Design and Structural Analysis of Ceramic Coated Petrol Engine Piston Using Finite Element Method

ISSN(Online): 2319-8753
ISSN (Print): 2347-6710
International Journal of Innovative Research in Science,

Engineering and Technology
(An ISO 3297: 2007 Certified Organization)
Vol. 4, Issue 6, June 2015
Design and Structural Analysis of Ceramic

Coated Petrol Engine Piston Using Finite
Element Method
Vinod Kumar Yadav1, Yogesh Mishra2
P.G. Student, Department of Mechanical Engg., NRI Institute of Information science and tech., Bhopal, M.P, India1
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engg. ,NRI Institute of Information science and technology, Bhopal, M.P, India2
ABSTRACT: Piston is made of aluminium alloys is a crucial part in internal combustion engine. When the combustion
of fuel take place insides the engine cylinder, high pressure and high temperature will be developed as the engine will
operate at high load and at high speed. As a result of this high thermal and high structural stresses in the piston is
produced inside the engine cylinder and if these stresses exceeds the designed values, the failure of piston take place.
To avoid the failure of the piston thermal and structural intensity should be reduced to safe allowable limits. In this
work an attempt is made to reduce the thermal and structural stress intensity by coated the piston with ceramic material.
The zirconia-based ceramic coatings are used as thermal barrier coatings owing their low conductivity and their
relatively high coefficient of thermal expansion. Firstly the structural and thermal stresses analyses are investigated on
a conventional (uncoated) piston made of aluminium alloy namely A2618. Secondly the structural and thermal analyses
are performed on the piston coated with zirconium material using the ANSYS software. The effects of coating on the
thermal behaviours of the piston are investigated. The main objective is to investigate and analyse the structural and
thermal stress distribution of the piston at the real engine condition during combustion process. The analysis is carried
out to reduce the stress concentration on the upper end of the piston .i.e. piston head/crown and piston skirt and sleeve
using ANSYS software. The result obtained is compared to select the better material for piston manufacturing.
KEYWORDS: Engine piston, thermal analysis, structural analysis, FE analysis.
I.INTRODUCTION
Automobile components are in great demand these days because of increased use of automobiles. The increased
demand is due to improved performance and reduced cost of these components. Research & development and testing
engineers should develop critical component in shortest possible time to minimize launch time for new products. This
necessitates understanding of new technologies and quick absorption in the development of new product. A piston is a
component of reciprocating IC engines. It is moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas- tight
by piston rings. The piston of an internal combustion engine receives the impulse from expanding gas and transmits it
to the connecting rod. The combustion of gas on the top of piston generates considerable amount of heat and the piston
must also transmit heat to the cylinder walls from where it is absorbed by cooling water or air. The modern IC engines
run around 5000 rpm and hence will generate considerable inertia force which can be controlledif piston is light weight.
In an engine its purpose is to transfer force from expanding gas in the cylinder to the crank shaft via a piston rod or
connecting rod. It is the important part in an engine, piston endures the cyclic gas pressure and the inertial force at work
and this working condition may cause the fatigue damage of piston, such as piston side wear, piston head/crown cracks
and so on. The investigation indicates that the greatest stress appears on the upper end of the piston and stress
concentration is one of the main reasons for fatigue failure. On the other hand piston overheating –seizure can only
occurs when something burns or scrapes away the oil film that exists between the piston and the cylinder wall. A piston
is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pump and gas compressors a moving component that is
contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from
Copyright to IJIRSET DOI:10.15680/IJIRSET.2015.0406071 4161

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

expanding gas in the cylinder to the crankshaft via a piston rod and connecting rod. In a pump, the function is reversed
and force is transferred from the crankshaft to piston for the purpose of compressing or ejecting the fluid in the
cylinder.
Fig.1 showing assembly of Piston
1.1 RESEARCH OBJECT- PISTON

