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SOTA Engineering Report

Advances in Internal Combustion Piston Design

By: Nick Gifford, 250014848

For: Professor Thompson, Professor Wood and Bryan Froese

Introduction

The main thrust of Group 21's 4th year project is the design of a piston for a gasoline internal
combustion engine. Pistons are fairly basic devices, having been in use for over 100 years, but
their design has dramatic implications on the efficiency of the combustion process and therefore
the internal combustion engine itself. Optimal designs can greatly increase the thermal and
mechanical efficiency of an internal combustion engine by promoting better combustion,
lowering heat transfer, increasing compression ratio, and reducing frictional losses.

Piston Function and Associated Problem Areas

The function of the piston is to absorb the energy released after the air/fuel mixture is ignited by
the spark plug. The piston then accelerates producing useful mechanical energy. To accomplish
this, the piston must be sealed so that it can compress the air/fuel mixture and not allow gases out
of the combustion chamber. This is accomplished by the piston rings which also help to prevent
oil from entering the combustion chamber from underneath the piston. Another function of the
rings is to keep the piston from contacting the cylinder wall. Less contact area between the
cylinder and piston reduces friction, thereby increasing efficiency. As a result of this process,
heat is transferred from the combustion gases into the piston (and other components that make up
the combustion chamber walls. This reduces the thermodynamic efficiency of the process, and
therefore also diminishes power.

Piston Coatings

There are many ways that a piston can be optimized to increase the efficiency of an internal
combustion engine. One such optimization is to reduce the heat transfer from the hot
combustion gases to the piston (and also the rest of the combustion chamber). This is
accomplished mainly through the use of coatings. By applying thin layers of ceramics and other
coatings to the piston head, cylinder walls and cylinder head, heat transfer is reduced. One of the
main benefits of insulating coatings is that the combustion gases remain at a higher temperature,
which results in more complete and efficient combustion. Secondly, other engine components
do not reach as high a temperature (US Pat. 4,852,542). This means that creep effects will be
reduced, and fatigue limits will not be reached as quickly.

The increased insulation also makes it possible to use even lighter metals such as magnesium by
reducing the corrosion, wear and perhaps even creep problems that have thus far prohibited the
use of magnesium alloys in high-temperature, high-wear applications (Industrial Technology,
June 2001). Exhaust temperature increases of up to 20ºC have been realized through the use of
insulating coatings (Schihl, 2001). This is indicative of the reduction in heat transfer to the
piston and engine block.

Coatings often also have the effect of greatly reducing friction between the piston and the
cylinder. This increases efficiency and also allows racing engines to use thinner piston rings
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(approximately 0.042 inches thick), thereby reducing friction even further for better performance
(Ogando, 2001).

Instead of using coatings, it is also possible to affix a composite ceramic plate or a plate of other
materials to the surface of the piston head. This also has the effect of protecting the metal from
the heat of the combustion gases, and helps to keep the combustion gases at a higher temperature
for more thorough combustion, better power, and better thermodynamic efficiency (US Pat.
4,711,208). Canadian patent 1330643 (Kawamura, 1994) also involves the use of a ceramic
plate to improve "the suction efficiency and cycle efficiency" of the engine.

By reducing heat transfer and friction, dimensional tolerances can often be reduced as well.
Coatings allow the temperature rise of the piston and cylinder to be more carefully controlled.
This means that the expansion rates can be more accurately determined, allowing for a closer fit
of the piston to the cylinder. Tolerances between the piston and the cylinder have been reduced
to 0.0009 from 0.0012 inches in some applications. This has the effect of reducing the amount of
blow-by of combustion gases past the piston rings, thus increasing efficiency (Ogando, 2001).

Piston Rings

Piston rings are something that may not be thought of as having too large an effect on engine
performance, but that is not the case. They are vital in lubrication and the prevention of either oil
getting into the combustion chamber or combustion gases getting into the oil. They also prevent
the piston from contacting the sides of the cylinder, thereby reducing friction. One advance in
piston ring technology is simply increasing the tension of the rings (Business World, July 2002).
The main benefit of this change is that combustion gases can not contaminate the oil. This
allows the owner of the engine to change the oil every 10,000km and the oil filter every
20,000km where normally they are both changed every 5,000km. Friction is also reduced, which
means that engine parts wear more slowly (Business World, July 2002).

Design of Piston for Cooling

Another method of reducing the temperature of the piston is by the use of a heat-pipe cooling
system. Figure 1 shows an annular heat-pipe piston design. This system allows for a channel
inside the piston skirt that directs heat away from the piston itself. This greatly increases the heat
transfer through the piston, which does not help the efficiency of the engine, but would allow for
the use of special light alloys to form the piston (Wang, 2000). Magnesium and its alloys have
much larger creep rates than other metals and therefore can usually not sustain the same load and
temperatures as steel or aluminum. A heat-pipe system can drastically reduce the temperature of
the piston crown from about 700ºC to only 350ºC (Wang, 2000). Therefore, using heat-pipe
technology makes it easier to employ magnesium alloys in pistons.

Figure 1 from Wang (2000)

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Piston Cross-Section and Piston Head Shape

Another aspect of piston design that has a great influence on the power output and efficiency of
the motor is the geometry of the piston itself. Pistons can be either round or oval, with a
protruding, flat or concave crown. The piston head shape can also be made to induce swirling or
vortices in the combustion gases to promote more even mixing and better combustion.

