TABLE OF CONTENTS TERMS: 2 STRUCTURE 8 OPERATION a 7 4 PERFORMING FAILURE ANALYSIS os - é HOSTILE CONDITIONS zi 7 CROWN OVERHEATING 7 SKIRT OVERHEATING 8 FOREIGN MATERIAL DAMAGE 9 CORROSIVE ENVIRONMENTS 12 PARTS PROBLEMS - 14 WORKMANSHIP. 16 CONCLUSION ..... v7 FORWARD This booklet contains a summary of key concepts about structure. operation, problems and abnormal wear or fracture of aluminum pistons, rings, andliners , This publcaticnis intended to serveas a teference Dooket for those wro have attended Caterpilla’'s Applied Failure Analysis course. Anyone wanting more information about applied failure analysis shoud contact their local Caterpillar dealer, (GB caterpittan © 1986 Caterpiar incPISTON TERMS LINER TERMS ee eeu Nomenciature a,’ (eS A sen 1 Semel ‘hs llustation givesthegeneralyacceptedtermstorthe Liner terms are shown above various parts 9! he psion RING TERMS Pre Gey Peas REST iia Piston riags are either keystone or rectangular shaped with a barrel, taper. or flat contact face thatis coated with a hard jnoar resistant material. Topringsare hardlaced wth chrome of molyadenum while intermediate rings are usually chrome hatdiaced. Mes! intermediate rings have a stop cut into the backside producing a twist ring |PISTON, RING, AND LINER STRUCTURE © Piston Casting ‘Most pistons are one piece aluminum castings made by pouting molten aluminuminte @ reusable mold. Aluminum surrounds and bonés to a special cast iron insert that carries the rings. Thealuminum cools andformsarandom grain structure similar to other cast materials. Piston rings are castings produced in sand molds from cast iron. Most rings are made from ductile cast iron containing grephite spheres instead of flakes, but a few rings are still made from gray iron. The ductile iron rings © are stronger and more resistant to Impact \oading, era rol eines) Cylinder iners.are mace four tosix ata time in sandmaids ‘and contain a random grain structure with graphite flakes. ‘The liner inside diameter is induction hardened to wear longer,PISTON, RING, AND LINER OPERATION fae All of the combustion load is carried by the top of the piston pin bore making this one of the highest loaded ‘areas of the piston, Piston designs provide. thicker sections in the top of the pia bore to cerry these loads. Most pistons are also heat treated and work hardened to give extra pin bore fatigue strength feeeweer Cline) igisa mers) Combustion puts high loads on the upper corner of the cast iron insert requrring @ good bond between the aluminum casting and ron band, Thrust skirts are also heavy loaded as the piston cocks slightly in the bore under combustion loads. Heat Removal Heat affects the piston's ability to carry loads. Pistons must transfer heat to the liner and lube oil for removal by engine coolant or they can overheat, overexpand ard as es seize in the bores. Piston rings remove about ‘ of this, eee | aotove heat. ‘a weGas loading pushes compressionrings downon ring grooves anidoul against iner sur‘aces sealing incombustion gasses. Oilrings aro loaded outward by expandor springs allowing the correct amount of oil film to remain on liner surfaces. fered sle leer Cm nore) Thrust Loads Beier tae —s Combustion gas loading creates bendingloads on liner flange filets that try to crack the flangeoff the liner. Liner iets are work hardened to improve fatigue strength. Liners are also loaded by piston slap creating a vibration of the liner wallPERFORMING PISTON, RING, AND LINER FAILURE ANALYSIS 8 Eight Steps of Applied Failure Analysis Because Cat pistons, rings, and liners are very caretully designed and manufactured, they seldom fail. However, when they do, we reed to determine if a system problem, assembly error or a material or process flaw caused the failure, Following an organized approach such es the Eight Steps of Applied Failure Analysisis the quickest and surost way to identity the correct root cause of each failure and to satisfy customers, Morac) ‘Wear and fracture facts should be obtained through careful visual exemination of failed parte as well as other reiated components. Especially examine ring witness laos and ring grooves for evidence of excessive Wear and samples of foregn sraterial thet may De responsiok for It. Heat discouretion in the undercrown may give clues to hostile operating conditions, These facts will act aa roadeigns to guide us to the correct root cause.HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS CROWN OVERHEATING Overtueling, spray jet problems, exhaus! or inlet restrictions, leaky fuel nozzles, and incorrect injection timing are some ‘common causes of crownoverheating, With current piston designs, mast crown overheating will not cause seizure dueto the increased top ‘and clearance on most pistons. Some roadsigns of prolonged crown overheating are found on the undercrown. Abnormal brown/black discoloration extending down the pin bores and onto the thrust shirts indicates excessive heat has been present coking the cil onto the piston. Additional roadsigns are found on top of the piston. Severe thermal cracking is the roadsign of overheating Combustion bow! erosion indicates cool inlet air is not ue fo high rack setting, prolonged {ull load operation, protecting the aluminum. Look for air inlet or exhaust etc restrictions. Nibbled sharp edges around the combustion crater Erodad pockets indicate fuel is being sprayed on the indicate that those edges nave been melied away by aluminum during combustion, This indicates early excess heat injection,SKIRT OVERHEATING Skirt overheating can be caused by crown overheating, by lack of coolant, by lack of lube, ete When overheated, the thicker pin bore strut area expands the most resulting in four corner smearing, Since the roadsions are similar, regardless of which system started the problem, itis sometimes dificult to identify the root cause by looking at the pistons. Look at other components affected by the system to determine whicn roct Gause Is correct. 