Engine piston is most complex part compared to other components in an automobile sector. Still lots of research work
have been conducting on piston regarding material composition, geometry and manufacturing technique. The function
of the internal combustion engine piston is to receive the energy from expanding gasses after during combustion and
transmit it to the crankshaft by means of connecting rod. Piston expands appreciably when it gets heated during the
operation so actual clearances need to be given otherwise it will lead to engine seize. And hence to avoid this case
pistons are made up of cast aluminium alloy matrix with the combination of reinforcement in different weight
percentage. For the better result here replace the conventional piston material (uncoated) with coated material. The
zirconia-based ceramic coatings are used as thermal barrier coatings owing their low conductivity and their relatively
high coefficient of thermal expansion. The addition of coating material to the aluminium matrix improves the tensile
strength, compressive strength, hardness and thermal behaviours. The coated material is having more factor of safety
compare to uncoated alloy material because of more yield strength at elevated temperature due to presence of the
coating in the alloys.
Thermal Barrier Coatings in petrol engines lead to advantages including higher power density, fuel efficiency, and
multi fuel capacity due to higher combustion chamber temperature. Using thermal Barrier Coatings can increase
engine power and decrease the specific fuel consumption and increase the exhaust gas temperature. Although several
systems have been used as thermal barrier coatings for different purposes, zirconium has received the most attention.
Several important factors playing an important roles in thermal barrier coatings lifetimes including thermal
conductivity, thermal, chemical stability at the service temperature, high thermo- mechanical stability to the maximum
service temperature and the thermal expansion coefficient.
Piston of the engine piston must possess the following characteristics:

 Strength to resist gas pressure.
 Strength to resist inertia forces.
 Must have minimum weight.
 Must be able to reciprocate with minimum noise.
 Must have sufficient bearing area to prevent wear.
 Must seal the gas from top and oil from the bottom.
 Must disperse the heat generated during combustion.

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

 Must have good resistance to distortion under heavy forces and high temperature.
The paper describes the materialistic optimization with using finite element analysis technique to predict the higher
stress and critical region on the component. The optimization is carried out to reduce the stress concentration on the
upper end of the piston i.e. (piston head/crown and piston skirt and sleeve). With using computer aided design (CAD),
Unigraphic (UG NX-8) software the structural model of a piston will be developed. Furthermore, the finite element
analysis performed with using ANSYS software.
1.2 CHARACTERIZATION OF MATERIAL

The material chosen for this work are A2618 as base material for a combustion engine piston. The relevant mechanical
and thermal properties of A2618 aluminum alloys are listed in the below table 1. The zirconia-based ceramic coatings
are used as thermal barrier coatings owing to their low conductivity and their relatively high coefficients of thermal
expansion, which reduce the detrimental interfacial stresses. Material properties of the MgZrO3, NiCrAl and piston
material made of A2618 alloy. Piston is coated with a 350 μm thickness of MgZrO3 over a 150 μm thickness of
NiCrAl bond coat as shown below table 2
Table 1 Material properties of aluminium alloy

S/no. Parameter A2618 Unit
1 Elastic Modulus 73.7 Gpa
2 Ultimate Tensile strength 480 Mpa
3 0.2% yield strength 420 Mpa
4 Poisson’s ratio 0.33
5 Thermal conductivity 147 W/m/ºC
6 Coefficient of thermal expansion
25.9x10-6 1/ ºC
7 Density 2767.99 Kg/m3
Table 2 Material properties of coating material

S/no Parameter NiCrAl MgZrO8 Unit
1 Thermal conductivity 161 8 W/mºC
2 Thermal expansion 0.000012 0.000008 1/ ºC
3 Density 7870 5600 kg/m3
4 Poisson's ratio 0.27 0.2
5 Youngs modulus 90000 46000 Mpa
1.3ENGINE SPECIFICATION
The Engine selected for this work is a single cylinder four stroke air cooled 100cc type Bajaj Kawasaki petrol engine.
The main parameter shows in the table below table 3
Table 3Engine specification
Type 4-Stroke, air cooled, single cylinder
Number of cylinder Single cylinder

Engine Bore 51mm
Stroke 48.8 mm
Piston displacement 99.27 cc
Length of Connecting rod 97.6mm

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

Compression ratio 8.4

Fuel consumption 87kmpl (under standard condition)
Maximum power 6.03kw@ 7500 rpm
Performance
Maximum torque 8.05 N-m@5500 rpm
Clutch Wet multi disc type
Transmission Transmission 4-speed, constant mesh type
Gear shift pattern All down foot shift
Overall length 1925mm
Overall width 785mm
Overall height 1030mm
Dimensions
Wheel base 1215mm
Ground clearance 150mm
Kerb weight with full tank 109kg
Capacity Fuel tank 9.3 liters including 2.2 liter reserve
II.PROBLEM FORMULATION
The main objective is to investigate and analyse the structural and thermal stress distribution of the piston at the real
engine condition during combustion process. The analysis is carried out to reduce the stress concentration on the upper
end of the piston.i.e. piston head/crown and piston skirt and sleeve using ANSYS software. In this paper the material
A2618 (uncoated piston) is replaced with coated piston. Analytical calculation is done to finalized the dimension and
check the strength of piston. Piston model is created in UG-Nx8 using the calculated analytical dimension. Analysis of
both the uncoated and coated piston is performed using the software namely ANSYS 13. After analysis comparisons is
made between the uncoated piston and coated piston in terms of total deformation, equivalent stress, and total strain.
III.METHODOLOGY
 Analytical design of piston using specification of Bajaj Kawasaki petrol engine.

