applications in engine block manufacturing. The initial process of case hardening or else surface hardening involves an introduction of traces of carbon particles on the surface of a ductile material. The outcome of this is a composite material because it consists of more than two elements, that is, a low carbon steel which have a very thin case of 0.4 to 0.8 millimeters in depth. Since the iron ore as well as steel ore industrial revolution, case hardening had been in practice. With time, it was now applied to alloys of aluminum as well as in high carbon steel because it saw a good result in these materials. Moreover, some experiments had been tried with mild or wrought iron so as to transform them into steel by applying a process known as cementation. The entire case hardening process is carried out by encasing the material in question, for example, engine block made of either alloy of aluminum or gray cast iron with traces of carbon elements. This is followed by heating the surface to this material to its superior critical temperature for a set period depending on the material’s size. This heating process leads to the formation of a carbon enriched casing of appropriate depth. The media used as carburizing in this method are of the common state of matter, that is, either solid or liquid or else gaseous. To choose the correct media to use does depend on nature of the work in addition to the scope of the work involved. In a solid media carburizing process involves the parking of the material to be harden, in this case alloys of iron or aluminum alloy into steel boxes followed by the carburizing material addition and a space of 45 millimeters should be left between the materials all around. This is why this process is also known as pack-carburizing. The steel boxes cover re the inserted. This is followed immediately by a gradual heating to a carburizing temperature between 850 and 950 degrees. All combination is then held at this temperature for four to five hours depending on the quality as well as depth of casing required. Although the carburizing media used may differ as much their composition is concerned, it is a compulsory that the media must contain carbonaceous material elements, for instance, wood, charred leathers or else charcoal bone. An energizer which occupy about forty per cent of the whole composition must be in cooperated. It is usually a mixture of carbonate of sodium or soda ash with barium carbonate in an appropriate proportions. An energizer’s main function is to speed up the penetration of carbon solution into the surface of the material being case hardened.
 Flame hardening
This is another surface hardening method applied in most of engineering materials used in automotive industries. It is mostly applied on a local surface of the material being hardened, for example, medium carbon steel, high carbon steels as well as most of cast irons. After the localized heating, the material is the pass through a quenching media so as to improve the material’s crystallization as well as its microstructure. In this type of surface hardening, a device known as carriage moves over the surface of the material being harden. As it moves, it heats the material’s surface quickly using an oxy-propane flame or else an oxy-acetylene flame. The carriage is also designed to have a space for carrying water for spray quenching. This design is economical as well as less expensive because surface heating and quenching processes are carried out simultaneously before the core temperature of the material in reaches the hardening temperature. Flame hardening is mostly applied in hardening engine block sideways as well as other automobile components, for example, pins, gears in addition to spindles. This is because these components have a center for revolution.
 Aging treatment
This is another method of surface treatment which has most of its applications in treatment of aluminum alloys so as to enhance its hardness property as well as its strength property. Another significance of this method of surface treatment is its ability to increase the durability of the cylinder block during its functional period. There are two types of aging treatments available in automotive industry. These are; (a) natural aging treatment- this is carried out at normal temperatures and is an impulsive process; (b) artificial aging- this is performed at a lower temperature within a set period of time. A combination of these two types of treatment is known as full heat treatment and it is the most preferred. A full heat treatment is carried out by first heating an engine block for a programmed period of time with a given temperature. This is then followed by a quick quenching from this set temperature to room temperature. Ductility of aluminum alloy can be increased by applying solution heat treatment alone. It also provide a room to carry out cold working process on the alloy. Addition of natural aging treatment on the same material will harden it thus making the engine block stronger. Carrying out solution heat treatment independently on an alloy of aluminum will increase its strength but not to the standard which will be attained by succeeding artificial aging treatment. During the process of heat-treatment, soluble elements present in aluminum alloy such magnesium, zinc, silicon as well as copper are altered in their bonding configuration. This causes the formation of intermetallic compound between these elements. As the process of solution heat treatment proceeds, these alloying elements are moderately harden into the solid solution thus resulting into softening of the entire aluminum alloy. At the same time, the quenching process holds these elements in solid state at the room temperature, hence, keeping the alloy soft but in an unstable condition. These harden alloying elements continuously precipitate out in an extra uniform arrangement than their original untreated state thus leading to increase in their mechanical properties.
