The influence of different surface textures on wears in cylinder liner piston rings

Abstract

Wear is a crucial factor that limits the operational lifespan of the cylinder liner-piston ring (CLPR) in marine diesel engines. Efforts had been made to reduce wear by grooving textures on the cylinders. Besides, the influence of surface textures on mechanical wear can be evaluated by wear particle analysis. This study aims to characterize features of wear particles generated from different surface textured cylinder liners and investigate the relationship between the texture and wear particle features. Wear particles generated from liners of different groove angles (30°, 45°, 60°) and different widths (1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm) were collected from friction tests, and the characteristics were obtained using a 3D laser microscope. Then, comparative studies on the 2D characteristics and 3D surface topographies of wear particles were performed. Results revealed that the characterization parameters of wear particles can be used to identify the different types of surface texture and reflect the lubrication performance of the friction pairs. Specifically, wear particles generated from the 2 mm width with 30° angular grooved texture were different from the others, and it effectively improved lubrication in the CLPR friction pair. These results can be used as a reference for the application of surface textures on CLPR pairs for improved lubrication.