A Study on Measurement of Conformability of the Piston Oil Ring on the Cylinder Bore Under Engine Operating Condition by LIF Method Using Optical Fiber

Author(s):  
Akemi Ito ◽  
Kazuya Mochiduki ◽  
Koji Kikuhara ◽  
Masatsugu Inui ◽  
Hirotaka Akamatsu

Engine oil consumption must be reduced for reducing exhaust gas emissions. It is well known that a cylinder bore shape under engine operating condition affects oil consumption. This study aimed clarifying the conformability of an oil ring against the distorted cylinder bore. Oil film thickness at the sliding surface of oil ring upper and lower rails was successfully measured by LIF method using optical fiber, which was embedded in the oil ring. The piston motion was also measured and compared with measured oil film thickness. It was found that the piston tilting motion affected oil film thickness hence its conformability. It was also found that thicker oil film was found at the following rail than that at former rail, and it was suggested that oil was supplied to the following rail from not only the sliding surface of the former ring but also somewhere, for example, the oil ring groove.

Author(s):  
Akemi Ito ◽  
Kazuya Mochiduki ◽  
Koji Kikuhara ◽  
Masatsugu Inui ◽  
Hirotaka Akamatsu

It is known that a cylinder-bore shape affects engine oil consumption. This study aimed clarifying the conformability of an oil-ring under engine operating condition. Oil film thickness at the sliding surface of oil-ring rails was measured by laser induced fluorescence (LIF) method using optical fiber embedded in the oil-ring. Findings showed that the piston tilting motion affected oil film thickness. Furthermore, thicker oil film was found at the following rail than that at former rail. It suggested that oil was supplied to the following rail from not only the former ring sliding surface but also somewhere, for example, the oil ring groove.


Author(s):  
Akemi Ito ◽  
Tadatsugu Hakkaku ◽  
Kazuya Mochiduki ◽  
Keita Tomotsune ◽  
Masatsugu Inui ◽  
...  

Abstract Oil traveling upward through the sliding surface of a piston ring causes oil consumption of an engine. Piston rings are designed considering conformability to deformed cylinder bore. However, cylinder deformation sometimes affects strongly oil consumption. It suggests that a piston ring cannot conform dynamically to the cylinder bore. In this study, distribution of oil film thickness of an oil ring was measured for investigating the dynamic conformability. An optical fiber has embedded in the sliding surface of the lower rail of the oil ring, and oil film thickness was measured by laser induced fluorescence method. The measuring point was rotated in the circumferential direction, so the distribution in both the circumferential and the axial direction could be measured. Thick oil films partially were found and it was found that the oil ring did not conformed to the deformed cylinder bore dynamically. Furthermore, such oil film showed thicker value than those expected theoretically. It was showed that dynamic conformability must be considered for piston ring design for reducing oil consumption.


2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 206-212
Author(s):  
T. Icoz ◽  
Z. Dursunkaya

Blowback of engine oil suspended in combustion gases, when the gas flows from the piston second land back into the combustion chamber, is believed to contribute to oil consumption and hydrocarbon emissions in internal combustion engines. Oil accumulation in the region between top and second compression rings is a factor that influences this phenomenon. The effects of individual parameters, such as oil film thickness and viscosity, however, have still not been understood. The present study was aimed at constructing an experimental setup to study the effect of oil film thickness on oil accumulation in the second land of internal combustion engines. Due to the inherent difficulties of experimentation on production engines, a modeled piston-cylinder assembly was constructed. Total oil accumulation in the modeled second land after a single piston stroke was measured and compared to oil consumption in operating engines.


