The present disclosure relates generally to a system for determining piston damage and, more particularly, to a system for system for monitoring and determining piston ring wear and for determining an amount of damage to the piston ring based on the piston ring wear.
An internal combustion engine may include an engine block defining a plurality of cylinder bores, a crankshaft rotatably supported in the engine block, and pistons connected to the crankshaft and configured to reciprocate within the cylinder bores. Typically, each piston may include a skirt pivotally connected to the crankshaft, and a crown connected to a distal end of the skirt. A combustion bowl may be formed on an end face of the crown to receive injected fuel, and annular grooves may be formed in an outer surface of the crown to receive associated rings. A cooling passage may be annularly formed inside the crown, between the bowl and the cooling passage, to circulate engine oil that may cool the bowl.
The crown may include grooves and the grooves may receive piston rings. In this regard, a top piston ring (one of the piston rings) may seal combustion gases from a crankcase that houses the crankshaft. A portion of the top piston ring may include a coating that may help seal the combustion gases from the crankcase. Over a period of time, cylinder pressure (e.g., resulting from movement the piston) may act on the top piston ring and cause wear of the coating. As the coating wears, the top piston ring may wear. Wear of the top piston ring may reduce the seal and enable excessive blowby of combustion gases into the crankcase, thereby compromising oil quality.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20150345421 (hereinafter the '421 publication) is directed to a piston of an internal combustion engine. The piston may include a piston crown with annular grooves, a combustion chamber bowl, and a piston skirt with a pin bore to receive a pin. However, the '421 publication does not disclose monitoring wear of a piston ring.
In some embodiments, a control system, monitoring an amount of wear of a piston ring of a piston of an engine, may comprise a sensor configured to detect a cylinder pressure associated with the piston; a memory configured to store piston ring wear information; and an electronic control module. The electronic control module may be configured to: obtain, from the piston ring wear information stored in the memory, information identifying a previous amount of wear of the piston ring and information identifying an initial thickness of a coating of the piston ring; determine a piston ring wear rate based on the cylinder pressure; determine an amount of time between a current time and a time when the previous wear of the piston ring was calculated; calculate a current amount of wear of the piston ring based on the previous amount of wear of the piston ring, the amount of time, and the piston ring wear rate; calculate an amount of damage to the piston ring based on the current amount of wear of the piston ring and the initial thickness; and take a remedial action based on the amount of damage to the piston ring.
In some embodiments, a method, for monitoring an amount of wear of a piston ring of a piston of an engine, may comprise detecting, by a sensor, a cylinder pressure associated with the piston; obtaining, by an electronic control module and from piston ring wear information stored in a memory, information identifying a previous amount of wear of the piston ring and information identifying an initial thickness of a coating of the piston ring; determining, by the electronic control module, a piston ring wear rate based on the cylinder pressure; determining, by the electronic control module, an amount of time between a current time and a time when the previous wear of the piston ring was calculated; calculating, by the electronic control module, a current amount of wear of the piston ring based on the previous amount of wear of the piston ring, the amount of time, and the piston ring wear rate; calculating, by the electronic control module, an amount of damage to the piston ring based on the current amount of wear of the piston ring and the initial thickness; and taking, by the electronic control module, a remedial action based on the amount of damage to the piston ring.
In some embodiments, a machine may comprise a piston; a memory configured to store piston ring wear information; and an electronic control module. The electronic control module may be configured to: obtain, from the piston ring wear information stored in the memory, information identifying a previous amount of wear of the piston ring and information identifying an initial dimension of a coating of the piston ring; determine a piston ring wear rate based on a cylinder pressure associated with the piston; determine an amount of time between a current time and a time when the previous wear of the piston ring was calculated; calculate a current amount of wear of the piston ring based on the previous amount of wear of the piston ring, the amount of time, and the piston ring wear rate; calculate an amount of damage to the piston ring based on the current amount of wear of the piston ring and the initial dimension; and take a remedial action when the amount of damage to the piston ring exceeds a piston ring damage threshold.