9 Skirt overheating roadsigns ara initially a “four corner’ overheating persists, wear spreads over the entire sk. smearing of aluminum at each of the thick pin bore Lack of unusual unde’crown discoloration may indicate Sections, This usualy causes the ollring tostiek creating oil was cooling the undererawn but coolant levels were loss of cil fim and more soutting Jow, causing the skirt to expand. @ During later stages of scuffing, damage may hide the Piston skirts are not round unti they reach operating initia! problem. it becomes necessary to inspect other temperature, fpstons arerunat high loads or rpm before partsaifoctedby thesystems. iflack of ube issuspected, _ warming up. center scuffing of tne skirt can occur. Took at the bearings.FOREIGN MATERIAL DAMAGE Foreign material damage to the top of pistons creates a chewed up appearance or pitting. It is sometimes mistaken for damage caused by aleaky fuelnozzio. Atloft is a piston damaged by a nozzle while at right is a piston damaged by foreign material. Try to identify the foreign material to discavar the source Broken rings create erosion of the cast iron band and aluminum as the piece of ring breaks up to form litle pieoss of shot. Examine thering for evidence ot assemoly, Camage ormaterial flaws. Also examine the otherpistons. ‘and rings for evidence of detonation or rough ‘combustion, Erosion of pin bores is usually caused by a broken snap ring Since piston pins are hollow, a piece of broken snepring can find its way to the other side of the piston and cause similar Gamage there,‘Abrasive carbon deposits can be caused by operating too cod. by incomplete combustion, etc. These deposits remove material from the top land, This is roforred to as, carbon cutting, Abrasive material in tha oil usually causes heaviest cutting in the center of the skirt. Inspect other parts affected by the libe system for abrasive damage anc follow the roadsigns (0 the source o! the abrasive particles. Fine abrasives entering the air inlet can scratch the top. ring wear face, cause increased blowby, and damiage oil contrat rings. —= Foreign material contamination of the lube oll may produce severe wear of ring side faces.Severe side wear and ring face wear indicate the —Thishard abrasivemateral caused the severe wear of the presence of abrasive contaminants. By carefully _pistonand ringpreviously pictured. Itwas found in the ring examining bearings, piston ing Grooves. andailrings.th2__grooves and bearings and was identified tobe grit from a responsible contaminant can usually be found. glass bead biaster, Another source of abrasive contaminants are liners themselves. If liners are rehoned, they must be carefully and thoroughly washed to remove the hard abrasive honing material before they are reused "CORROSIVE ENVIRONMENTS Roadsigns of carrasive conditions on the inside diameter are excessive pitting and brownish stains at the top of tho ring travel area, Fitting on the outside diameter is the roadsign of cavitation erosion which is usually a result of incorrect water conditioning, ‘At higher magnification the brownish stains appear very otchy, This is the flake structure in the cast iron DeIng, exposed by acid etching Ee MN ELC ett Caterpillar recommends using @ 50/50 mixture of water ‘and glycol with about 3 to 6% conditioner to prevent corrosion, Use of Cat coolant is anotner excellent way to ‘avoid cavitation erosion and corrosicn of ecaling system componentsHeavy scale deposits and deep pitting are roacsigns of using contarrinated water, not using water conditioner. or allowing the conditione® tobeccmedeplated. This pitting looks different than pitting ecuded by cavitation since the bottom of the pits cannot be easily seen as with cavitation erosicn ‘The pitting in the previous picture differs from cavitation _ Sometimes corrosive attack is more severe at the lower erosion in that large holes are produced below the _endof the liner around O-ring seals where coolant is more surface, stagnant and acidic concitions are more likely to occur, 13PARTS PROBLEMS Most often ‘failures are caused by adverse operating conditions due to a system problem, incorrect maintenance. incorrect operation, or misapplication. However, there are occasions where parts can be the root cause of failures. Insufficient bonding between the aluminum an¢ castiron _Gccasionally casting tlaws are In the aluminum, The insert can result in fatigue failures lika this one. Road- _roadsigns arehoves or dark coloredimpuritiosat the crack ‘Sans area section of crovm missing with ittieorno other initiation site as seen at the edge of the pin bore fatigue damage. fracture, Fatigue roadsigns are bright polished aluminum with Roadsigns of hardfacing problems are large sections of more polishing at thecrigin. This casting contained aflaw flaked if hardfacing, Small localized flaking is not usually in the ol spray jetnotch which started afatigue crack that problem. grew to the ail ring groove,Occasionally cylinder ners will beroughly handedbotore assembly causing a smell crack at the Tange inner diamotor. Roadsigns aro a fatigue crack growing down one side of the liner. The roadsign of incorrect work hardening of the liner under flange fillots a crack growing from tho filet (arrow) straight upward ta the fire dem, 18WORKMANSHIP ‘Some falures are the result of poor workmanship which causes parts tobe awed before they areputintoservice. These | flaws can cause cracks to grow in service or can result in Unusual weer and early failure, Se a Agee: Chipped hardfacing on one edge of a piston ring can be ‘Ring breakage 180° from the gap can be caused by caused by insufficient ring compression during —_overexpansion of the ring during installation installation, The protruding ring edge can catch on the liner causing the chipping ‘Sometimes oylindor heads ere installed with to much liner protrusion or without the head gaskotin place. Thie results in direct head contact with the fire dam, causing the liner flange to crack from the underfiange filet to the liner insice diameter. 16CONCLUDING THE ANALYSIS By using The 8 Steps of Applied Failure Analysis we should beable to arriveat tne most probable root cause ot fa problem by letting the facts guide us. We must de careiul not to let precanceived ideas sidetrack us fram following the roadsigns to a successful conclusion cesar ol Once we have a most probable roo! cause we should compare it to the facts to insure the facts fit the case. We should also ask ourselves the doublecheck question, ‘Is there any possible way the other party could have caused this failure?” When we are sure of the answer, we are ready to proceed to getting the payoff