Piston Rings

Nanocoating can help to improve performance and life
of automotive engine by reducing the wear between the engine
components. In this research have selected the proper material
for top piston ring and same material are to be selected for
preparation of pin for tribometer testing and material of cylinder
liner tested and fabricated the same material of tribometer disc.
Nanocoating by electroplated Chromium coating and Chromium
nitride using DLC method by PVD coating was done on
specimen pin and piston ring and this material which was used
tribometer testing.
Depleting fossil fuel resources, economic
competitiveness and environmental concerns has compelled to
explore newer avenues to improve efficiency of automotive
engines. Various techniques have been adapted to achieve this
goal.

A B S T R A C T Textured surfaces have been shown to provide enhanced tribological performance in a variety of contacts. Numerical analysis and optimisation methods are combined for application-oriented texture optimisation. However, an analytical approach is advantageous in providing more generic in-depth understanding of the nature of the relationships between texture parameters and objective functions, such as enhanced load carrying capacity and reduced friction. The paper outlines such an approach to obtain a set of global optimum design parameters for partially textured surfaces. The optimised results are expressed in dimensionless form, which enables their use for a variety of applications. The performance of optimised partially textured sliding surfaces is compared with the other conventional bearing geometries in their optimum state.

The study of textured surface performance is one of the highly researched topics in recent times. This is mainly due to the advantages that such surfaces can potentially provide in practice, in mitigating adverse tribological conditions, such as friction and wear. However, considering the complexities found in practice, a methodological analysis and evaluation procedure is essential in order to gain an understanding of the benefits from utilising such features in a given contact. The current study provides a combined analytical and experimental approach towards an enhanced understanding of the behaviour of textured surfaces relative to their untextured counterparts. The developed analytical models are invaluable in providing an insight into the relationship between the many parameters involved in defining even simple surface texture feature geometry and the expected outcomes in practice, when corroborated with experimental results. The current study reports on such an endeavour. With the studied texture configuration, the results have shown the possibility of reducing friction by as much as 25%.

IC engines contribute to global warming through extensive use of fossil fuel energy and emission of combustion by-products. Innovative technologies such as cylinder de-activation (CDA), after-exhaust heat treatment, surface texturing and coatings are proposed to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions of the vehicle fleet. Therefore, study of coating technology through a comprehensive multi-physics analytical model of engine top compression ring is important to ascertain ways of promoting energy savings. This paper presents a multi-scale, multi-physics model of the compression ring-cylinder bore conjunction, using three alternative bore surfaces. The model comprises ring dynamics, contact tribology, heat transfer and gas blow-by. Tribological and thermal properties of advanced coatings, such as Nickel Nanocomposite (NNC) and diamond-like carbon (DLC) are compared with an uncoated steel bore surface as the base line configuration. Such a comprehensive analysis has not hitherto been reported in open literature, particularly with original contributions made through inclusion of salient properties of alternative bore materials for high performance race engines. Power loss and FMEP are evaluated in a dynamometric test, representative of the Worldwide harmonised Light vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC). The NNC coating shows promising tribological improvements. The DLC coating is detrimental in terms of frictional power loss and FMEP, although it can effectively improve sealing of the combustion chamber. The differences in power loss of nominated bore surfaces are represented as fuel mass and CO emissions, using theoretical and empirical relations. For the first time the paper shows that advanced coatings can potentially mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of spark ignition (SI) engines, with significant repercussions when applied to the global gasoline-powered vehicle fleet.

Reciprocating and low-speed sliding contacts can experience increased friction because of solid boundary interactions.
Use of surface texturing has been shown to mitigate undue boundary friction and improve energy efficiency. A combined
numerical and experimental investigation is presented to ascertain the beneficial effect of pressure perturbation caused
by micro-hydrodynamics of entrapped reservoirs of lubricant in cavities of textured forms as well as improved microwedge
flow. The results show good agreement between numerical predictions and experimental measurements using a
precision sliding rig with a floating bed-plate. Results show that the texture pattern and distribution can be optimised for
given conditions, dependent on the intended application under laboratory conditions. The translation of the same into
practical in-field applications must be carried out in conjunction with the cost of fabrication and perceived economic gain.
This means that near optimal conditions may suffice for most application areas and in practice lesser benefits may accrue
than that obtained under ideal laboratory conditions.

