ELSEVIER JSAEReview 17 (1996) 51-57

Development of a plastic intake manifold

Tatsuhiko Mukawa a, Yoshinaga Goto b, Noriaki Sekine a, Yuji Ikeda ’
aEngine and Powertrain Research & Experiment Department, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., 3-9, 6-chome, Ohsawa, Mitakn-shi, Tokyo, 181 Japan
b Engine Design Department, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., 3-9, 6-chome, Ohsawa, Miiaka-shi, Tokyo, 181 Japan
’ Engine Development & Experiment Department, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., 3-9, 6-chome. Ohsawa, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo, 181 Japan

Received 5 July 1995

Abstract

Plastic intake manifolds have already been installed in many models of European passenger cars. They are produced using a melt core
molding technique with a low melting point alloy. We are the first company in the world to develop this new production technique which
is a combination of blow and injection molding. Subaru employed this new plastic intake manifold on super-charged 0.66~litre engine’s of
the Sambar Dias for the domestic market in 1992.
This paper shows the story of the development and the features of this new technology.

1. Introduction 2. Aim and scope of the development of a plastic intake

manifold
It was 25 years ago when we started research on the
application of plastic materials for engine parts noticing
An intake manifold is a component used in the intake
their merits, namely that they are light, rustproof, noise
system of an engine and its function is to distribute the
suppressive and inexpensive.
intake air to the individual cylinders of the engine. It is
The progress of the application of plastic materials for
quite heavy compared with the other engine parts. That is,
engine parts in the past clearly indicates that there have
the weight of an intake manifold used for a minicar is
been two trends. One is the application of plastic materials
1.5-2 kg while that for a small car is 3-4 kg.
as substitutes for metal parts as represented by the injec-
The first car manufacturers to introduce a plastic intake
tion-molded nylon parts and the other is the application of
manifold into their cars were Porsche and Ford which
polyolefin or nylon in the blow molding method.
manufactured plastic intake manifolds by injection mold-
Typical examples of the former are the use of plastic for
ing around 1970. The shape and structure of those intake
the gears of the speedometer and for the oil pump and
manifolds were simple or just equipped with straight cylin-
more recently its use for the valve-locker cover and for the
drical ports.
oil-filler ducts.
Later, in 1989 BASF revealed the melt core molding
An applied example of the latter is the molding of the
method at K’89 in Dusseldorf which appears to have
ducts as represented by the three-dimensional intake ducts
triggered today’s popular use of plastic materials for en-
which are prepared by integrating 20% glass-fiber-rein-
gine parts.
forced nylon 6 and nylon-l 1 type elastomer by the multi-
The main objectives of the use of plastic materials for
layer molding method. In the past, these were made by
intake manifold are:
combining aluminum and rubber hoses.
Based on all this accumulated data on the conversion of
(1) Improvement of performance through a smoother in-
engine parts from metal to plastic materials and as a final
ternal surface of the intake manifold.
important development target, we started the development
(2) Improvement in both fuel consumption and the quality
of plastic intake manifolds.

0389-4304/96/$15.00 0 1996 Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. and Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
SSDI 0389-4304(95)00048-8 JSAE9541308
52 T. Mukawa et al./JSAE Review 17 (1996) 51-57

