RECIPROCATING

ENGINE LUBRICATION
AMT 646 MIDTERM
Lubrication System Requirements

 The lubrication system of the engine must be designed and

constructed so that it functions properly within all flight
attitudes and atmospheric conditions that the aircraft is
expected to operate. In wet sump engines, this requirement
must be met when only half of the maximum lubricant supply
is in the engine. The lubrication system of the engine must
be designed and constructed to allow installing a means of
cooling the lubricant. The crankcase must also be vented to
the atmosphere to preclude leakage of oil from excessive
pressure.
PRESSURE LUBRICATION
 is the primary type of lubrica­tion used in reciprocating
engines. All pressure lubrication systems rely on a pump to
supply pres­surized oil to critical engine parts. In most cases,
the pump used in a pressure system is a positive dis­
placement, engine driven pump.
positive displacement
 The term indicates that the pump moves a spe­cific amount of
fluid for each revolution of the pump. Once oil passes
through an oil pump, it passes through several passages
within the crankcase where it is distributed to various engine
components. Typical components within an engine that are
lubricated by pressurized oil include all plain bearings,
crankshaft and camshaft main bear­ings, lower connecting
rod bearings, and valve assemblies.
 Aircraft reciprocating engine pressure lubrication systems can
be divided into two basic classifications: wet sump and dry
sump. The main difference is that the wet sump system
stores oil in a reservoir inside the engine. After the oil is
circulated through the engine, it is returned to this crankcase-
based reservoir.
 A dry sump engine pumps the oil from the engine’s crankcase
to an external tank that stores the oil. The dry sump system
uses a scavenge pump, some external tubing, and an
external tank to store the oil.

 Other than this difference, the systems use similar types of

components. Because the dry sump system contains all the
components of the wet sump system, the dry sump system is
explained as an example system.
Dry Sump Oil Systems
 The oil supply in this type of system is carried in a tank. A
pressure pump circulates the oil through the engine.
Scavenger pumps then return it to the tank as quickly as it
accumulates in the engine sumps. The need for a separate
supply tank is apparent when considering the complications
that would result if large quantities of oil were carried in the
engine crankcase. On multiengine aircraft, each engine is
supplied with oil from its own complete and independent
system.

 The principal units in a typical reciprocating engine dry sump

oil system include an oil supply tank, an engine-driven
pressure oil pump, a scavenge pump, an oil cooler with an oil
cooler control valve, oil tank vent, necessary tubing, and
pressure and temperature indicators.
SPLASH LUBRICATION

 is produced by the movement of internal components which

splash oil around. This method of lubrication is very effective
in engines where oil is stored in the crankcase. In this
configu­ration, as a piston reaches the bottom of a stroke, its
associated crank throw partially submerges in oil and
splashes it onto other components. Components that are
often lubricated by splashed oil include cylinder walls,
camshaft lobes, upper bearings of connecting rods, piston
pins, and acces­sory gears.
 In addition to pressure lubrication, many recipro­cating
engines depend on some splash lubrication.
SPRAY LUBRICATION

 Spray lubrication uses the same pressurized oil in a pressure

lubrication system; however, instead of routing the oil to a
component through an oil pas­sage, the oil is sprayed on to a
component through a nozzle. Engine components that are
lubricated by sprayed engine oil include some cylinder walls
and camshaft lobes.
 Some large reciprocating engines are physically too big for
splash lubrication to be effective. In this case, some form of
spray lubrication is typically used.
COMBINATION SYSTEM
 In order to ensure adequate lubrication, all recipro­cating
engines rely on a combination of pressure and splash
lubrication. However, on larger engines, adequate oil
circulation can only be accomplished through the use of
pressure, splash, and spray lubri­cation.
Combination Splash and Pressure Lubrication
 The lubricating oil is distributed to the various moving parts
of a typical internal combustion engine by one of the three
following methods: pressure, splash, or a combination of
pressure and splash.

 The pressure lubrication system is the principal method of

lubricating aircraft engines. Splash lubrication may be used
in addition to pressure lubrication on aircraft engines, but it is
never used by itself; aircraft-engine lubrication systems are
always either the pressure type or the combination pressure
and splash type, usually the latter.
The advantages of pressure lubrication are:
 Positive introduction of oil to the bearings.

 Cooling effect caused by the large quantities of oil that can

be pumped, or circulated, through a bearing.

 Satisfactory lubrication in various attitudes of flight.