This article provides solution for isothermal mixed hydrodynamic conjunction of the compression ring to cylinder liner. This is obtained using the average flow model representation of Reynolds equation based on pressure- and shear-induced flow factors. In particular, the effects of compression ring axial profile along its face-width and surface topography of contiguous solids are investigated. It is shown that ring geometry may be optimized to improve lubrication, whilst care should be taken in order to avoid oil loss or degradation resulting from any loss of sealing. In predicting friction, it is shown that appropriate surface parameters should be used in-line with the state of wear of the ring. For a new ring against a plateau honed liner, boundary friction contribution during the initial running-in wear phase should be predicted according to the average asperity peak heights protruding above the plateau, whilst the plateau height also takes into account the valleys within the surface roughness or grooves created by any cross-hatch honing would be the appropriate measure of topography for worn rings. The main contributions of the article are in providing an analytic solution as well investigation of ring face-width geometry and effect of wear upon friction. However, it is acknowledged that generated heat, inlet boundary starvation and circumferential non-conformity of ring to the bore surface would affect the film thickness and exacerbate generated friction accordingly. These further considerations would require a numerical solution, rather than an analytical one presented here.

Technically the system that is the subject of research in this paper is a reciprocating compressor. The goal of the research presented in this paper was to examine the reliability of operation reciprocating compressor with a single cylinder. This study is based on monitoring diagnostic parameters of axial clearance and temperature on tested ball bearings, which are located on the crankshaft of the compressor. The reliability in the work was analyzed observed through monitoring of axial clearance and the temperature of ball bearings and was performed in the laboratory conditions testing. Results of the research on the tested ball bearings show that the size of the axial clearance correspond to the sizes and the temperature before the period of notice that condition and are a good indicator of the reliability of the technical system. The most general type of technical system with rotating elements is certainly the compressor that is used in the field of launching of many mechanical installations. Piston compressors use the pistons, which are moving directly by means of the piston mechanism transforming rotary motion into oscillatory motion of the rotor 1. They sucked the gasses from a reservoir, of penstock or the environment and propulsion still (with a significant increase in of pressure) and the other were

In I.C. Engine, piston is most complex and important part therefore for smooth running of vehicle piston should be in proper working condition. Pistons fail mainly due to mechanical stresses and thermal stresses. Analysis of piston is done with boundary conditions, which includes pressure on piston head during working condition and uneven temperature distribution from piston head to skirt. The analysis predicts that due to temperature whether the top surface of the piston may be damaged or broken during the operating conditions, because damaged or broken parts are so expensive and difficult to replace and generally are not easily available. The main purpose of the preliminary analyses presented in the book is to compare the behaviour of the combustion engine piston made of different type of materials under thermal load. FEA analysis is carried out using ANSYS software. Development of the FEA model is also presented. Geometrical CAD model of the piston is developed based on the actual engine piston of TATA MOTORS four stroke diesel engine. The piston is loaded by a temperature field inside it. Appropriate averaged thermal boundary conditions such as temperatures and heat fluxes were set on different surfaces of the FEA model. In this study, firstly, thermal analyses are investigated on a conventional diesel piston, made of structural steel for design 1. Secondly, thermal analyses are performed on optimized piston, made of aluminium alloy and titanium alloy material by means of using a commercial code, namely ANSYS. The proposed new material is characterized by a low density, high thermal conductivity, easy machinability, high reliability and very good recycling characteristics. The results obtained for the piston made of a new material are compared with those for the current standard material. The analysis is carried out to reduce the stress concentration on the upper end of the piston i.e. (piston head/crown and piston skirt and sleeve) so as to increase life of piston.

There are increasing pressures upon the automotive industry to reduce harmful emissions as well as meeting the key objective of enhanced fuel efficiency, while improving or retaining the engine output power. The losses in an internal combustion (IC) engine can be divided into thermal and parasitic as well as due to gas leakage because of untoward compression ring motions. Frictional losses are particularly of concern at low engine speeds, assuming a greater share of the overall losses. Piston–cylinder system accounts for nearly half of all the frictional losses. Loss of sealing functionality of the ring pack can also contribute significantly to power losses as well as exacerbating harmful emissions. The dynamics of compression ring is inexorably linked to its tribological performance, a link which has not been made in many reported analyses. A fundamental understanding of the interplay between the top compression ring three-dimensional elastodynamic behavior, its sealing function and contribution to the overall frictional losses is long overdue. This paper provides a comprehensive integrated transient elastotribodynamic analysis of the compression ring to cylinder liner and its retaining piston groove lands’ conjunctions, an approach not hitherto reported in the literature. The methodology presented aims to aid the piston ring design evaluation processes. Realistic engine running conditions are used which constitute international drive cycle testing conditions.

