C o v e r S t o r y PISTONS & RINGS

SYSTEM COMPARISON OF
steel & ALUMINIUM PISTONS
FOR PC DIESEL ENGINES
In recent years, the steel piston has proven to be significantly superior to its aluminium counterpart under the
special operating conditions of commercial vehicle engines. The greater strength of steel, in particular, is a pri-
mary factor due to the prevalence of high mechanical loads. Recently, it has been increasingly considered
whether the use of steel pistons would also be advantageous in passenger car diesel engines. Mahle investigat-
ed this topic through a system comparison in a turbocharged diesel engine.

24 www.autotechreview.com
 A u t h ors

DR. SIMON SCHNEIDER
is Project Manager Corporate
Advanced Engineering for PC Diesel
Technology at Mahle International
GmbH in Stuttgart (Germany).
DIPL.-ING KAI SCHREER
is Project Manager Pre-Development
HSD steel Pistons at Mahle GmbH
in Stuttgart (Germany).
DIPL.-ING. HOLGER EHNIS DR. STEFAN SPANGENBERG
is Development Engineer is Director Product Development
in the Engine Test Laboratory at Engine systems and Components
Mahle International GmbH in Europe at Mahle GmbH in
Stuttgart (Germany). Stuttgart (Germany).

STATE OF THE ART
The aluminium piston is currently the
state of the art for passenger car (PC) die-
sel engines. Steel pistons are under devel-
opment [1] and are close to start of produc-
tion. In order to directly compare the
behaviour of the two piston concepts in a
passenger car application, Mahle per-
formed a system comparison of steel and
aluminium pistons in a turbocharged die-
sel engine [2]. The investigation targeted
the frictional and thermodynamic differ-
ences between the two while maintaining
emissions values.
For this purpose, an aluminium piston
with cooled ring carrier was compared
with a so-called TopWeld steel piston. The
friction was measured using the indicat-
ing method [3], the piston temperatures
were captured online during operation [4],
and a thermodynamic assessment and
exhaust gas analysis were performed.
COMPARISON OF THE STEEL AND
ALUMINIUM PISTON DESIGNS
steel piston concept. The reduced oscillat-
ing masses may make it possible to elimi-
nate the balance shafts.
The steel piston also allows the cooling
gallery to be positioned higher [5], thus
reducing the top land height. In both
cases, a reduction in compression height
becomes possible. The reduced compres-
sion height can be used to extend the
length of the conrod in an existing engine
concept, for example, while keeping the
swept volume the same. This reduces the
maximum lateral forces and therefore the
friction forces on the piston skirt. It is
also possible, however, to take advantage
of the reduction in compression height
by adjusting the displacement of the
engine (rightsizing) and the combustion
chamber geometry. For a new develop-
ment of an engine series, the reduced
compression height can directly reduce
the overall height of the engine, thus
decreasing the installation space
required. This can have a positive effect
on the cw value and pedestrian protection
for the vehicle as a whole.
The lower thermal expansion of steel
furthermore allows the installation clear-
ance to be tight, while maintaining suffi-
cient operating clearance, when the pis-
ton is hot. Since frictional losses can be
avoided with low piston overlap, this
provides an advantage especially under
high loads.
OPERATING BEHAVIOUR
The pistons compared in this study are
developed to the point of series produc-
tion and their clearance is optimised for
each concept. Both feature a DLC-coated
piston pin of the same diameter and the
same ring pack optimised for frictional
loss. The operating values of the pistons
are compared in the operating map for
identical nitrogen oxide emissions
(achieved by adjusting the EGR rate) and
identical 50 % heat release points. For
full-load operation, the comparison is
made only for identical 50 % heat
release points.
2 shows the difference in friction for
the two variants in the operating map of

As a material, steel is characterised by the

following properties as compared with Wall thickness Wall thickness
Top land

Top land

at piston bowl at piston bowl

Compression height

aluminium:
Compression height

:: Reduced thermal expansion,

:: Increased strength,
:: Greater density, and
:: Reduced thermal conductivity. Cooling
These properties must be taken into con- channel Cooling
sideration and exploited when implement- channel
ing a design for a steel piston concept,
which is the only way that they can con-
tribute to reducing CO2 or to improving
engine performance. For the steel piston,
the wall thickness can be reduced greatly
A B
due to its higher strength, 1. Conse-
quently, the weight of the piston group ❶ Comparison of the geometry of the steel piston (A: TopWeld) and the aluminium piston (B: piston with
can be the same or even lower with a cooled ring carrier)