As you can see in the diagram, a combination of
lubrication methods are used in a typical wet-
sump system.
LUBRICATING SYSTEM COMPONENTS

 A typical pressure lubrication system consists of an oil

reservoir, oil pump, oil pressure relief valve, oil filter, oil
cooler, vent lines, and all the necessary piping and
connections. In addition, on engines that incorporate a dry-
sump system, a scavenge pump is required to move the oil
back to the oil reservoir. To allow an operator to monitor the
oper­ation of a given lubrication system, most systems also
include an oil temperature and oil pressure gauge.
. This figure illustrates the relationship of the various
components in a typical horizontally opposed aircraft
engine with a dry-sump lubrication system.
OIL RESERVOIR
 An oil reservoir must be large enough to hold an adequate
supply of oil to lubricate an engine. The amount of oil that is
considered adequate is based on the maximum endurance
of the airplane and the maximum acceptable oil consumption
rate plus a margin to ensure adequate circulation, lubrication,
and cooling. In the absence of a valid determination of
aircraft range, several ratios of fuel-to-oil quantity may be
used, for example, an aircraft without an oil reserve or
transfer system must have a fuel-to-oil ratio of at least 30:1.
However, if an aircraft has a transfer system, the ratio is
reduced to 40:1.
The hopper in an oil reservoir separates circulat­ing oil from the surrounding oil in
the tank. This cuts down on the amount of oil that is circulated and hastens the
engine's warm-up time.
 The opening at the bottom of the hopper in one type and the
flapper valve-controlled openings in the other allow oil from
the main tank to enter the hopper and replace the oil
consumed by the engine. Whenever the hopper tank
includes the flapper controlled openings, the valves are
operated by differential oil pressure. By separating the
circulating oil from the surrounding oil in the tank, less oil is
circulated. This hastens the warming of the oil when the
engine was started. Very few of these types of tanks are still
in use and most are associated with radial engine
installations.
OIL PUMPS

 As mentioned earlier, all lubrication systems utilize constant

displacement pumps. If you recall, a con­stant displacement
pump moves a fixed volume of fluid per pump revolution. The
two types of con­stant displacement pumps that are used in
recipro­cating engine lubrication systems include the gear
and gerotor pump.
GEAR PUMP
 is the most common type of oil pump used in reciprocating
engines. A typical gear-type pump consists of two meshed
gears that rotate inside a housing. The gears and housing
are precisely machined to keep clearances between them as
small as possible. Oil is picked up by the gears at the pump
inlet and then becomes trapped between the teeth and the
housing. As the gears rotate, the trapped oil is released at
the pump out­let.
 With a gear-type oil pump, two spur gears rotate inside a housing to pump oil to an
 Thispump is a positive displacement pump that consists
engine.
 
of two meshed gears that revolve inside the housing. The
clearance between the teeth and housing is small. The
pump inlet is located on the left and the discharge port is
connected to the engine’s system pressure line. One gear
is attached to a splined drive shaft that extends from the
pump housing to an accessory drive shaft on the engine.
Seals are used to prevent leakage around the drive shaft.
As the lower gear is rotated counterclockwise, the driven
idler gear turns clockwise.
GEROTORPUMP
 consists of an engine driven spur gear that rotates within a
free spinning rotor housing. The rotor and drive gear ride
inside a housing that has two oblong openings. One opening
is the oil inlet while the other is the oil outlet.
 Another type of constant-displacement pump used to move
oil through an engine is the gerotor-type pump.
 . As a gerotor-type pump rotates, the
space between the drive gear teeth and
rotor housing alternately increase then
decrease. As the space between the two
increases at the oil inlet (A, B, and C), oil
is drawn into the pump. However, as the
space closes up at the outlet (D and E), oil
is forced out of the pump.
SCAVENGE PUMP

 In addition to a pressure pump, most dry-sump sys­tems must

utilize a scavenge pump to return oil to the oil reservoir. A
scavenge pump may be either a gear- or gerotor-type pump
that is driven by the engine. As a rule,
 Scavenge pumps have a capacity that is greater than the
pressure pump. The reason for this is that, after oil flows
through an engine it typically has a greater volume due to
foaming and thermal expansion. Therefore, in order to
ensure that oil does not collect in the engine sump, the
scavenge pump must be capable of pumping a greater
volume of oil than the pressure pump.
PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE

 consists of a spring loaded valve that is held in the closed

position. With this type of valve, when oil pressure rises
above a pre-set value, the valve off seats and returns excess
oil to the reservoir or oil pump inlet. In a typical system, the
relief valve is installed between the main supply pump and
the internal oil system
 In order to ensure adequate engine lubrication, an
appropriate oil pressure must be maintained at all times.
Therefore, in order for an engine driven oil pump to maintain
system pressure at low engine speeds, it must produce
excessive pressure at high engine speeds. To prevent
excessive pressure from damaging an engine, a pressure
relief valve must be installed in the oil system.
 On all pressure lubrication systems, a pres­
sure relief valve is needed to maintain the
proper system pressure.
OIL PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE

