The Influence of a Piston Ring Coating on the Wear and Friction Generated during Linear Oscillation

Abstract

The piston group is responsible for contributing to ~50% of the frictional losses of an engine, which ultimately leads to the waste of fuel. This coupled with the fact that gasoline is a finite resource linked to CO₂-emissions, there is an increased demand of higher performance vehicles, which coincidently further loads the piston ring. As of yet, there are plenty of studies that already study the piston ring’s contact with the cylinder liner. However, this study focuses on a cost-effective Schwing, Reib, Verschleiss (SRV) instrumentation that allows to pre-screen lubricants, additives, materials and coatings for their friction, wear and load carrying capacity including scuffing resistance. As a result of the pre-screening conducted outside of engine by using the SRV instrument, it brings us to the following conclusion: the PVD CrN-TiN 1º Group coating on the piston ring produces the least wear, as well as the lowest coefficient of friction. Moreover, it is concluded that a coating that is based from CrN and TiN allows the piston ring to perform better in engine settings. A continued understanding of the piston-cylinder-contact assembly only helps engineers, scientists and any other stakeholder to improve on the piston ring and cylinder liner interaction.