ARTICLE IN PRESS

Tribology International 39 (2006) 16431652

www.elsevier.com/locate/triboint

Inuence of load on the tribological conditions in piston ring and

cylinder liner contacts in a medium-speed diesel engine
Jaana Tamminena, Carl-Erik Sandstroma,, Peter Anderssonb
a
Helsinki University of Technology (TKK), Internal Combustion Engine Laboratory, PO Box 4300, FIN-02015 TKK (Espoo), Finland
b
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT Industrial Systems, PO Box 1702, FIN-02044 VTT (Espoo), Finland
Received 31 July 2005; received in revised form 31 March 2006; accepted 2 April 2006
Available online 22 May 2006

Abstract

The present work is an attempt to determine the oil lm thickness in a medium-speed four-stroke diesel engine with a cylinder diameter
of 200 mm. Experimental research on this topic was found necessary due to the limited amount of published information available with
reference to engines of the present size. The experimental part of the study was carried out as ring engine tests, with an instrumented
piston, equipped with telemetric data transmission, and an instrumented cylinder liner in a 6-in-line test engine. The study was carried
out for different parts of the four-stroke working cycle and for different levels of engine power output. The results were compared with
the results of computer simulations, carried out using a commercial software package. The conclusions of the study comprise aspects on
the formation and development of the oil lm between the rings and the liner under a set of load levels together with the periodical
uctuation during different strokes of the working cycle.
r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Oil lm thickness; Piston ring; Cylinder liner; Medium-speed diesel engine

1. Introduction (TDC) at mid-stroke, where the piston speed is at its

The thickness of the oil lm between piston rings and
cylinder liners of internal combustion engines is relevant
for the tribological performance of the system. A minor
proportion of the oil on the cylinder wall is burned in the
combustion process, and is thus, in part, responsible for the
exhaust gas emissions, especially the particulate emissions.
Reduction of the exhaust emissions is a central issue in the
development of internal combustion engines, and for this
reason oil lm thickness optimisation is important.
Oil lm thickness measurement results have been
presented by various authors. The lm thickness is
measured from the cylinder liner side, by either capacitive
sensors as Sherrington and Smith [1], Grice et al. [2] and
Mattsson [3], or eddy current sensors as Seki et al. [4], or by
laser-induced uorescence (LIF) as Shenghua et al. [5] and
Takiguchi et al. [6]. In these measurements, the measure-
ment points have been located close to top dead centre
Corresponding author. Tel.: +358 9 451 5981; fax: +358 9 451 3454.
E-mail address: c-e.sandstrom@tkk. (C.-E. Sandstrom).
maximum, and near bottom dead centre (BDC). Sensors
have, in some cases, been placed on both sides of the
cylinder liner in order to investigate the effect of the piston
secondary motion (i.e. the tilting of the piston and the
piston location to the other side of the cylinder liner) on the
oil lm thickness.
2. Experimental set up
2.1. Test engine
A commercial six-cylinder, medium-speed diesel engine
was used as a test engine to investigate the oil lm
thicknesses between the compression rings and the cylinder
liner at different load conditions. The main engine
characteristics are shown in Table 1. The engine speed
for all measurements was 900 rev/min.
During testing, all six cylinders of the test engine were
engaged. The oil lm thickness, gas pressure and tempera-
ture were measured on cylinder no. 1 from the drive end of
the engine. The instrumented cylinder was equipped with a

0301-679X/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.triboint.2006.04.003
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1644 J. Tamminen et al. / Tribology International 39 (2006) 16431652

Table 1
Test engine characteristics

Engine type Directly injected, medium-speed,

four-stroke engine

Bore (mm) 200

Stroke (mm) 280
No. of cylinders 6
Compression ratio 15:1
Engine speed (rev/min) 900
Rated power (kW/cyl) 170
Brake mean effective pressure (bar) 25.8

Table 2
Geometry of the compression rings

Compression ring 1 Compression

ring 2

Ring width (mm) 5.975 4.975

Vertical groove clearance 0.145 0.105
(mm)
End gap (mm) 0.45 1.20

piston with a steel crown, a nodular cast-iron skirt and a

ring pack, and with a cylinder liner, all production
components. The components for the measurements were
shortly run in without causing any wear of signicance.
The ring pack consisted of two rectangular asymme-
trically barrel-faced compression rings and a twin-land oil
control ring. The widths, vertical groove clearances and
end gaps of the compression rings are presented in Table 2.
The oil used in the measurement was SAE 40 single Fig. 1. Position of displacement sensors nos. 14 in the cylinder liner, with
grade oil. reference to piston motion.

