Engine Rig for Screening Ceramic Materials

Ceramic materials used either as solid components or as coatings on metal components provide a bewildering choice of property characteristics to the designer. Application in Diesel engines to permit efficient, high temperature, no-coolant operation is seriously hampered by lack of test experience with these materials and lack of a comprehensive data base on performance characteristics and properties in relation to engine conditions. The paper describes an engine designed specifically for testing ceramic materials in piston and liner applications, and the advantages of this approach in practice.