PISTON RINGS

Piston rings serve two main functions in engines. They form a seal.
sliding in the combustion chamber that prevents high combustion gases from
pressure exceeds the piston. They also prevent oil from entering the chamber of
combustion. In addition, the rings transfer part of the heat from the piston to the wall of the
cylinder, from where it is removed from the engine through the cooling system.

Piston rings are classified into two types: Compression rings, located towards the
top of the piston, and oil rings, located below the compression rings. The first
piston rings were made with a simple straight cross-section. This section
transversal was modified with tapers, bevels, undercuts, grooves, rails and
expanders. The materials of the piston rings have also changed, from iron
common cast iron up to pearlitic and nodular iron as well as steel. Ductile iron like
piston ring material is starting to be used in automotive engines.

The piston rings can be provided with a chrome or molybdenum face.

Compression rings

A compression ring is designed to form a seal between the moving piston.

and the wall of the cylinder. This is to achieve maximum power from the combustion pressure.
At the same time, the compression ring must keep friction to a minimum, which
is obtained by providing sufficient static or inter-built mechanical tension, for
hold the ring in contact with the wall of the cylinder during the admission run. The
combustion chamber pressure during the compression, power, and
download applies to the top and back of the ring. This pressure will add the
force required on the ring to seal the combustion chamber during these
stages. Figure 26 illustrates how the pressure in the combustion chamber adds force to the
ring.

Ring forces: The mechanical static tension of the ring results from its shape,
the characteristics of the material and the expanders. The rings are manufactured in such a way that
they have a cam shape in their free state. When the piston ring is compressed to the
Cylinder measurement becomes round and develops the required static tension. The control
ring addition makes it conform to the bezels and counterbore when it
compress to the size of the cylinder (figure 27). The twisting is used to provide a seal.
on a line of contact on the wall of the cylinder and within the groove of the ring. The
the contact line can be seen on the piston rings, slightly worn, that
They are shown in figure 28. The contact line provides a unit pressure.
relatively high for sealing. At the same time, it allows for a low total ring force.
against the cylinder, resulting in low ring friction. The pressure in the
The combustion chamber acts on the piston ring at the top.

The pressure causes the ring to flatten against the side of the bottom of the groove. This action
the ring will seal with the piston. The groove 10 of the ring must have a flat side and
a square for this seal. The pressure behind the ring will also force it against the wall.
of the cylinder to seal the contact surface between the ring and the cylinder. This action

(figure 26) produces a dynamic sealing force that creates an effective movable seal in the
combustion chamber.

Enter the pressure of the combustion chamber

Piston

Forces on the piston ring caused by combustion pressure

Wall of the cylinder

Figure 26 The combustion pressure forces the upper ring of the piston downwards and towards
outside against the wall of the cylinder.

Section A-A' ring in free state

Figure 28 The piston rings are slightly worn, so the line is shown
contact. The upper ring with barrel face has a contact line in the center. The
second ring with tapered face has a contact line along the lower edge
of the ring.

Ring opening: The piston ring opening will allow a slight escape beyond
the top of the compression ring. This escape is useful by providing pressure on the second
ring to develop a dynamic sealing force. The amount of opening of the ring is
Criticism. Too much opening will allow excessive gas to exit the cylinder. In this
the escape of combustion gases beyond the rings. This escape will allow
that the oil flies off the wall of the cylinder. This oil loss is followed by the
piston ring drag. A narrow opening, on the other hand, will cause the ends
the piston ring reaches its limit when the engine is hot. This limit position
increases the mechanical force against the wall of the cylinder which causes excessive wear and
possible engine failure. In general, stronger piston rings require gaps
bigger.

A piston ring gap, of the type with a stop, is the most commonly used in engines.
automotive companies, because it is the least expensive to manufacture. Some industrial engines of
low speed and some diesel engines use a more expensive, tapered ring opening
or seal to reduce the opening. These openings are required to reduce losses
of high-pressure combustion gases. At low speeds, the gases have more
time to escape through the opening. Typical ring openings are shown
in figure 29.