In some implementations, piston 200 may be configured to reciprocate within liner 130 between a top-dead-center (TDC) position and a bottom-dead-center (BDC) position during a combustion event occurring with chamber 160. More particularly, piston 200 may be pivotally connected to a crankshaft 140 by way of a connecting rod 190 (or rod 190), so that a sliding motion of each piston 200 within cylinder liner 130 results in a rotation of crankshaft 140. Similarly, a rotation of crankshaft 140 may result in a sliding motion of piston 200. In a four-stroke engine, piston 200 may move through four full strokes to complete a combustion cycle of about 720° of crankshaft rotation. These four strokes include an intake stroke (TDC to BDC), a compression stroke (BDC to TDC), a power stroke (TDC to BDC), and an exhaust stroke (BDC to TDC). Fuel (e.g., diesel fuel, gasoline, gaseous fuel, etc.) may be injected into combustion chamber 160 during the intake stroke. The fuel may be mixed with air and ignited during the compression stroke. Heat and pressure resulting from the fuel/air ignition may then be converted to useful mechanical power during the ensuing power stroke. Residual gases may be discharged from combustion chamber 160 during the exhaust stroke.
The number of components (of engine 100) shown in
The number of components shown in
In some implementations, engine 100 and one or more of the example components of system 300 may be included in a machine. For example, engine 100, memory 310, ECM 320, display 330, sensor 340, input device 350 and/or communication interface 360 may be located in the machine. In some implementations, one or more of the example components of system 300 may be included in a back office. For example, memory 310, ECM 320, display 330, sensor 340, input device 350 and/or communication interface 360 may be located in the back office while engine 100 and sensor 340 may be located in the machine.
Memory 310 may include a random access memory (“RAM”), a read only memory (“ROM”), and/or another type of dynamic or static storage device (e.g., a flash, magnetic, or optical memory) that stores information and/or instructions for use by the example components, such as ECM 320, to monitor and determine wear of piston ring 292 of
ECM 320 (or controller 320) may include any type of device or any type of component that may interpret and/or execute the information and/or the instructions stored within memory 310 to perform one or more functions. For example, ECM 320 may use the information and/or execute the instructions to monitor and determine wear of piston ring 292 to determine damage to piston ring 292 and/or components of piston 200. In some implementations, ECM 320 may include a processor (e.g., a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, an accelerated processing unit), a microprocessor, and/or any processing logic (e.g., a field-programmable gate array (“FPGA”), an application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”), etc.), and/or any other hardware and/or software.
In some embodiments, ECM 320 may obtain information from the example components and use the information to monitor and determine wear of piston ring 292 to determine damage to piston ring 292 and/or piston 200. For example, ECM 320 may obtain information from sensor 340 and/or from memory 310 and use the information to monitor and determine wear of piston ring 292 to determine damage to piston ring 292 and/or piston 200. In some implementations, ECM 320 may transmit, via a network (not shown), information regarding the wear of piston ring 292 and/or information regarding the damage to piston 200 to another device (e.g., at a back office system (not shown)) and/or another machine (not shown)). For example, ECM 320 may cause communication interface 360 to transmit the information regarding the wear of piston ring 292 and/or information regarding the damage to piston 200.
Display 330 may include any type of device or any type of component that may display information. For example, display 330 may display information regarding the wear of piston ring 292 and/or information regarding the damage to piston 200. In some implementations, display 330 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, and/or the like.
Sensor 340 may include any type of device(s) or any type of component(s) that may sense (or detect) information regarding engine 100 and/or piston 200. In some implementations, sensor 340 may located at various portions of engine 100 and/or piston 200 to sense (or detect) information regarding engine 100 and/or piston 200. For example, the information regarding engine 100 and/or piston 200 may include a speed of engine 100 (e.g., a rotational speed of crankshaft 140), a mass of engine 100 (e.g., component(s) of engine 100), an inertia load (e.g., based on the speed and/or the mass), a quantity of fuel being injected into combustion chamber 160 during each combustion cycle, a timing of the fuel being injected, a pressure of the fuel being injected, a flow rate of air entering combustion chamber 160 during each combustion cycle, a temperature of the air, a pressure of the air, a temperature of the engine oil in passage 150 (e.g., the oil gallery) and/or other fluid of engine 100, a temperature of other components of engine 100 and/or piston 200 (e.g., crown 210, rim 262, etc.), a cylinder pressure (e.g., as piston 200 slides up and down cylinder bore 120 and cylinder liner 130) associated with piston 200, a cylinder force, a cylinder pressure load, and/or the like. In some implementations, sensor 340 may include a pressure sensor (e.g., to detect machine strut pressures), a force gauge, a load cell, a piezoelectric sensor, and/or the like.