2.2. Instrumentation

The cylinder liner of the measuring cylinder was
equipped with four eddy current displacement sensors to
observe the oil lm thicknesses between the liner and the
piston rings. Fig. 1 shows the positions of the displacement
sensors. The locations of the displacement sensors were
chosen such that the whole ring pack would pass each
sensor at TDC and BDC locations.
The ring pack area of the measuring piston was
instrumented with piezo-resistive pressure sensors. The
gas pressure was measured from four locations in the
piston ring area, as shown in Fig. 2. Three thermocouples
for temperature measurements were positioned in the
piston; one thermocouple next to each of the three
uppermost pressure sensors.
Telemetric data transmission was used to supply the
measuring signals from the moving piston to the data
acquisition and processing system. Fig. 3 shows the
telemetric data transmitter and an antenna installed in
the piston. The power supply to the pressure sensors and
the transmitters was arranged by a battery.
2.3. Data acquisition and analysis
A schematic of the data acquisition and analysis system
is presented in Fig. 4. The sampling frequency of the high-
frequency measurements was 10.8 kHz, which equals to
two measured samples per each crank angle degree at an
engine speed of 900 rev/min.
The cycle-to-cycle variations in the measured high-
frequency parameters were found to be insignicant. The
pressures and oil lm thicknesses are presented as averages
of 20 working cycles.
The absolute values of the oil lm thicknesses measured
in this study were impossible to specify. This is partly due
to the measuring arrangement, which is based on four
different sensors with slightly different linearity. Due to the
need for an offset of the eddy current sensors in the
cylinder liner, the sensors had to be installed with their
inner ends at least 50 mm below the inner surface of the
liner. This complicated the determination of the zero point,
and at the location of the sensor ends, the formation of the
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
J. Tamminen et al. / Tribology International 39 (2006) 16431652 1645

Fig. 3. Piston with telemetric data transmitter.

Fig. 2. Location of the pressure sensors in the piston.

oil lm was slightly disturbed. In addition to this, the eddy

current sensors are extremely sensitive to the material of
the target, which led to individual calibration character-
istics for each piston ring.
The measured oil lm thicknesses presented in Section 3
are arranged as sensorring pairs. Because the absolute
values of the oil lm thicknesses are not known for certain,
the minimum oil lm thickness value of each sensorring
pair has been set to 1 mm in the gures. The other measured
oil lm thickness values of each individual sensorring pair
are expressed as increase in micrometer readings above the
minimum value of 1 mm. Therefore, the measured oil lm
thickness values are denoted as relative oil lm thickness.
The measuring range of the pressure sensor behind the
upper compression ring was limited due to the telemetric
systems capacity to supply voltage to the sensors. At low
loads, the measuring range met the maximum pressures Fig. 4. Schematic of measurement, data acquisition and analysis system.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1646 J. Tamminen et al. / Tribology International 39 (2006) 16431652

showing that the pressure follows behind the cylinder

pressure a couple of degrees crank angle delayed. This
phenomenon was expected to continue at higher loads.
Therefore, the pressures over 75 bars (Fig. 7, loads 75%
and 100%) must be regarded as hypothetical values derived
from the corresponding cylinder pressure by retardation of
2 deg crank angle.