Wide open

Inclined opening

Section B-B' compressed ring to fit the cylinder

Figure 27 A piston ring counterbore makes the ring conform when it is

compressed to fit the cylinder.

Stepped seal opening

Figure 29 Typical openings of rings.

11

Cross section of a ring: As engine speeds have increased, the

inertia forces in the rings have also increased. As a result, manufacturers
They have found it desirable to reduce the inertia forces of the rings in motors.
reducing its weight. This has been achieved by narrowing the ring in fractions from ¼" (6
up to 1/16" (1.6 mm). Narrow rings require less material, take up less
space, and minimize drag. As the rings become narrower,
the ring slot also narrows. Narrow ring slots are difficult to
manufacture. The 1/16’’ (1.6 mm) slots seem to be the practical minimum that can be made.
achieve in this manufacturing.

The common cross-sectional cuts of compression rings are shown in figure 30.
A cross-sectional analysis of piston rings should begin with a section
rectangular. This was first modified with a tapered face that would make contact with the
cylinder wall at the lower edge of the piston ring. When a bevel or relief is made
from the contrabarreno at the upper inner corner of the ring, its cross-section remains
out of balance. This will cause it to twist inside the slot in a positive direction. The
Positive twisting will provide the same wall contact as the tapered face ring.

It also provides a contact line seal on the side of the bottom of the slot.
Sometimes, twisting and a tapered face are used on the same ring.
compression.

Reverse twist rings require a larger tapered face, or face of

barrel, to maintain the desired contact of the ring face with the cylinder wall.

Some rings replace the narrowing of the outer ring with a barrel face.
the barrel is 0.0003” by 0.100” (0.0076 mm by 0.25 mm) wide of the ring. The faces of
barrels are found in rectangular rings and in rings deformed by torsion. The
The upper ring of figure 28 shows the contact line that results from a ring of
compression with a barrel-shaped face and the lower ring showing a side of tapered face.

Ring faces: The materials used for piston ring faces are very important.
to provide maximum service life. Before World War II, the
the rings were completely made of cast iron. They were given a phosphated coating to
minimize rust and initial drag during startup. Others
Coatings had names like Ferrox and Graphitox. These coatings are oxide.
iron and graphite, respectively, the practice was modified during the Second World War
worldwide. As a result of the development of aviation engine rings. It
they developed the techniques to put hard chrome on the face of the piston ring. The chrome
greatly increases the duration of the ring, especially where there are materials
abrasives in the air. During manufacturing, the chrome-coated ring is
slightly beveled at the outer corners. 0.0004” (0.010 mm) of chrome is applied
as a coating over the face of the ring. Rings with a chrome face receive
pre-polishing with abrasive paste or grinding with stone before being packed and
shipped for the client.

The chrome-finished faces are shown in a cross-sectional view in the figure.

31.

Inclined rectangular counter bore

Counter bore Internal twist Barrel face

Figure 30 Typical straight sections of a compression ring.

Some secondary rings have a notch on the lower outer corner. This,
also provides a positive twisting of the ring. The sharp lower and outer corner is
turns into a scraper that helps with oil control, but has less control over
compression than previous models.

By beveling the lower and inner corner of the ring, a reverse twisting occurs; thus it
sells the lower outer section of the ring and the groove of the piston ring, which improves
the control of the oil.

Figure 31 The chrome face can be seen on the right side of the sectional view of the ring.

In the early sixties, molybdenum faces were introduced in piston rings.

These rings also had good results in service durability, especially with
drag conditions. Most of the piston rings with a face coated with molybdenum
they have a slot of 0.004” to 0.008” (0.1 to 0.2 mm) deep cut on the face
of the ring. This groove is filled with molybdenum, using a spraying method
metallic (or plasma). So that there is a molten iron edge both above and below the node.
molybdenum. This edge can be beveled in some applications. A sectional view of
A ring with molybdenum faces is shown in figure 32.

Figure 32 The face of molybdenum can be seen on the right side of the sectional view of
ring.

