Development of High Temperature Diesel Engine Piston Ring and Cylinder Liner Tribology

Adiabatics, Inc. with the support of the U.S. Army Tank Automotive & Armaments Command has examined the feasibility of using Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) films and Iron Titanate (Fe₂TiO₅ or IT) for sliding contact surfaces in Low Heat Rejection (LHR) diesel engines. DLCs have long been a popular candidate for use in sliding contact tribo-surfaces where a perceived reduction of friction losses will result in increased engine efficiency [1]. There exists a broad range of technologies for applying DLC films. This paper examines several types of these technologies and their future application to automotive internal combustion engines. Our work focuses upon DLC use for LHR military diesel engines where operating temperatures and pressures are higher than conventional diesel engines. However, a direct transfer of this technology to automotive diesel or gasoline engines exists for these thin films. The work presented in this paper examines laboratory phenomena between different types of DLC films [2], and also their suitability for use in the internal combustion engine.