The effect of lubricant viscosity model with improver on friction and lubrication of piston skirt-cylinder liner conjunction

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the effect of lubricant viscosity model with improver on friction and lubrication of piston skirt-cylinder liner conjunction.

Design/methodology/approach

A dynamic calculation model is established for the piston skirt-cylinder liner conjunction of a heavy-duty commercial diesel engine, to explore the effects of two kinds of lube oil viscosity models named after polyalkyle-metacrylate-1 (PAMA1) and styrene-isoprene-copolymer (SICP) improvers on the maximum oil film viscosity, the minimum oil film thickness, the peak oil film pressure, the maximum shear rate, the friction force and the total friction power loss.

Findings

The variation trends with the crank angle of the above parameters are not changed with the difference of improvers, while obvious numerical differences are found except the maximum oil film pressure. The minimum oil film thickness and maximum shear rate of PAMA1 are larger than that of SICP, the maximum oil film viscosity of SICP is larger than that of PAMA1, which indicates that the shear-thinning effect of PAMA1 is greater, the maximum friction force on the piston of SICP is larger than that of PAMA1, and the total friction power consumption is also larger, the average friction power consumptions of SICP and PAMA1 are 385.4 and 262.8 W, respectively, with the relative difference of 31.8 per cent.

Originality/value

The influence of different lubricating oil additive models on the lubrication and friction of piston skirt-cylinder liner conjunction is simulated and analyzed.

Citation

Xin, G., Liu, X.-R., Cheng, D.-K., Zheng, Q.-P., Li, M.-H., Sun, N.-N. and Min, C.-H. (2020), "The effect of lubricant viscosity model with improver on friction and lubrication of piston skirt-cylinder liner conjunction", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 72 No. 1, pp. 157-164. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-08-2018-0322