Thermomechanical fatigue life prediction for a marine diesel engine piston considering ring dynamics

Abstract

A newly designed marine diesel engine piston was modeled using a precise finite element analysis (FEA). The high cycle fatigue (HCF) safety factor prediction procedure designed in this study incorporated lubrication, thermal, and structure analysis. The piston ring dynamics calculation determined the predicted thickness of lubrication oil film. The film thickness influenced the calculated magnitude of the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) used in the thermal loads analysis. Moreover, the gas pressure of ring lands and ring grooves used in mechanical analysis is predicted based on the piston ring dynamics model.