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C o v e r S t o r y PISTONS & RINGS

❷ Friction difference in the operating map, shown as the difference in friction mean effective
pressure (FMEP) over indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) and engine speed (positive values:
steel piston has lower friction) (full load points (1 to 9) examples with increasing speed of the full load
curve, mapping points 1 to 7 as a representative selection for a “normal operation”)

the test engine. The steel piston has a fric- thermodynamics and the oil pump drive remained acoustically unobtrusive.
tion advantage under high loads of up to (e.g., at 2,000 rpm and 100 Nm by 9 g/
0.1 bar friction mean effective pressure kWh BSFC). This behaviour is less severe
(FMEP), which corresponds to as much for the steel piston, but Mahle recom- COMBUSTION
as 3 g/kWh break specific fuel consump- mends that the piston cooling is not shut-
tion (BSFC). Under low loads, the fric- off, particularly for steel pistons, because The indicated specific fuel consumption
tional loss behaviour of the steel and alu- otherwise the engine oil can deteriorate (ISFC) in all cases is significantly lower
minium variants can be considered essen- strongly on the inside of the cooling gal- with steel pistons than with aluminium
tially comparable (measurement accuracy lery and beneath the centre of the com- pistons. The operating map improve-
ΔFMEP = ± 0.03 bar). The equivalent bustion bowl. ments due to thermodynamic advantages
level of friction in this comparison is Due to the tighter installation clearance range between 4 and 8 g/kWh. The ther-
achieved with an aluminium piston with of steel pistons, no acoustic issues are modynamics are affected by the follow-
relatively high installation clearance. As generally expected for a cold engine, but ing parameters:
the clearance is reduced, the frictional even in the warm state the engine :: Blow-by quantity: For measurements
loss advantage of the steel piston becomes
more pronounced.
Differences in frictional losses occur
particularly, when the piston cooling is
shut-off. The frictional loss is then neu-
tral only for a limited set of conditions,
as the piston temperature increases sig-
nificantly for both variants (e.g., at 1,500
rpm and 50 Nm at the bowl rim by 35 °C
for the aluminium piston and by 60 °C
for the steel piston). For ranges with
somewhat higher loads, the rise in tem-
perature increases, leading to overlap
due to thermal expansion of the alumin-
ium piston even though the high installa-
tion clearance.
The frictional loss then rises sharply
and causes an overall increase in fuel con- ❸ Loss distribution for the operating point 1500 rpm, 200 Nm (left), fuel ­consumption advantage of the steel
sumption – despite the advantages of the piston at selected operating points (right)

26 www.autotechreview.com
 with identical ring packs, the steel pis- Temperature cylinder 2
300 300 bowl rim, thrust side
ton results in 15 to 45 % less blow-by.

Tbowl rim [°C]

Tbowl rim [°C]
About 30 % (at partial load) or 10 %
280 280
(at high load) of the advantages in fuel
consumption can be ascribed to the 260 260
difference in blow-by. 0 10 20 8 12 16 20
:: Higher wall temperatures in the com- EGR [%] HR50 [°CA a TDC] 2000 rpm,
bustion chamber: The tested configura- 15.98 bar IMEP
Aluminium piston
tion exhibits a difference of about 50
300 300 Steel piston
°C in the maximum component tem-

Tbowl rim [°C]

