A Study on Ring Face and Groove Wear during Engine Durability Test

Abstract

Ring and groove wear may not be a problem in most current automotive engines. However, a small change in ring face and groove geometry can significantly affect the lubrication characteristics and ring axial motion. This in turn can cause to change inter-ring pressure, blow-by and oil consumption in an engine. Therefore, by predicting the wear of piston ring face, ring groove and cylinder bore altogether, the changed ring end gap and the changed volume of gas reservoir can be calculated. Then the excessive oil consumption can be predicted. Being based on the calculation of gas flow amount by the theory of piston ring dynamics and gas flow, and the calculation of oil film thickness and friction force by the analysis of piston ring lubrication, the calculation theory of oil amount through top ring gap into combustion chamber will be set. This is estimated as engine oil consumption. Furthermore, the wear theories of ring, groove and cylinder bore are included. Then the each amount of wear is to be obtained. The changed oil consumption caused by the new end gap and the new volume of oil reservoir around second land, can be calculated at some engine running interval. Meanwhile, the wear amount and oil consumption occurred during engine durability cycle are compared with the calculated values. Next, the calculated amount of oil consumption and wear are compared with the guideline of each part's wear and oil consumption. So, the timing of part repair and engine life cycle can be predicted in advance without performing engine durability test. The wear data of rings and grooves are obtained from three engines before and after engine durability test. The calculated wear data of each part are turn out to be at the lower bound of aver-aged test values or a little below.