Samkrg’s upgradation of technology to comply BS VI norms

of Piston & Piston Ring to meet the requirements of 2Wh, 3Wh

& 4Wh Auto Industries during the years 2017-’18 & 2018-‘19
Piston and Piston ring assemblies, to comply with BS-VI norms should emit less
Exhaust gases (i.e. Hydrocarbons & Carbon monoxide Nox, NMHC etc.) and also to
achieve improved deterioration factor (i.e. emission after durable mileage period to
initial start up) consistent emission of gasses.

Fig. 1 Comparison of BS IV & BS VI Emission Elements:-

From Fig.1 it is evident that the emission of exhaust gasses should
come down drastically in 2W & 3W engine to comply with BS VI norms
which is a challenge for vehicle manufacturers to achieve.
 To achieve this, Samkrg aims to improve following design parameters
critical for piston assembly and ring set assembly.
 
I. Reduce volume of gases entrapped in pistons & rings.
II. Improve wear resistance of ring grooves.
III. Reduce frictional loss and improve wear resistance of ring.
IV. Reduce friction losses in the whole system.
V. Reduce overall weight of piston assembly.
VI. Pin bore recess increase the lubrication properties and reduce the
stress caused by deformation of pin.
Piston Assembly:-

1) Asymmetric Profile :To reduce exhaust volumes in the engine (emission)

Samkrg introduced asymmetric profile which compensates for thermal
expansion and thermal growth of pistons. The piston is designed to be
Asymmetric when cold. As the engine reaches operating temperature, the
piston expands. At operating temperature, the piston shape becomes a circular
shape, which matches the cylinder bore for perfect sealing and combustion
efficiency. This Asymmetric design allows the piston to reduce the volume of
emission gasses. To achieve same levels of emission throughout the service of
engine regardless of the abnormal heat applied to the piston head. Samkrg
propose molycoat to reduce friction and wear.
 Samkrg recommends Asymmetric profile of piston also on the ring land along
with skirt to compensates for thermal expansion and thermal growth of
pistons at elevated temperature
 Samkrg is having manufacturing facility of Takisawa, Japan CNC 4axis profile
turning machine
 Now Samkrg introduced asymmetric profile and supplying pistons to reputed
OEM’s for 4-stroke 110cc,125cc,350cc models to supply BS-VI norms
Fig. 1 Asymmetric Profile at Top land

Fig.2 Takisawa, Japan 4-axis profile turning

 
1) Asymmetric piston skirt: To improve the durability of piston Samkrg has introduced
Asymmetric piston skirt. The two skirts of the pistons do not experience the same amount
of mechanical loading. During the Power stroke, the load exerted on one piston skirt,
referred to as the "major thrust side," can be up to 10 times higher than the load
experienced on minor thrust side. To withstand this increased load on the skirt of major
thrust and to minimize the friction by reducing the contact area of piston skirt at minor
thrust side and also reduces the weight of the piston and also molycoat to reduce friction.
 
 Asymmetric skirt is recommended to minimize friction between piston and cylinder wall
thereby reduce Scuffing & Seizure
 Now Samkrg introduced asymmetric skirt in pistons and submitted samples to reputed
OEM’s for 4-stroke 110cc,600cc models to comply BS-VI norms(refer sample),with same
we have already submitted drawings to BAL for approval in 3WH which is under your
clearance for development of samples
Fig. 3 Major and minor trust load Fig. 4 Asymmetric Piston skirt
 
3) Optimized groove clearance: Piston ring groove clearances on all sides of piston ring
were optimized to reduce leakage of gases through the crevices while ring fluttering in top
compression ring and 2nd ring.