Input device 350 may include a component that permits a user to input information to one or more other components of the example components of system 300. For example, the information, input by the user, may include a preference (of the user) for a frequency for monitoring and/or for determining the wear of piston ring 292 and the damage to piston 200. Additionally, or alternatively, the information, input by the user, may include a manner (e.g., algorithm(s), parameters(s), etc.) for monitoring and/or determining the wear of piston ring 292 and/or the damage to piston 200. In some embodiments, input device 360 may include a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a button, a camera, a microphone, a switch, a touch screen display, and/or the like.
Communication interface 360 may include a transceiver-like component, such as a transceiver and/or a separate receiver and transmitter that enables device 300 to communicate with other devices, such as via a wired connection, a wireless connection, or a combination of wired and wireless connections. For example, communication interface 360 may include an Ethernet interface, an optical interface, a coaxial interface, an infrared interface, a radio frequency (“RF”) interface, a universal serial bus (“USB”) interface, or the like.
The number of components shown in
As shown in
In some implementations, the piston ring wear information may include an indication that wear is to be determined for piston 200. For example, the indication may submitted by a user using input device 350 and ECM 320 may receive the indication. Additionally, or alternatively, ECM 320 may obtain information from memory 310 and may identify the indication based on the information obtained from memory 310. In some implementations, the information from memory 310 may include a time interval for ECM 320 to determine the wear of piston ring 292. For example, the time interval may indicate that ECM 320 is to determine the wear of piston ring 292 at a frequency 0.01 Hz to 100 Hz. The time interval may be expressed in other units of time measurement. For example, the time interval may indicate that ECM 320 is to determine the wear of piston ring 292 every second, every minute, every hour, and/or the like.
Additionally, or alternatively, the piston ring wear information may include information identifying an initial dimension of coating 294 (e.g., when piston ring 292 is first installed on one of grooves 290). For example, the initial dimension of coating 294 may include an initial thickness of coating 294. In some implementations, ECM 320 may use the initial thickness of coating 294 to determine an amount of damage to piston ring 292 based on the wear of coating 294. For example, ECM 320 may determine a level of damage to piston ring 292 based on the wear of coating 294 with respect to the initial thickness (as will be explained in more detail below). In some implementations, the initial thickness may be different for each piston ring (e.g., based on physical parameters of piston ring 292, such as geometry, shapes, sizes, contours, material properties such as coefficients of heat transfer, etc.).
Additionally, or alternatively, the piston ring wear information may include piston and/or engine information regarding the components of piston 200 and/or the components of engine 100. For example, the piston and/or engine information may include the cylinder pressure and the cylinder force (e.g., obtained in real-time or near real-time by sensor 340). Additionally, or alternatively, the piston and/or engine information may include physical parameters (e.g., geometry, shapes, sizes, contours, material properties such as coefficients of heat transfer, etc.) of the components, relationships (e.g., a compression ratio, a bore stroke, valve timings, etc.) between the components, and/or the like. Additionally, or alternatively, the piston and/or engine information may include information regarding various fluids (fuel, lubrication, coolant, engine oil, air, etc.) of piston 200 and/or engine 100. For example, the information regarding various fluids may include a makeup of the fluids, a concentration of the fluids, a quality of the fluids, other characteristics of the fluids, and/or the like.
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In some implementations, the piston ring wear rate may be measured (or expressed) in micro meters per hour (μm/h). Additionally, or alternatively, other units of measurement may be used to measure (or express) the piston ring wear rate. In some implementations, the piston ring wear rate may vary (or change) over period of time based on a change in the (current) thickness of coating 294 (e.g., based on a reduction in the thickness of coating 294). For example, the piston ring wear rate may decrease as the thickness of coating 294 is reduced. Accordingly, ECM 320 may re-determine the piston ring wear rate each time ECM 320 determines the wear of piston ring 292. In some implementations, piston ring wear rates may vary based on physical characteristics of piston rings (e.g., properties, geometry, shape, etc.). In some implementations, the piston ring wear rate may vary based on other dimension of coating 294.
