A study of thermal and lubrication phenomena in the piston-ring and cylinder-sleeve tribosystem of an internal combustion engine and flash temperature calculation

The piston ring is one of the main elements in an internal combustion engine. Together with the cylinder sleeve, the piston ring has two basic functions: (1) contacting the cylinder sleeve to prevent the gases formed above the piston from migrating to the crankcase and (2) as a translation couple, formed of the piston-ring and cylinder-sleeve assembly. Complex tribological phenomena occur in the piston-ring and cylinder-sleeve tribosystem, according to variations in sliding speed, gas pressure, and temperature. This paper presents a method of calculation of the thickness of the lubricant film in the piston-ring and cylinder-sleeve tribosystem, using the Reynolds equation, integrated in specific conditions. According to the Newtonian behaviour of the lubricant, the shear stresses in the lubricant film between the piston ring and cylinder sleeve are determined. A computational procedure to determine flash temperatures in the piston-ring and cylinder-sleeve tribosystem is presented. The theoretical results, including film thickness, sliding speed, gas pressure, and flash temperatures for a complete crankshaft cycle are also presented.