Ball bearings are an integral part of many machines and mechanisms and often determine their performance limits. Vibration, friction and power loss are some of the key measures of bearing performance. Therefore, there have been many predictive analyses of bearing performance with emphasis on various aspects. The current study presents a mathematical model, incorporating bearing dynamics, mechanics of rolling element-to-races contacts as well as the elastodynamics of the bearing outer ring as a focus of the study. It is shown that the bearing power loss in cage cycles increases by as much as 4% when the flexibility of the outer ring is taken into account as a thick elastic ring, based on Timoshenko beam theory as opposed to the usual assumption of a rigid ring in other studies. Geometric optimisation has shown that the lifetime power consumption can be reduced by 1.25%, which is a significant source of energy saving when considering the abundance of machines using rolling element bearings. The elastodynamics of bearing rings significantly affects the radial bearing clearance through increased roller loads and generated contact pressures. The flexible ring dynamics is shown to generate surface waviness through global elastic wave propagation, not hitherto taken into account in contact dynamics of rollers-to-raceways which are generally considered to be subjected to only localised Hertzian deflection. The elastodynamic behaviour reduces the elastohydrodynamic film thickness, affecting contact friction, wear, fatigue, vibration, noise and inefficiency.

The paper presents direct measurement of in-cylinder friction from a single cylinder motocross race engine under motored conditions and compares the same with a new analytical predictive method. These conditions are encountered in piston-cylinder system with the application of cylinder deactivation (CDA) technology, which is a growing trend. The analytical method takes into account the various regions within instantaneous contact of compression ring-cylinder liner, including lubricant film rupture, cavitation zone and the subsequent lubricant film reformation. The analysis also includes the effect of boundary friction and lubricant rheology. The predictions and direct measurements of cyclic friction show good agreement and indicate dominance of viscous friction under the investigated engine running conditions. In particular, it is shown that the compression ring contribution to in-cycle friction is most pronounced in the region of high cylinder pressures because of combined Poiseuille friction and some boundary solid interactions. The combined experimental-analytical approach has not hitherto been reported in literature.

Fuel consumption is an extremely important parameter for the automotive industry today. In engines the piston system is the largest source of frictional losses, accounting for about 30% of the total frictional losses, thus it is important to optimize. The lost caused by friction and wear is huge. There is about 30% power of automobile engine lost because of friction, 19% of the power loss is come from the piston ring-cylinder liner pair. This important pair of engine often damaged because of wear. Lubricant film in an internal combustion engine (I.C. Engine) is an important factor in determining fuel economy and performance of the vehicle.

A novel integrated multi-physics assessment of the piston top compression ring of an internal combustion engine under normal operation mode, as well as subjected to cylinder deactivation is carried out. The methodology comprises ring-liner thermo-mixed hydrodynamics, elastodynamics of ring, as well as combustion gas blow-by and emissions. Therefore, the analysis provides prediction of ring-liner contact’s energy losses and gas power leakage across the piston and ring crevices, as well as the resulting emissions. Cylinder deactivation (CDA) technology reduces the unburnt fuel entering the ring-pack crevices, as well as the emissions. It is also shown that the frictional and gas leakage power losses are exacerbated under CDA by as much as 20%. Although this is much lower than the potential gains in fuel usage when using CDA. The optimisation of the piston compression ring would provide further fuel efficiency and improved emissions, an issue which has not hitherto received the attenti...

A novel integrated multi-physics assessment of the piston top compression ring of an internal combustion engine under normal operation mode, as well as subjected to cylinder deactivation is carried out. The methodology comprises ring-liner thermo-mixed hydrodynamics, elastodynamics of ring, as well as combustion gas blow-by and emissions. Therefore, the analysis provides prediction of ring-liner contact's energy losses and gas power leakage across the piston and ring crevices, as well as the resulting emissions. Cylinder deactivation (CDA) technology reduces the unburnt fuel entering the ring-pack crevices, as well as the emissions. It is also shown that the frictional and gas leakage power losses are exacerbated under CDA by as much as 20%. Although this is much lower than the potential gains in fuel usage when using CDA. The optimisation of the piston compression ring would provide further fuel efficiency and improved emissions, an issue which has not hitherto received the attention which it deserves. The in-depth analysis has also shown that CDA reduces the predicted CO, NOx and HC emissions by nearly as much as 8.5%, 10% and 8.7%, respectively.