Tbowl rim [°C]

perature at the bowl rim for steel and
aluminium pistons with identical cool-
ing (steel piston: maximum 430 °C,
measured near the surface). The differ-
ence is even greater at the centre of the
bowl, at 90 °C, as this area is more dif-
ficult to cool with steel pistons. The
first ring groove shows the same tem-
perature level for both piston types
(maximum 190 °C). The tests indicate
only a minor effect of piston tempera-
ture on fuel consumption. The loss dis-
tribution from the pressure curve anal-
ysis indicates similar or slightly lower
wall heat losses for the steel piston.
:: Reduced top land volume: The first
piston ring on the steel piston can be
placed at a higher position than on the
aluminium piston. The smaller top
land volume is advantageous for CO
emissions of the steel piston and has a
positive influence on the effective com-
pression ratio for the same combustion
chamber geometry. It is beneficial to
reduce this volume, which makes this
a system advantage of the steel piston.
The combustion process of the steel pis-
ton is characterised by a shorter duration
in the second half of the combustion
cycle as a result of the effects described.
Baseline setting
280 280 (ISO HR50, ISO NOx,
poil = 2 bar, Toil = 90 °C)
260 260
10 20 50 70 90 110
Oil flowfor four pistons [l/min] Toil piston [°C]
❹ Changes in piston temperature at the bowl rim by varying engine parameters and by varying piston cooling
to the high thermal conductivity and ton would attain the component temper-
larger material cross sections, and is then atures of the steel piston. A variation in
dissipated by the cooling oil. The heat temperature of up to 15 °C can be
transport in the steel piston, in contrast, is achieved by means of the EGR rate and
rather limited and takes place primarily around 20 °C if the centre of combus-
by means of the cooling oil. tion is shifted to an extreme extent.
Starting from this behaviour, the Piston cooling can have a significant
effects of various parameters on the pis- direct effect on the piston temperature
ton temperature were investigated. This without negatively affecting the engine
is shown as an example for the bowl thermodynamics to any substantial
rim of the piston at 2,000 rpm and 250 degree. A change of 70 °C in the cooling
Nm, 4. The base temperature (series oil temperature changes the bowl rim
settings) is 260 °C for aluminium and temperature by about 35 °C. The effect is
277 °C for steel. It is immediately evi- nearly linear. Fuel consumption and
dent that the influence of the parame- engine friction are barely altered, 5. For a
ters on the temperature is similar for difference in cooling oil temperature of 30
both variants (similar gradient of the °C, the steel and aluminium piston would
temperature curves). There is, however, have the same bowl rim temperature. The
no setting for which the aluminium pis- change in cooling oil flow rate has the
Indicated specific fuel
consumption Friction mean effective pressure
198 1.00

The 90 % heat release point is up to 5 196

0.98
°CA earlier, with the centre of combus-
ISFC [g/kWh]

FMEP [bar]

194
tion at the same location. 3 shows an 0.96
192
example of loss distribution for an oper-
190
ating point with identical nitrogen oxide 0.94
*See note
188
emissions and the same position of cen-
tre of combustion, as well as the fuel Temperature of bowl Ratio of engine oil enthalpy
rim thrust side, cyl. 2 (for energy balance) 2000 rpm
consumption results at a few selected 290
18 15.98 bar IMEP

operating map points (1 to 7), which rep- Aluminium piston

280
16 Steel piston
Tbowl rim [°C]

Xoil total [%]

resent a “normal operation”.

270
14 Baseline setting
(ISO HR50, ISO NOx,
260
poil = 2 bar, Toil = 90 °C)
12
PISTON TEMPERATURES 250 *See note
50 70 90 110 50 70 90 110
The temperature distribution in the alu- Toil piston [°C] Toil piston [°C]

minium and steel piston are fundamen- *Heating of base engine oil necessary

tally different. In the aluminium piston, ❺ Variation of temperature of the piston cooling oil (base engine at a constant 90 °C): effects on piston
the heat is distributed more uniformly due ­temperature, fuel consumption, engine friction, and overall proportion of the oil heat in the split of losses

