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Procedia Engineering 192 (2017) 965 – 970

TRANSCOM 2017: International scientific conference on sustainable, modern and safe transport

Geometrical structures of the stepped profile bearing surface of the

piston
Emil Wróblewskia*, Antoni Iskraa, Maciej Babiaka
a
Faculty of Machines and Transport, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan ul. Piotrowo 3 60-965, Poland

Abstract

The main node piston-pin-piston rings are most responsible for the formation of mechanical losses. It is advisable to reduce friction
losses in the piston-cylinder group lead to an increase in the overall efficiency of the engine and thus reduce the fuel consumption.
One way of achieving these objectives is modification of microgeometry of the piston bearing surface which cooperates with the
cylinder wall. In this paper the results of simulation for the stepped microgeometry piston bearing surface are presented.
© 2017
© 2017The TheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier Ltd.is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Ltd. This
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of TRANSCOM 2017: International scientific conference on
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
sustainable,under
Peer-review modern and safe transport.
responsibility of the scientific committee of TRANSCOM 2017: International scientific conference on sustainable,
modern and safe transport
Keywords: Combustion engines; piston; friction

1. Introduction

Constructors aspire to design units, that have preserved its initial state in the longest possible time. In the case of
combustion engines can be list a few groups, which consume deteriorating engine parameters and finally, makes it
impossible to operation. They are mainly components of the piston-cylinder and crankshaft bearings [4].
Over the years combustion engine’s pistons changed their geometric proportions to a greater extent, but still their
essential role is to close the variable volume combustion chamber. However performing of such main functionality is
accompanied by a number of adverse effects, such as [4,8]:

x friction losses

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: emil.z.wroblewski@doctorate.put.poznan.pl

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of TRANSCOM 2017: International scientific conference on sustainable, modern and safe transport
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.06.166
966 Emil Wróblewski et al. / Procedia Engineering 192 (2017) 965 – 970

x forces and moments of inertia transferred to the motor suspension

x lubricating oil consumption
x noise emission

These effects affect the performance of the entire engine, some of them arise from the piston and its rings properties.
Operating conditions of the piston are the most unfavourable. The piston is the most mechanically and thermally
loaded engine component. High demands are placed in respect to its dimensional stability, mechanical strength and
durability. Modern piston construction trends are to reduce their dimensions, in particular the height of the bearing
surface. As a result of this the piston mass is reduced which results in lower inertia forces but also in lower friction
losses since the oil film cover area of the piston bearing surface is reduced [1-4, 7]. Unfortunately with the reduction
of the oil film cover area the risk of mixed friction is rises because the required pressure in the oil film is higher to
hold the load.
The geometry of the gap between the bearing surface of the piston and the cylinder has large effect on friction
losses. The area covered by the oil film contributes to these losses more than the thickness of the oil film. A method
to reduce the coverage area of the oil film is to use different bearing surface shapes of the piston- stepped-like or
barrel-like. Barrel-like shape is commonly used, but a stepped one was not yet applied for various reasons. The stepped
shape can be obtained i.e. by the application of refining coatings of materials with good friction properties [2, 5, 9].
One such material is a graphite, commonly used to cover the bearing surface of the piston. Currently the entire bearing
surfaces of the piston are coated. Such method produces different boundary friction conditions, but it does not affect
the fluid friction formation significantly in the oil film.
This article presents the results of simulation research for the reduction of frictional losses and wear of the bearing
surface of the piston and the cylinder wall by covering the support surface of the piston with a layer of graphite in the
H-shape. A stepped profile obtained this way is characterized by a beneficial tribological properties of the kinematic
piston-cylinder system under fluid friction conditions. By the use of graphite material some benefits in regard to
boundary friction conditions can be also expected.

2. Experimental bearing surface of the piston

Piston skirt is to ensure axial displacement of the piston inside the cylinder and a transfer of lateral forces on the
cylinder liner.
In reality, however, the cooperation of the piston skirt with the cylinder occurs on a much smaller area, which
results in a reduction of stresses between these surfaces. Taking this fact into account, it is easily observable that the
piston skirt operates in much worse conditions than those of generously lubricated sliding bearings. The lubrication
of the piston skirt is much scanter. Ensuring the required durability of the piston skirt under such conditions is a very
difficult task requiring a careful selection of materials and design solutions.
The bearing surface’s shape modification is based on choosing the right one just to ensure the continuity of the oil
film along with the smallest possible friction losses for the piston-cylinder system. Friction losses reduction will
contribute to a greater mechanical efficiency of the internal combustion engine and thus lower fuel consumption.
The authors assume to apply graphite H-shaped layer to the support surface of the piston. The modified shape is
shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. View of different variants of experimental pistons.

 Emil Wróblewski et al. / Procedia Engineering 192 (2017) 965 – 970 967

The horizontal bar of the letter H allows extending the area of high hydrodynamic pressure at the same time
obtaining the effect of reduction of the oil film internal friction forces. The problem consists in determining the
thickness proportion of the H bar guaranteeing high oil film bearing capacity at a limited internal friction force.
In order to develop a bearing surface’s shape of the piston the following factors need to be determined:

x thickness of the graphite layer forming the H shape

x height of the crossbar of H shape
x H shape crossbar shift up or down in relation to its symmetric position

In order to perform friction losses simulations in the piston-cylinder kinematic pair authors have chosen 6 variants
of the “H” shaped layer which differ in form and size. In figures 2 and 3 the profiles of piston bearing surfaces used
for the computer simulation test are presented. The assumed thickness of the graphite layer is 20 μm and the width of
the crossbar of the H letter is 1,5 mm 3 mm.

