The article provides analysis of operating conditions for the «valve – valve guide» heavy-loaded and heat-stressed friction unit of the gas distribution mechanism of powerful internal combustion engines and establishes requirements to materials for valve guides. It describes nanoc omposite materials based on copper powder with aluminum, carbon, iron and oxygen additives developed by the authors of the present article. The reactionary mechanical alloying method and powder metallurgy technologies in use made it possible to develop materials having a dispersion-strengthened structure with nano-disperse level sizes of structural components (dispersoids, subgrains). They have a recrystallization temperature of over 950оС, good therm-conductivity, a low linear thermal expansion coefficient and excellent tribotechnical properties. For example, a copper nanocomposite material containing 0.9 wt % aluminum, 0.3 wt % carbon, 0.4 wt % iron and 0.017 wt % oxygen, by its tribotechnical properties, greatly surpasses CuNi2Si (F65 DIN 17666) bronze widely used by many leading engine-making companies for production of valve guides. By their properties, the developed materials meet requirements that have to be imposed on modern and promising materials for valve guides of powerful internal combustion engines.

The given study is dedicated to optimization of dispersion-strengthened material based on copper powder of the Cu-Al-C-O system used for valve guides of internal combustion engines. The developed material containing 3 % wt aluminum, 0.6 % wt carbon and not more than 0.02 % wt oxygen has the recrystallization temperature of 1000оС and exhibits higher tribotechnical properties comparing to the prototype. In particular, the wear out intensity of the developed material is 2.5 times lower. The material production technology is based on the method of reactionary mechanical alloying in the attritor and powder and granular metallurgy technologies.