Friction Response of Piston Rings for Application-like Starvation and Benefit of Amorphous Carbon Coatings

The oil supply at the interface between the top ring and the cylinder liner (TRCL) plays a major role in an internal combustion engines efficiency. In particular, the interface forms a trade-off between the serving of enough lubricant for sufficient lubrication conditions and emissions through subsequent combustion. This can lead to deficient top ring lubrication conditions. In this study, a new developed reciprocating long-stroke tribometer, enabling the variation of oil supply, is used to investigate such application-like starved lubrication conditions of the TRCL interface. With the simulative investigations, a comparison with the fired engine is possible. The performance of diamond-like carbon coatings is compared to standard nitrided piston rings. It was found that the tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) coatings exhibit up to 31% reduced friction as well as a lower wear under starved lubrication conditions. Simulative investigations show a good correlation between engine friction and tribometer measurements for selected oil supply conditions.