 Induction hardening
This method of surface treatment work in similar principle as flame hardening discussed above. The only difference is that the material to be hardened has to be held in a stationary place while the whole material surface in heated promptly by the use of an electro-magnetic induction. This process commences with enclosing of the material to be harden in this case, an automotive engine block, in an inductor block. This is followed by passing of a high-frequency electric current of about 1500Hz to 2000Hz through the entire material. The function of this electric current is to raise the temperature of engine block surface layer to some degrees above its critical temperature within very few seconds. This inductor block is designed to contain pressure jets of water which are used to quench the engine block after heating is accomplished. Induction hardening method is more advantageous when compared to flame hardening because it enables addition of carbon as well as nitride elements on the surface of the engine block automatically without any complication. The standard percentage of carbon or nitride elements used in this process is between 2 to 3. These improves the strength of the block engine surface and at the same time, they increases toughness of the block. Finally, this method has been preferred by most material engineers working in automotive industry because it is less expensive, does not cause defect on the material surface, produces a sounding result in addition to its higher accuracy.
Recycling issues and future developments of light weight engine block.
World environment act generated by UNEP requires that every industry to practice a Zero waste production hence automotive industry is not exempted. This act also require all industries globally to recycle their materials so as to minimize environmental pollution that may result from these materials. Considering this, at least each automotive industry manufacturing engine blocks must ensure that the material they use are recyclable. This is because most of material used in automotive industry are solid metals and their effect inform of solid waste pollution has destroyed many countries’ environment world-wide (Clarke, 2008). Since environment is naturally given, automotive industries have adopted cheap, light as well as recyclable materials in their manufacturing process. From the research findings, automobile industries leads in usage of recycling material in their manufacturing process. For example, out dated automobiles in United State of America are currently treaded to recover materials from them in a cost-effective manner by a well- organized recycling company. This company has assets of approximately fifty-five thousand vehicle dismantlers as well as motorized re-manufactures in addition to three hundred scrap shredders (Duranceau, 2004). The functions of dismantlers includes recovery of usable components of the vehicles for re-use as well as repairs and retrieving of automobile fluids such as engine oil as well as refrigerants which can be re-used after cleansing. On the other hand, retrieved engine oil may be utilize in energy production or passed through refinery process to produce new engine oil. Remanufacturers’ main function is to re-manufacture a variety of components from the vehicle which include; engines, transmission system, alternators as well as starters so as to replace parts which are faulty. Lastly, the function of scrap shredder is to facilitate retrieval of both ferrous as well as non-ferrous metals from automobile scraps. All over the world, material engineers are embracing technology in their research on advance materials for manufacturing engine blocks. Future automobiles parts have been predicted to be manufactured from considerably very light weight materials such as, titanium, magnesium, plastics, ultra-high strength in addition to composite materials. Moreover, these vehicles will comprises a lot of complex but classy components like fuel cell stacks, hydrogen storage system s as well as computerized control systems (Jody, 2009). This advancement will require a very light engine block to be manufactured with less components mounted so as to increase its effectiveness as well as efficiency. Another goal that must be achieved by the recycling process in automotive industry is to determine the business situation by analyzing the economic influence on automobile material recycling. Due to improvement in technology within automobile industry, cost of re-cycling materials have been reduced drastically thus it has help to meet the monetary value requirement in the market. This has make material recycling companies to play a larger role in economy boosting. Therefore advancement in technology as well as innovation of new technology are the foundation of discovering future materials for engine blocks manufacturing. Although material science is a diverse component of automotive engineering, many recyclable materials will have to be discovered and very efficient engines will result.

Conclusion
In every engineering design, material is the principal factor thus making its analysis very important. It also play the same role in automotive engine block designing, hence, scholars as well as automotive engineers has to continuously carry out research so as to come up with the best materials. The findings from such research will have major impact on automotive industry as a large and it will enable this industry to advance with technological changes. There are also competition from other means of transport such as water transport which is dominated by ships as well as ferry, air transport which is full of airplanes. There will be difficulty in meeting environmental rules such as, zero waste rule through material recycling if the stakeholders in automotive industry relaxed in carrying out research.
For a longer period of time, utilization of conventional material in most automotive industries has make it difficult for engine designers to fulfil their duties effectively. For instance, to meet the goals of numerous and inconsistent buyers, to be conversant with diverse components mounting processes as well as assembly approaches, adopting new technologies in automotive engineering in addition to compatibility challenges. Factors such as; material costs, time required to market the engine block manufactured, production cost as well as operation costs have a bigger effects on automobile engine block design as well as manufacturing process (Rosa, 2009). Material selection has to consider technical issues such as, structural behavior and manufacturing techniques; environmental adaptability, in addition to numerous non-technical factors like cost. The will ensure a smooth and efficient engine block manufacturing for automobiles.

References