Injection molding machine

of base emission through improved combustion effi-
ciency due to the thermal insulation effect.
(3) Weight reduction.
(4) Noise reduction by means of vibration damping effect
of plastic material used.
(5) Cost reduction through improved productivity.
Since an intake manifold must bear the weight of a
throttle body attached to it and the pressure increase bismuth-tin alloy
machlne - the formatIon
induced by a turbo-or super-charger, it is required to have (by electromagnetic of the outer skin
induction heating
sufficient strength and rigidity. For this reason, in the
conversion of this part from metal to plastic material, it
was essential to use a combination of injection molding
and fibrous-glass-reinforced nylon.
For these reasons, many of the experimentally or mass-
produced intake manifolds were produced by a manufac-
turing method based on the use of a core made of low
melting point alloy.
However, this manufacturing method has the disadvan-
tages that the melt metal core is expensive and that the Core casting machine
metal forming this core tends to remain in the molded (the molding of melt core)
Product
product. The latter problem is fatal to fuel-injection equip-
ment like an intake manifold. Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the melt core method.
To avoid this, in place of the low-melting-point metal
core it was decided to use the three-dimensional blow
molding product of nylon, of which know-how has been
accumulated through the development of ducts. 3.2. Two-part welding method
The main molding methods on this subject which are
currently being studied around the world are compared in As shown in Fig. 2, this is not an entirely new method.
the section below. In this method, each of the two parts is first prepared by
injection molding and then the two parts are combined
together by the hot-plate or vibration welding method.
When this method is applied to the manufacture of an
3. Molding methods
intake manifold, however, it might have some drawbacks.
For instance, flash will be produced inside the port and it
3.1. Melt core method may be difficult to maintain the reliability of welding.
Additionally, depending on the design of the intake mani-
This method is also called the lost core method or the fold itself, welding the two parts may be very difficult, so
fusible core method. In this molding method, a low melt- design freedom by this method is limited. However, since
ing-point metal core is used. Figure 1 outlines the process this method is based on the injection molding method, the
of this melt core molding method. In this process, first of production of intake manifolds can be carried out wherever
all, a core made of low-melting-point alloy is manufac- an injection molding machine is available and the cost for
tured and the core is set into the injection molding ma- their production is relatively low.
chine. After the completion of molding, the core is melted
in the oil bath and removed by means of electromagnetic
induction heating to obtain the molded product.
The melt core that is most commonly used today is
Bi/Sn metal alloy. Its melting point is low, at 136-138°C
so it can be melted easily. However, this alloy also has a
number of undesirable properties such as toxicity, the
tendency for it to remain in the molded product, high cost
and high recovery-rate required which lead to high manu-
Welded joining section ’
facturing cost and the necessity to automate the system
because of the heavy weight of the alloy (specific gravity
8.6).
For these reasons, the production process and facilities
mentioned above are required. Fig. 2. Two-part welding method.
 T. Mukawa et al./JSAE
Welded joining section
Fixed mold
Movable mold
Fig. 3. Rotating core method.
3.3. Rotating core method
In this method, the core is removed by the rotating slide
(Fig. 3).
This method has been used for the manufacturing of oil
filler ducts for the Legacy and Vivio models since the
production of these models began. At that time, the appli-
cation of this method for manufacturing the intake mani-
folds of those models was also considered. In this method,
however, since the core is removed while it is being
rotated, the inner shape of intake manifold to be molded
must be within the circumference of the radius of the core.
This matter actually limited the freedom in the designing
of intake manifolds which were once considered for use in
the above-mentioned models. If, however, the designed
intake manifold has a shape compatible with this method,
it can be produced at quite a low cost, as in the case of the
conventional injection molding method.
3.4. Blow molding method
As shown in Fig. 4, this is a molding method in which a
plastic tube is inserted in the molds and blown with air to
prepare the mold product. In this method, it is difficult to
make the joined section thick and install the bosses to
which various parts are attached.
3.5. Combined method of blow molding and partial injec-
tion molding
As shown in Fig. 5, this is a molding method in which
the injection molding is partially applied to the thick-wall
sections in the joined sections of a blown molding product
which was prepared as a base. The drawbacks of this
Extrusion die
Mold Compressed
Parison (plastic cylinder)
Fig. 4. Blow molding method.
Review 17 (1996) 51-57 53
Movable mold Slide core
\+ /
/ Fixed mold I
Slide core Fixed mold
Fig. 5. Blow molding method and the partial injection molding method.
molding method include a lack of strength in the joined
section and the difficulty of forming the bosses around the
tube section.
3.6. Combined method of blow molding and injection
molding
This is the method employed by our company in which
the drawbacks inherent in the individual methods were
eliminated.
The key point in the development of this method was
whether a blow molding product could stand the process-
ing of injection molding without breaking. This problem
was solved by introducing a low-pressure molding method
in addition to the blow molding method. This is, in
conventional injection molding, the injection pressure is
69-98 MPa while the pressure required in this method is
about l/10 of that pressure.
By the blow molding of nylon, a three-dimensional
shaped core is produced (Fig. 6). This core has a double-
layer structure in which the inner layer is made of nylon 6
to obtain a smooth inner surface and the outer layer is
made of 30% glass-fiber-reinforced nylon 6 to provide the
strength to the core so that the core can bear the injection
pressure.
This multiple-layer structure was introduced in considera-
tion of the possible future use of alcohol-based fuel. That
is the selection range of measures for the prevention of
alcohol swelling such as the use of low-swelling material
is wider than that of the other manufacturing processes.
A support for reinforcement is inserted into a blow
molding product prepared by this method which was de-
Two-layer
air
Non-reinforced 30%-&F-reinforced
nylon 6 nylon 6
Fig. 6. Multiple-layer blow molding.
54 T. Mukawa et al./JSAE Review 17 (1996) 51-57

Flashes are cut for recycling.