2.4. Computer simulations

Computer simulations of the oil lm thickness of the ring

pack were carried out for various load levels. The
simulation results were used for analysing the experimental
results. The difference between the simulated and measured
results is that the simulation results are absolute values, Fig. 5. Oil lm thicknesses (OFT) between the rst compression ring and
the cylinder liner at the location of displacement sensor no. 1, on the thrust
whereas the measured results are relative oil lm thick-
side, close to TDC.
nesses, as described above. Ricardo RINGPAK (v. 4.2)
piston ring simulation software was used in the simula-
tions. The performance of the ring pack may be analysed
using models, for instance, for oil consumption, blow-by
and friction. More detailed descriptions of the software are
found in Refs. [710].
The initial oil lm thickness on the cylinder liner at TDC
and BDC was used as an input parameter in the model.
RINGPAK enables two different sets of oil lm thickness
analyses, namely (1) a model with a constant oil lm
thickness for each ring, and (2) a continuance model with
the trailing oil lm thickness available for the following
ring. As this study focuses on the ring pack behaviour as a
whole, the latter option (2) was used.
Various values for the initial oil lm thickness were
analysed. The best result in oil lm behaviour was achieved
with an initial oil lm thickness of 3 mm on the cylinder
liner below the piston at TDC. Correspondingly, the initial
Fig. 6. Pressure (p) behind rst compression ring at the location of
oil lm thickness on the liner above the piston at BDC displacement sensor no. 1.
was 1 mm.
The initial oil lm thickness data supplied to the
computer software for the up and down strokes, respec- behind the rst compression ring are shown in Fig. 6. The
tively, are most certainly affecting the oil lm thickness in gas pressure behind the compression rings is increasing
the simulation results, especially of the exhaust stroke. The with increasing load level. The gas pressures behind the
initial oil lm thickness was chosen so that the oil lm second compression ring near TDC are signicantly lower
thickness curves would have the least uctuation. than behind the rst compression ring at this position, i.e.
The piston ring model was simple, without any thermal the pressure during the expansion stroke ranges from 8 bar
expansion of the parts or piston secondary movement, due at 10% load to 23 bar at 100% load.
to computational issues. However, the secondary move- At sensor position nos. 2 and 3, the pressure behind the
ment does have a signicant effect on the formation of the compression rings show the same rising trend with respect
oil lm as shown by Takiguchi et al. [6], Tian and Wong to increasing load as in the case of sensor no. 1 at TDC.
[11] and Herbst and Priebsch [12]. The highest pressures behind the rst compression ring
occurred during the expansion stroke, ranging from 5 to
3. Results 25 bar. The gas pressure behind the second compression
ring near BDC (sensor position no. 4) was higher than the
3.1. Measurement results pressure behind the rst compression ring during the
expansion stroke.
Fig. 5 shows the measured minimum oil lm thicknesses The oil lm thickness measurement results for the sensor
between the rst compression ring and the cylinder liner at position nos. 2 and 3 at mid-stroke are presented in the
the location of the displacement sensor no. 1, i.e. on the Figs. 7 and 8, and for sensor no. 4 close to BDC, the
thrust side close to TDC. The corresponding gas pressures corresponding results are presented in Fig. 9. The oil lm
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
J. Tamminen et al. / Tribology International 39 (2006) 16431652 1647

Fig. 7. Oil lm thicknesses (OFT) between the rst compression ring and Fig. 10. Oil lm thicknesses (OFT) between the second compression ring
the cylinder liner at the location of displacement sensor no. 2, on the thrust and the cylinder liner at the location of displacement sensor no. 1, on the
side at mid-stroke. thrust side at TDC.

Fig. 8. Oil lm thicknesses (OFT) between the rst compression ring and Fig. 11. Oil lm thicknesses (OFT) between the second compression ring
the cylinder liner at the location of displacement sensor no. 3, on the anti- and the cylinder liner at the location of displacement sensor no. 2, on the
thrust side at mid-stroke. thrust side at mid-stroke.

Fig. 9. Oil lm thicknesses (OFT) between the rst compression ring and Fig. 12. Oil lm thicknesses (OFT) between the second compression ring
the cylinder liner at the location of displacement sensor no. 4, on the thrust and the cylinder liner at the location of displacement sensor no. 3, on the
side at BDC. anti-thrust side at mid-stroke.

thickness measurement results for the second piston ring charge air temperature, and in Fig. 14, for the piston
are shown in the Figs. 1012, and 15. The results of the temperatures, with reference to the positions of the
temperature measurements are presented in Fig. 13, for the thermocouples as described above in Section 2.2.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1648 J. Tamminen et al. / Tribology International 39 (2006) 16431652

Fig. 13. Charge air temperature (T) after charge air cooler, in receiver and
Fig. 16. Oil lm thickness (OFT) on the thrust side of the rst
in multiduct (part of the induction manifold closest to the cylinder).
compression ring. Simulated curves for absolute oil lm thickness, and
data points measured with sensor no. 1.

Fig. 14. Piston temperatures (T). The temperatures 1, 2 and 3 refer to

sensor positions dened in Fig. 2. Fig. 17. Oil lm thickness (OFT) on the thrust side of the rst
compression ring. Simulated curves for absolute oil lm thickness, and
data points measured with sensor no. 2.