Fig.5 Piston Assembly function in cylinder

4)Hard Anodizing : Samkrg recommends hard anodized top land, 1st ring groove & 2nd ring
groove to withstand thermal shock and avoid wear out of grooves due to ring fluttering to
maintain consistent volume of gas entrapment, this also controls and gives constant swept
volume in every stroke there by the power generation will be consistent throughout the
life of piston, it also minimize rings micro weldment / ring sticking to piston groove.
 To avoid Piston ring hot weldbility with aluminum piston groove
 Hard Anodizing will reduce wear out of Piston ring groove due to ring fluttering
 Samkrg introduced and is supplying Hard Anodized piston to esteemed international
customers for 4-stroke 200cc,230cc and 250cc models(refer sample)
Hard anodized crown and top ring groove

Fig. 7 Hard Anodized top land, 1st ring groove & 2nd ring groove
5) Light weight high strength thin wall skirt:- To reduce emission of exhaust gases,
Samkrg recommends “light weight high strength” piston with thin wall section(2.4mm) for
100-150cc and (3.4mm) for 250cc higher tensile and fatigue strength which is achieved
from major enhancements in alloy preparation and heat treatments these light weight
pistons will increase the efficiency and power which in turn reduces the combustion and
volume of exhaust gasses emitted.
 The piston compression height is reduced up to 10% and the top land height is
optimized to reduce weight
 The piston thermal wall thickness is optimized with thin wall section(2.4mm) for 100-
150cc and (3.4mm) for 250cc to achieve light weight piston
 Samkrg has succeeded in reducing weight by 10% and submitted samples to reputed
OEM’s for 4-stoke 110cc,125cc,600cc models
6) Pin bore recess :-To improve the durability of piston pin and piston bore. Samkrg has
introduced Pin bore recess for better lubrication by oil retention in pin bore which
reduces the frictional wear caused by significant amount of force due to rapid
directional changes, this also provides a path for oil to drain through the oil reservoir
along the outside surface of the piston when the piston is at bottom dead center, this
avoids formation of carbon deposits in intricate areas of piston thus reduces the content
of harmful carbon monoxide in exhaust gases.

 Pin bore recess avoids pin bore cracks due to combustion forces.
 Pin bore recess reduced the stress caused by the deformation of piston pin.
Piston Rings:-
To give perfect sealing not only at the time of engine testing but also to continue till the
piston ring life is over and to give consistent emission of the exhaust gases Samkrg
recommends.

Barrel shaped periphery

Fig. 8 Perfect sealing of top ring
Fig. 9 Piston Ring fluttering in ring groove
Top Ring:-
Which is a compression Ring should give less wear than the existing surface coated rings
to achieve (i) minimum frictional loss; (ii) increase wear resistance; (iii)
increases durability of ring Samkrg may recommend
 
 Suitable surface coatings such as Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) of CrN or CrN(O)
 Optimized ring design
 Improved Steel material

1) PVD COATING:-
 
 Samkrg recommends PVD CrN coating for Top ring to improve the durability of the
ring
 PVD coated top rings are exceptionally scuff and wear resistant which reduces the
wear out of piston rings
 Low coefficient of friction and good sliding properties
 Overall reduction in the friction of the system
Fig.10 Comparison of triboligical characteristics
 Fig. 11 Wear test results of PVD-CrN Coating*

From the above before and after results we can see a marginal wear out of 1.2µm
after the test of deterioration mileage. This less wear out is the result of less co-
efficient of friction than other coatings. From this it is clear that PVD coated top ring
can withstand friction and has marginal wear out on its periphery even after wear test,
this shows that the PVD coated top ring can function at about 1.3 deterioration factor
(i.e. emission value at the end of durable period to emission at start of service).
Fig. 12 Metallurgical Test Report of PVD Coating on Top Ring
 Fig. 13 Types of coating and their specification

Fig.14 Microstructures and contribution of PVD on engine performance*

SAMKRG’S PVD COATING FACILTIY
2) Optimized ring design:-

 Closed gap : To reduce volume of gases entrapped in pistons & rings we have to
optimize Closed Gap of ring from 0.150mm~0.300mm to 0.120mm~0.220mm &
tolerance from 150µ to 75~100µ and recommends all rings to be assembled in the
cylinder at 90° offset.