Author(s):  
Yibin Guo ◽  
Wanyou Li ◽  
Dequan Zou ◽  
Xiqun Lu ◽  
Tao He

In this paper a mixed lubrication model considering lubricant supply conditions on cylinder bore has been developed for the piston ring lubrication. The numerical procedures of both fully flooded and starved lubrication were included in the model. The lubrication equations and boundary conditions at the end of strokes were discussed in detail. The effects of piston ring design parameters, such as ring face profile and ring tension, on oil film thickness, friction force and power loss under fully flooded and starved lubrication conditions due to available lubricant supply on cylinder bore were studied. The simulation results show that the oil available in the inlet region of the oil film is important to the piston ring friction power loss. With different ring face crown heights and tensions, the changes of oil film thickness and friction force were apparent under fully flooded lubrication, but almost no changes were found under starved lubrication except at the end of a stroke. In addition, the oil film thickness and friction force were affected evidently by the ring face profile offsets under both fully flooded and starved lubrication conditions, and the offset towards the combustion chamber made a large contribution to forming thicker oil film during the expansion stroke. So under different lubricant supply conditions on the cylinder bore, the ring profile and tension need to be adjusted to reduce the friction and power loss. Moreover, the effects of lubricant viscosity, surface composite roughness, and engine operating speed on friction force and power loss were also discussed.


Author(s):  
Eduardo Tomanik ◽  
Andre´ Ferrarese

A computer model that addresses the wear behavior by calculating hydrodynamic and asperity contact pressures was used to optimize the running face of three-piece oil control rings. The model incorporates Reynolds equation to calculate the oil film thickness for two sliding surfaces under a given condition (profile and topography of the surfaces, load, speed, lubricant viscosity grade and operation temperature). Prediction of the resultant asperity contact pressures is made by Greenwood-Williamson model. More scraping ring rail profiles are better for oil control, but present more wear due to higher asperity contact pressures. This higher wear can lead to less scraping profile, increasing ring end gap and lower ring tangential load, which deteriorates long term oil consumption control, hence engine durability. In the present work, a relatively simple computer program was used to predict lube oil film thickness and wear for different rail running profiles. Ring wear was assumed to be proportional to the calculated asperity contact pressure. Different rail profiles where the running profiles had a flat portion varying from less than 0.10 mm to higher than 0.20 mm were simulated and then tested in a bench test consisting in an electrical motored engine. Except for the combustion absence, all other engine characteristics were preserved (e.g., stroke, piston-ring pack, lubrication system) in the bench test. The measured oil control ring wear correlated very well with the predicted one. The model allowed the numerical optimization of the running profile of ring rail, which has lower asperity contact pressure, hence wear, but still has a good scraping capability. Two actual ICE tests were also realized. The predicted lower wear of the optimized profile was experimentally confirmed and no differences on LOC were found.


1980 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. L. Ting

A single cylinder engine equipped with a transparent cylinder sleeve has been used to develop a technique to make visual investigations of piston ring lubrication behavior and engine oil loss mechanism. This paper describes this apparatus and the development of a laser excited oil fluorescence technique for measuring the oil film thickness change between the piston rings and the transparent cylinder sleeve wall. The amount of oil accumulated in the piston-cylinder clearance spaces above and below the ring pack, and those in the inter-ring spaces, can also be observed. Preliminary results showing oil fluorescence light intensity traces indicate that this technique works very well. Quantitative oil film thickness data should be readily obtainable from these traces once the fluorescent light intensity is calibrated.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 1081-1089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Piao ◽  
S. D. Gulwadi

The role of cylinder bore shapes in engine performance has been the subject of several studies in recent years. In particular, the influence of bore distortion on oil consumption under high speed conditions has generated significant interest. In this paper, the effect of an axial bore profile on radial dynamics of a ring is investigated. Radial ring motions within grooves due to the axial bore profile can generate significant inertial effects and also have an impact on ring end-gap sizes and lubrication conditions at the ring-liner interfaces. The magnitude of such effects is dependent on the ring-pack configuration, engine operating conditions (speed and load) and axial bore profile details. These issues are investigated in this study due to their implication on engine oil consumption, friction and blow-by. The authors have developed an analytical expression to account for the effects of radial ring inertia due to an axial bore profile for implementation in a piston ring-pack simulation tool RINGPAK. Simulation results from a gasoline engine study are presented to illustrate the effects of engine speeds, ring tensions, and characteristics of axial bore profiles on ring radial dynamics and ring-liner lubrication. Relevant qualitative comparisons are made to experimental measurements available in the literature.


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