Aim: Design Analysis and Optimization of piston for various materials and Determination of its Thermal Stresses. To optimize stress concentration on piston. Study design: Analysis of the stress distribution in the various parts of the piston to know the induced stresses due to gas pressure and thermal variations of TATA MOTORS 4 stroke diesel engine piston using ANSYS. Methodology:The Piston of an engine is analysed and optimized by using graphics software. With using computer aided design, CATIAV5R17 software, the structural model of a piston is developed. Furthermore, analysis and optimization is performed using ANSYS11 software. Brief Results: Von misses stress is decreased from 56.14MPa to 33.3Mpa for aluminium Alloy and 26.25MPa for Titanium Alloy.

The paper presents transient thermal-mixed-hydrodynamics of piston compression ring–cylinder liner conjunction for a 4-cylinder 4-stroke gasoline engine during a part of the New European Drive Cycle (NEDC). Analyses are carried out with and without cylinder de-activation technology in order to investigate its effect upon the generated tribological conditions. In particular, the effect of cylinder deactivation upon frictional power loss is studied. The predictions show that overall power losses in the piston–ring cylinder system worsen by as much as 10% because of the increased combustion pressures and liner temperatures in the active cylinders of an engine operating under cylinder deactivation. This finding shows the down-side of this progressively employed technology, which otherwise is effective in terms of combustion efficiency with additional benefits for operation of catalytic converters. The expounded approach has not hitherto been reported in literature.

Energy losses in an internal combustion engine are either thermal or parasitic. The latter are the mechanical inefficiencies, chiefly as the result of generated friction. Nearly half of these losses are attributed to the piston–cylinder system. During idle and at low engine speeds, friction is the major contributor to the overall engine losses. In particular, the rather small top compression ring accounts for a disproportionate share. Therefore, detailed understanding of compression ring tribology/dynamics (referred to as tribodynamics) is essential. Moreover, the ring’s primary sealing function may be breached by its elastodynamic behavior. The reported analyses in literature do not account for the transient nature of ring elastodynamics, as an essential feature of ring–bore tribology. The transient in-plane dynamics of incomplete rings are introduced in the analysis and verified using a finite element analysis (FEA) model, in order to address this shortcoming. The methodology is then coupled with the tribological analysis of the top compression ring. Comparison is made with experimental measurements which show the validity of the proposed method. The radial in-plane elastodynamic response of the ring improves the accuracy of the frictional power loss calculations.

A comparative study of wear, friction, viscosity, lubricant degradation and exhaust emissions was carried out on a palm oil and a mineral oil-based commercial lubricating oil. The wear and friction test was at first conducted using a reciprocating universal wear machine followed by a two-stroke gasoline Yamaha portable generator set, ET 950. The test conditions for the bench test were: pressure, 3.0 MPa; sliding speed, 0.20 m s -1; sliding stroke, 80 mm; room temperature, ≅25 °C. The test conditions for the actual engine were: constant load, 0.4 kW for wear of the piston ring but various loads for exhaust emissions and constant speed, 2800 rpm. Analysis of post bench test lubricating oils was performed using ISL viscometer, TAN/TBN analyzer and FT-IR spectroscopy to investigate viscosity, TAN value and the oxidation level, respectively. Exhaust emission analysis was also performed using a BOSCH exhaust gas analyzer. Experimental results demonstrated that the palm oil based lubricating oil exhibited better performance in terms of wears, and that the mineral oil based lubricating oil exhibited better performance in terms of friction. However, the palm oil based lubricant was the more effective in reducing the emission levels of CO and hydrocarbon.

http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0301679X99000523/1-s2.0-S0301679X99000523-main.pdf?_tid=553b78aa-a9c7-11e3-a0d0-00000aacb362&acdnat=1394616114_0b55dd59d8bfd087ecaa43860f72aea0 
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301679X99000523

A novel integrated multi-physics assessment of the piston top compression ring of an internal combustion engine under normal operation mode, as well as subjected to cylinder deactivation is carried out. The methodology comprises ring-liner thermo-mixed hydrodynamics, elastodynamics of ring, as well as combustion gas blow-by and emissions. Therefore, the analysis provides prediction of ring-liner contact's energy losses and gas power leakage across the piston and ring crevices, as well as the resulting emissions. Cylinder deactivation (CDA) technology reduces the unburnt fuel entering the ring-pack crevices, as well as the emissions. It is also shown that the frictional and gas leakage power losses are exacerbated under CDA by as much as 20%. Although this is much lower than the potential gains in fuel usage when using CDA. The optimisation of the piston compression ring would provide further fuel efficiency and improved emissions, an issue which has not hitherto received the att...