In some implementations, ECM 320 may calculate an effective piston ring wear rate based on the piston ring wear rate (calculated in block 420) and one or more factors, such as a wear rate modifier. In some implementations, the wear rate modifier may be based on an amount of time since start up of engine 100, a start and a stop frequency of engine 100, a load ramp rate (e.g., information regarding a load of engine 100 upon start up), and/or the like. Additionally, or alternatively, the wear rate modifier may be based on oil temperature, oil degradation/quality, and/or the like. In some implementations, information regarding the amount of time since start up of engine 100, the start and the stop frequency of engine 100, the load ramp rate, the oil temperature, and/or the oil degradation/quality may be included in the information regarding engine 100 and/or piston 200 obtained by sensor 340. In some implementations, ECM 320 may determine the wear rate modifier. In some implementations, ECM 320 may obtain the wear rate modifier from the piston ring wear information.
In some implementations, ECM 320 may calculate the effective piston ring wear rate based on a mathematical combination of the piston ring wear rate (or base piston ring wear rate) and the wear rate modifier. For example, ECM 320 may calculate the effective piston ring wear rate using the following equation:
{dot over (X)}(i)′=A*{dot over (X)}(i) EQ. 1
In some implementations, ECM 320 may update the piston ring wear information (stored in memory 310 and/or another memory) based on the piston ring wear rate (or the effective piston ring wear rate when calculated).
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X(i)=X(i−1)+{dot over (X)}(i)*Δt EQ. 2
As explained above, the effective piston ring wear rate may be used instead of the piston ring wear rate (or base piston ring wear rate). As also explained above, an amount of wear of piston ring 292 may be based on an amount of reduction of the initial dimension of coating 294. In some implementations, the previous wear of piston ring 292 may refer to an amount of wear of piston ring 292 up until the time (prior to the current time) when the previous wear of piston ring 292 was calculated. In this regard, the piston pin bore 250 (or the current piston pin bore 250) may refer to an additional amount of wear of piston ring 292 up until the current time. In some implementations, information identifying the previous wear of piston ring 292 and information identifying the time when the previous wear of piston ring 292 was calculated may be included in the piston ring wear information. In this regard, ECM 320 may determine the current time as a time to calculate the wear of piston ring 292 based on the time interval and the time when the previous wear of piston ring 292 was calculated. For example, ECM 320 may determine that the time interval has elapsed since the time when the previous wear of piston ring 292 was calculated and, accordingly, determine that the wear of piston ring 292 is to be calculated at the current time. Additionally, or alternatively, ECM 320 may determine Δt based on the time interval and the time when the previous wear of piston ring 292 was calculated. Additionally, or alternatively, ECM 320 may determine Δt based on the current time and the time when the previous wear of piston ring 292 was calculated.
In some implementations, the wear of piston ring 292 may be measured (or expressed) in micro meters (μm). Additionally, or alternatively, other units of measurement may be used to measure (or express) the wear of piston ring 292. In some implementations, ECM 320 may update the piston ring wear information based on the wear of piston ring 292 (or the current wear of piston ring 292). For example, ECM 320 may update the previous wear of piston ring 292 with the current wear of piston ring 292. Accordingly, the current wear of piston ring 292, included in the piston ring wear information (stored in memory 310 and/or another memory), may become the previous wear of piston ring 292.
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D=X(i)/X(0) EQ. 4
In some implementations, the amount of wear of piston ring 292 may be based on the amount of reduction of the initial dimension of coating 294 (e.g., the amount of reduction of the initial thickness of coating 294). In some implementations, the amount of damage to piston ring 292 may be expressed as a percentage (e.g., a percentage of the initial thickness). For example, assume the initial thickness of coating 294 is 20 μm. Further assume that the amount of wear of piston ring 292 (i.e., the amount of reduction of the initial thickness or amount of wear of coating 294) is 15 μm. Accordingly, the amount of damage to piston ring 292 would be 15 μm/20 μm or 75%. In this regard, ECM 320 may determine a level (or a percentage) of damage to piston ring 292 based on the calculated damage and may take remedial action if the level of damage meets and/or exceeds a threshold (as will be described in more detail below). Additionally, or alternatively, ECM 320 may determine that piston ring 292 is completely worn and damaged when the current thickness of coating 294 reaches zero. For example, ECM 320 may determine a failure of piston ring 292 when the thickness of coating 294 reaches zero.
In some implementations, the various equations and associated elements, described herein, to determine the amount of damage to piston ring 292 may form a piston damage model. In this regard, the various equations are provided as example equations. In some implementations, the associated elements (and/or additional elements) may be used in different mathematical combinations and/or different equations to determine the amount of damage to a piston ring. In some implementations, the piston damage model may be included in the piston ring wear information.