Caulking by heating u

’ Support Fa’iing time (Set) PA:Polyamide(Nylon)

GF:Glass Fiber
Fig. 7. Blow molding product and caulking by beating.
Fig. 9. Materials and their drawdown speed.

flashed in advance (the flash removed is recycled back into

the process) and both ends of the reinforced mold product
are caulked by heating to prepare a core (Fig. 7). This core
becomes the inner layer of the low-pressure injection
molding product (45% glass-fiber reinforced nylon 6) to be
prepared in the succeeding process. In a low-pressure
injection molding (Fig. 8), after the core is set in the fixed
mold, the movable mold is slowly pressed toward the fixed
mold while resin is being poured into the mold assembly.
By the application of compressed cooling to the molds, a
molded product is formed.
Since the size of the intake manifold introduced here
was relatively small, a conventional vertical-type blow
Mov/able mold
Core is set in the molds of an injection
11
molding was used for the preparation of a core. The
vertical type blow molding is generally accompanied by
drawdown. From the standpoint of material, as shown in
Fig. 9, the use of glass-fiber-reinforced grade material
rather than non-reinforced grade is effective in preventing
the drawdown but the introduction of a multiple-layer
structure is more effective for this purpose. In addition, a
proper control over the parison stabilizes the thickness of
layer of the molded products as shown in Fig. 10. How-
ever, if the size of molded products becomes larger, the
problem of drawdown also becomes more serious. Fortu-
nately, this problem can be solved by the horizontal three-
dimensional blow molding (MES processing). In molding
an intake manifold whose shape is rather complicated, it is
very difficult to completely stop the generation of flashes.
Studies on the recycling of glass-fiber-reinforced nylon
were made. That is, providing the initial value of 100 to
the relationship between the number of 100% returned
cases and the tensile strength, the change in the tensile
strength of the reinforced nylon at different temperatures
molding machine.
and the change after the reinforced nylon was treated at
120°C for 500 hours were examined (Fig. 11). In addition,
it is obvious from the number of recyclings and the change
in the length of glass fiber (Fig. 12) that at least three
times of recycling of the reinforced nylon are possible.

The movable mold is pressed toward the fixed mold while

-z -
“7
resin is being poured into the molds. E -
6
3 -
z 5- Average
z

i 14::

Surface
I I I I
By applying compressed cooling to the molds, a molded 0 5 10
product is formed. Measuring position