Fig. 15. Oil lm thicknesses (OFT) between the second compression ring
and the cylinder liner at the location of the displacement sensor no. 4, on
the thrust side at BDC.
3.2. Simulation results
Fig. 18. Oil lm thickness (OFT) on the thrust side of the rst
compression ring. Simulated curves for absolute oil lm thickness, and
data points measured with sensor no. 4

Simulation results are presented for the load levels of the compression rings with measured results as a separate
100%, 75% and 25% of the nominal power, which was gure for each sensor location. The absolute values for the
170 kW/cylinder. Figs. 1621 show the oil lm thickness for simulation results are the same within the results shown in
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
J. Tamminen et al. / Tribology International 39 (2006) 16431652
Fig. 19. Oil lm thickness (OFT) on the thrust side of the second
compression ring. Simulated curves for absolute oil lm thickness, and
data points measured with sensor no. 1.
Fig. 20. Oil lm thickness (OFT) on the thrust side of the second
compression ring. Simulated curves for absolute oil lm thickness, and
data points measured with sensor no. 2.
Fig. 21. Oil lm thickness (OFT) on the thrust side of the second
compression ring. Simulated curves for absolute oil lm thickness, and
data points measured with sensor no. 4.
the rst series of gures (Figs. 1618) for the rst
compression ring, and within the second series of gures
(Figs. 1921), for the second compression ring. Selected
results of the piston measurements have been plotted into
1649
Fig. 22. Axial location of the rst compression ring.
Fig. 23. Axial location of the second compression ring.
the Figs. 1621. The trends in the measured and simulated
values for the oil lm thickness can be compared in the
gures. However, as mentioned in Section 2.4, the
measured results are relative oil lm thicknesses, and thus,
not directly comparable with the simulation results which
are absolute values.
The axial locations of the rst and second compression
rings, on the basis of computer simulations, are presented
in the Figs. 22 and 23.
4. Discussion
4.1. Measured oil film thickness close to TDC
4.1.1. First compression ring
Typically, the thinnest measured oil lm thicknesses
between the rst compression ring and the liner appear
during the exhaust stroke, when the remaining lubricating
oil has evaporated from the upper cylinder wall due to hot
gases, and has been combusted, see Fig. 5. The oil between
the ring and liner is then mainly the oil volume that has
been accumulated in front of the ring on its way towards
TDC. During the intake stroke, the oil available for the
rst compression ring is the oil that is trailing the second
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1650 J. Tamminen et al. / Tribology International 39 (2006) 16431652
compression ring. This can be seen as the higher oil lm
thickness at the exhaust stroke. The only exception to this
behaviour is at 50% load, where the oil lm thickness at
the exhaust stroke is slightly higher than that during the
intake stroke.
During the compression and expansion strokes (Fig. 5),
the piston rings have transported and distributed the
lubricating oil, even to the upper part of the liner. At load
levels 50%, 75% and 100%, the oil lm thickness during
the beginning of the expansion stroke was lower than that
during the end of the compression stroke. This may result
from the sharp rise in the gas pressure acting behind the
rst compression ring, as shown in Fig. 6.
4.1.2. Second compression ring
Close to TDC, at the location of sensor no. 1, the
changes in oil lm thickness between the second compres-
sion ring and the cylinder liner are modest, both regarding
the stroke-by-stroke variations and the load changes, see
Fig. 10. Yet, the effect of the gas pressure acting behind the
ring during the expansion stroke can be seen in the oil lm
thickness, which is at its thinnest during the expansion
stroke, for all load levels studied.
4.2. Measured oil film thickness at mid-stroke
4.2.1. First compression ring
At mid-stroke (sensor nos. 2 and 3), the changes in
temperature and pressure with the strokes of the working
cycle are less dramatic than those observed when close to
TDC. The location of the oil distribution groove situated
below the ring pack (shown in Fig. 2) allows a more
constant oil supply to the rings than in the case of the
location close to TDC. Furthermore, the piston speed, and
thus the sliding speed of the piston rings, is higher at mid-
stroke than at the sensors situated close to TDC and BDC.
These conditions reduce the changes in oil lm thicknesses
between different strokes, see the Figs. 7 and 8.
The increase in oil lm thickness with increasing load at
load levels 10%, 25% and 50%, as seen at the location of
sensor no. 1 (close to TDC), can also be seen at mid-stroke
