An analytical method developed for determining the bore wear pattern for a reciprocating piston engine over a complete running cycle is presented. The method includes the considerations of the hydrodynamic lubrication theory between the ring and the cylinder bore wall, piston ring geometric and elastic characteristics, blowby through the piston ring pack, minimum film thickness permitting film lubrication, piston side thrust load and Archard’s wear relation. Since the method is general, it also can be applied to other reciprocating piston devices, such as gas compressor, Rankine cycle engine or Stirling engine. Wear factor data, however, must be available in order to make quantitative predictions of wear. The verification of the present theory is given in a subsequent paper (Part II) which shows good agreement between the predicted bore wear curves and measured ones for actual engines.
Based on the analytical method presented in the previous paper (Part I), comparisons of predicted wear curves along the major and minor side-thrust sides of the cylinder bore are made with the measured ones obtained from several truck engines for various vehicle mileages. The agreement was found to be good. This indicates the analytical model developed in Part I is relevant and suitable for predicting the severity of piston-ring bore contact for varying engine operating and lubrication conditions. From this, the necessary parameter changes may be found such that the wear rate of the cylinder bore may be reduced. Wear factor data, however, must be available in order to make quantitative predictions of wear. The model ultimately may be useful also in the design optimization of engine components. Since the method is general, it also can be applied to other reciprocating piston devices, such as gas compressor, Rankine cycle engine, or Stirling engine.
A single cylinder engine equipped with a transparent cylinder sleeve has been used to develop a technique to make visual investigations of piston ring lubrication behavior and engine oil loss mechanism. This paper describes this apparatus and the development of a laser excited oil fluorescence technique for measuring the oil film thickness change between the piston rings and the transparent cylinder sleeve wall. The amount of oil accumulated in the piston-cylinder clearance spaces above and below the ring pack, and those in the inter-ring spaces, can also be observed. Preliminary results showing oil fluorescence light intensity traces indicate that this technique works very well. Quantitative oil film thickness data should be readily obtainable from these traces once the fluorescent light intensity is calibrated.
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