Running-in Wear Monitoring of Piston Rings and Cylinder Liner of a Realistic Diesel Engine Using Magneto-resistive Sensor

Piston rings and cylinder liners are the key components of internal combustion engines (ICEs). Their state has a great influence on the performance of ICEs. The friction and wear of these components directly affect the total power output of ICEs. Therefore it is of great importance to monitor the wear of these components in real time so that a proper maintenance strategy could be implemented to prevent financial misfortune. In the present research work, an effort has been done to detect the running-in wear of piston rings and cylinder liner of a realistic diesel engine in real time. The system comprises a magneto-resistive (MR) sensor and a permanent magnet. The wear of piston rings and cylinder liner were on-line monitored using the MR sensor. The surface roughness, weight loss, engine performance, and emission parameters were also measured. Further, the experimental results were validated with the numerical simulation results using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.0. These results showed the potential application of the sensor to detect the wear of piston rings and cylinder liner. Further, the obtained results provide a good correlation between the magnetic field strength variation and other parameters such as surface roughness, weight loss, performance, and emission of the engine. The outcomes of the present investigations may help automotive, marine, and locomotives industries to detect the wear of piston rings and cylinder liner in real time.