400
Bearing surface Rings

300
Profile [μm]

TR1
200
TR2
100 TR3

0 Reference
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
-100
Grid point [-]

Fig. 2. Profile experimental piston TR1, TR2, TR3.

400
Bearing surface Rings
300
Profile [μm]

TR4
200
TR5
100
TR6
0 Reference
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
-100
Grid point [-]

Fig. 3. Profile experimental piston TR4, TR5, TR6.

Because the correctness of the computer model was validated experimentally in earlier research [5,9], the results
confirm the positive results of the modification of the piston skirt microgeometry of a specified thickness of the H bar,
which proves the validity of the replacement of classic barrel-shaped profile of the piston skirt with the stepped one
by the application of a layer of graphite of a specified thickness.
968 Emil Wróblewski et al. / Procedia Engineering 192 (2017) 965 – 970

3. Results

Simulations were performed using software developed by professor Iskra in the Department of Internal Combustion
Engines at Poznan University of Technology [6]. Please note that the simulation was based on the theory of
hydrodynamic lubrication and it does not take into account factors like i.e. tribological properties of materials working
under boundary friction conditions. The simulations were aimed at defining the characteristics of a stepped profile
under fluid friction conditions that prevail most of the time in the internal combustion engine.
The calculations of the parameters of the oil film were performed for different microgeometries of the piston skirt,
starting from the barrel-shaped profile of the reference pistons and ending with the stepped piston skirt profile. The
thickness of the H bar is variable as well as its height in the bottom or top position against the symmetrical one.
Calculation of the oil film parameters were made for the basic barrel shape and six stepped shape of the pistons
bearing surfaces. The analysis were conducted for the following conditions:

x engine speed 750 and 5000 rpm

x initial thickness of the oil layer on the cylinder liner 2 μm for 750 rpm and 35 μm for 5000 rpm
x oil viscosity 9.6 mPas
x indicated pressure course for the full load engine characteristic

In the form of diagrams, figures 4-5 show the results of the simulation of friction loss for barrel-shaped reference
pistons and the pistons of a modified piston skirt.

60
REF
Friction power [W]

55
50 TR1
45
TR2
40
35 TR3
30 TR4
25
60 70 80 90 100 TR5
Oil temperature [°C] TR6

Fig. 4. Total friction loss of the piston with a set of rings for 850 rpm.

1200 REF
Friction power [W]

1000 TR1
800 TR2

600 TR3

400 TR4
60 70 80 90 100 TR5
Oil temperature [°C] TR6

Fig. 5. Total friction loss of the piston with a set of rings for 5000 rpm.

Research shows that all variants have brought the expected reduction in friction losses for the piston-cylinder
system in relation to reference pistons. As a result of the simulation TR2 and TR5 variants showed the most friction
losses reduction in the piston-cylinder system.
 Emil Wróblewski et al. / Procedia Engineering 192 (2017) 965 – 970 969

As it turns out, the most advantageous solution is the symmetrical position of the horizontal H bar, as the friction
loss decreases by approx. 10% compared to pistons of a standard profile. One could also observe that the reduction in
the friction loss is greater for higher engine speeds. This is an important observation because, due to increased friction
loss converted into heat when increasing the engine speed, the engine elements warm up faster and the oil viscosity
drops, which may lead to boundary friction. This phenomenon may reduce the friction loss assuming that boundary
friction in the piston skirt - cylinder liner pair does not occur.
From the equations of hydrodynamic lubrication theory we know that in order to form a hydrodynamic oil film one
needs a narrowing oil gap. As results from the performed simulations, the microgeometry of the piston skirt
significantly influences the friction loss in the piston - cylinder pair. The obtained results are explained by the table 1,
presenting the coverage of the piston skirt with oil film. The graphs have been made for the reference piston, TR2 and
TR5 variants for the engine speed of 850 and 5000 rpm.

Table. 1. Oil film height on the piston skirt

850 rpm 5000 rpm

Reference piston

Piston variant TR2

Piston variant TR5

Comparing the oil films on the piston skirts one can observe that intense oil film results in an increased friction
loss. If the differences in the oil film level on the piston skirt are small, even minimum variations are impactful on the
friction loss. The oil film thickness is greater for the stepped profile.
970 Emil Wróblewski et al. / Procedia Engineering 192 (2017) 965 – 970

4. Conclusions

x replacing the barrel-shaped piston skirt with the stepped one may yield a reduction of the friction loss of approx.
10%
x the “H” shape of piston bearing surface should be precisely determined to obtain the friction losses reduction
x in real conditions the step shaped profile on the piston bearing surface can be achieved by applying graphite layer
x a stepped surface can be achieved by the coating of the support surface of the piston using lubricants like i.e.
graphite
x a layer of lubricants are particularly desirable under lack of continuity of oil film conditions
x replacement of the barrel-like shape surface with a stepped one can result in reducing fuel consumption
x slide promoting layers are especially desirable in conditions of permanent shortage of continuous oil film, for
example after an engine longer stop and balance of its temperature with the ambient temperature
x replacement of the barrel–like piston skirt with the one of cylindrical shape reduces the cost of piston machining
and allow to keep a narrower tolerances with production cost unchanged

References

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4/2011.
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