2010 Second International Conference on Computer Modeling and Simulation

Simulation and Analysis of Thermo-Mechanical Coupling Load and Mechanical Dynamic Load for a Piston
Yanxia Wang, Yongqi Liu, Haiyan Shi
School of Traffic and Vehicle Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, Shandong, China wangyx200@163.com, liuyq65@163.com AbstractEngine pistons are one of the most complex components among all automotive. In this paper, a 1/2 3-D solid model including piston and piston pin of a new designed piston was established by Pro/E software, and the finite element analysis model was also established by using ANSYS software. The thermo-mechanical coupling stress distribution and the deformation were firstly calculated. Considering the nonlinear material properties of piston and piston pin, the Newton-Raphson equilibrium iterative method is applied. In the calculation, the contact forms of forces and the relative movement between piston and piston pin are described with contact pairs and analyzed with the Augmented Lagrange method. Calculating results indicates that the maximum stress concentration is at the upper end of piston pin boss inner hole, and is mainly caused by the peak pressure of the fuel gas. Then the finite element mechanical dynamic analysis was conducted Considering the mechanical fatigue testing method, the Newmark time integral algorithm of transient analysis full method are applied to calculate the dynamic responses, and the mechanical fatigue life-span was calculated, which is rather corresponded with the experimental. All these analysis indicate that the design of the piton is reliability.
Keywords- piston, FEA, thermo-mechanical mechanical fatigue testing, stress field. coupling,

For a better understanding of the damaging mechanism, and to enhance the service life and the reliability of pistons, a great deal of complex mechanical fatigue tests and the hot fatigue tests are carried out by some piston manufacturers during the developing of new pistons [2-4]. But they are high cost and time-consuming. Consequently, finite element analysis is usually used for stress and temperature determination. In this work, finite element thermomechanical coupling analysis and mechanical dynamic analysis will be performed for a new designed piston to exam the design details. Based on the results from the analysis, practical guidelines would be provided for engine design in order to reduce engine block vibration, suppress noise, improve efficiency etc. II. FINITE ELEMENT THERMO-MECHANICAL COUPLING ANALYSIS OF THE PISTON

In this study, the 1/2 3-D solid model including piston and pin according to the particular structure is introduced to the ANSYS software. The three kinds of the stress field, named as thermal stress field, mechanical stress field, thermal and mechanical coupling stress field, can be obtained by the imposition of the boundary conditions and loads on the FEA model A. Establishment of Finite Element Model. As regarded as the symmetrical entity, a 1/2 3-D solid model including piston and pin is established by using the software Pro/E, and is introduced to the ANSYS10.0 software. Some unimportant factors, such as spot fillet, bevel edge, oil hole and so on, are neglected in the model to simplify the analysis. The 3-D 20-node solid elements SOLID45 which can make the thermo-mechanical transform are applied to mesh the whole structure. According to the work process, the grid is divided densely at the top of piston combustion chamber, and is relatively sparse on the other places, so 37213 nodes and 60638 elements are obtained, as shown in figure 1. B. Boundary Condition of the Piston 1) The boundary condition of the piston heat transfer. a) The heat transfer coefficient of piston crown and average temperature of the fuel gas The heat transfer coefficient of the fuel gas can be calculated by using the classics G.Eichelberg formula [5].
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I.

INTRODUCTION

Along the development of automobile technology, the reliability, efficiency, durability, low exhaust gas and noise and operating performance of automobile engines is wished to be carried to a higher level. It is well known that almost all these properties of an internal combustion engine are closely associated with its mechanical behaviors etc. Thus it is necessary to reveal these mechanical characteristics of an engine in order to improve its general property and quality, and it is far more important in piston system.To meet these requirements, lots of research works have been made for engine pistons, and many great developments have been achieved[1]. Notwithstanding all these improvements, there are a huge number of damaged pistons. Although damage mechanisms have different origins, thermal fatigue and mechanical fatigue play a prominent role. Heat load is the major factor to cause ablation and heat crack of piston head, and mechanical load is easy to bring crack at piston pin seat.

