Development of a Methodology to Predict Cylinder Liner Scuffing in the 6V92TA Engine Lubricant Test©

Abstract

The requirements placed on lubricating oils at the top ring reversal point are becoming increasingly severe due to recent changes in engine technology, most of which are driven by emissions regulations. As a result, revised engine tests to evaluate cylinder liner scuffing are being introduced to engine oil specifications. Despite the high cost and generally poor repeatability of full-scale engine data, no laboratory screener test is commercially available. In the present study, various lubricant characteristics were correlated with the level of scuffing in the Detroit Diesel 6V92TA engine test. Good initial agreement was obtained with lubricant volatility measured at 525°C, which is predicted to be the approximate contact temperature under the most extreme conditions likely to exist during normal operation. Measurement of lubricant volatility, however, yields no indication of additive response and also appears to become less accurate when applied to unconventional basestocks. As a result, a laboratory-scale wear test was developed to predict scuffing resistance under high stress conditions. The results of the wear and volatility rests are combined using a simple equation to form the Diesel Engine Oil Scuff Test (DEOST). The resulting methodology provides an R2 correlation of 70 percent with scuffing measured in the 6V92TA engine and is sensitive to both basestock characteristics and antiwear additives. In addition, the DEOST results indicated that viscosity index improvers provide little benefit under high-temperature operation, an effect commonly observed by failure of petroleum-based multigrade oils in the 6V92TA engine test. Presented as a Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers paper at the ASME/STLE Tribology Conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 26–28, 1998