Abstract

Engine pistons are one of the most complex components among all automotive or other industry field components .The engine can be called the heart of a vehicle and the piston may be considered the most important part of an engine. There are lots of research works proposing for new piston geometries, materials and manufacturing techniques, and this evolution has undergone with a continuous improvement, over the last decades and required thorough examination of the smallest details. Notwithstanding all these studies, it is found that there are a large number of piston failures occurring during the service of an engine. Failure mechanisms have different origins and are mainly wear, temperature, and fatigue related. Among these fatigue both thermal fatigue and mechanical fatigue, either at room or at high temperature, play a prominent role in causing catastrophic failure of pistons. Reliability of piston is an important issue which has to be determined to avoid failure. Pistons for internal combustion engines have been made of materials such as cast iron, steel and Aluminum. Most pistons manufactured today are made of aluminum. However, aluminum has low strength and stiffness at elevated temperatures, and aluminum has a large coefficient of thermal expansion. It is proposed in earlier studies that pistons made of graphite material, may be developed to overcome a number of the shortcomings of aluminum pistons. The purpose of this project is to show that the Carbon (Graphite without reinforcements) Pistons can operate successfully in an internal combustion engine operating under a very high duty cycle. Finite Element Analyses methods and reliability concepts are used to determine the reliability of pistons instead of testing in a laboratory test rig. This method reduces the time and cost involved in routine testing methods. Various combinations of design and materials can be used to test the reliability by following this approach.