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1. PISTON CONSTRUCTION
1. PISTON STRUCTURE
 Diesel engine pistons possess sufficient strength to withstand the fluctuating gas forces due to
combustion, inertia of moving parts and high operating temperatures. Piston material also
requires good thermal conductivity to conduct heat, preventing thermal stresses.
 Diesel engine piston are made up of two parts. The upper part is called the crown and the lower
part, the skirt. The top of crown is concave. If piston crown is flat, it will flex under the
fluctuating loads leading to fatigue failure.
 Since the piston is subjected to combustion heat, it must be sufficiently cooled. Cooling of piston
is necessary,
1. To prevent excessive metal temperatures.
2. To limit thermal expansion to maintain correct clearances between the piston and the
cylinder liner.
 In a two-stroke crosshead engine, the piston rod connects the piston to the crosshead. The stuffing
box isolate the scavenge space from the crankcase.
 The piston crown and skirt are made of cast steel and piston rod is made of forged steel. Crown
houses piston rings, whose function is to seal the combustion space. The piston rings are made of
grey cast iron.
PISTON HEAD ASSEMBLY
PISTON COOLING
1. PISTON OF A TWO STROKE CROSS HEAD ENGINE
 To keep the temperature within limitations (390°C) oil is sprayed through nozzles into bores in
the piston crown.
 This positive circulation of oil allows adequate cooling but prevents overheating of the oil
leading to carbon build up.
 The hardened steel piston rod is bored up through its centre and fitted with a central pipe which
forms an annular space. Oil, which is used to cool the piston, is supplied to the cross head, led
up annular space, sprayed on to the crown through nozzles and returned down the centre of the
piston rod where its temperature is monitored before returning to the system. The piston
reciprocating ensures a shaker action which maintains contact between oil and crown.
MATERIALS
 Normally the two-part piston; crown and skirt are bolted to the piston rod.
 The crown is manufactured from chrome molybdenum steel to maintain strength and resists
corrosion/erosion at high temperatures. These pistons also have a layer of a nickel chrome alloy
called Inconel welded to the hottest part of the crown.
 The crown must be thick enough to resist deformation under load, yet thin enough to allow
adequate heat transfer from the cooling medium to prevent overheating of the surface resulting in
burning, erosion and thermal stressing. The crown is tapered above the top ring to allow for
distortion.
  The piston ring grooves are chrome plated which resists wear and helps prevent the build-up of
carbon.
 The piston rings are manufactured from pearlitic grey cast iron containing molybdenum,
chromium, vanadium titanium, nickel and copper, they may have a plasma coated surface to
increase hardness, and an oil control ring groove is machined into the bottom of the skirt
 The cast iron skirt guides the piston in the liner. Cast iron contains graphite, a lubricant can retain
an oil film and its rate of expansion is the same as the liner in which it runs, allowing minimal
clearances.
 The piston rod manufactured from ground hardened steel must resist wear as it passes through the
stuffing box in the diaphragm plate.

3. PISTON COOLING TYPES

 Pistons can be either cooled by Lube Oil or by Water. Both have some advantages and some
disadvantages as listed below
3.1. WATER
1. Cheap, easily obtainable.
2. Can remove more heat than LO and at higher temperatures. Specific heat capacity of water is
4.2kJ/kg-K, approx. twice that of oil.
 However:
1. Could contain hardness salts and be acidic, needing water treatment.
2. Separate cooling system required to minimize risk of oil contamination. Additional expense of
pumps, coolers, filters, buffers to prevent hammering etc.
3. Risk of contamination of crankcase oil.
3.2. OIL
1. Piston cooling part of LO system: – same pumps, coolers & Pipework.
2. Simpler arrangement.
3. No risk of contamination.
 However:
1. Larger pumps and coolers required.
2. Larger charge of oil in system (cost).
3. Longer period of cooling down after engine is stopped required to prevent coking of piston.

4. PISTON CROWN
 Thermal stress is a form of mechanical stress induced in a body when some or all of its parts are
not free to expand or contract in response to changes in temperature. In most continuous bodies,
thermal expansion or contraction cannot occur freely in all directions because of geometry,
external constraints, or the existence of temperature gradients, and so stresses are produced. Such
stresses caused by a temperature change are known as thermal stresses.
 Cracks in Piston crown is especially important if burn away is excessive for the running hours or
if there is excessive fouling of the cooling space as consequential overheating leads to thermal
stressing.
 The metal surfaces do not actually burn. However if the temperature is raised, then high
temperature corrosion from vanadium and sodium, and erosion due to high flame speed and gas
speeds is accelerated leading to loss of material. As the piston crown thickness reduces and the
 thermal stressing increases due to an increased temperature gradient, cracks are more likely to
develop.
 Overloading, poor fuel quality and poor piston cooling will increase the surface temperature of
the crown making erosion of the surface more severe. In extreme cases high temperature
corrosion can also occur.

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