An exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described below, using the drawings. These show
FIG. 1 a first embodiment of the cooling system according to the invention, in a light-metal piston;
FIG. 2 a second embodiment of the cooling system according to the invention, in a light-metal piston;
FIG. 3 a perspective view of a light-metal piston, with integrated cooling system according to FIG. 1.
As is evident from FIG. 1, a cooling system 20, which represents a closed cooling circuit, is formed from heat pipes—so-called Heat Pipes 6—having a plurality of evaporator sides 6a and at least two condenser sides 6b, which are connected by way of a composite heat pipe 7. At the condenser-side end 6c of the heat pipes 6b, a pipe connection 8 having an outer ribbing 9 provided on the latter is provided, by means of which the condenser-side ends 6c of the two heat pipes 6b are coupled. For a further enlargement of a heat-radiating surface, additional ribbings (not shown) can also be provided on the condenser sides 6b of the heat pipes 6, in addition to the ribbing 9, which also consist of aluminum, in order to reduce the mass. The aforementioned cooling circuit arrangement preferably consists of copper pipes, or can also consist of aluminum pipes, which filled with heat carrier oil or with water provided with an anti-freeze additive, as the cooling fluid. The geometrical dimensions of the cooling system 20 allow its use in aluminum pistons, without any significant change in the required great component strength. As a pre-finished product, the cooling arrangement is laid into a casting mold for the production of an aluminum light-metal piston 10, in order to subsequently produce the piston according to a known casting method. As a result of the similar expansion coefficients between aluminum and copper, no stress problems have been observed during engine operation of a light-metal piston 10 produced in this manner.
In another production variant of the cooling system 20, the composite heat pipe 7 including the evaporator side 6a of the heat pipes 6 is implemented by means of a salt core laid into the casting mold, whereby at least two of three bearing sleeves for the salt core serve as connectors for the condenser-side heat pipes 6b. By flushing out the salt core, the structure indicated according to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is formed in the light-metal piston, without the condenser side 6b and pipe connection 8 of the heat pipes 6, which are inserted into the corresponding openings of the composite heat pipe 7 after final machining of the light-metal piston 10, and subsequently soldered or glued in place. Evacuation and filling of the cooling system 20 takes place by way of a bore made in the condenser-side end, which is sealed to be air-tight after the system has been filled with cooling fluid. The cooling fluid, particularly water, must be de-gassed before filling, under vacuum, at a pressure of 10−4 to 10−5 bar, in order to prevent cavitation due to the piston movement in the internal combustion engine. At the reversal points of the piston, the cooling fluid accelerates to the opposite side, whereby imploding gas bubbles with accompanying cavitation can occur. It is practical if the cooling system is maximally filled with cooling fluid up to half of its volume.
FIG. 2 shows another exemplary embodiment of the cooling system 20 according to the invention, in which two additional condenser sides 6b are made in the cooling system, the circumference-side distribution of which in the light-metal piston takes place in such a manner that two are disposed on the pressure and counter-pressure side, in each instance. The arrow direction NB indicates the progression of the pin bores.
For both exemplary embodiments according to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 it holds true that the evaporator side 6a of the heat pipes are disposed distributed over the circumference of the composite heat pipe 7 in such a manner that these correspond to the distribution of the impact of the combustion jets of the internal combustion engine.
According to FIG. 3, the position of the cooling system in the light-metal piston 10 can be seen. The evaporator sides 6a, formed by short pipe sections, are disposed in the crown thickness 11 and oriented with the combustion jet towards the piston crown 1. The composite heat pipe 7 that runs parallel to the piston crown 1 connects the evaporator side 6a and at least two pipe sections acting as the condenser side 6b, whereby the at least two pipe sections acting as the condenser side 6a are disposed at a distance from the piston skirt 4.
The removal of the heat produced by the combustion jets of the internal combustion engine from the piston crown 1, combustion bowl, and the region of the top land 12 as well as the ring belt 3 takes place by way of the outer wall of the evaporator side 6a of the heat pipes and of the composite heat pipe 7 to the inner wall, and is absorbed by the cooling fluid, with evaporation of same. The steam components formed flow to the condenser side 6b of the heat pipes 6, by way of the composite heat pipe 7, where they go back into the liquid state, giving off their latent heat of evaporation, due to the temperature gradient between evaporator side 6a and condenser side 6b. On the condenser side 6b, specifically the pipe connection 8, the heat of evaporation is transported out of the crankshaft chamber of the internal combustion engine by means of spraying on cooling oil by means of the oil nozzle 13.
Therefore, continuous removal of the heat of evaporation from the heat pipes 6 is guaranteed, during the movement of the piston between upper dead point and lower dead point, by means of the design of the cooling system. Use of the light-metal piston of an AlSi alloy, having the cooling system 20 according to the invention, is particularly suitable for diesel engines.
REFERENCE SYMBOLS
- light-metal piston 10
- cooling system 20
- piston crown 1
- ring belt 3
- piston skirt 4
- heat pipe 6
- evaporator side 6a
- condenser side 6b
- condenser-side end of the composite heat pipe 6c
- composite heat pipe 7
- pipe connection 8
- ribbing 9
- crown thickness 11
- top land 12
- oil nozzle 13