Friction-Reducing Surface-Texturing in Reciprocating Automotive Components

Abstract

A model is presented to study the potential use of micro-surface structure in the form of micro pores to improve tribological properties of reciprocating automotive components. The Reynolds equation and the equation of motion are solved simultaneously for a simplified “piston/cylinder” system with surface texturing. The solution provides the time behavior of both the clearance and the friction force between the “piston ring” and “cylinder liner” surfaces. It is shown that surface texturing can efficiently be used to maintain hydrodynamic effects even with nominally parallel surfaces. It is also shown that optimum surface texturing may substantially reduce the friction losses in reciprocating automotive components.