Performance analysis and condition monitoring of ICE piston-ring based on combustion and thermal characteristics

Abstract

Optimal sealing performance of the piston ring is an important condition for the internal combustion engines (ICE) to maintain combustion efficient. The objective of this paper is focused specifically on the effects of piston ring end gap and axial ring-groove abnormal clearance on the combustion and thermal characteristics such as instantaneous pressure distribution, temperature, combustion heat release rate (HRR) and predicted of combustion gas flow rate (blow-by) approaches were investigated. A comparative study was done on combustion characteristics of the healthy and faulty engine piston ring. The combustion and thermal data was analyzed to use engine fault diagnostic technique. The diagnostic technique is applied for each test case to estimate the faults ratiometric indexes (FRI) and to evaluate the piston ring condition. The FRI shows significantly increased with the increased of piston ring end gap and this trend was more obvious at the increased piston groove clearance. The results obtained indicate that the proposed diagnostic methodology can identify the piston ring condition monitoring according to the thermal and combustion characteristics effectively.