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Additionally, or alternatively, the remedial action may include causing service instructions to be provided. Additionally, or alternatively, the remedial action may include causing service of engine 100 and/or piston 200 to be automatically scheduled. Additionally, or alternatively, the remedial action may include may modify an operation of engine 100. For example, ECM 320 may cause engine 100 to slow down, decelerate, and/or be shut down to prevent additional damage to piston 200.
In some implementations, each remedial action described above may be associated with a respective amount of wear of piston ring 292 (with each amount of wear corresponding to a respective level of severity of damage to piston ring 292, piston 200, and/or engine 100). Accordingly, ECM 320 may select a remedial action based on the amount of wear of piston ring 292.
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The disclosed system may be used in any application where an increase in reliability of an engine and components of an engine is desire. The disclosed system may increase engine reliability by monitoring and determining an amount of wear of a piston ring, determining an amount of damage to the piston ring based on the amount of wear, and taking a remedial action when the amount of damage exceeds a threshold. In some implementations, ECM 320 may determine the piston ring wear rate, the effective piston ring wear rate, the amount of wear of piston ring 292, and/or the amount of damage to piston ring 292 in real-time or near real-time. In some implementations, ECM 320 may predict a time (e.g., date and/or time) when engine 100 and/or piston 200 may begin experiencing damage and/or when engine 100 and/or piston 200 may begin experience a failure based on one or more factors (e.g., the piston ring wear rate, the effective piston ring wear rate, the amount of wear of piston ring 292, the amount of damage to piston ring 292, the time interval for ECM 320 to determine the amount of wear, the previous amount of wear, other information include in the piston ring wear information, a pattern of operation of engine 100, and/or the like). In this regard, as part of taking the remedial action, ECM 320 may cause information regarding the prediction to be displayed via display 330, may cause information indicating that engine 100 and/or piston 200 are to be serviced and/or replaced at or before the predicted time to be displayed via display 330, may cause engine 100 and/or piston 200 to replaced, cause a service of engine 100 and/or piston 200 to be scheduled, and/or the like.
The disclosed system may have broad applicability. In particular, the system may be applicable to any type and design of piston 200, and may be useful during design and/or selection of piston 200 prior to use of piston 200 within engine 100. For example, information associated with and performance parameters measured from an existing engine may be used by ECM 320 to simulate wear of an engine and components of the engine. The results of the simulation may then be used to design and/or select application-specific pistons. In addition, the system may provide information regarding the amount of damage to piston ring 292, and the information may remain accurate as engine 100 wears (as the piston ring wear information is updated based on wear conditions). In addition, the system may be useful across multiple configurations or platforms of engines. The disclosed concepts can be used during development of the engine components based on historic engine data, as desired. In particular, the disclosed concepts can be used to determine the status of the engine components given particular operating conditions. For example, based on a calculated amount of damage calculated for the engine components when exposed to the particular operating conditions, properties and/or geometry of the engine components can be changed so as to reduce the amount damage for the same components exposed to the same operating conditions.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed system. Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosed system. For example, it may be possible for engine 100 to not have cylinder liner 130, if desired, and for piston 200 to reciprocate directly within cylinder bores 120. Additionally, one or more of the parameters used to determine the amount of wear of piston ring 292 may vary based on one or more factors relating to piston 200 and/or engine 100, such as operating conditions, properties, shapes, sizes, contours, geometry, and/or the like. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.
No element, act, or instruction used herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. While the present disclosure has been referring to monitoring or determining wear of a piston ring of a piston of an engine, one skilled in the art would appreciate that the present disclosure may similarly apply to monitoring or determining wear of one or more other engine components (including one or more of the engine components of engine 100 described above). In this regard, any reference to engine 100 may refer to engine 100 as a whole and/or one or more components of engine 100. Similarly, any reference to piston 200 may refer to piston 200 as a whole and/or one or more components of piston 200. Also, as used herein, the articles “a” and “an” are intended to include one or more items, and may be used interchangeably with “one or more.” Furthermore, as used herein, the term “set” is intended to include one or more items, and may be used interchangeably with “one or more.” Moreover, as used herein, the “reduction of the initial dimension of coating” and the “reduction in the thickness of coating” may be used interchangeably to refer to coating wear, face wear, coating thickness wear, and/or the like. Where only one item is intended, the term “one” or similar language is used. Also, as used herein, the terms “has,” “have,” “having,” or the like are intended to be open-ended terms. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise.