An Analytical Technique for Assessing Cylinder Liner Cavitation Erosion

The damage occurring on the coolant side of cylinder liners due to cavitation erosion is of increasing concern to today's engine manufacturers striving for increased specific power and reduced weight. Identification of a cavitation problem does not usually occur until failures are reported in service. This is due to the difficulty in predicting cavitation at the design stage and in detecting damage in a running prototype. Therefore a new method for the analysis of cavitation erosion damage in cylinder liners has been developed.

The technique, which is based on the use of the finite element method, provides a tool for the engineer to investigate the effects of design changes on cavitation intensity, without the direct need for expensive test work.

The sole source of liner excitation is assumed to be from piston slap. Following calculation and application of the piston impact energy, the transient response of the liner is predicted. The velocities of the liner are calculated and compared with a cavitation criterion to establish a map of the likelihood of cavitation damage over the liner surface.