ELSEVIER JSAE Review 15 (1994) 15-19

O
Study of the simulation of piston skirt contact
Hiroshi Kageyama *, Sohichi Hara, Yasuhiro Kawabata
Base Engine Components Group, Engineering Department, Engine Components Dicision, AISIN SEIKI Co., Ltd., 2-1, Asahi-machi,
Kariya, Aichi, 448 Japan
Received 25 August 1993)
Abstract
In order to reduce the number of engine tests, it ~s very important to simulate the piston-cylinder bore contact. In this paper,
the method of piston skirt-cylinder bore contact pressures have been studied by using the data of piston skirt profiles, its
stiffness, and its thermal expansions. Therefore, piston skirt-cylinder bore contact pressures finely correlate with the skirt
conditions after running tests.
I . I n t r o d u c t i o n
Dur i ng engi ne runni ng, t he pi st ons in an i nt ernal
combust i on engi ne are subj ect t o l at eral forces, caused
by expl osi on forces and i nert i a forces, whi ch cause t he
pi st on skirt t o make cont act with t he cyl i nder bor e.
The resul t i ng surface cont act pr essur e of t he cyl i nder
bor e acting on t he pi st on skirt not onl y i ncreases
overal l engi ne fri ct i on but also has f ar - r eachi ng effect s
on overal l engi ne durabi l i t y fact ors such as oil con-
sumpt i on and pi st on sei zure. For this reason, t he pr e-
di ct i on of pi st on skirt cont act bef or e act ual engi ne
t est i ng is very i mpor t ant in r educi ng engi ne devel op-
ment manhour s. In r ecent years, skirt cont act pr essur e
st udi es by using numer i cal analysis advances such as
FEM have been car r i ed out at t he deskt op stage, but in
t er ms of preci si on and model l i ng manhour s ent ai l ed,
t hese met hods cannot be descr i bed as satisfactory.
Thi s paper i nt r oduces a met hod f or pr edi ct i ng pis-
t on skirt cont act , using skirt stiffness val ues obt ai ned
by per f or mi ng stiffness meas ur ement s on act ual pis-
tons, desi gn profiles, and pi st on t her mal expansi ons.
2. Me a s u r e me n t o f p i s t o n s ki r t s t i f f ne s s
The skirt stiffness meas ur ement met hod is shown in
Fig. 1 and t he exami ned pi st on t ypes are shown in Fig.
* Corresponding Author.
0389-4304/94/$07.00 1994 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
SSDI 0389-4304(93)E0008-3
2. Many r epor t s concer ni ng pi st on skirt stiffness [1-4]
in t he t hr us t - nont hr us t di rect i on have been made in
t he cour se of r esear ch i nt o pi st on slap, but in t he
pr esent study, in or der t o i nvest i gat e t he skirt cont act
pr essur e di st ri but i on, stiffness meas ur ement s wer e car-
ri ed out at poi nt s including poi nt s al i gned in t he cir-
cumf er ent i al di rect i on. Exampl es of t he stiffness distri-
but i ons obt ai ned are shown in Fig. 3. General l y, t he
ef f ect of t he di r ect i on on t he stiffness val ues is gr eat er
t han t hat of t he t he angl e f r om t he t hr us t - nont hr us t
di r ect i on f or hol e t ype pistons, while t he effect of t he
l at t er is gr eat er t han t he ef f ect of t he f or mer f or slot
t ype pistons.
lh-Nth
Lower Pi n Upper Force
t ! J tiJ u
Fig. 1. Measurement of piston skirt stiffness.
JSAE9430095
16 1t. Kag(3,ama ct al. / . I S AE Revi ew 15 (1994) 1.5 19
I H o l e T y p e l
I F ' ,
_ _ P i n ~ - . I - - l - - . -
- - Ce n t e r - - ~
- - L o v e r - - I
O i l H o l e O i l S l o t
Fig. 2. Exami ned pi st on types.
~ l o t r y p e l
!
3. Skirt stiffness and profile
As a preliminary investigation in the course of this
research, the relationship bet ween the stiffness (G),
the cylinder diameter (D), and the skirt profile (~), at
an arbitrary height on the skirt, was examined, and is
shown in Fig. 4. These results were obtained by calcu-
lating the interference, due to thermal expansion, be-
tween the skirt and the cylinder bore, with it being
assumed that during actual engine running the temper-
ature distribution in the skirt is uniform for all the
conventional pistons. The results reveal that the profile
is very affected by the stiffness values.