Exhaust gasses

Closed gap
Fig.15 Optimum gas leak in closed gap Fig.16 CNC Gap Grinding M/c.
 Ring cross-section :- The cross-section(i.e radial thickness) of the ring is reduced
considerably to optimize the Tangential load of the rings, it reduces the scuffing on
cylinder and frictional loss thereby improving the ring durability
 
 Barrel shaped :- The Top ring has a barrel shaped periphery with a reduced contact
land. This will reduce the contact area of ring which will reduce wear out and also
provides perfect sealing to the cylinder

3) Improved Steel Material:-

Carbon Steel:- Samkrg recommends SR-10 (i.e. carbon steel) material which contains
graphite that has cooling property, this favors the piston ring to dissipate heat
efficiently to the cylinder without expanding which increases scuffing of ring, this
helps in maintaining the temperature at optimum level which controls abnormal
expansion of piston rings.

2nd Ring:-
The 2nd ring which is a oil scrapper and compression ring should scrape the oil to the
crank side efficiently and it has to reduce the friction and give good lubricating
properties for which Samkrg recommends.
1) MFI(ceramic coating):-
 Taper faced ring with an optimum taper angle duly coated with MFI (ceramic coating)
both on land as well as on taper
 This coating will improve the life of ring. Moreover, this multi layered coating has
inherent cracks fused with hard ceramic particle Al2O3
 This improves hardness of the coating and also provides good oil retention function for
the 2nd ring. Micro crack network

Fused with hard ceramics

Fig. 17 MFi (ceramic coating) micro crack structure
Fig.18. Metallurgical Test Report for MFI Cr Coating on Second Ring
 The taper faced second ring with the knife edge action scrapes whatever oil or gas
escapes from 1st ring, this will through back into engine and will not allow to
exhaust.

Fig. 19 Taper faced second ring

2) Optimized ring design :-

 
 To increase the durability and life. The 2nd ring is planned to reduce friction with
optimized tension to give 100% light tightness,
 The 2nd ring cross section is reduced than the top ring (i.e. Radial thickness).To
get optimum Tangential load on cylinder wall which reduces scuffing and lowers
the friction
Improved Steel Material :-
 
 Carbon Steel:- Samkrg is using SR-10 (i.e. carbon steel) material which contains
graphite that has cooling property, this favors the piston ring to dissipate heat
efficiently to the cylinder without expanding which increases scuffing of ring, this
helps in maintaining the temperature at optimum level which controls abnormal
expansion of piston rings.

Rails:-
4.To increase durability we have to reduce friction by improving wear resistance than the
existing surface coated rings to achieve (i) minimum frictional loss; (ii) increase wear
resistance; (iii) increases durability of ring Samkrg may recommend suitable surface
coatings such as Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) of CrN or CrN(O). Material proposed for
top ring is carbon steel which has graphite having better cooling properties
Spacer:-
 To improve Oil lubrication and retention of the 3 pc oil Ring, Oil is retained by
providing a small reservoir (undercut) on the side land of the spacer this is called
TX-2 type Oil ring, also the contact area of the Rail and spacer is reduced due to
which wear out on Rail sides is reduced, the undercut also acts as a small Oil
reservoir which retains oil and gives lubrication to the 3pc Oil ring.

Fig. 20 3 pc oil ring with TX – 2 spacer

Oil Ring Steel material :-
Samkrg is using SR 21 (Stainless steel) & SR 02 (Carbon steel) for our 3pc oil ring.
SR 21 spacer has high strength and less cross section with Chrome content 18~20%.
While the SR 02 rail has graphite content which helps in optimum heat dissipation to the
cylinder.
 
With all the above improvements in Piston rings Samkrg has developed and submitted
samples to leading OEM’s in India for 4-stroke 110cc,125cc which comply with BS-VI
norms and also supplying PVD rail for 4-stroke 3W 160cc models