Influence of coating on friction and wear of combustion engine piston rings

Abstract

The top piston rings of the internal combustion engines are generally covered with a hard chromium coating ensuring a good longevity. However this type of coating is obtained by an electrolytic deposition process which uses CrVI, product classified as toxic. Consequently, it is necessary to identify other deposit processes or alternate materials of coating. In this work one tested a certain number of alternative solutions of coating likely to replace the current coating used on the piston rings of engine. One used a tribometer of the type PLINT TE 77 designed for the study of friction in lubricated mode and functioning with reciprocating motion. At the end of the tests and after the analysis of the results, a hierarchical list of these alternate materials will be drawn up, whose performances in friction and wear resistance will be higher or equal to the current solution. © Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2009.