Study of the Effects of Oil Supply and Piston Skirt Profile on Lubrication Performance in Power Cylinder Systems

In internal combustion engines, the majority of the friction loss associated with the piston takes place on the thrust side in early expansion stroke. Research has shown that the Friction Mean Effective Pressure (FMEP) of the engine can be reduced if proper modifications to the piston skirt, which is traditionally barrel-shaped, are made. In this research, an existing model was applied for the first time to study the effects of different oil supply strategies for the piston assembly. The model is capable of tracking lubricating oil with the consideration of oil film separation from full film to partial film. It is then used to analyze how the optimized piston skirt profile investigated in a previous study reduces friction. It was found that the profile is able to maintain a larger amount of lubricant between the lower part of the piston skirt and the cylinder liner during compression stroke, thereby generating more hydrodynamic pressure, instead of asperity contact pressure, to balance the lateral force from piston pin.