Performance and emissions characteristics of a partially insulated gasoline engine

Abstract

This paper presents the work continued from the previous study on a low heat rejection (LHR) engine. Instead of using a single-property yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) coating to achieve the thermal barrier for the piston crown, a varying-properties functionally graded material (FGM) was used in this study. Extensive experiments were conducted on a 3-cylinder SI Daihatsu engine with all piston crowns coated with a layer of ceramic, which consists of zirconia and yttria with varying compositions along its thickness. Measurements of engine performance, in particular its fuel consumption and emissions characteristics, were made before and after the application of FGM coatings onto the piston crowns. To gain more insight of improved engine performance, in-cylinder pressure measurements were conducted which provide direct comparison of pressure–volume diagrams between baseline and that coated with FGM.