Vibration Due to Piston Slap and Combustion in Gasoline and Diesel Engines

The paper describe investigations on the vibration characteristics of a gasoline engine due to piston slap and a diesel engine due to combustion. Engine parameters and vibration data were recorded and time series signals were obtained. The effect of speed, load and other engine parameters on vibration is investigated.

Vibration due to piston slap is analysed with reference to major-minor thrust relationship, cylinder to cylinder variation, piston-slap force diagram and vibration-frequency curves. The experimental results suggest that all reciprocating engines would exhibit a complex vibration pattern due to piston slap at harmonic series of discrete frequencies, and the reason for this is analysed.

The vibration transmitted by engine structure in response to the in-cylinder pressure development is termed here as ‘Vibration due to Combustion’ and is assessed from the spectrum of the Combustion Pressure curves and their derivatives in terms of time. It is found that for an engine under the same running conditions, cases with higher values of pressure derivatives result in higher engine vibration level.