Simulation of Altitude Influence on Piston Ring Movement and Blow-By Effects in Piston Engines (Keynote)

Author(s):  
Sylvester Abanteriba

The compression and oil rings of the piston engine play a very important role in the performance and reliability of the piston engine. The rings are required to accomplish three main distinct tasks: 1. Sealing the combustion chamber gas from the crankcase to eliminate blow-by phenomenon, which constitutes the flow of some of the contents of the combustion chamber into the crankcase. 2. Proper distribution of the lubricating oil film over the piston skirt and cylinder liner. 3. Transfer of heat from piston to cylinder liner. Unfortunately the piston ring pack contributes to the highest proportion of the frictional losses in the engine and is more prone to high wear rates. In the engine, the compression rings are designed to provide effective sealing of the crankcase against the gases from the combustion chamber. The oil-rings provide an effective means of distributing the lubricating oil over the cylinder liner while keeping it from flowing into the combustion chamber. The ability of the compression rings to serve as a gas seal depends on their axial position within the groove. The ring needs to be in contact with the lower flank in order to provide the requisite sealing effect. Once the ring lifts itself from the lower flank its ability to act as an effective seal is compromised. The axial motion of the piston rings during the operation of the engine engenders blow-by and therefore has deteriorating effect on the engine performance. Not much work has, hereto, been done to study the impact of altitude on the movement of the piston rings and hence the blow-by phenomenon. This papers presents a simulation model to investigate this effect.

2021 ◽  
Vol 349 ◽  
pp. 04010
Author(s):  
Polychronis Dellis

The emissions control regulations introduced by governments are set to improve engine quality and reduce the impact automobiles have on the planet. The regulations imposed on the manufactures have proven very difficult to meet. To this effect some of the leading names in the industry were pushed to invest significant funding in research, development and optimisation of combustion, powertrain and tribology inside the ICE. Their goal is reduction of fuel consumption and emissions while increasing performance and durability. The piston-ring and cylinder-liner interaction is the major source of frictional losses for reciprocating ICEs and so, it is important to avoid any failure of piston-rings to effectively control lubricant transport from the sump onto the cylinder walls and further to the combustion chamber. This lubricant will participate in the emissions through absorption and desorption of fuel in the oil film at the cylinder walls, also resulting in lubricant contamination and consumption. The objective of this project is to assist with the investigation of phenomena occurring in the cylinder liner and piston-ring interaction under different operating conditions. The following investigations have been carried out, flow and cavitation visualisation in a model lubricant rig and cavitation visualisation in a newly designed optical engine.


2018 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 687-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Wopelka ◽  
Ulrike Cihak-Bayr ◽  
Claudia Lenauer ◽  
Ferenc Ditrói ◽  
Sándor Takács ◽  
...  

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the wear behaviour of different materials for cylinder liners and piston rings in a linear reciprocating tribometer with special focus on the wear of the cylinder liner in the boundary lubrication regime. Design/methodology/approach Conventional nitrided steel, as well as diamond-like carbon and chromium nitride-coated piston rings, were tested against cast iron, AlSi and Fe-coated AlSi cylinder liners. The experiments were carried out with samples produced from original engine parts to have the original surface topography available. Radioactive tracer isotopes were used to measure cylinder liner wear continuously, enabling separation of running-in and steady-state wear. Findings A ranking of the material pairings with respect to wear behaviour of the cylinder liner was found. Post-test inspection of the cylinder samples by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed differences in the wear mechanisms for the different material combinations. The results show that the running-in and steady-state wear of the liners can be reduced by choosing the appropriate material for the piston ring. Originality/value The use of original engine parts in a closely controlled tribometer environment under realistic loading conditions, in conjunction with continuous and highly sensitive wear measurement methods and a detailed SEM analysis of the wear mechanisms, forms an intermediate step between engine testing and laboratory environment testing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Avinash Kumar Agarwal ◽  
Deepak Agarwal

Abstract This study investigated the use of biodiesel (B100) and baseline mineral diesel in two identical unmodified vehicles to realistically assess different aspects of biodiesel’s compatibility and durability issues with modern common rail direct injection (CRDI) engine-powered vehicles. Two identical vehicles were operated for 30,000 km under identical operating conditions during a field-trial using biodiesel (B100) and mineral diesel. Exhaustive experimental results from this series of tests are divided into four sections, and this is the third paper of this series of four papers, which covers comparative feasibility and wear analyses, underlining the effect of long-term use of biodiesel on wear of cylinder liner and piston rings compared to baseline mineral diesel-fueled vehicle. Surface microstructures at three locations of the cylinder liner were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Wear was found to be relatively lower at all locations of liners from biodiesel-fueled vehicle compared to diesel-fueled vehicle. Surface roughness of cylinder liners measured at different locations showed that it reduced by ∼30–40% at top dead center (TDC), ∼10–20% at mid-stroke, and ∼20–30% at bottom dead center (BDC) for both vehicles, showing higher wear close to TDC compared to mid-stroke and BDC locations. Loss of piston-ring weight was significantly lower for biodiesel-fueled vehicle. Engine tear-down observations and carbon deposits on various engine components were recorded after the conclusion of the field trials. During these field-trials, engine durability-related issues such as fuel-filter plugging, injector coking, piston-ring sticking, carbon deposits in the combustion chamber, and contamination of lubricating oils were found to be relatively lower in biodiesel-fueled vehicle. Overall, no noticeable durability issues were recorded because of the use of biodiesel in CRDI engine-powered vehicle.