autotechreview O c t o b e r 2 014 Vo lum e 3 | I s su e 10 27

C o v e r S t o r y PISTONS & RINGS
❻ Mahle passenger car steel piston range (A: Monotherm, B: TopWeld, C: MonoGuide)
potential to vary the bowl rim tempera-
ture by up to 50 °C.
An optimised oil flow rate provides the
opportunity to adjust the piston tempera-
ture in a targeted manner with a reasona-
ble level of effort. This is better achieved
for the steel piston than for the alumin-
ium piston. For small oil flow volumes,
the steel piston exhibits a friction advan-
tage of 0.04 bar (corresponding to 1 g/
kWh BSFC). This is due to the fact that
the temperature at the skirt rises by 15 °C
for a smaller oil volume flow, and the
reduced oil viscosity has a positive effect
on friction. In contrast, small oil volume
flows are critical for steel pistons with
respect to cooling channel coking and sur-
face scaling.
CHALLENGES FOR
SERIES-PRODUCTION READINESS
Since the steel piston has a substantially
higher temperature level than the alumin-
ium piston, as demonstrated, scaling can
occur at severely thermally loaded loca-
tions such as the bowl rim. This scaling
layer and the scaling scars that form can
become initiation points for bowl rim
cracks during subsequent operation.
Another challenge is the tendency of the
piston cooling oil to coke in the cooling
channel and at the inner form of the pis-
ton. The coke oil deposits reduce the cool-
ing efficiency and thus additionally aggra-
vate the temperature problems at the
bowl rim. The soot input from combus-
tion also has a rather significant effect on
oil aging and the tendency for carbon
build-up.
The development of steel pistons for
engines with aluminium crankcases pre-
sents another challenge. Due to the dif-
28
ference in thermal expansion between
steel piston and aluminium cylinder
block, the operating clearance increases
as the temperature rises, and the piston
may strike the cylinder wall with greater
impact. This can be counteracted by opti-
mising the piston installation clearance,
the shape of the piston, and the piston
pin offset.
MAHLE PASSENGER CAR DIESEL
STEEL PISTONS
The so-called Monotherm piston has
been proven and tested millions of times
in commercial vehicle engines for over 10
years and will be employed in the first
passenger car diesel engines in 2014. The
thermally decoupled and flexible shaft of
the one-piece forged piston has the great-
est potential for CO2 savings at the low-
est weight, 6.
Another concept in the Mahle passen-
ger car steel piston portfolio is the so-
called TopWeld piston, made from two
parts joined together. Characterised by a
closed cooling gallery and an attached
skirt, this piston type is suitable for the
highest peak cylinder pressures. Its
greater rigidity allows for smaller wall
thicknesses, especially between the com-
bustion chamber and the cooling channel,
which in turn makes it possible to opti-
mally cool the bowl rim.
The consistent on-going development
and optimisation of the advantages of
both piston concepts results in the new
so-called MonoGuide piston, which is
also a two-part joined piston. Analogous
to the Monotherm piston, it is character-
ised by a flexible, decoupled skirt. This
gives the piston excellent seizure resist-
ance and, together with the skirt that
extends to the ring area, optimal guid-
ance in the liner with good noise behav-
iour. This type of piston is therefore also
perfectly suited for use in engines with
aluminium crankcases.
OUTLOOK
It is expected that the steel piston will
find wider application in passenger car
series production in addition to the alu-
minium piston. The attainable fuel con-
sumption advantages and the possible use
at maximum combustion pressures will
surely be a motivating factor.
References
[1] Baberg, A.; Freidhager, M.; Mergler, H.;
Schmidt, K.: Aspects of Piston Material Choice for
Diesel Engines. In: MTZ worldwide 73 (2012), No.
12, pp. 26-30
[2] Schneider, S.; Ehnis, H.; Schreer, K.: Analyse
von Aluminium- und Stahlkolben – Vergleich von
Reibung, Kolbentemperatur und Verbrennung.
­I nternational Stuttgart Symposium, 2013
[3] Deuß, T.; Ehnis, H.; Freier, R.; Künzel, R.:
Friction Power Measurements of a Fired Diesel En-
gine Piston Group Potentials. In: MTZ worldwide
71 (2010), No. 5, pp. 20-24
[4] Schäfer, B.-H.; Schneider, V.; Geisselbrecht,
M.: Real-time Kolbentemperaturmessungen mit
einem auf Telemetrie basierenden Datenübertra-
gungssystem – Messtechnikapplikation und erste
Ergebnisse. 10th Stuttgart International Symposi-
um, 2010
[5] Stitterich, E.; Geisselbrecht, M.; Künzel, R.:
Influence of cooling channel design on piston tem-
perature of HSD engines. 13th Stuttgart Interna-
tional Symposium, 2013
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