Piston ring tribology

Aim: Shed new light on the

tribological issues related to the piston assembly
PRESENTED BY TARIQUE ANWAR
THE PISTON RINGS ACTS AS THE MOVABLE END OF THE COMBUSTION
CHAMBER AND MUST WITHSTAND THERMAL AND MECHANICAL LOAD.

THERMAL
LOADS

MACRO-scale MICRO-scale
thermal loads thermal loads
 MACRO-scale thermal loads
The ring belt area, including the top land and the first piston ring, is directly thermally
exposed to the combustion gases and thus subjected to transient temperature variations.

The transient peak temperatures of the gas in the combustion chamber during the
combustion in a diesel engine can rise to approximately 2 500°C
 PROBLEMS FACED

1. High heat flux 2. High combustion 3. Heat expansion

• thermal stress temperature and Heat distortion
• deterioration of the gradients • potential loss of
lubricating oil film • hardness of the piston conformity between the
alloy decreases piston rings and cylinder
• strength of the material liner.
decreases
CARBON
DEPOSIT In the top land area, the lubricant is subject
FORMATION to the highest loads with respect to its
thermal and oxidative stability.

The characteristics of the lubricant in

response to these conditions influence on
the extent of the carbon deposit formation.

Thereby, the temperatures indirectly

contribute to wear, bore polishing and
scuffing
 MICRO-scale thermal loads
The temperature on a sliding surface is in most cases higher than the bulk temperature
owing to the frictional work that takes place at the sliding surface.

Frictional heating
The heating of SOLID The heating of FLUIDS due to
SURFACES in sliding or rolling viscous flow between surfaces
contact in relative motion
 Frictional heating in unlubricated sliding contacts
The rise in temperature of a sliding surface due to frictional heat generation depends on
following factors:

real area of the sliding contact

the specific heat of the material

the thermal conductivity of the material

the temperature and volume of the surrounding material

the cooling provided by a fluid lubricant

FRICTIONAL
= Fμ × v = Fn × μ × v
POWER [Pμ ]
where Fμ is the friction force, v the sliding or rolling velocity, Fn the normal force, and
μ the coefficient of friction.
 • An increase occurs in the bulk
surface temperature of the
EFFECTS material, at a depth of a few
ten of μm below the surface.
OF • The frictional work causes
local or flash temperatures at
FRICTIONA the surface asperities where
L HEATING the sliding contacts actually
take place.

Owing to the minor volumes of material involved in the sliding contacts, the flash temperatures are
significantly higher than the bulk temperature and the bulk surface temperature
 Frictional heating in fluid lubricants

The
temperature rise • Specific heat of the lubricant
in a fluid • Flow rate of the fluid
lubricant

• Dynamic viscosity
The viscous • Velocity gradient between the
work
stationary and moving surfaces
For a sliding contact
Fη / A= η × v / h
where Fη is the viscous force opposing the motion, A is the surface area of the sliding
contact, η the dynamic viscosity of the fluid, v the sliding velocity and h the oil film
thickness.

The frictional power owing to the viscous

loss is obtained as:
Fη × v
THE END