978-0-7695-3941-6/10 $26.00 2010 IEEE DOI 10.1109/ICCMS.2010.131

m
Km

n
Kn

(6)

The formula of the heat transfer coefficient in the piston cavity is:

01 =
Fig.1 FEA model with grid

(T1 T2 ) k (T2 T01 )

(7)

= K 0 3 Cm PgTg
Where:

(1)

K o the correction coefficient; Cm the average speed of the piston; Pg the instantaneous pressure of the
fuel gas ;

Tg the instantaneous temperature of the fuel gas.

In a circulation, the result can be obtained by the integral mean value.

m n k is the thickness of lubricating oil film, cylinder wall and the radial direction size of piston curl respectively. K m K n K k is the heat-transfer coefficient of the lubricating oil, the cylinder wall and the piston curl respectively. T1 T2 T01 k is the temperature of piston crown, the temperature of piston cavity base, the gas temperature of crank case, the thermal conductivity and the thickness of piston crown, respectively. In the thermal analysis for module in ANSYS, the convection boundary condition as the surface load is inflicted on the outside surface. The thermal boundary conditions of the piston are shown in table 1.
2) The boundary condition of the mechanical load. The stress and strain is the most serious when the explosive pressure of the fuel gas achieves maximum under the condition of stable rotational speed. Therefore, the research of the stable stress under the maximum explosive pressure is very important [6]. a) The fuel gas pressure on the piston forehead The maximum explosive pressure is 6.5MPa, and it acts uniformly on the piston head. The pressure acts on other place of the piston is proportional to the maximum explosive pressure. Stress load on the piston is shown in table 2. b) The reciprocating inertial force The reciprocating inertial force Pj could be produced because the piston does the reciprocating motion in the cylinder. The reciprocating inertial force is proportional to the acceleration of the piston, but the force orientation is opposite to the acceleration and the force action line is parallel to the center line of the cylinder. The existence of the reciprocating inertial force can weaken the effect of the gas pressure. The reciprocating inertial force can be calculated by:

gm =

360 1 720 360

g d

(2)

Tgm =

360 1 720 360

Tg d

(3)

Tres =

360 1 720 360 g g 360 1 720 360 g

T d d

(4)

Where: gm : the average heat-transfer coefficient; the average temperature; temperature.

Tgm :

Tres : the synthesis average

b) The heat transfer coefficient of the curl area, skirt department and cavity The heat transfer route of the pistons curl area and skirt department can be analyzed by using the formula of the equivalent heat-transfer coefficient.
r
1

p j max = m j (1 + ) R 2

(8)

m
Km

K
KK

n
Kn

(5)

In ANSYS, it is the acceleration rather than the reciprocating inertial force that loaded on the piston model. The acceleration of maximum gas pressure was obtained as:

The formula of the heat transfer coefficient for piston skirt is:

a = R 2 (cos + cos 2 )

(9)

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Among them, is the crank angle; is the ratio of the crank radius to the link rod length. Then, the maximum of the acceleration of this piston was 0.12821m/s2. c) The displacement restrains of the piston The displacement restrictions for the piston are described as follows. The symmetrical restraint is applied on the symmetry plane because the model of the piston is the symmetrical 1/2 one. Three freedom degrees of the piston pin are restrained to let the piston in a static condition. Coupling restraints are imposed on two points on the bottom of piston in order to eliminate the revolving of the piston around the piston pin. The surface-surface contact unit is placed on the contact surface between the piston pin hole and the piston pin. C. The Results of the Thermo-Mechanical Coupling analysis. Pistons are typical components of the thermo-mechanical coupling, which endure the explosive pressure of fuel gas, high temperature and the inertia force. During the piston practical work process, the piston deformation and the thermal transmission are interaction. The temperature change will cause the thermal load and the deformation, but this kind of deformation will be able to affect the quantity of heat transmission within the piston [7]. The stress distribution and the displacement quantity of the piston can be obtained by using the method of the heat load and the machinery load coupling direct analysis in the software ANSYS, as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, respectively. Fig. 2 shows the stress distribution of the thermal load, mechanical load and thermal and mechanical load load. From Fig. 2, you can see that the maximum stress is 237MPa, which does not exceed the material yield strength (250MPa), and that it occurs at the upper end of piston pin boss inner hole. The calculated results also indicate that the maximum thermal load is 80MPa and the maximum stress of the fuel gas explosive pressure is 211MPa. This fact makes clear that the explosive pressure of fuel gas is the main factor to cause the stress concentration. As shown in Fig. 3, the maximum displacement is 0.29 mm, and occurs at the lower end of the piston skirt, its direction is perpendicular to the center line of the piston pin hole. The minimum displacement is 0.00759mm, and lies in the center of the piston lumen. The deformation around the piston head is between 0.114mm and 0.185mm.