 Maintains a higher system pressure when the oil is cold then,

once the oil warms up, it automatically lowers pressure to the
normal operating range. This is accomplished through the
use of two springs and a thermostatic valve. When the oil is
cold, both springs hold the valve on its seat which, in turn,
permits a higher oil pressure. However, once the oil warms
up, the thermostatic valve opens a passage and allows oil to
flow beneath a piston in the pressure relief valve. As the
piston is forced upward, it removes the spring pressure
exerted by the high-pressure spring. Normal operating
pressure is then maintained by the force of the low-pressure
spring alone.[
 In a compensated oil pressure relief valve, when
the oil is cold, a high- and low-pressure spring hold
the relief valve closed to maintain an elevated
system pressure. However, once the oil has
warmed, the thermostatic valve allows pressurized
oil to enter the relief valve and remove the high-
pressure spring pressure from the relief valve.
OIL FILTERS

 The purpose of the filter is to remove solid particles that are

suspended in the oil. This filtration is required to protect the
engine's moving parts from solid contaminants.
 Once oil is discharged from an oil pressure pump, it flows to
an oil filter.
 At the present time, the two types of filtration sys­tems that
may be installed in aircraft engines are the full-flow system
and the bypass system.
 Full-flow filter system
 In this filter system all of the engine oil
passes through a filter each time it circulates
through an engine. To accomplish this, the
filter is installed in series with the oil pump
between the pump and the engine bearings.

 . In a full-flow filtration system, all of the

engine oil is filtered each time it
circulates in an engine
FILTER ELEMENTS

 There are several different types of filters used in aircraft

engines. However, there are only four meth­ods of filtration
that are approved for aviation use.

The approved filtration methods include

 depth fil­tration
 semi-depth filtration
 surface filtration
 edge filtration.
 DEPTH FILTRATION
 consist of a matrix of fibers that are closely packed to a depth
of about one inch. Oil flows through this mat and
contaminants are trapped in the fibers. Depth-type filters are
very effective because the large number of filters used have
the capacity to trap a large quantity of contam­inants.
However, one disadvantage of depth filters is that high
pressure oil may occasionally form a chan­nel through the
filter element. If this ever occurs, the filter will lose a great
deal of its effectiveness

 . A depth filter consists of a closely-packed fiber matrix-type

element.
Semi-Depth Filtration

 This type of filter is made that fibers are formed into a long
sheet, folded into pleats, and assembled around a perforated
sheet steel core. The pleats increase the surface area of the
filter element and allow greater filtering capacity in a smaller
unit. Furthermore, the uniformity of the filter surface greatly
reduces the ability of the oil to form a chan­nel through the
element. The filter element is mounted in a cylindrical
steel casing which forms an integral part of the filter. A typical
semi-depth fil­ter mounts to the engine with a threaded fitting
and, therefore, is often referred to as a spin-on filter

 The type of filter used most often in today's general aviation

aircraft is a disposable, semi-depth filter made of resin-
impregnated fibers.
 A typical spin-on type semi-depth filter consists of a pleated
sheet of resin impregnated fibers that are assembled around
a perforated sheet steel core. The entire element is
contained in a thin metal housing.
 On some engines, the semi-depth filter element is installed in
a removable can. In this case, the dispos­able center element
is removed and replaced as needed while the can is used
indefinitely.
 Surface Filtration
 Several aircraft engines are equipped with a stan­dard woven
wire-mesh oil screen, or strainer. This screen filter is useful
for trapping some of the larger contaminants that flow
through the engine; how­ever, it does little to catch the small
contaminants. Because of this, some engines that use an oil
screen also rely on a second, fine filter to catch any remain­
ing contaminants. Decreasing the size of the wire mesh for
better filtration is not a reasonable option because cleaning
would be required too often to be practical.
 Many aircraft engines are provided with a
screen-type surface filtration oil strainer. An oil strainer fil­
ters out large particles and helps prevent other filtering ele­
ments from becoming clogged.
OIL COOLER
 is an oil-to-air heat exchanger. When installed in a dry-sump
system, the oil cooler is typically located between the
scavenge pump outlet and storage reservoir. However, in a
wet-sump system , the oil cooler may be located wherever
the manufacturer deems it appropriate.

