Analyzing the Effects of Three-Dimensional Cylinder Liner Surface Texture on Ring-Pack Performance With a Focus on Honing Groove Cross-Hatch Angle

Author(s):  
Jeffrey Jocsak ◽  
Yong Li ◽  
Tian Tian ◽  
Victor W. Wong

Frictional losses in the piston ring-pack of an engine account for approximately 20% of the total frictional losses within an engine. Although many non-conventional cylinder liner finishes are now being developed to reduce friction and oil consumption, the effects of the surface finish on ring-pack performance is not well understood. The current study focuses on modeling the effects of three-dimensional cylinder liner surface anisotropy on piston ring-pack performance. A rough surface flow simulation program was developed to generate flow factors and shear stress factors for three-dimensional cylinder liner surface textures. Rough surface contact between the ring and liner was modeled using a previously published methodology for asperity contact pressure estimation between actual rough surfaces. The surface specific flow factors, shear stress factors, and asperity contact model were used in conjunction with MIT’s previously developed ring-pack simulation program to predict the effects of different surface textures on ring-pack behavior. Specific attention was given to the effect of honing groove cross-hatch angle on piston ring-pack friction in a stationary natural gas engine application, and adverse effects on engine oil consumption and durability were also briefly considered. The modeling results suggest that ring-pack friction reduction is possible if the liner honing cross hatch angle is decreased by reducing the feed-to-speed ratio of the honing tool. Reducing the cross-hatch angle increased oil flow blockage and increased the lubricant’s effective viscosity during mixed lubrication. This allowed more load to be supported by hydrodynamic pressure, reducing ring-pack friction. However, there appeared to be a potential for increased oil consumption and scuffing tendency corresponding to a decrease in honing cross-hatch angle.

Author(s):  
Jeffrey Jocsak ◽  
Victor W. Wong ◽  
Tian Tian

This paper presents enhancements to a previously developed mixed-lubrication ring-pack model that has been used extensively in the automotive industry in predicting piston-ring/liner oil film thickness, friction and oil-transport processes along the liner. The previous model considers three lubrication regimes, shear thinning of the lubricant, and the unsteady wetting conditions of the rings at the leading and trailing edges. The model incorporates the effects of surface roughness by using Patir and Cheng’s average flow model and the Greenwood and Tripp statistical asperity contact model, assuming a Gaussian distribution of surface roughness. However, as a result of the methods used to machine a cylinder liner and the wear-in process observed in engines, the cylinder liner finish is highly non-Gaussian. The purpose of this current study is to understand the effects of additional surface parameters other than Gaussian root-mean-square surface roughness on piston ring-pack friction in the context of a natural gas reciprocating engine ring/liner interface. In general, the surface roughness of a cylinder liner is negatively skewed. Applying similar methodology published in the literature, a wide variety of non-Gaussian probability density functions were generated in terms of the skewness of the cylinder liner surface. These probability density functions were implemented into the Greenwood and Tripp asperity contact model, and subsequently into the traditional MIT ring-pack friction model. The effects of surface skewness on flow were approximated using Gaussian flow factors and a simple truncation method. The enhanced model was studied in conjunction with results from an existing ring-pack dynamic model that provided the dynamic twists of the rings relative to the liner and inter-ring pressures. In this manner, a detailed analysis of the effects of engineered cylinder liner finish on reducing friction losses was performed.


Author(s):  
Xiaoming Ye ◽  
Guohua Chen ◽  
Maji Luo ◽  
Yankun Jiang

A three-dimensional, hydrodynamic mixed lubrication model has been developed to investigate the frictional performance of piston ring and cylinder liner contact. The model is based on the average Reynolds equation and asperity contact approach with the considerations of surface roughness, rupture location, blowby through the piston ring pack and nonaxisymmetry in circumferential direction of cylinder liner. The equation has been solved cyclically using the finite difference method in a fully flooded inlet boundary condition and a flow-continuity Reynolds boundary condition for cavitation outlet zone. The oil film thickness, hydrodynamic pressure distribution, friction force and friction heat generated at the piston ring/cylinder liner interface are determined as the function of crank angle position. The results show that the shape of the cylinder liner (out-of-roundness) significantly affects the lubrication performance of the piston ring pack. A heat transfer model has been presented to evaluate the effects of friction heat on the temperatures of piston and cylinder liner system. The friction heat is added on the piston ring/cylinder liner interface as the flux boundary condition. The temperature fields of piston and cylinder liner system are acquired by the FEM, which reveal the distribution of the friction heat in this system. The results show that the friction heat mainly affects the temperature on the region near the top ring groove of the piston ring pack. The effect decreases at the region away from the top ring groove, especially at the piston skirt. The effect of friction heat on the temperature of cylinder liner is smaller than that of piston ring pack.