Fig. 8. Low-pressure injection molding. Fig. 10. Wall-thickness distribution of blow core.
 T. Mukawa et al./JSAE
0
1
1 2
1
3 0.s
Number of recyclings
Fig. 1 1.Number of recyclings and the tensile strength.
Based on all of these results, a certain amount of the new
resin is added to the old one.
Drawdown: This is a phenomenon in the blow molding
in which extruded parison stretches by its own weight.
This affects the layer thickness of molded products.
Parison: This is a plastic tube or pipe-shaped material
which is extruded from the nozzle of a molding machine.
It is used for blow molding.
In the low-pressure molding, since plastic material is
poured into the half-opened molds, it can penetrate into all
of the sections of the molds while hardly forming any void
by entraining the air. As shown in Fig. 13, the existence of
a stable state within the molds can be estimated from the
fact that the density of material in every part of the molded
product is constant.
The process in which a blow molding product as has
been employed by our company is used as the core, and
the injection molding of plastic material is applied to that
core later, requires neither the recovery of the core nor any
special facilities. Therefore, the risk caused by the invest-
ment in plant and equipment is almost negligible. In fact,
each individual molding machine can be used indepen-
dently.
0 2 4 6
Number of recyclings
Fig. 12. Number of recyclings and the length of glass fiber.
Review 17 (1996) 51-57 55
Distance from gate (mm)
100
Fig. 13. Density distribution of the material of product.
4. Evaluation of product
A throttle body is attached to the intake manifold we
have developed for Sambar (Fig. 14) in the form of a
hanging object. Accordingly, the intake manifold had to be
designed so that it can stand the extra stress due to
vibration.
In addition, since this engine is equipped with a super-
charger referred to as a mechanical supercharger which is
capable of generating a maximum compressed air pressure
of 78 KPa, a strong pulse vibration due to the structural
characteristics of the supercharger is generated, signifi-
cantly affecting the level and characteristics of the noise.
4.1. Vibration and strength
Plastic is lighter than aluminum but it is mechanically
weaker. This causes the problem that the resonance point
of the plastic material used would drop down to the
practical level with the increase of vibrational acceleration
due to engine vibration. This problem leads to the break-
age of the intake manifold itself, the worsening of its
Throttle body
Intake manifold I
Fig. 14. E07 engine for Sambar.
56 T. Mukawa et al./ JSAE Review I7 (1996) 51-57
lde
Stress distribution
Fig. 15. Deformation mode and stress distribution found by FEM analy-
sis.
sealability or to the malfunction of the throttle components
attached to it.
As a result of the FEM analysis, the deformation mode
as shown in Fig. 15 was considered as a possibility and it
was concluded that practically there was no problem.
As shown in Fig. 16, the level of vibration also falls
within the practically acceptable range in comparison with
that of an intake manifold made of aluminum.
With respect to the sealability, considering the low
rigidity of plastic material, a high-restoration-type gasket
which can be prepared by sticking a foaming-type NBR
rubber on an aluminum plate by baking was used in place
- Aluminum product
- Plastic product
Revolution of engine (rpm)
Fig. 16. Acceleration of intake manifold.
Aluminum product Supporting rib
45%-GF-reinforced nylon 6
30%-GF-reinforced nylon 6
Non-reinforced nvlon 6
Supporting rib
Plastic product
Fig. 17. State of product.
of a conventional sheet-type gasket to overcome this prob-
lem.
4.2. Noise ana’rigidity
Since the engine concerned was equipped with a super-
charger which causes strong intake pulsations, to suppress
the noise resulting from this was one of the most difficult
tasks. Initially, the noise was thought to have been caused
by the suction inside the intake manifold, so that an
attempt was made to, for example, use as the middle layer
a material whose modulus value was lower by an order of
magnitude by taking advantage of the higher freedom of
material choice in this molding method.
However, no noticeable results were obtained. Finally, this
noise was found to be generated when the intake pulsation
vibrates the surface of the intake manifold.
To overcome this noise problem, the flat section (in
case of a blow molding product, the section whose outer
surface is flat has a curved inner surface in many cases,
which is in fact one of the unique features of this molding
method) was curved and supporting ribs for reinforcement
were inserted, as shown in Fig. 17. Five supporting ribs
whose projected area was reduced to l/2 that of a corre-
sponding aluminum product were used for our plastic
product. The results of the FEM analysis are shown in Fig.
18 As a result, we have succeeded in reducing the noise
level to almost as low as that of a corresponding aluminum
product. At the same time, it was found that the perfor-
mance of the plastic intake manifold was no different from
that of a corresponding aluminum product.
5. Summary
As a result of the use of plastic material, the weight of
the intake manifold was successfully reduced by about 30
 T. Mukawa et al./JSAE Review 17 (1996) 51-57 57

percent. Regarding improvement in the engine perfor-

mance or the heat-insulation effect due to the smoothing of
the inner surface, however, it was not possible to clearly
observe any change because the plastic intake manifold
was used for a supercharged engine and just a part of the
entire intake manifold assembly.
As shown in Fig. 19, the smoothness of the inner
surface when the non-reinforced grade-type nylon was
used as the inner-surface layer was higher than that of an
aluminum product, although little difference was noticed
between the two when the glass-fiber-reinforced nylon was
used as the inner-surface layer.
Stress distribution when one supporting rib was installed Judging from the fact that even if the number of
supporting ribs was increased from one to five as men-
tioned above, no difference was found in terms of the
performance of the engine between the two types of intake
manifolds, and the above-mentioned problem was consid-
ered to have been caused by the smoother inner surface.
This point needs to be examined in the future development
work of similar components.
With regard to cost reduction, the initial target figure
has been achieved. The aluminum-product manufacturers
have also been lowering the price of their products through
their own effort. Thus, we think that the efforts to manu-
facture better products by working hard with those manu-
facturers are very important from the standpoint of techno-
logical progress and business development.
Stress distribution when five supporting ribs were installed

Fig. 18. Relationship between the number of supporting ribs and the 6. Conclusion
stress distribution due to internal pressure.
The use of plastic materials for the intake manifolds of
automobile engines has become quite common in Europe
and America in recent years. In Japan, too, the individual
car manufacturers have been working for some time on the
development of plastic intake manifolds. Among these
manufacturers, our company has been the first in Japan to
successfully develop the plastic intake manifold by prop-
erly combining and improving the existing molding tech-
nologies. Our new molding process which was also the
first of its kind in the world was developed in cooperation
with the materials manufacturers, parts manufacturers, the
company’s technical department and other sections in
charge of production as well as through cooperative re-
search work with them. We would like to thank all the
Aluminum product Plastic product people and organizations involved for their useful sugges-
Fig. 19. Smoothness of inner surface. tions and cooperation.