The combined effect of surface texturing and DLC coating on the functional properties of internal combustion engines

Abstract

A reduction in frictional loss is an important aspect of efficiency in high-performance internal combustion engines. This can be achieved by the well-designed surface texturing of the cylinder bore, which can reduce friction at the ring/bore interface. In this work, dimples were created using plastic deformation on the cylinder surfaces of high-performance motorcycle engines. Prior to texturing, these cylinders had Nikasil coating. One cylinder was subjected to the deposition of DLC coating and then surface texturing. The results of the functional performance of internal combustion engines with textured cylinder surfaces were compared to untextured ones. The engine performance was analysed in terms of maximum power and maximum torque output. The results showed that cylinder surface texturing improved the functional properties of internal combustion engines. The maximum power increased by up to 5.8%. Best performance was achieved for internal combustion engines with textured cylinders and DLC coating. Such surface modification allows the powering of the motorbike with higher maximum speed and provides better vehicle dynamics at high speeds.