Compared with the deformation caused by the thermal load or the mechanical load lonely, the mechanism of this distortion caused by the thermo-mechanical coupling is different for the different part in the piston. It is mainly due to the thermal expansion for the piston head, and is mainly caused by the combustion pressure and the support reaction of the piston pin for the piston skirt. III. FINITE ELEMENT MECHANICAL DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF THE PISTON

From above the thermo-mechanical coupling analyzes, it can be drawn that the maximum stress concentration of this piston is at the upper end of piston pin boss inner hole, and is mainly caused by the peak pressure of the fuel gas. Although it doesnt exceed the yield strength of the material, the mechanical fatigue breakdown would most likely occur at the place. Therefore it is necessary to carry out the mechanical fatigue checkout for this piston. For this purpose, mechanical fatigue tests are usually performed on the specific fatigue machine. But they are complex, high cost and time-consuming. In this paper, the finite element dynamic analysis, based on the mechanical fatigue testing method, is conducted to calculate the mechanical fatigue lifespan rather than the mechanical fatigue test. A. Mechanical Fatigue Experiment Piston, piston pin and connecting rod are assembled in the pressure chamber of the fatigue experimental machine, and the big head of connecting rod is fixed, as seen in Fig. 4. According to the work statues of piston and pin, the max values of alternating hydraulic pressure on the piston head and lumen are determined as the 1.3~1.5 times of the maximal eruptive pressure in the engine cylinder and to-andfro inertial force, respectively. In the present experiments, both the head and lumen endure the alternating hydraulic pressure, which are shown in Fig. 5.The big deformation is generated at the piston skirt and piston pin seat from the fatigue experiments, leading to the fatigue failure at the upper end of piston pin seat. B. The Boundary Condition of the Cycle Mechanical Load. According the fatigue testing method, the piston, the piston pin and the connecting rod are assembled in the pressure chamber of the fatigue machine, and the big head of connecting rod is fixed. The alternating hydraulic pressures are applied on both the piston head and the piston to simulate the instantaneous pressure of the fuel gas and the reciprocating inertial force. For convenient for the dynamic analysis in the software ANSYS, the alternating hydraulic pressures is conversed to the numerical form which is divided to 7 sectors polygon at points of (t/6, t/4, t/3, 2t/3, 3t/4, 5t/6, t) in every sine cycle. The initial displacement and the initial velocity of every node are defined as zero, and the frequency is 30 Hz. According to the nonlinear dynamics with regard to the contact between the piston pin boss hole and the piston pin, a program is edited by our own based on the Newmark time integral algorithm[8], and is applied to continuous load and computes the stress values in 50 cycle periods.

Fig. 3 Thermal-structural coupling displacement

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and C m are the basic parameters of the material to describe the crack expanding ability. The mechanical fatigue life-span of the piston, calculated by using the formula (10), is 2.635107. This result is reasonable. IV. SUMMARY

Fig.4 Schematic of the experiment apparatus

The finite element thermo-mechanical coupling and mechanical dynamic analysis for a new designed piston has been carried out in this work. The maximum stress concentration of the thermo-mechanical coupling analysis is at the upper end of piston pin boss inner hole, and doesnt exceed the yield strength of the material. For this stress concentration, the peak pressure of the fuel gas plays an important role. The maximum displacement is 0.29mm, located at the bottom of piston skirt. According to the mechanical dynamic analysis, the great tensile stress also generates at the upper end of piston pin hole. The calculated mechanical fatigue life-span based on the mechanical dynamic analysis is 2.635107. The calculated value is corresponded well with the experimental values.

