Improvement Of Cylinder Liner Materials Wear Resistance.

The higher load in heavy duty Diesel engines and the use of piston ring coatings with higher wear resistance cause more severe working conditions to the cylinder liners. In some cases, high localized wear occurs at the top dead center (TDC) of the first groove ring, where the loads and lubrication conditions are critical.

It was studied the effect of the addition of hard particles on cylinder liner materials. The presence of these particles was obtained through the use of small quantities of strong carbide forming alloying elements: Vanadium, Niobium and Titanium.

Cylinder liners with hard particle addition were tested in comparison to regular liners. This test used high sulfur fuel (> 1.0 wt %) and low additivation lubricant oil, maintaining the same ring pack configuration for both liners.

The results showed sensible liner wear reduction at the TDC of the first ring without compromising the ring pack performance.