Piston heads are most important in diesel engines because they incorporate direct injection, but
new technologies are being developed for gasoline direct injection engines as well. In direct
injection engines, fuel and air is injected directly into the cylinder during the intake stroke
(instead of being injected into the intake manifold near the intake valve outside of the
combustion chamber), seeFigure 2 (U.S. Pat. 6,325, 040). This provides better atomization of
the fuel and better combustion, but in order to maximize the benefits, the piston head must be
carefully shaped. The piston head for direct injection has what is called a bowl (see the left
piston in Figure 6). This bowl has two effects; the main objective is to deflect the incoming fuel
spray towards the spark plug and secondly, to direct it around the combustion chamber.

Direct gasoline injection also allows higher compression ratios of about 12 times versus the
standard 10.5 (Singer, 1999). The result is a cleaner burning, more powerful and more efficient
combustion process (Singer, 1999). Another side-effect of spraying the fuel off of the piston
head is to keep it away from the spark plug. If fuel hits the spark plug prematurely it will
combust and leave sooty deposits on the plug, reducing its effectiveness (Singer, 1999). Figure 2
describes the evolution from left to right of carbureted engines to fuel injected engines to direct
gasoline injection engines.

Figure 2, adapted from Singer 1999

Piston heads for all engines can be shaped in such a way as to induce a vortex or swirl on the
combustion gases. If the piston is shaped correctly, the incoming combustion gases will begin to
rotate as they hit the piston such as in direct gasoline injection engines see Figure 6 from
Kolbenschmidt Pierburg (US Pat. 6,443,122). The swirling causes better vaporization of the fuel
and better mixing of the fuel and air. This promotes cleaner, more efficient and more powerful
combustion, which means more power and fewer harmful emissions.

Piston heads can also simply have recesses which allow for better combustion (Haman, 1997).
See Figure 3, (Haman, 1997) for an example of a piston with a recession in the face. More
complex designs cut away material around the circumference of the piston to achieve better
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mixing (Pouring, 1988) see Figure 4. Figure 5 shows another type of piston design, the yin-yang
arrangement that is intended to induce swirl in the combustion gases (Yunick, 1986).

Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

With correct piston head shape, stress concentrations can be all but eliminated. This is
evidenced in Kolbenschmidt (2002) where factors of safety for a higher compression, swirl
inducing piston is lower than with a conventional flat faced piston, see Figure 6. Red areas
indicate a dangerous factor of safety while blue areas are very safe.

Figure 6 from Kolbenschmidt Pierburg

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are many factors of piston design that affect the power produced, the fuel
efficiency, and the emissions that an engine produces. Coatings can be applied to reduce heat
transfer and friction, which increases efficiency. Piston rings can often be reduced in thickness
to reduce friction, heat pipes and other cooling methods can be designed into the piston to cool it,
and lastly, piston geometries have a profound effect on the engine characteristics. These
considerations must all be taken into account when designing a magnesium piston and many of
these technologies will be implemented in the final design of our magnesium piston. There are
no real risks in implementing these design components, the only prohibiting factor is the cost of
applying some types of coatings, or making complex piston geometries.
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References

Anonymous. (2002). New Honda engine design allows less frequent servicing. Business
World. July 17, 2002.

Anonymous. (2001). Coating gives aluminum strength of stainless steel. Industrial Technology
June 2001.

Anonymous. (2002) Kolbenschmidt Pierburg. ONLINE:

http://www.engineweb.com/media/PDF/lb_e.pdf Trade Publication.

Denbratt, Ingemar, et al. (2002). Volvo Car Corporation. Internal Combustion Engine. U.S. Pat.
6,443,122.

Haman, D. F., & Craft T. D. (1997). Outboard Marine Corporation. Fuel-injected Internal
Combustion Engine with Improved Combustion. Canadian Pat. CA 2177439

Kamo, R., Woods, M. E., Bryzik, W. (1989) Adiabatics, Inc. Thin thermal barrier coatings for
engines. U.S. Pat. 4,852,542.

Kawamura, H., Matsouka, H. (1994). Isuzu Motors Limited. Heat-Insulating Piston Structure.
Canadian Pat. CA 1330643.

Ogando, Joseph. (2001) Less friction, more speed. Design News. Vol. 56, Issue 23, p.p. 64-65.
December 3, 2001.

Pouring, A. (1988). Sonex Research Inc. Piston for I.C. Engine. Canadian Pat. CA 1242120.

Schihl, P., Schwarz, E., Bryzik, W. (2001). Performance Characteristics of a Low Heat
Rejection Direct Injection Military Diesel Engine Retrofitted with Thermal Barrier
Coatings. Transactions of the ASME. Vol 123, July 2001.

Singer, Sherri. (1999). Combustion engines burn super clean. Machine Design. Vol.71, Iss.17,
September 9, 1999.

Tanaka, Keiji. (2001). Suzuki Motor Corporation. Cylinder Direct Injection Engine. U.S. Pat.
6,325,040.

Wang, Q, Cao, Y, et al. (2000). Studies of a Heat-Pipe Cooled Piston Crown. Journal of
Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power. January 2000.

Yang, Jialin. (2002). Ford Global Technologies, Inc. Dual Fuel Compression Ignition Engine.
U.S. Pat. 6,427,660.

Yunick, Henry. (1986). Motortech, Inc. Internal Combustion Engine. Canadian Pat. CA
1210285.