from the signal of the thrust side sensor no. 2. At higher
load levels, from 50% to 100%, no increase or minor
decrease in oil lm thickness occurs. The cause of this
phenomenon is complex, but the rising gas pressures acting
behind the rst compression ring and the rising of overall
temperatures possibly cause this change in the oil lm
thickness.
On the anti-thrust side (sensor no. 3), the oil lm
thickness decreases with increasing load as shown in Fig. 8.
The oil lm thickness between the rst compression ring
and the liner is higher during the downward strokes than
during the upward strokes. This is quite logical when
considering the location of the oil distribution groove. The
oil available for the second and rst compression rings is,
however, regulated by the oil control ring.
4.2.2. Second compression ring
On the thrust side at mid-stroke, the oil lm thickness
between the second compression ring and the liner increases
when the load is increased (Fig. 11). At load levels 25% and
50%, the oil lm thickness is at its thinnest during the
compression stroke. These low oil lm thickness values may
partly arise from a decrease in the charge air temperature
(Fig. 13) that cools the surface of the cylinder liner during the
intake stroke just before the compression stroke. The piston
temperatures (Fig. 14), however, show a rising trend with
respect to increasing load level at all sensor positions, even at
the 25% load level. At load levels 75% and 100%, the lowest
oil lm thicknesses under the second compression ring are
measured during the expansion stroke. This corresponds to
the pressures behind the ring that are higher during the
expansion stroke than during other strokes.
At mid-stroke on the anti-thrust side, the oil lm
thickness between the second compression ring and the
liner shows the same decreasing trend with respect to
increase in load (Fig. 12) as in the case of the rst
compression ring. On the anti-thrust side, the increase in
overall temperature along with the rising load seems to
have an effect on the oil lm thickness. At load levels above
25%, the oil lm thickness is slightly lower during the
upward strokes than during the downward strokes.
4.3. Measured oil film thickness close to BDC
4.3.1. First compression ring
Again, the rise of oil lm thickness between the rst
compression ring and the cylinder liner with increasing
load can be seen close to BDC at sensor no. 4, at load levels
from 10% to 50%. At load levels above 50%, the oil lm
thickness slightly decreases when the load is increased. At
certain load levels, the oil lm thickness is almost constant,
regardless of the stroke, as shown in Fig. 9. The pressure
behind the rst compression ring stays modest and is not
likely to have a major effect on the oil lm thickness.
4.3.2. Second compression ring
In the case of the second compression ring, the changes
in the measured oil lm thicknesses close to BDC at various
load levels are minor, typically within 23 mm at their highest,
see Fig. 15. The same trend was seen in the corresponding oil
lm thicknesses at the rst compression ring (Fig. 9). This
indicates relatively steady conditions and sufcient oil supply
to both compression rings close to BDC.
The lowest oil lm thicknesses and the highest pressures
behind the second compression ring occur, as with the rst
compression ring, at the same time close to BDC during the
expansion stroke.
4.4. Simulation results and their comparison to measured
results
In general, the simulated results show high uctuations
in the results for 25% load, especially during the intake
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
J. Tamminen et al. / Tribology International 39 (2006) 16431652
stroke, for both compression rings. The uctuations n the
oil lm thickness could be caused by radial lift-off of the
rings.
For the rst compression ring, the 100% and 75% load
levels gave a higher oil lm thickness for the strokes where
the piston moves upwards (compression and exhaust) than
for the expansion and intake strokes, see the Figs. 1618.
At the 25% load level, the oil lm thickness reached
approximately the same value (4 mm) during all four
strokes. The similar behaviour is seen for the second
compression ring in Figs. 1921 for a load level of 25%.
The second compression ring had a lower oil lm
thickness than the rst compression ring during the
expansion stroke. The pressure behind the second ring
was higher at higher load levels, and thus the scraping
effect of the ring was emphasized.
For the rst compression ring at sensor no. 4 (close to
BDC), as presented in Fig. 18, the measurements show
minute differences between the oil lm thicknesses of
the different strokes for a specic load. The 75% load
level gives a higher oil lm thickness than does the
100% load level. The 25% load level clearly gives the