The piston compression ring's primary function is to seal the combustion chamber, thus mitigating gas leakage to the crankcase and avoiding loss of pressure loading. As a result, the ring is meant to conform closely to the cylinder surface which promotes increased friction. The compression ring is subjected to combustion pressure loading, ring tension, varying inertial force and friction. It is a slender ring of low mass, thus undergoes complex elastodynamic behaviour, when subjected to a multitude of forces. These motions occur in the ring's radial in-plane and axial out-of-plane dynamics, which comprise flutter, ring axial jump, compression-extension, ring twist and rotational drag. An implication of these motions can be loss of sealing, gas blow-by, loss of power and lubricant degradation/oil loss, to name but a few. Consequently, understanding and accurately predicting ring dynamic behaviour under transient conditions is an important step in any subsequent modelling for evaluation of cylinder system efficiency. There have been a plethora of investigations for ring dynamics, often decoupling the ring behaviour in its in-plane and out-of-plane motions. This approach disregards any transfer of dynamic energy from one degree of freedom to another which is only applicable to rectangular ring cross-sections. Alternatively, there are computationally intensive approaches such as finite element analysis which are not conducive for inclusion in any subsequent system level engine modelling where ring response alters in an instantaneous manner. This would require embedded finite element analysis within a transient analysis. This paper presents a finite difference numerical analysis for coupled in-plane and out-of-plane motions of compression rings with practical cross-sectional geometries, which are mostly not rectangular. The formulated method can be integrated into a system level transient cyclic analysis of ring-bore contact. The presented approach takes into account the energy transfer between different degrees of freedom. The predictions are validated against precise non-contact measurements of ring elastodynamic behaviour under amplitude-frequency sweeps. This approach has not hitherto been reported in literature and constitutes the main contribution of the paper.

This paper presents a wear process analysis of piston‐cylinder set in internal combustion engines.Piston mechanism is a very important factor in the proper lubrication of the engine, but also a potential cause of increased consumption of oil. There are very important kinematic ‐ tribological properties of piston mechanisms in this regard. From the point of reliability and functionality, critical parts of this circuit are the piston rings. Wear is most pronounced in the first piston ring, since it is exposed to the highest pressure and temperature, as well as the direct impact of fuel and combustion products. The intensity of wear of piston ‐ cylinder set depends on many factors, but the most influential ones are: construction, materials used for the production of the parts of this assembly, production technology and conditions of use.

Performance enhancements by laser surface texturing (LST) of parallel-thrust bearings is experimentally investigated. Test results are compared with a theoretical model and good correlation is found over the relevant operating conditions. A comparison of the performance of unidirectional and bi-directional partial-LST bearings with that of a baseline, untextured bearing is presented showing the benefits of LST in terms of increased clearance and reduced friction.

A novel integrated multi-physics assessment of the piston top compression ring of an internal combustion engine under normal operation mode, as well as subjected to cylinder deactivation is carried out. The methodology comprises ring-liner thermo-mixed hydrodynamics, elastodynamics of ring, as well as combustion gas blow-by and emissions. Therefore, the analysis provides prediction of ring-liner contact’s energy losses and gas power leakage across the piston and ring crevices, as well as the resulting emissions. Cylinder deactivation (CDA) technology reduces the unburnt fuel entering the ring-pack crevices, as well as the emissions. It is also shown that the frictional and gas leakage power losses are exacerbated under CDA by as much as 20%. Although this is much lower than the potential gains in fuel usage when using CDA. The optimisation of the piston compression ring would provide further fuel efficiency and improved emissions, an issue which has not hitherto received the attenti...

Tribological parameters such as friction, lubrication and wear influence strongly the engine component's life. In this study, a piston ring-cylinder system simulated taking into account the surface modifications under fully flooded lubrication and normal engine conditions. The hydrodynamic pressure field solved based on the Navier Stokes equations by Fluid Structure Interaction analysis. A real experimental data of piston ring-cylinder was used from a two stroke motor engine 50 cc. The surface irregularities are measured by 3D coordinate measurement machine while the engine has been worked about 4000 hours. The friction force, the hydrodynamic pressure, the oil film and the mechanical stresses were predicted for different engine conditions. Results show that the worn profile ring reduces the friction as well as the mechanical stresses increased. Surface condition of worn top ring was observed after a metallurgical profile analysis.