Effect of Initial Cylinder Liner Honing Surface Roughness on Aircraft Piston Engine Performances

Abstract

Reciprocating piston engines are the major propulsion devices for light aircrafts, helicopters, and essentially all automotive vehicles. They are expected to fulfil both present-day and future demands for engine performance, durability, fuel economy, and exhaust emissions legislation. One of the key factors related to these demands is the need to the limit thermomechanical internal losses, wear, and lubricating oil consumption, which are in turn conditioned by the tribological behavior of the piston–cylinder assembly. Consequently, this latter system requires a multi-directional approach in terms of manufacturing. Apart from various modifying techniques (e.g. laser texturing), a conventional plateau-honing operation is still the standard technology for shaping cylinder liner surface microstructure. This paper describes the distinctions between variations in the performance of the engines in relation to cylinder liner roughness parameters due to different honing settings. Five air-cooled reciprocating aircraft engines (FRANKLIN 4A-235-B31) served as the objects of research. The engines passed durability tests on the dynamometer bed, including operation under artificially intensified wear conditions. The results show a significant impact of the brand-new honed cylinder liner surface microstructure on the engine output parameters. Detailed study proves that some of the cylinder liner roughness parameters, specifically, the slope of the root mean square line (RMS) for valley roughness Rvq and the linear triangle area for valleys A2, are strongly correlated with the engine operational properties. Higher values of Rvq and A2 are associated with an improvement in engine performance but result in a deterioration in the exhaust harmful emission.