A turbocharger including center housing with a thermally decoupling flange
is provided. The flange, which extends generally radially outward from a
body of the center housing, has a connection portion that can be used to
mount the center housing to a turbine housing of the turbocharger. A
curved portion of the flange is disposed between the connection portion
and the housing body and provides a thermal decouple for reducing the
thermal gradient in the connection portion. The curved portion can also
increase the flexibility of the flange to reduce the stresses therein that
result from temperature variations in the center housing.