Fig.5 The alternating hydraulic pressures C. The Results of the Mechanical Dynamic Analysis. Fig. 6 shows the stress distribution of the piston by the mechanical dynamic analysis. The great tensile stress generates at the upper end of piston pin hole, and it is according with the thermo-mechanical coupling analysis. Fig. 7 reveals the equivalent stress changing curve of the dangerous part. Because of the damping, the system responses reach to steady state ultimately. The astringent is very well, so this equivalent stress changing curve is consonant with academic analysis. Fig.8 shows the equivalent stress changing curve of the dangerous point in 10 cycle periods advanced, and the changing has been stabilizes at the begin of the eighth periods. Through the FEA of transient dynamics, the maximum circulation stress and the minimum one at the dangerous spot are 16.5MPa and 8.6MPa, respectively. Therefore, the stress range value is 7.9MPa. The mechanical fatigue life of the piston is expressed as [9]

Fig.6 The distribution of the mechanical stress

Fig.7 Stress changing curve in 50 cycle periods

N =

a1

da
m

a0 C [ F a ]

a2

da

a1 C [ f a ]m

(10)

where, F is the shape geometry factor of the horny crack, a0 is the initial crack length, a1 is the maximum length of the horny crack,

a2 is the critical crack length,

Fig.8 Stress changing curve in 10 cycle periods advanced

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT This project is supported by the Nature Science Foundation of Shandong Province (No. Y2006F63) and the Science Foundation of Shandong University of Technology (No. 2004KJZ04). REFERENCES
[1] [2] F.S. Silva, Fatigue on engine piston A compendium of case studies. Engineering Failure Analysis, Vol. 13 (2006), p. 480-492. W.Z. Zhang, C.Y. Wei, Z.G. Su, J.Liu and J.H. Xiang, A Study on Forcasting of Fatigue Life for Aluminium Piston of Diesel Engine, China Mechanical Engineering, Vol.14 (2003), p. 865-867. Y.Q. Liu, Y.X. Wang, X.H. Men and F.H. Lin. An Investigation on Piston Pin Seat Fatigue Life on the Mechanical Fatigue Experiments, Key Engineering Materials, Vol. 325,2006, pp.527-530.

[4]

[5] [6]

[7]

[8]

[3]

[9]

LIU Shi-ying, LIN Feng-hua, Qin You-zhi, WANG Zhi-ming. Piston Durability Research Based on the Pin-bore Profile Design, Chinese Internal Combustion Engine, vol. 28, Feb.2007, pp.46-50. Wang Zhong-yu. Piston study heat transfer and thermal strength. Chongqing University, Chongqing. 2002. Nie Jian-jun, Du Fa-rong, Yuan Feng, et al. Diesel engine piston and connecting rod of finite element analysis exercise. Tractors and Farm Vehicles, 2002, (6), p. 23-24. Feng Li-yan, Fan Li-yun, Long Wu-qiang, et al. Diesel piston coupled finite element analysis model. Automotive Engineering, 2004, 26 (2), p. 154-156. X.H.Zhu, Z.X.Yu, in: ANSYS Senior Engineering Finite Element Analysis, edited by X.Y.Sun, Publishing House of Electronics Industry, Beijing (2004). Yanxia Wang, Yongqi Liu, Haiyan Shi. The Reliability Analysis for Pistons on Fracture Mechanics, Proc. IEEE Symp. Computer modeling and simulation (ICCMS 2010), IEEE Press, Dec, in press. Hot transfer coefficient [W/(m.K)] 400 750 180 180 450 500 90 250 380 270 300 210 300 100 390 450 Load PZ PZ76% PZ25% PZ20% PZ15% PZ10% Value [MPa] 6.5 4.94 1.625 1.3 0.975 0.65

Table 1 The thermal boundary condition of piston

Boundary field top edge Piston crown Edge of combustion chamber Bottom of combustion chamber Shore power Other ring Central trough Up and down Bottom Piston skirt Piston pin hole Piston Lumen Bottom Center Top Temperature[]

160 140 140

Table 2 The value of stress load on the piston

Boundary field Piston round bankpiston headtop and bottom of first groove Bottom of the first groove The first and the second groove Bottom of the second groove The second and the third Bottom of the third groove

athermal load (b) mechanical load (c) thermal and mechanical load Fig 2 Equivalent stress nephogram under the thermal load, mechanical load, thermal and mechanical load coupling

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