4. Skirt contact prediction theory
The analytical model is shown in Fig. 5. The theory
uses the following assumptions:
(1) When the piston skirt makes contact with the
bore, the piston interferes with the bore without rotat-
ing;
(2) Imaginary points on the skirt are mutually inde-
pendent and have no influence on each other.
( H o l e - T y p e ) I ( S l o t - T y p e )
k n g l e f r o . , T h - N t h D i r e c t i o n
0 I 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 4 0 " O * 1 0 " 2 0 3 0 4 0 *
Upper
Pin ~
Ceo e r I
5 7 4 . l H ! L o v e r ' ~ . 9 3 ( R [ N ) '
I
Fig. 3. Exampl es of pi st on skirt st i ffness di st r i but i on (uni t : MN /m).
F . . . . . .
| I o H o l e type I I ~ , u. u. ~_
0
v I
~ . ~ o
20
0
i
I
0
Gaps from max. Piston Radii ( 8)
Fig. 4. Relationships between skirt profiles (~), stiffness (G), and
cylinder diameters (D).
From Fig. 5, the interference t5 0 bet ween point A on
the skirt and the cylinder bore is given by
2 sine0 (1)
~O = r p + Xp COS 0 - ~/r " 2 - Xp
where
Xp = e p COS /~ + H tan /3
/ B
Cylinder bor_e
Fig. 5. Anal yt i cal model .
H. Kageyama et al. / JSAE Review 15 (1994) 15-19 17
, , i i . i ! i i i
J_l; "'"
, , I LLJl
i . : . . . . .
l l l i l
I l l
: : : - , - :
i l l
O l l l ,
No
Fig. 6. Imaginary force points on the piston skirt.
a nd x~ is an el l i pse, wi t h l ong d i a me t e r rc/COS /3 a nd
s hor t d i a me t e r r c.
Th e c ont a c t pr e s s ur e Po at poi nt A on t he skirt,
usi ng st i f f ness val ue G o is gi ven by
60 >f O,
P o = ( O KGG 6 ' 6 0 < 0 . ( 2)
Lower
I p o r t i o n i ~ [ _ ~ ~ 0 '
60" ~ .
150 I00 ~0 0 50 O0 150 (, m)
T h -O ire c tio n T h -O ire c tio n
Fig. 7. Pistonthermalexpansionsusedinthisanalysis.
F r o m Eq. (2), l at er al f or ce F T act i ng on t he pi s t on ski rt
is gi ven by
F T = f s P o cos OdS
= KGf s Go 6 o cos 0 d S ( 3)
wh e r e S = ski rt s ur f ace ar ea.
S k i r t S t r e a k A b r a s i o n R a t i o
a f t e r E n g i n e T e s t s
e
4 "
i t )
a .
I ' - - "
( I n d i c a t i o n )
0 4 0 5 0 6 0 7 0 I 0 0 ( , ~
T h r u s t s i d e
Rr F r
N o n - T h r u s t S i d e
Fr Rr
~ _ i ~ ' \ ' " ' " ' "'~ )# ~ - - - C e n t e r
30" 2 0 ' 10" O' I 0 " 20" 30" 4 0 '
Rr F r F r Rr
40" 3 0 ' 20" 10" 0 1 0 ' 2 0 ' 30" 40,* 40" 30" 20" 10" 0 10" 20" 30" 4 0 '
upper
C o n t a c t P r e s s u r e
( C a lc u la te d ,u n it:M P a )
0 1 0 2 0 3 0 40
~ 3 ~ i U p p e r
P in
. . . . C enter
Lover
7.6[H AX)
0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0
U p p e r
P i n
C e n t e
L o w e r
Fig. 8. Contour maps of the streak abrasion ratio on piston skirt after engine tests and calculated piston-cylinder bore contact pressures.
18 t t . Kageyama et a l . / J S A E Rel' iew 15 (1994) 15- 19
Tabl e 1
Speci fi cat i ons
No. Pi st on Pi st on
di amet er type
Pi st on skirt t emper at ur e (C)
Uppe r [rower
l 095 slot 140 120
2 Q86 hol e 160 140
3 082. 5 hol e 160 140
Fr om t he l at eral force acting on t he pi st on given by
Eq. (3) and act ual engi ne test results, t he cor r ect i on
coeffi ci ent K G was cal cul at ed.