lowest oil lm thickness. The simulation results support the
observed relationship between the 75% and 100% load
levels, but the simulated 25% load has a higher oil lm
thickness than the measurements would suggest. The
simulation results furthermore give smaller differences
between the different load levels than the measurement
results do.
The rst compression ring remains at the bottom of the
ring groove during half of the intake stroke (Fig. 22),
through the compression stroke and half of the expansion
stroke. In Fig. 22, a slight utter can be seen after mid-
stroke of the expansion stroke, after which the ring moves
up in the groove to remain there until half of the intake
stroke, for the load levels 75% and 100%. For the 25%
load level, the ring moves to the bottom of the groove for a
duration of 60 deg of crank angle at the mid-stroke of the
exhaust stroke. The axial movement of the second
compression ring (Fig. 23) shows that the ring is at the
bottom of the groove for most of the working cycle. The
ring moves to the upper side of the groove only around
BDC during the exhaust and intake strokes.
There is no indication of axial ring lift for either of the
rings at any of the load levels during the intake stroke,
which could explain the uctuation of the oil lm thickness
for both compression rings.
In Fig. 16, the simulation and measurement results
correspond well near TDC during the exhaust and intake
strokes. The measured oil lm thickness after ring TDC
gives an increasing lm thickness with increasing load;
although, the simulation results suggest the opposite. The
oil lm of the rst compression ring is very much relying on
the lm trailing the second ring. Fig. 19 shows that a higher
load during the expansion stroke generated a lower oil lm
thickness. The measurement results in Fig. 10 conrm this
at loads above 50%; although, the difference between the
1651
load levels is less than 1 mm, whereas for the simulation
results the difference was larger.
The simulation results for the rst compression ring at
mid-stroke (Fig. 17) suggest that the highest oil lm
thickness occurs during the exhaust stroke. On the other
hand, the corresponding measured results show the lowest
oil lm thicknesses at each specic load during the exhaust
stroke. In Fig. 20, representing the second compression
ring, the trends for both simulation and measurements are
the same, with the highest oil lm thickness during the
exhaust stroke.
5. Conclusions
The most critical lubrication conditions for the rst
compression ring occur close to TDC towards the end of
the exhaust stroke at the lowest low-load levels.
According to the measured results, the oil lm thickness
between the rst compression ring and the cylinder liner at
all engine load levels was at its thinnest close to TDC
position (sensor no. 1, thrust side) at the end of the exhaust
stroke. The same phenomenon can be seen at mid-stroke
(sensor no. 2) on the thrust side.
The measured results indicate that the oil lm thickness
on the thrust side of the piston increases with increasing
load at every sensor position. In the case of the rst
compression ring, the effect is greater near TDC than that
near BDC. For the second compression ring, the increase
in the oil lm thickness is more evident close to BDC.
For the rst compression ring, the differences in the oil
lm thicknesses between different strokes decrease towards
BDC, indicating more stable lubrication conditions on the
lower part of the cylinder liner than on the upper parts.
Close to TDC, the measured oil lm thickness between
the second compression ring and the cylinder liner has its
maximum at medium engine load levels during all strokes
of the working cycle. At lower load levels, the ring may
push the oil ahead of it instead of sliding on the oil lm. At
higher load level, the oil viscosity is decreased by the higher
temperatures, and results in a lower load-carrying capacity
and in thinner oil lm thicknesses.
At mid-stroke and close to BDC, the oil lm thickness
between the second compression ring and the liner
increases along with the increasing engine load through
the whole engine load range. At mid-stroke, the changes in
temperature along with the load are smaller than closer to
TDC. The inuence of the temperature decreases towards
BDC and the increase in oil lm thickness with increasing
engine load is most evident close to BDC.
On the anti-thrust side at mid-stroke, the oil lm
thickness between both compression rings and the cylinder
liner decreases when the engine load is increased. The
increasing overall temperature along with the arising load
inuences the oil lm formation on the anti-thrust side
more clearly than on the thrust side.
The simulation results show for the compression rings
that an increase in the engine load reduces the oil lm
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1652 J. Tamminen et al. / Tribology International 39 (2006) 16431652