2017 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Hu ◽  
Xianghui Meng ◽  
Youbai Xie ◽  
Jiazheng Fan

Purpose During running-in, the change in the honed cylinder liner surface alters the performance and efficiency of the piston ring-pack system. The present paper, thus, aims to investigate the surface topography and wear and friction evolution of a cylinder liner surface during the running-in tests on a reciprocating ring–liner tribometer under a mixed lubrication regime. After an initial period of rapid wear termed “running-in wear”, a relatively long-term steady-state surface topography can emerge. A numerical model is developed to predict the frictional performance of a piston ring-pack system at the initial and steady-state stages. Design/methodology/approach The liner surfaces are produced by slide honing (SH) and plateau honing (PH). The bearing area parameter (Rk family), commonly used in the automotive industry, is used to quantitatively characterize the surface topography change during the running-in process. A wear volume-sensitive surface roughness parameter, Rktot, is used to show the wear evolution. Findings The experimental results show that a slide-honed surface leads to reduced wear, and it reduces the costly running-in period compared to the plateau-honed surface. The simulation results show that running-in is a beneficial wear process that leads to a reduced friction mean effective pressure at the steady-state. Originality/value To simulate the mixed lubrication performance of a ring–liner system with non-Gaussian roughness, a one-dimensional homogenized mixed lubrication model was established. The real surface topography instead of its statistical properties is taken into account.


2014 ◽  
Vol 966-967 ◽  
pp. 175-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Yousfi ◽  
Sabeur Mezghani ◽  
Ibrahim Demirci ◽  
Mohamed El Mansori

The cylinder liner surface texture, widely generated by the honing technique, contributes a lot on engine functional performances (friction, oil consumption, running-in, wear etc.). In order to improve these functional performances, different honing processes are being developed. These different honing processes generate surfaces with various texture features characteristics (roughness, valleys depth, valley width, cross hatch angle, etc.). This paper addresses a comparison of ring-pack friction for cylinder texture with different cross-hatch angles and valley sizes. It takes in consideration the mutual effect of valley depth and honing angle. A numerical model is developed to predict friction within the cylinder ring-pack system in mixed lubrication regime and a morphological method is used to characterize groove depth. The results show the effect of different honing variables (rotation speed, stroke speed and indentation pressure) on cylinder bore surface textures and hydrodynamic friction of the ring-pack system.


Author(s):  
Matthias Stark ◽  
Richard Mittler

Approaching a characterization of different contributors to the lube oil balance of an engine becomes important when aiming at enhancing lubrication performance and reducing its contribution to exhaust gas emissions. It is essential to quantify relevant data helping to determine lubrication losses related to particular tribosystem components. Recent activities focused on rating distinct tribosystem component effects on their contribution to total lube oil consumption and the possibility to most effectively modify those. This paper thus describes the most effective tribosystem component modifications, consisting of the application of a substantially modified piston ring pack and the introduction of lube oil accumulating grooves in order to considerably enhance lubrication performance. A proper prediction of piston ring pack dynamics and tribodynamic effects on the lube oil film is essential to design a superior piston ring pack in terms of an optimized piston running behaviour and lube oil transportation. One major step designing such a ring pack is based on the consequent application of a novel 3D piston ring pack simulation tool to enhance lube oil transportation characteristics and distribution. Lube oil accumulating grooves are introduced to reduce lubrication losses due to so called ring pack spray. The ring pack spray is a result of accumulated lubricant in the pressurized piston ring pack expanding into the scavenge air receiver during the scavenging phase. Mentioned effect was analysed in detail in order to determine the amount of related lubricant losses. Investigations in this context lead to the application of lube oil accumulating grooves and hence can be considered an important design aspect to reduce total lube oil consumption. Tribosystem performance validation was performed on the basis of the application of an SO2 tracing technology on a full scale engine test in order to determine relevant tribosystem component modifications in real time. The sulphur content of fuel and lube oil considerably influences the formation of particulate matter in the exhaust gas, following chemical reactions of sulphur oxidation. Hence detecting SO2 in the exhaust gas is a direct measure to determine the amount of lubricant in the exhaust gas composition. Finally this report demonstrates measurement results describing the superior performance of the modified tribosystem.