The piston seal that separates the hostile environment of the combustion chamber from the crankcase that contains the lubricant is an essential machine element in reciprocating engines. The sealing force pressing the piston rings against the cylinder liner varies with the combustion chamber pressure to form an effective self-adjusting mechanism. The conjunctions between piston rings and cylinder liners are thus subjected to cyclic variations of load, entraining velocity and effective lubricant temperature as the piston reciprocates within the cylinder. Recent theoretical and experimental studies have confirmed that piston rings enjoy hydrodynamic lubrication throughout most of the engine cycle, but that a transition to mixed or boundary lubrication can be expected near top dead centre. The purpose of the present paper is to examine the suggestion that elastohydrodynamic lubrication might contribute to the tribological performance of the piston seal, particularly near top dead centre. The mode of lubrication in eight four-stroke and six two-stroke diesel engines is assessed in terms of the dimensionless viscosity and elasticity parameters proposed by Johnson (1970), and the associated map of lubrication régimes. The survey indicates unequivocally that elastohydrodynamic action can be expected during part of the stroke in all the engines considered. In the second part of the paper a detailed examination of the influence of elastohydrodynamic action in one particular engine is presented to confirm the general findings recorded in the study of lubrication régimes. Current analysis of the lubrication of rigid piston rings already takes account of the variation of surface temperature along the cylinder liner and its influence upon lubricant viscosity. It is shown that, when the enhancing influence of pressure upon viscosity is added to the analysis of rigid piston rings, the predicted cyclic minimum film thickness is more than doubled. Full elastohydrodynamic action, involving both local distortion of the elastic solids and the influence of pressure upon viscosity, results in a fourfold increase in film thickness. It is further shown that it is necessary to take account of the variation of squeeze-film velocity throughout the lubricated conjunction at each crank angle if reliable predictions of film shape and thickness are to be achieved. It is thus concluded that the wave of elastic deformation, which ripples up and down the cylinder liners many times each second in diesel engines, together with the associated local elastic deformations on the piston rings themselves, combine with the influence of pressure upon lubricant viscosity to enhance the minimum oil film thickness in the piston seal by elastohydrodynamic action.


2021 ◽  
pp. 32-37

In a four stroke combustion engine, there are three piston rings, namely two compression piston rings and one lubrication control piston ring. The piston compression ring serves to maintain the combustion pressure, while the piston ring lubrication regulator functions to lubricate the combustion chamber during the energy change process so that the piston will run back and forth in the combustion chamber smoothly. Damage that occurs to the piston ring can be in the form of a broken piston ring, or a scratched or worn piston ring. These things can reduce the quality of the energy transfer process. The piston ring is broken because the ring is too brittle. Vibration that occurs in the piston when combustion occurs at full load increases the possibility of a fracture process in the piston ring. The brittleness of the piston ring is strongly influenced by the material used. To overcome this, a hard but not stiff material is needed. Keywords: Hardness, mileage, Vicker test


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):  
Fabio Araujo ◽  
Luiz de Sá Filho ◽  
Jason Bieneman ◽  
Eduardo Nocera ◽  
Edney Deschauer Rejowski

The heavy duty diesel (HDD) engine market continues to strive for improvements in engine efficiency and durability which places ever increasing development demands on the power cylinder unit. One of the methods being developed to help meet these demands is coated cylinder bore technology. By applying a coating to the inner diameter surface of a cylinder liner the wear on the liner can be significantly reduced. The reduction in liner wear is not however the only advantage that this technology can offer. Liner coatings can also offer corrosion protection, reductions in wear on the running surface of the rings, improved scuff resistance, and enable improvements in the efficiency of the engine. New piston ring technologies will be valuable in maximizing these advantages and their contribution will be detailed. The system must be properly designed to take full advantage of all of these opportunities. In this paper both the advantages and difficulties coated liners present will be explored by evaluating the impact on the liner, rings and the fuel consumption. This paper will additionally provide details regarding the different liner coating technologies being developed today. To support these recommendations the system’s performance characteristics will be demonstrated through rig testing and engine performance measurements.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document