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The paper aims to investigate the friction and wear properties of three surface-modified piston rings matched with a chromium-plated cylinder liner.

Samples were taken from the chromium-plated cylinder liner, Cr-Al2O3 ring, CrN ring and Mo ring. Tribo-tests were conducted on a reciprocating sliding tribometer under fully formulated engine oils. Friction coefficients and wear depths of three friction pairs were tested. Surface morphologies of cylinder liners and piston rings before and after test were analyzed.

Experimental results show that in the Cr-Al2O3 piston ring, scuffing occurred easily when matched with the chromium-plated cylinder liner; compared with the Mo ring, the CrN ring could decrease the wear depth of the piston ring from 2.7 to 0.2 μm, and the wear depth of cylinder liner remained; however, the friction coefficient increased from 0.113 to 0.123. The tribological performances of three surface-modified piston rings were significantly different when they matched with chromium-plated cylinder liner.

Chromium-plated cylinder liner and the three kinds of surface-modified piston rings have excellent friction and wear properties, respectively. However, according to the systematic characteristics of internal combustion (IC) engine tribology, only the appropriate cylinder liner–piston ring can improve the tribological performance of the IC engine. This paper reports the tribological performance of three surface-modified piston rings matched with a chromium-plated cylinder liner. The results can be used as reference for the design of high-power-density diesel engine.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In an internal combustion engine, piston ring-cylinder liner tribo pair is one among the most critical rubbing pairs. Most of the energy produced by an internal combustion engine is dissipated as frictional losses of which major portion is contributed by the piston ring-cylinder liner tribo pair. Hence, proper design of tribological parameters of piston ring-cylinder liner pair is essential and can effectively reduce the friction and wear, thereby improving the tribological performance of the engine. This paper aims to use surface texturing, an effective and feasible method, to improve the tribological performance of piston ring-cylinder liner tribo pair.

In this paper, influence of positive texturing (protruding) on friction reduction and wear resistance of piston ring surfaces was studied. The square-shaped positive textures were fabricated on piston ring surface by chemical etching method, and the experiments were conducted with textured piston ring surfaces against un-textured cylinder liner surface on pin-on-disc apparatus by continuous supply of lubricant at the inlet of contact zone. The parameters varied in this study are area density and normal load at a constant sliding speed. A comparison was made between the tribological properties of textured and un-textured piston ring surfaces.

From the experimental results, the tribological performance of the textured piston ring-cylinder liner tribo pair was significantly improved over a un-textured tribo pair. A maximum friction reduction of 67.6 per cent and wear resistance of 81.6 per cent were observed with textured ring surfaces as compared to un-textured ring surfaces.

This experimental study is helpful for better understanding of the potency of positive texturing on friction reduction and wear resistance of piston ring-cylinder liner tribo pair under lubricated sliding conditions.

Frictions in cylinder liner-piston ring often cause an inevitable loss of energy loss in the diesel engine. This study aims at evaluating the effect of depths in the cylinder liner groove texture on friction, wear and sealing performances.

Five depths of groove texture cylinder liners (50, 100, 150, 200, 250 µm) were fabricated, and experiments were carried out using a special-purpose diesel engine tester. Comparative analyses of cylinder liner contact resistances, piston ring wear losses and surface appearances were conducted with respect to different surface textures and applied loads.

Under no-load conditions, the cylinder liner with a 100 deep thread groove can significantly improve sealing and optimize its lubrication performance. On the other hand, the sealing is highly correlated with the depth of groove and the load within the cylinder liner. Under loaded conditions, the thread groove has less effect on the sealing performance.

The findings can provide feasible basis for the tribological design and production of diesel engines.

The purpose of this paper is to study about tribological parameters of cylinder liner/piston ring under sliding contact in the presence of lubricant.

A reciprocating test rig is used for the experimental work. The Taguchi approach has been adopted to optimize the coefficient of friction and minimum weight loss of piston ring and cylinder liner. Three control factors like load, speed and temperature were used for L9 orthogonal array design and ANOVA (analysis of variance). Parameters have been ranked on the basis of experimental outcomes and signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio analysis.

It is observed that coefficient of friction was greatly influenced by speed, and weight loss of piston ring and cylinder liner was greatly influenced by load. The surface morphology by SEM (scanning electron microscopy) analysis was used to understand the wear mechanism of worn-out surface and comparative evaluation was made with the Taguchi method.

Surface morphology of the worn-out surface is significantly dependent on the load condition which validates the ANOVA results.

The aim of this paper is to develop a technique to measure the oil film thickness between piston ring and liner throughout the stroke, without impairing the surface properties of the piston ring and liner. Mechanical properties of the piston ring, like ring stiffness, are also not altered. Effect of variation in bore on the movement of piston ring can be studied with the proposed technique.