The ar ea of t he skirt for which cal cul at i ons wer e
per f or med is shown in Fig. 6. The par t of t he pi st on
skirt bet ween t he upper and t he l ower side was di vi ded
up into a grid of N o N z sect ors and an i magi nary poi nt
of force act i on ( e) was posi t i oned in t he cent er of each
sect or.
The t her mal expansi ons of t he sampl e pistons, ob-
t ai ned by t her mal expansi on meas ur ement and act ual
engi ne testing, are shown in Fig. 7, and t he specifica-
tions of t he sampl e pistons are shown in Tabl e 1.
Ther mal expansi on for t he hei ght s bet ween t he l ower
por t i on and t he upper por t i on of t he skirt wer e esti-
mat ed by l i near i nt erpol at i on.
5. Re s u l t s o f a n a l y s i s a n d d e d u c t i o n s
5.1. Res ul t s o f pi s t on s ki r t c ont ac t anal ysi s
Analytical resul t s and actual engi ne t est cont act
(st reak abrasi on rat i o on t he pi st on skirt) resul t s for
t he sl ot -t ype piston 1 and f or t he hol e-t ype piston 3 of
Tabl e 1 are shown in Fig. 8. In Fig. 8, results obt ai ned
by actual engi ne t est i ng are shown for t he ent i r e pi st on
skirt, while t he cal cul at ed resul t s cover only one side of
t he skirt. The analysis was per f or med with t he pi st on
tilt angl e t aken as /3 = 0 . On t he t hrust side, a good
( D e s i g n e d ) I ( Def or zed)
A n g l e from Th-Nth D i r e c t i o n
* 10" 2 0 " 3 0 " 4 0 "
Upper
',en ter
Lower
\ 25 HI
0 * 10" 20 30 40
. 4 4 . 4 1 p i n
C enter
1 7 1 LoNe,
\ 251 INI
Fig. I0. Cl ear ance di st ri but i on bet ween pi st on skirt and cyl i nder bor e
at r oom t emper at ur e (uni t : ~m).
cor r el at i on was obt ai ned bet ween t he actual test re-
sults and t he analysis results f or bot h pistons 1 and 3,
and, in part i cul ar, t he analysis conf i r med a large con-
t act pr essur e in t he ar ea above t he gudgeon pi n in
pi st on 1 in t he 10 di rect i on, wher e t he st reak abrasi on
rat i o af t er engi ne t est i ng is large. However , t he non-
t hrust side, and part i cul arl y t he st rong cont act in t he
10- 20 regi on in pi st on 1 bet ween t he gudgeon pi n
cent er and t he bot t om of t he skirt, was not successfully
si mul at ed. It is supposed t hat this is because t he skirt
of t he piston 1 under goes gr eat er def or mat i on duri ng
engi ne r unni ng t han t hat of pi st on 3, and t hat this
causes t he piston at t i t ude to det er i or at e, al t eri ng t he
cont act bet ween t he skirt and t he bore.
Fi gure 9 shows t he cor r el at i on bet ween t he st reak
abrasi on ratios by actual engi ne test and pr edi ct ed
cont act pressures, shown in Fig. 8, for t he t hrust side of
t he pi st on skirt. Fr om Fig. 9 it can be seen t hat t her e is
a sufficient cor r el at i on bet ween t he two, and t hat this
pr edi ct i on met hod is pract i cabl e. At pr edi ct ed cont act
pressures of over 7 MPa in part i cul ar, st reak abrasi on
is rapi d and t her e is a danger of it l eadi ng to pi st on
[ ~SLOT TYPE (~)
[ ~HOLE TYPE (@)
O
.D
/ -
i
5
C o n t a c t P r e s s u r e (NPa)
Fig. 9. Correlation between the streak abrasion ratio and calculated
cont act pr es s ur es on pi st on skirt.
(, ~-0" ) l (, 8=-0. 15" )
A n g l e from Th-Nth D i r e c t i o n
0* 10* 20* 30* 40*
UPPer
~ i ~ ' - P in C enter
Lover
7.631HAX)
0* 10" 20" 30'
/6.351HAX)
4 0 *
,I
Upper
P in
C enter
LoNer
Fig. 11. Cal cul at ed cont act pr essur e di st ri but i on in def or med skirt
profi l es.
