The Recipe for
Valve Seat Success
BY CHUCK LYNCH
Sometimes having so many words with similar meaning or
perceived meaning can sure confuse expectations. The example
that we are going to review in this article is hardness.
Hardness is the ability to resist dents, scratches, and other
permanent changes under compressive force. Hardness is critical
to a valve seats function and longevity but does not support ease
of machining of the seat. We must meet the parameters required
for proper seat width, surface finish and eccentricity. Without
becoming a metallurgy session, we will discuss some seat types
and the benefits and challenges associated with them and why
hardness is not even the correct term.
Valve seat inserts come in a myriad of compositions and
schools of thought to support the many compositions. The
environment that seats must operate in is quite varied in
regards too, engine type, fuel type, duty cycle, cooling system,
environment and so on. Therefore, there is a need for many
valve seat options. More recently (and I say that loosely…
the past 20 years) seats that are installed in both the OE and
aftermarket applications have been powder metal composition.
Powder metal (PM) seats are a pressed and sintered product
rather than a poured casting. The composition of the PM seat
can have components integrated in them that do not stay in
suspension well during a casting process which can make for
some unique products like the copper infiltrated products.
Pictured above right is a powder metal valve seat with a copper
wafer that is infiltrated into the valve seat. This creates a unique
product of 15% free copper in the microstructure of the seat.
Allowing heat to be quickly transferred and performance
greatly improved. GM is equipping the LS3 heads with high
tech sintered copper-infiltrated valve seats. High-Performance
European engines like BMW and Mercedes also use this
technology. Other manufacturers are following suit in their
reman programs, too.
• Offers Superior Thermal Conductivity
• Excellent Machining Characteristics
• Compatible with Most Valve Materials
• Suitable for HD Intake and Exhaust Seats, Gas and Diesel
• High Thermal Expansion
As a rule, PM seats are easier to machine than many of
the cast alloy seats when using multi-angle form tools. They
leave very fine chips that do not bond to the insert tooling but
they can tend to load grinding wheels quickly requiring more
frequent dressing.
Although PM is currently quite popular, there are still many
cast alloy seats that are frequently used in the heavy duty and
industrial platforms. There has been a reluctance to migrate to
PM in some applications whether it be testing has not yielded
desired results or people are just to move away from what has
worked.
38 JAN-MAR 2018 engine professional
This is a powder metal valve seat with a
copper wafer that is infiltrated into the valve seat.
Cast alloys are still the most common class of seats. They can
range from products that are just a step up from grey iron, high
chrome content seats in the middle, to high end Non-Magnetic
Nickel base alloys that contain tungsten, cobalt as a binder, and
many fall in Stellite family of seats. These compositions comprise
a seat make-up very similar to the tools that you are trying to
machine with. Seat hardness can get into the area of mid 50’s
Rockwell C with the potential to work harden to a higher
hardness.
One critical need for some valve seats applications is to
be non-magnetic as stated above. Non-magnetic seats do not
promote particle weldment which can and will accelerate valve
and seat wear. Many dry fuel applications require seat materials
that are non-magnetic because of the high friction forces
between the valve and seat when there is no lubrication provided
by the incoming fuel. The same is true of applications that may
be prone to detonation or with constant high cylinder pressure.
As I started the article, I spoke about how we often use
words in the wrong context because of similar meanings. Valve
seat “hardness” is a misnomer used all the time to describe the
valve seat. A valve seat must be hard to resist the pounding
action resulting of valve to seat contact but also must be strong
and tough in materials speak. Strong is the ability to resist
deformation and tough is the ability to function even with
deformation. If we had valve seats that were only hard, we
would not be able to install them into the head castings without
breaking them. Most things that are hard are brittle and will
shatter when impacted. So, we need a seat that is hard, strong
and tough and I guess there is not a single name for that…maybe
Chuck Norris?
Ceramics is an example of valve seat material that is very
hard but not strong or tough. I worked on a project one time
with Ceramic seats where the head had to be heated and the seat
frozen to install them. Otherwise, the seat would shatter if you
attempted to drive the seat into the counterbore. In our repair
environment, we are not accustomed to going to such extremes
 THE RECIPE FOR VALVE SEAT SUCCESS
BY CHUCK LYNCH

