An Elastohydrodynamic Cavitation Algorithm for Piston Ring Lubrication

An elastohydrodynamic cavitation algorithm is developed for piston ring lubrication. This algorithm combines a compressible fluid model, a pressure-viscosity relation and elastic surface deformation with cavitation. Also, it conserves mass flow and automatically determines full film, cavitation and pressure reformation regions. Results for a typical automotive engine reveal that the pressure calculated by using the Reynolds boundary condition leads to a large error in pressure in the full-film region and, in turn, affects the film thickness prediction. Piston ring lubrication using the Reynolds boundary condition is considered to be valid only when the pressure acting on the trailing edge of a piston ring is negligible. Presented at the 49th Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania May 1-5, 1994