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Piston Ring PDF
Piston Ring PDF
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Other Pages The Basics The 2 Stroke Engine The 4 Stroke Engine Operation Members
Materials
Generally speaking the piston ring must be harder than the liner in which it runs. Rings are cast and machined from grey
cast iron. This may include some additions such as chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, titanium, nickel and copper. In
some engines nodular or spheroidal graphite iron is used, which has greater hardness and tensile strength, as has
vermicular or compact graphite cast iron, the use of which is becoming more widespread. Alloying elements such as
titanium and vanadium form hard insoluble carbides within the matrix.
Manufacture
The primary sealing effect of the piston ring is achieved by the inherent tension of the ring which makes it contact the
cylinder wall around its whole circumference. Rings in early engines were hammered around their circumference to
induce a tension in a circular ring. Two methods are used today; the thermally tensioned ring and the oval pot cam turning
method. The cheaper method employed mainly for small engines is the Thermally Tensioned Ring. In this method the ring
is machined from a circular pot to the cylinder diameter. A gap is cut in the ring into which a distance piece is inserted,
thus expanding the ring. The ring and distance piece is then placed in an oven to relieve the induced stresses. This method
suffers from the disadvantage the rings lose their tension in the heat of the engine.
The advantage of this method is that when the ring is in storage, it is under no artificially induced tensions. Also when the
ring is expanded for fitting over the piston the stresses induced in the back of the ring are not in addition to any previous
built in stresses. A ring cast by this method always tends to return to its natural stress free state by pressing against the
cylinder walls.
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Piston Rings for Large Marine Diesel Engines http://www.marinediesels.co.uk/members/operation/piston_rings.htm
When the pot has been machined and the ring parted off,
the gap is cut in the ring (7 - 13% dia) and the ring
ground on its flanks to ensure good sealing in the piston
ring grooves.
Plating of Rings
Piston rings need to combine strength with wear resistance. To enhance the wear resistant properties the rings can be
plated with a layer of different material.
Plasma coating provides a running surface with better properties than chrome plating. A gas mixture is directed through
an electric arc generated between a tungsten electrode and a water cooled copper tube . Very high temperatures are
generated, the gas molecules atoms dissociate and into this plasma state metal, carbides, or ceramics are sprayed as a fine
powder, these melt, and coat the ring surface.
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Piston Rings for Large Marine Diesel Engines http://www.marinediesels.co.uk/members/operation/piston_rings.htm
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