H. Kageyama et aL / J S AE Review 15 (1994) 15-19 19
cylinder bore seizure, and, therefore, improvements to
either the profile or skirt stiffness appear to necessary.
5.2. Effects of change of the profile with time
During engine running, lateral forces acting on the
piston cause the skirt profile to change. For the poor
skirt and cylinder bore contact of piston 1 discussed in
Section 5.1, Fig. 10 shows the clearance distribution
between the piston skirt and the cylinder bore at the
room temperature before and after engine testing, and
Fig. 11 shows the results of the contact pressure pre-
diction analysis. From this it can be seen that simula-
tion especially of the strong contact in the 10-20
region between the gudgeon pin center and the bottom
of the skirt on the nonthrust side can be further
improved by taking into account the profile after en-
gine running. However, in order to make the most use
of this technique, it is necessary to estimate the post-
endurance skirt deformation before the event.
5.3. Skirt contact improvement example
As an example, the application of the present tech-
nique to piston 2 of Table 1 is shown in Fig. 12. The
4)
, , e , -
2
; o
z .
S t r e a k A b r a s i o n R a t i o
( T h r u s t S l d e , N e s s u r e d )
0 40 5 0 6 0 7 0 I 0 0 ( ~
Rr Fr
40" 30" 20" 10" O* 10' 20" 30" 40"
Upper
" - - - lover
Rr F r
4 0 ' 30" 2 0 ' 10" O" tO 20" 30" 40"
~ _ _ ~ _ _ ~ _ _ UPPer
__ Cente
Level
C o n t a c t P r e s s u r e
i ( C u l c u l a t e d , u n i t : M P e )
( T i l t A n g l e : , 8 = O . 0 5 )
0* 10" 2 0 " 3 0 " 4 0 "
U p p e r
:entel
Lover
0* 10* 2 0 " 3 0 " 4 0 "
Center
Lover
\ 6 . 8 8 1 H A X )
Fig. 12. Effect of skirt profiles on skirt st reak abrasion ratio and
cont act pressures.
piston as before and as after profile improvement
differs only in its profile distribution. It was confirmed
that whereas in the unimproved piston the streak abra-
sion ratio above the pin center in the thrust direction is
large, and an area of high contact pressure is also
predicted by the analysis results, in the improved pis-
ton contact pressure is reduced and contact is uniform.
6. Re s u l t s
Use of this prediction technique led to the following
findings:
(1) A technique was developed for quantitatively
predicting engine test piston skirt and cylinder bore
contact using local skirt stiffness values and design
profile and thermal expansion data for actual pistons.
(2) There is a close relationship between piston
skirt stiffness and design profile. However, because
piston skirt contact is greatly influenced by stiffness
distribution, in order to improve skirt contact, it is
necessary to somehow prevent sudden changes occur-
ring in the stiffness distribution.
(3) When the predicted contact pressure exceeds a
certain level, it is possible to predict that streak abra-
sion in an engine test will suddenly increase.
(4) In order to predict strong skirt contact, it is
necessary to take into account permanent piston defor-
mation, and to improve piston skirt contact it is neces-
sary to design a piston of which the lower portion of
the skirt has high stiffness.
Finally, the researchers would like to thank the staff
of Toyota Motor Corp. 4th Power Train Dept. 1st
Function Design Room for their assistance with this
research.
Re f e r e n c e s
[1] Chucholowski et al., Comput er Simulation of Piston Slap Mot i on
(in German), MTZ No. 48, pp. 133-137 (1987).
[2l Wat anabe et al., Numerical Analysis on Piston Slap Motion (in
Japanese) Ji dosha Gijutsukai (Aut omobi l e Technology Associa-
tion Publication) No. 902-216, pp. 2.13-2.16 (1990).
[3] Fujimoto et al., Dynamic Deformat i on of Piston Skirt (in
Japanese), Kikai Gakkai (Mechanical Engi neeri ng Society) RC88
Results Repor t No. 4.6 (1989).
[4] Fur uhama et al., Piston Slap Simulation under Consi derat i on of
Piston Skirt Deformat i on (in Japanese), Kikai Gakkai (Mechani-
cal Engi neeri ng Society) RC88 Results Report No. 4.2 (1989).