Friction characteristics of piston rings in a reciprocating engine

Abstract

Abstract The performance of a reciprocating engine can be improved by reducing the friction between piston rings and cylinder liner, which significantly contributes to the mechanical friction losses of an engine. The friction force of a piston ring pack is calculated, based on hydrodynamic lubrication theory, for the piston rings. Calculations were carried out for three sets of conditions. Oil starvation is taken into consideration in the calculation of oil‐film behaviour for a ring pack. The friction characteristics of piston rings are evaluated using the frictional mean effective pressure. The friction force of a piston assembly is measured experimentally by an improved floating liner method. The effects of lubricant viscosity and engine speed on friction characteristics are investigated by both calculation and experiment.