to install a valve seat. My success for seat installation was about

50/50. Install one and break one. Once the seat was installed,
there is no adjustment. Therefore, the counterbore concentricity
and the seat quality should be at a level that there is no post
correction needed.
Needing a seat that is a combination of hard, tough and
strong in combination makes machining the seat difficult.
Here are some factors to keep in mind when dealing with these
materials.
• We may get good concentricity but surface finish and
geometry can suffer. This can also result in valve to seat leakage.
You may see undulations or chatter that are very hard to remove
without post grinding or removing the seat and trying again.
• We can have tool deflection which can influence the seating
angles resulting in the valve contacting the seat in the wrong
area, such as bottom line contact. This issue can result in heat
transfer issues that can propagate into seat wear and guide wear
issues.
• We can have issues where the cutting insert will suffer from
chipping or seat material build-up on the cutting edge causing
radial lines in the seat. These may seem insignificant, but they
are reducing the valve to seat contact, again, degrading heat
transfer. Three or four .005” wide lines can be twenty percent
or more of you total seating area. Most often these striations are
raised material which means that the valve is really seating on
those little lines and not contacting the seat. Remember, these
are tough alloys, these irregularities are not going to just wear
off or take on a uniform, desirable wear surface.

Tough, curly
chips tend to
build-up on
insert tooling.
Striations from material build up or chipped insert.

The seats that I commonly hear the most complaints about

and request for ideas on how to combat the situation, are the
seats that leave curly chips (see illustration below). These alloys
often the high nickel content seats that we spoke about, they are
very tough seats and the things that make them successful as a
valve seat can wear you out as a machinist trying to produce a
high-quality seat. The ease of machining powder metal seats has
even accentuated the issue because now you have a product that
is much easier to process to compare to.
How do we deal with this issue? I will follow with a list of
things that can help. There is no magic wand nor the always
sought after, single solution.
• Ensure that you have a rigid set-up. Meaning, the head
is held securely, the machine is securely leveled, feet are all
touching the ground and nothing can vibrate. Vibration can
cause chatter, chip inserts and is not good for electronics that
control motors and other machine functions.
• Proper pilot selection to ensure proper tool control and
reduce opportunity for vibration and chatter.

40 JAN-MAR 2018 engine professional

 THE RECIPE FOR VALVE SEAT SUCCESS
BY CHUCK LYNCH

• When sharpening inserts, maintain • Sometimes a required seat width

a good dresser, spark out and create
a polished cutting edge. The rougher
the edge prep, the more likely the seat
material is to bond to the insert. The
sharpener wheel needs to be dressed as
well to maintain a parallel surface, an
open cutting face and sharp, exposed
abrasive.
• If possible, spritz the seat and
insert with lubrication. Automotive
window cleaner works well as there is a
little soap and methanol. It evaporates
quickly, safe and not messy.
• Reduce the cutting effort by
selecting profile cutters that only have
the needed amount of angle. Often
machinist will cut more out of the throat
and the top angle than needed because it
is easier to see that the works was done
or they have always done it that way.
15° Top and 60° Throat are not always
required. There are also single point
tooling machines available but they cost
justification can be a huge hurdle for the
custom machine shops.
may be so that the best option is to
follow up with a single angle insert or a
post grinding operation to get the desired
width and surface finish.
As I stated earlier, there is no magic
wand, no one thing that addressed the
issue of machining these durable valve
seats. You need to give your A and
AERA Technical Specialist Chuck Lynch spent 20
maybe even throw in the B for effort to
years of his career at Jasper Engines in many roles,
meet all the requirements. including process engineer. He has also worked as a
There are some nice tools and quality auditor, analyzed tooling needs, coordinated
machine options but they are only procurement and training for equipment and tooling,
incorporated the use of super abrasives, coordinated
good if they are maintained and used as
failure analysis of components, and more. For more
intended. We must remember that things
information, email: chuck@aera.org.
wear out over time. That is why we have
the jobs that we do in this industry. We Additional information about specific seat designs and
sometimes seem to forget that when we applications can be obtained by reaching out to the
can’t figure out why that certain head following contributors and members of our association.
is hard to get good concentricity and Dura-Bond Bearing Co.
vacuum seal. Remember, Edison said 775-883-8998 • dura-bondbearings.com
that “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% QualCast, LLC
perspiration”. We should be striving 615-777-3863 • qualcast.net
toward making jobs easier but we MUST
S.B. International, Inc.
be aware of the factors that influence 800-843-7328 • sbintl.com
the outcome or you may go backwards
faster than you can move forward.n

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42 JAN-MAR 2018 engine professional