Author(s):  
Liang Liu ◽  
Tian Tian ◽  
Ertan Yilmaz

To estimate oil evaporation from an engine cylinder liner, an evaporation model has been implemented and incorporated with an existing 3-D piston ring-pack lubrication model. In this evaporation model, oil is modeled as being composed of distinct hydrocarbon species. Due to the depletion of light species and temperature variation, oil composition changes with space and time. Great emphasis was placed on the change of oil composition caused by oil transport through the ring-pack movement along the liner. The model was applied to a gasoline engine, and it was demonstrated that due to the movement of piston ring-pack, oil can be transported from the lower liner region to the upper liner region during the compression stroke, which gives a continuous supply of light species for oil evaporation.


Author(s):  
C. Anderberg ◽  
S. Johansson ◽  
P. H. Nilsson ◽  
R. Ohlsson ◽  
B. G. Rose´n

Demands for decreased environmental impact from vehicles are resulting in a strong push for decreased engine oil, fuel consumption and weight. New machining and coating technologies have offered ways to attack these problems. Engine oil and fuel consumption are to a great extent controlled by the topography of the cylinder liner surface and it is therefore important to optimise this surface. Recent engine tests have shown a reduction in oil consumption when using cylinder liners with a smoother finish than that given by the current plateau honing. However, engine manufacturers are hesitant to introduce smoother liner surfaces because of fears of severe wear and scuffing. There is also the possibility that smoother liner surfaces may be more sensitive to the choice of piston ring finishes. This paper therefore seeks to investigate the functional performance and resistance to wear of these smooth cylinder liners and the mating top ring surfaces.


Author(s):  
Sang Myung Chun

The oil consumption and blow-by gas through piston-cylinder-ring crevices have to be minimized. Meanwhile, the friction losses in the piston ring pack need to be reduced in order to improve fuel economy and engine performance. In these two aspects, study on the optimized design of the piston ring pack has to be carried out. The amounts of oil consumption and blow-by gas are important factors to decide whether an engine is operating under good conditions or not during engine development and engine life cycle. The purpose of this study is to develop a computer program predicting engine oil consumption and blow-by gas by calculating the amount of oil flowing into the combustion chamber and gas flow down to the crankcase through the piston ring pack. Using this program, the condition of an engine can be predicted in advance.


Author(s):  
K. G. Mahmoud ◽  
O. Knaus ◽  
T. Parikyan ◽  
M. Patete

The automotive industry is subjected to increasing pressure in order to improve fuel efficiency and reduce the CO2 emissions of internal combustion (IC) engines. The power cylinder system (piston, piston ring, and liner) contributes significantly to the friction losses, engine oil consumption and gas leakage called blow-by. The role of cylinder bore shape in engine performance has been the subject of several studies in recent years. High bore distortion must be avoided because it can lead to ring conformability issues, which leads to inadequate sealing resulting in increased blow-by and oil consumption. It also leads to asperity contact between the piston skirt and cylinder bore increasing friction causing abnormally high surface wear. Although bore distortion cannot be eliminated, engine manufacturers strive to contain it within acceptable limits. Therefore, numerical analysis of the power cylinder with physically based mathematical models becomes very essential to the engine and component manufacturer in order to reduce engine development lead time and minimize the number of engine tests. The integrated ring-pack modeling methodology developed by the authors [1] is used to investigate the piston ring-pack performance. Although the modeling approach can be used for extensive parameter analysis of piston, piston rings and lubrication oil consumption, the influence of the bore distortion on the ring conformability and its impact on blow-by, friction and wear is highlighted in this study. Piston tilting, piston ring twist and surface roughness of the piston ring and liner have been taken into consideration.


Author(s):  
Liang Liu ◽  
Tian Tian

A three-dimensional (3D) model for piston ring-pack dynamics and blow-by gas flow was developed to enable more in-depth analyses of the ring-pack performance. This model predicts the 3D dynamic behavior of compression rings and twin-land oil control ring due to the ring’s non-axisymmetric properties, bore distortion and piston secondary motion. Finite element beam theory is used for ring structure calculation. Gas flows along the axial and circumferential directions of the power cylinder system are resolved simultaneously with the ring dynamics. The model was applied to a heavy-duty diesel engine. Particular emphasis was placed on the dynamics of keystone type of top ring, and the stability of the second ring with a twist chamfer and twin-land oil control ring under the influence of piston secondary motion. The variations of the gas pressure and ring dynamic behavior along the circumference are discussed.


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