Design of Capacitance Probes for Oil Film Thickness Measurements Between the Piston Ring and Linear in Internal Combustion Engines

2000 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 633-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. O. Ducu ◽  
R. J. Donahue ◽  
J. B. Ghandhi

Measurement of the capacitance formed between the piston ring and a probe mounted in the cylinder liner provides an accurate means of determining the oil film thickness provided that the region between the ring and probe is flooded with oil and the dielectric constant of the oil is known. All aspects of the design, construction, installation of capacitance probes, and analysis of the resulting measurements are reviewed in this paper. Biases introduced due to the fringing of the electric field, curvature of the ring face profile, roughness of the ring profile, and the tilt angle of the ring face are analyzed, and correction algorithms are proposed. Errors associated with the proposed algorithms are gauged through comparisons to finite difference solutions. Shielding the sensing electrode is found to eliminate fringing effects and also stray capacitance which can affect the signal. A rectangular probe design with a high aspect ratio is suggested as an optimum. The small axis of the probe provides high spatial resolution, while the longer length, which is in the circumferential direction, provides a sufficient surface area to ensure sufficient signal strength. A design procedure which allows for the sizing of probe dimensions for a given level of allowable error and capacitance measuring circuitry is developed.

Author(s):  
Mohamed Kamal Ahmed Ali ◽  
Hou Xianjun ◽  
Richard Fiifi Turkson ◽  
Muhammad Ezzat

This paper presents a model to study the effect of piston ring dynamics on basic tribological parameters that affect the performance of internal combustion engines by using dynamics analysis software (AVL Excite Designer). The paramount tribological parameters include friction force, frictional power losses, and oil film thickness of piston ring assembly. The piston and rings assembly is one of the highest mechanically loaded components in engines. Relevant literature reports that the piston ring assembly accounts for 40% to 50% of the frictional losses, making it imperative for the piston ring dynamics to be understood thoroughly. This analytical study of the piston ring dynamics describes the significant correlation between the tribological parameters of piston and rings assembly and the performance of engines. The model was able to predict the effects of engine speed and oil viscosity on asperity and hydrodynamic friction forces, power losses, oil film thickness and lube oil consumption. This model of mixed film lubrication of piston rings is based on the hydrodynamic action described by Reynolds equation and dry contact action as described by the Greenwood–Tripp rough surface asperity contact model. The results in the current analysis demonstrated that engine speed and oil viscosity had a remarkable effect on oil film thickness and hydrodynamic friction between the rings and cylinder liner. Hence, the mixed lubrication model, which unifies the lubricant flow under different ring–liner gaps, is needed via the balance between the hydrodynamic and boundary lubrication modes to obtain minimum friction between rings and liner and to ultimately help in improving the performance of engines.


2011 ◽  
Vol 199-200 ◽  
pp. 734-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiu Ying Chang ◽  
Xian Liang Zheng ◽  
Qing Liu

Surface texturing has been successfully employed in some tribological applications in order to diminish friction and wear. This technology may be used in a piston ring to decrease the friction and wear of the contact between a piston ring and cylinder liner. A numerical simulation of lubrication between a surface textured piston ring and cylinder liner based on the hydrodynamic lubrication theory was conducted. The influence of surface texture parameters on piston ring lubrication performance was obtained by solving the mathematical equations with a multi-grid method. The results show that under the micro-dimple area density of 5%-40% the minimum oil film thickness increases and the dimensionless friction force decreases with the increasing of it. Under the dimple area density of 40%-60%, the minimum oil film thickness and the dimensionless friction force change slightly. Under various dimple area densities the optimum dimple depth at the given working condition in this paper is about 5µm.


1974 ◽  
Vol 188 (1) ◽  
pp. 253-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M. Hamilton ◽  
S. L. Moore

A capacity gauge has been designed for operating in the conditions of a working engine. The method of using it for determining the oil-film thickness and piston-ring profile is described. Oil-film thicknesses in the range 0·4-2·5 μm between the piston rings and the cylinder liner have been observed. Their variation with speed, load and temperature has been measured and it is concluded that their behaviour is essentially hydrodynamic.


Author(s):  
B Yang ◽  
Y Zhao

A simulation model is developed for the piston ring–cylinder liner lubrication problem in a CO2 refrigeration reciprocating compressor. Patir and Cheng’s modified Reynolds equation including pressure flow factors, shear flow factors, and shear stress factors is used to consider the effect of surface roughness on lubrication. The piston ring is assumed to be fully flooded at the leading edge, and both the cavitation case and fully flooded case are considered at the trailing edge. Modified Reynolds boundary condition is employed. The simulation results show that, the minimum oil film thickness has a maximum magnitude in the middle stroke region for downward stroke and upward stroke. In the vicinity of the dead centres, the magnitude of the friction force is much higher than that in the middle stroke region. The oil film pressure distribution along the piston ring thickness at different specified crank angles is indicated. The effects of ring thickness, crown height on minimum oil film thickness, and friction force are also investigated.


2020 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 106230
Author(s):  
Jiyeon Cheong ◽  
Stefan Wigger ◽  
Hans-Jürgen Füßer ◽  
Sebastian A. Kaiser

Author(s):  
Takashi Ishijima ◽  
Akiko Shimada ◽  
Shinichiro Kodaira ◽  
Hiroshi Sakamoto ◽  
Yasuo Harigaya ◽  
...  

For the clarification of the lubrication and thermal problems between ring and liner of internal combustion engines, an unsteady thermohydrodynamic lubrication model considering the ring temperature and the ring movement in the piston ring groove was developed. Then using the method of thermohydrodynamic lubrication, the effect of the profile of top ring sliding face on the oil film thickness and friction losses was analyzed. The ring is width of 3mm and thickness of 4.5mm. Profiles in sliding face of the ring used are two types. Ring 1 has a flat in the middle and a roundness in the corner, and Ring 2 has a barrel face. The ring temperature on the sliding surface shows the characteristic temperature distribution, and the temperature difference between ring lower face and middle of ring has about 19 °C. The oil film thickness changed in a cycle increases with increase of barrel height. The friction mean effective pressure FMEP decreases with the increase of barrel height both Ring 1 and Ring 2. FMEP of Ring 2 is more effective than that of Ring 1.


2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-306
Author(s):  
Brahim Menacer ◽  
Mostefa Bouchetara

The oil consumption in an internal combustion engine is an important source of pollution and particulate emissions, main efforts are done by the manufacturers to reduce to the maximum the impact of the oil consumption on the emissions of the engine, and to satisfy the increasingly rigorous standards of pollution. The losses by friction due to piston ring friction explain 20 % of the total mechanical losses in internal combustion engines. A reduction in piston ring friction would therefore result in higher efficiency, lower fuel consumption and reduced emissions. The goal of this study is to develop a numerical method by using of GT-Suite software to analyze the influence of engine speed and engine load during the working cycle on oil film thickness, frictional force, power losses. Our predicted results were validated with the experimental data of a previous study, and they have shown a good agreement. The results in the current analysis demonstrated that the engine speed and load have a remarkable effect on oil film thickness, friction force and friction power losses between the top ring and cylinder liner. So, it would help in reducing friction as well as making a contribution towards the improvement of engine performance such as torque, efficiency and fuel consumption.


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