The contribution of surface engineering to the product performance in the automotive industry

On January 1st 2000 the European regulation EURO III came into force, establishing severe limits to the allowable exhaust pipe emissions from IC engines. In 2005 the European regulation EURO IV will be introduced, entraining even tighter limits. During the last few years the environmental legislation has fostered a noticeable effort in the field of pollutant gas emissions from IC engines and the car manufacturers worldwide have developed those gases after treatment techniques, which are now very well established and have allowed for a significant reduction in the atmospheric pollution. To comply with future standards, the automotive industry will resort to several different technological strategies currently under development, such as direct fuel injection, the electro-hydraulic valve timing, advanced after-treatment system and the introduction of alternative, less polluting fuels, like compressed natural gas. However, a major environmental concern like the ‘greenhouse effect’ and climate change, whose solution is crucial for a sustainable economic growth, cannot be faced by means of the aforementioned technologies, since the emission of water vapour and carbon dioxide, one of the gases recognised as responsible for the greenhouse effect, is intrinsic to the combustion process itself. Therefore, the only viable approach to an improvement of the greenhouse effect is the reduction of fuel consumption, which can be achieved both by means of an increase in the power train efficiency and a reduction of the overall vehicle weight, besides improved aerodynamic and rolling efficiency. Surface engineering, in general, and plasma surface engineering, in particular, can play an important role in helping to achieve both objectives of enhancing the engine efficiency and of decreasing the vehicle weight. In this paper, some considerations will be offered regarding the possible application of plasma surface engineering in contributing to the outlined goals.