A new tribometer for the automotive industry: development and experimental validation

• Published in: Experimental mechanics Vol. 62; no. 3; pp. 483 - 492
• Main Authors: Ferreira, Ana Rita Machado, Carvalho, Óscar Samuel Novais, Pires, J., Sobral, L., Carvalho, S., Silva, Filipe Samuel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer 01.03.2022; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Automobile industry; Automotive; Automotive engineering; Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Coefficient of friction; Contact pressure; Control; Cylinder liner; Cylinder liners; Diamond-like carbon; Diamond-like carbon films; Dynamical Systems; Engineering; Friction sliding; Industrial development; Internal combustion engines; Lasers; Mechanical development; Optical Devices; Optics; Performance evaluation; Photonics; Piston ring; Piston rings; Research Paper; Science & Technology; Solid Mechanics; Stainless steels; Surface layers; Test procedures; Tribology; Tribometers; Vibration; Piston ring; Mechanical development; Cylinder liner; Friction sliding; Automotive
• ISSN: 0014-4851; 1741-2765
• DOI: 10.1007/s11340-021-00805-7

Background In automotive engineering, the piston ring-cylinder liner pair is among the most studied contacts. From the three piston rings of a conventional internal combustion engine, the top compression ring has a crucial role. The main challenge is to prevent that during the engine lifecycle, the degradation of the piston ring surface might limit the engine's durability. Objective However, a reliable evaluation of the piston rings tribological response requires a steady method. To test and study the tribological performance of the ring-liner pair, the development of a customized test rig is presented in this work. Methods The new oscillating tribometer will test and study the performance of new and commercial piston rings and cylinder liner solutions. According to the foreseen engine operation, four conditions were appointed to perform the control tests, and a testing protocol was established. The selected stainless-steel piston rings were coated with a diamond-like carbon layer, and the cylinder liner parts had the typical plateau honed texture in the contact surface. The friction force measures were recorded. It was also investigated the influence of distinct parameters (such as temperature and contact pressure) in the friction coefficient of this pair. Results According to the exploratory tests, the major COF was registered for the testing condition with a lower load. In contrast, the lower COF values were recorded for those conditions with superior normal loads and temperatures. Conclusions The functionality of the developed test rig was verified to evaluate the ring's performance and the liner contact. This work was supported by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) and MAHLE, Componentes de Motores, S.A. through the grant SFRH/BDE/110654/2015, by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) with the reference project UID/EEA/04436/2019 and by the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941 and the project with reference NORTE-01- 0145-FEDER-000018-HAMaBICo.