New ring coatings have been developed. In one design, a thin layer of
fine grain chrome with microscopic cracks is placed over hard chrome. These
rings can be used without pre-polishing. A coating has also been developed.
superior face with molybdenum. It should not be placed in a slot in such a way that
It better withstands both mechanical shock and the formation of scales. See figure 33 for
an example of how the ring twists during the engine operation and which
It can wear out the piston groove as well as the face of the ring.

Figure 33 Cross-sectional view showing wear of the ring groove.

Molybdenum faced rings last longer under heat and drag conditions.
that the rings with chrome face. Under abrasive wear conditions, the rings with
chrome faces have a better service life. There is little noticeable difference between
these two materials regarding the escape of combustion gases, consumption of
oil, loosening, and power. The piston rings with any of these types
faces are much better than simple cast iron rings with coatings of
phosphates. When used, a ring with a molybdenum face will be found in the slot of
above and a simple cast iron one, or one with a chrome face, in the second slot.

The rings coated with molybdenum carbide are also used in some applications.
of original equipment (OE) and replacement (figure 32). The coating has properties that
they include the hardness of chrome and carbide, combined with heat resistance of
molybdenum. The rings with ceramic coating have also been used where
requires additional heat resistance, as in some heavy-duty engines, with
turbocharger and supercharger.

OIL CONTROL RINGS

Originally, the rings were not divided into compression and oil.
rings were simple rectangular. The first rings called oil were
the rings with taper or inclination. The lower corner that scraped removed a lot
by the oil from the cylinder wall in the downward stroke of the piston. In the
Following development, the oil rings had exits through machined grooves.
This allowed the oil to return through the ring and openings in the piston. This
machining, as shown in figure 34, produced two edges for scraping that
worked better than the simple shore.

Figure 34 Cast iron oil ring with a groove for oil outlet.

See figure 35 which shows how the scraping action of the oil control ring is
It can be used to lubricate the piston bolt. Steel spring expanders were placed.
on the back of the ring slot to improve static radial tension. It was forced to
ring to conform to the wall of the cylinder. To conform means to change its shape
to fit the shape of the part they are in contact with. Designs are used
expanders. One type of expander (figure 36) acts as a resort between the slot base
of the ring and this one. The force of another type of expander (figure 37) results from the radial force.
when the two ends of the expander are at the limit with each other. This creates tension
static as the ring is forced to enter the groove by the cylinder.

Figure 35 The oil scraped from the walls of the cylinder of the oil control rings is
direct to lubricate the piston pin in this design.

Rails with a chrome face

Expander - Spacing of a Piece

Figure 36 Oil ring with a cast iron spacer, two rails with face of
chrome. and a spacer.
Radial Forces

Figure 37 Type of oil ring expander that provides radial force as it

compress with the ends tightly against each other.

As the requirements of the oil ring increased, cast iron was no longer
satisfactory. Chrome steel rails and other types of faces replaced the edges
cast iron for scraping. The rails are backed with spacers and are separated with a
spacer. This can be seen in figure 38.

Figure 38 Oil ring with a stamped steel spacer, two rails with face of
chrome and a spacer.

Some designs of spacers serve the function of spacing as well as expansion.

An oil ring with this type of construction is lightweight, with low inertia. It is good.
ventilated, so that the oil flows easily through it to the sump.

Provides excellent oil control and has a long service life. This type
The oil ring is shown in figure 39.

Figure 39 Oil ring with a one-piece expander-spacer and two rails with face
of chrome.

The latest design is a two-piece oil ring. One complex piece is a rail.
expansion spacer. The other is a simple rail. Figure 40 compares rings of
oil of two and three pieces.

Figure 40 On the left is an oil ring that has an expander-spacer and two
rails with a chrome face. On the right is an oil ring that has a rail with a face of
chrome and a spacer-expander combination rail.

The piston ring cannot perform this task unless it seals against the wall of the cylinder.
during its total duration in normal service. The cylinder wall is honed to match
a pattern of parallel line games that cross each other (figure 41). This
The finish must be smooth enough to be used with face materials.
piston ring. In general, it should have a satin finish of 25 microinches.
Micropulled are a measure of the average surface smoothness from the highest point.
down to the lowest depression.

Figure 41 Typical wall finish of the cylinder before use.