The gap Hmin between the cylinder liner and the piston ring is formed due to the hydrodynamic pressure generated by the presence of oil film between piston ring and liner. This gap can be inferred by measuring the movement of the inner surface of piston ring with reference to a sensor mounted on the piston at a fixed distance from the piston ring. The piston ring is connected to the sensor through reasonably rigid member. The underlying assumption here is that there is no elastic deformation of the piston ring due to the hydrodynamic pressure. The fundamental sensor to measure oil film thickness used in this setup is a set of strain gauges.

It is possible to measure oil film thickness by the proposed arrangement for the entire stroke without changing the surface properties. Mechanical properties of the piston ring, like ring tension, are not affected. The results possibly provide the correct picture of the piston ring movement throughout the stroke. The measurement at near zero speed can give information on the movement of the piston ring due to hydrodynamic action and to the variation in the bore. The measurement is not affected by engine vibrations. The proposed technique can be helpful in validating the theoretical models proposed in the literature.

The measurement is possible only in unfired condition. However, this attempt can be considered as the basis to measure OFT in fired condition with necessary improvements. It is not feasible to measure quantity of lubricant/extent of lubricant on leading or trailing edge of piston. Effect of temperature on the oil film thickness cannot be studied as the engine is not fired. It is assumed that the piston ring does not pass through elasto‐hydrodynamic lubrication regime. Debris/worn out particles in the oil may affect the indicated oil film thickness at local points.

Currently, lubrication analysis of piston ring is generally done under engine rated operating condition. However, the engine (such as the vehicle engine) does not always operate in rated operating condition, and its operating condition changes frequently in actual use. In addition, the lubrication status of piston ring is generally assumed as the flooded lubrication or a certain form of poor lubrication in most of the lubrication analysis.

In this paper, based on the equations about the flow rate of lubricating oil and the variation of control volume, the flow model of lubricating oil in the piston ring-cylinder liner conjunction is established. The lubrication analysis of piston ring for a four-stroke engine under different engine operating conditions is done, in which the lubricating oil at the inlet of piston ring is considered as the lubricating oil attached on the relevant location of cylinder wall after the piston ring moves over at the previous stroke.

There is remarkable difference for the lubrication characteristics of the piston ring under different engine operating conditions. The worst lubrication status of piston ring may not take place under engine rated operating condition.

In this paper, based on the measured engine cylinder pressure, the lubrication analysis of piston ring for a four-stroke engine under different engine operating conditions is done in which the lubricating oil supply condition at the inlet of piston ring is considered. The results of this paper are helpful for the design and research of engine piston ring-cylinder liner conjunction.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to study the real-time change of surface roughness at different small regions of piston rings during running-in process. Meanwhile, the effects of real-time change of the rough surface topography on the lubrication and friction of piston rings are investigated.

An uneven wear model has been developed to research the running-in behavior at the different small regions of piston rings. The model is verified by comparing the simulation results with the experimental results on a reciprocating friction and wear test rig.

This research shows that the wear process of piston ring surface is uneven during running-in. At most time of the operating cycle except the vicinity of top dead center and bottom dead center, the minimum oil film thickness ratio increases while the friction force and power loss decrease after the running-in period.

Through this research, the running-in behavior of piston rings is investigated in detail. The interaction between the running-in and the lubrication and friction of piston rings is understood more deeply.

Compression rings are the main sources of frictional losses in internal combustion engines. The present paper aims to present a thermo-mixed hydrodynamic analysis for coated top compression rings. To understand the coating effects, the main tribological parameters are investigated into a ring-cylinder conjunction in a motorbike engine. Furthermore, flow simulations have been carried out on how different worn profiles on the cylinder inner liner affects friction, lubricant film and localized contact deformation of the coated compression rings.

In this paper, the basic geometrical dimensions of the top compression ring-cylinder system are obtained from a real motorbike engine. A 2D axisymmetric CFD/FLOTRAN model is created for coated compression rings. Flow simulations are performed by solving the Navier-Stokes and the energy equations. The load capacity of the asperities is also taken into account by Greenwood and Tripp contact model. Realistic boundary conditions are imposed to simulate the in-plane ring motion. The simulation model is validated with analytical and experimental data from the literature. Under thermal considerations, the contribution of worn cylinder profiles in conjunction with different coated compression rings is presented.

This research shows that because of thermal effects, the boundary friction is higher at reversals and the viscous friction is lower because of reduced oil viscosity. As regards to the isothermal case, the viscous friction is greater because of a higher lubricant viscosity. In the case of chromium-plated ring, boundary friction was 16 per cent lower than a grey cast iron ring taking into account thermal effects. Regarding the localized contact deformation, the coated compression rings showed lower values under different worn cylinder shapes. In particular, hard wear-resistant (Ni-Cr-Mo) coating showed the slighter local deformation. Therefore, the worn cylinder profiles promote boundary/mixed lubrication regime, whereas the lobed profile of cylinder inner liner becomes more wavy.

The solution of the thermo-mixed lubrication model, concerning the piston ring and worn cylinder tribo pair by taking into account the coating of the top compression ring.