A Study on Sliding Surface Pressure Measurement of Piston Ring under Reciprocating Condition Using Thin-Film Sensor

Abstract

In the tribology of mechanical elements using lubricating oil, verification of the dynamic surface pressure distribution during sliding operation is necessary in order to elucidate the sliding condition. The same also applies to the piston rings which are the sliding part of compression reciprocating device. Although some verification case in static condition or limited sliding area has been studied, there are many unknown aspects in this field. The thin-film sensor, since it has small influence on the shape of the sliding surface, is widely used as a measurement method of the sliding surface pressure between two different surfaces, however this method has never been applied to the piston ring in the past. In this study, various film deposition methods on the piston ring of the thin-film sensor were examined, and the thin-film pressure sensor with a total thickness of 4.6 μm was successfully formed on the sliding surface by sputtering. The surface pressure distribution of the sliding part was measured using the reciprocating sliding tester by this thin-film pressure sensor, and the measurement values were in good agreement with the mixed lubrication model between the piston ring and the cylinder liner.

Keywords

• piston ring
• surface pressure
• thin-film sensor
• reciprocating