thickness during the strokes during which the piston moves
downwards, i.e. during expansion and intake. The com-
pression rings are then pressed against the lower surfaces of
their respective grooves throughout the strokes, sealing the
ring groove from the crankcase and causing a higher gas
force acting on the backside of the ring than on the face
side.
According to the simulations, the oil lm thickness
during the compression stroke at 100% load is lower than
that at 75% load. This can also be seen for both
compression rings and suggests that the increasing pressure
assists in the formation of the oil lm to a specic load
level. After this load level, the force equilibrium of the ring
may press the ring tighter against the cylinder liner, leading
to a lower oil lm thickness.
The simulation results furthermore suggest that, during
the entire working cycle, the highest oil lm thickness
occurs during the exhaust cycle. The oil lm available for
lubrication of the rst compression ring is, however,
reduced by oil evaporation during expansion, and hence
should have the lowest oil lm thickness, at least lower
than that during the intake stroke. The simulation model is
provided with a constant initial oil lm thickness on the
cylinder liner wall at dead centres of the cycle, meaning
that the rst-moving ring (rst compression ring/oil-
control ring) has a constant oil lm thickness available in
front of it. This is, however, not the case in a running
engine where the available oil lm on the liner varies in
both the axial and circumferential direction. Therefore, the
simulations may result in a thicker oil lm at the upper part
of the stroke and in a thinner oil lm at the bottom part of
the stroke than in the actual case of a ring engine.
Differences between the simulation and experimental
results are most probably due to, at least, the assumed
initial oil lm thickness used in the simulation, which is
dened as constant for the whole cylinder liner length, the
exclusion of the piston secondary movement and the
modelling of the ring face.
Acknowledgements
This study is part of the project Low-friction engines,
which was running during the years 20032005. The project
was nancially supported by the National Technology
Agency, Tekes, by the companies Wartsila Finland Oy,
Lubrizol Ltd., M. Jurgensen GmbH&Co, Volvo Technol-
ogy Development and by the Technical Research Centre of
Finland (VTT). The authors wish to thank the participat-
ing companies and institutions for their nancial and
technical support in the project.
References
[1] Sherrington I, Smith EH. Experimental methods for measuring the
oil lm thickness between the piston rings and cylinder-wall of
internal combustion engines. Tribol Int 1985;18(6):31520.
[2] Grice N, Sherrington I, Smith EH, ODonnell SG, Stringfellow J-F.
A capacitance based system for high resolution measurement of
lubricant lm thicknesses. In: Jakobsen J, Klarskov M, Eis M,
editors. NORDTRIB 90 proceedings of the fourth Nordic sympo-
sium on tribology, lubrication, friction and wear, 1013 June 1990,
Hirthals, Denmark. Copenhagen, Denmark: Technical University of
Denmark; 1990. p. 34961, ISBN 87-983538-0-2.
[3] Mattsson C. Measurement of the oil lm thickness between the
cylinder liner and the piston rings in a heavy duty directly injected
diesel engine. SAE technical paper series 952469, 1995. p. 8.
[4] Seki T, Nakayama K, Yamada T, Yoshida A, Takiguchi M. A study
on variation in oil lm thickness of a piston ring package: variation of
oil lm thickness in piston sliding direction. JSAE Rev 2000;21:
31520.
[5] Shenghua L, Jijun L, Longbao Z, Rong W. An experimental
investigation of the oil lm lubricating piston rings. SAE technical
paper series 961912, 1996. p. 5.
[6] Takiguchi M, Nakayama K, Furuhama S, Yoshida H. Variation of
piston ring oil lm thickness in an internal combustion engine
comparison between thrust and anti-thrust sides. SAE paper 980563,
1998.
[7] Gulwadi SD. A Mixed lubrication and oil transport model for piston
rings using a mass conserving algorithm. ASME-ICE 1995;
25-2:12939.
[8] Gulwadi SD. Analysis of lubrication, friction, blow-by and oil
consumption in a piston ring pack. Presented at the ASME-ICE 1997
spring conference.
[9] Gulwadi SD. A mixed lubrication and oil transport model for piston
rings using a mass conserving algorithm. ASME J Eng Gas Turbine
Power 1998;120:199208.
[10] RINGPAK Documentation/Users manual, version 4.2, Ricardo
Software, 2003.
[11] Tian T, Wong VW. Modeling the lubrication, dynamics, and effects
of piston dynamic tilt of twin-land oil control rings in internal
combustion engines. J Eng Gas Turbine Power 2000;122:11929.
[12] Herbst HM, Priebsch HH. Simulation of piston ring dynamics and
their effect on oil consumption. SAE technical paper series 2000-01-
0919, 2000. p. 12.