 If you recall, one of the functions of oil is to cool the engine;

However , to do this, the heat absorbed by the oil must be
removed ny an oil cooler , or oil temperature regulator.
 One type of oil cooler consists of a core with several copper
or aluminium tubes enclosed in a double walled annular
shell, or bypass jacket. When the oil is cold, it flows through
the bypass jacket and bypasses the core.

 However, once the oil heats up, it is routed through the core
for cooling. The exact amount of oil that flows through the
core is controlled by a thermostatic control valve, also
referred to as a bypass valve or a flow control valve.
When the oil is cold, the bypass valve is fully open and oil
flow through the bypass jacket.

 However, as the oil warms up, the bypass valve slowly

closes thereby forcing oil through the cooler core.
 . (A) When the engine is cold, the bypass valve opens and
allows the oil to bypass the oil cooler core. (B) However,
once the oil warms up, the bypass valve closes which, in
turn, forces the oil to pass through the core where it transfers
its heat to the passing airstream.
AIRFLOW CONTROLS

 By regulating airflow through the oil cooler, oil tem­perature

can be controlled to meet various operating requirements.
 For example, the engine oil will reach its operating
temperature more quickly if airflow to the oil cooler is cut off
during engine warm-up.
OIL SEPARATOR

 consists of several baffle plates which cause the vacuum pump

outlet air to swirl. As the air swirls, centrifugal force pulls the oil out
of the air and deposits it on the baffle plates. From the baffles, the
oil drains back to the engine through an oil outlet in the separator.
By separating the air and oil, two things are accomplished. First,
oil is prevented from flowing into the air system and damaging any
rubber components such as de-icing boots; and second, excess
air is not introduced into the oil system.

 On engines that use a wet-type vacuum pump, engine oil is

used to lubricate and seal the vacuum pump. However, as oil
circulates through this type of pump, air bubbles become trapped
in the oil. To eliminate this trapped air, an oil separator is installed
on the outlet side of the vacuum pump.
OIL DILUTION

 The purpose of such a sys­tem is to dilute the oil with fuel

within the engine to help prevent the oil from congealing
when it is cold. With a typical oil dilution system, fuel is
injected into the oil pump before the engine is shut down.
This distributes diluted oil throughout the lubrication system.
This way, when the engine is started later, the diluted oil
flows freely through the engine, ensuring adequate
lubrication. Once the engine and oil warm up, the gasoline
evaporates out of the oil and leaves the engine through the
crankcase breather.
 On some large reciprocating engines that are oper­ated in
extremely cold temperatures, an oil dilution system may be
installed.
OIL PRESSURE GAUGE

 The engine lubrication system supplies oil under pressure to

the moving parts of the engine.
 To allow a pilot to monitor the effectiveness of a given lubri­
cation system, all aircraft engines are equipped with an oil
pressure gauge that is calibrated in pounds per square inch.
Since inadequate oil pressure can lead to oil starvation in
engine bearings and exces­sive pressure can rupture gaskets
and seals, the oil pressure in most reciprocating engines is
typically regulated over a fairly narrow operating range.
OIL TEMPERATURE GAUGE

 allows you to monitor the temperature of the oil entering the

engine. This is important because oil circulation cools the
engine as it lubricates the moving parts. Most oil tempera­ture
gauges are calibrated in degrees Fahrenheit and sense oil
temperature at the engine's oil inlet.
 Most modern oil temperature systems are electri­cally
operated and use either a Wheatstone bridge circuit or a
ratiometer circuit.
 A Wheatstone bridge circuit consists of three fixed resistors
and one vari­able resistor whose resistance varies with
tempera­ture
 A typical Wheatstone bridge has three fixed resistors and
one variable resistor. The temperature probe contains the
variable resistor, whose resistance varies with the
temperature of the oil flowing past the probe. The bridge in
the circuit consists of a galvanometer that is cali­brated in
degrees to indicate temperature.
 galvanometer, instrument for measuring a small electrical 
current or a function of the current by deflection of a moving 
coil.