 Creation of 3D models of piston using UG-Nx8.
 Meshing of 3D models using ANSYS 13.0.
 Analysis of pistons using static stress analysis method.
 Comparative performance of aluminium alloy pistons under static stress analysis method.
 Analysis of pistons under thermal and mechanical loads i.e. the pistons are subjected to a uniform gas pressure
and non-uniform temperature distribution.
 Comparative performance of the aluminium alloy pistons (uncoated and coated) under thermal and mechanical
loads i.e. the pistons are subjected to a uniform gas pressure and non-uniform temperature distribution.
3.1 ANALYTICAL DESIGN

IP = indicated power produced inside the cylinder (W), η = mechanical efficiency = 0.8 , n = number of working
stroke per minute = N/2 (for four stroke engine), N = engine speed (rpm), L = length of stroke (mm), A = cross-
section area of cylinder (mm2), r = crank radius (mm), lc = length of connecting rod (mm) , a = acceleration of the
reciprocating part (m/s2) , mp = mass of the piston (Kg), V = volume of the piston (mm3), th = thickness of piston head
(mm), D = cylinder bore (mm) , pmax = maximum gas pressure or explosion pressure (MPa), σt = allowable tensile
strength (MPa), σut = ultimate tensile strength (MPa), F.O.S = Factor of Safety = 2.25, K = thermal conductivity (W/m
K), Tc = temperature at the centre of the piston head (K), Te = temperature at the edge of the piston head (K), HCV =
Higher Calorific Value of fuel(KJ/Kg) = 47000 KJ/Kg, BP = brake power of the engine per cylinder (KW), m = mass
of fuel used per brake power per second (Kg/KWs), C = ratio of heat absorbed by the piston to the total heat developed
in the cylinder = 5% or 0.05, b = radial width of ring (mm), Pw = allowable radial pressure on cylinder wall, (N/mm2)
= 0.025 MPa, σp = permissible tensile strength for ring material (N/mm2) = 1110 N/mm2 , h = axial thickness of piston

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

ring (mm), h1 = width of top lands (mm) , h2 = width of ring lands (mm), t1 = thickness of piston barrel at the top end
(mm), t2 = thickness of piston barrel at the open end (mm), ls = length of skirt (mm), μ = coefficient of friction (0.01),
l1 = length of piston pin in the bush of the small end of the connecting rod (mm), do=outer dia. of piston pin (mm).
3.2 DETERMINATION OF DIMENSION OF PISTON

The piston is designed according to the procedure and specification which are given in machine design and data hand
books. The dimensions are calculated in terms of SI Units. The pressure applied on piston head, temperatures of
various areas of the piston, heat flow, stresses, strains, length, diameter of piston and hole, thicknesses, etc., parameters
are taken into considerations
Fig 2 Main Dimension of piston

Mechanical efficiency of the engine (η) = 80 %.
η = Brake power (BP)
Indicating power (IP)
Therefore, I.P = B.P/ η, = 6.02/0.8= 7.52 kW
Also, Indicative power, IP = P*A*L*N/2= P*(π*D2/4)*L*(N/2)
Substituting the values from table 1.3, we have
7.52 x 1000 = P x (π x (0.051)2/4) x 0.0488 x (7500/(2x60))
7520 = P x 0.006227
P = 7520/0.006227
P = 12.08 x 105 N/m2 or 1.208 MPa
Maximum pressure, pmax= 10 x P, = 10 x 1.208= 12.08 MPa
Thickness of the Piston head:According to Grashoff’s formula the thicknessof the piston head is given by
t H = √ (3*P*D2) /16*σt or t H = √ (3*P*D2) /16*(σut/FOS) (since σt= σut/FOS)
= √ (3*12.08*512)/(16*480/2.25)= √94260.24/3413.3= √27.6= 5.25 mm
Radial thickness of rings:t 1 = D √ 3*pw/ σp= 51x√3 x0.025/110= 51x0.02611= 1.33mm
Axial thickness of the piston:t 2 = 0.7t1= 0.7x1.33= 0.932 mm ≈ 1 mm
Width of the top land (b1):b 1 = t H to 1.2t H = 6.53 mm (consider b 1 = t H )
Width of other lands (b2):b 2 = 0.75 t 2 to t 2 =0.75 x 1= 0.75 mm (consider b2=0.75t2)
Thk of piston barrel at the top end :t 3 = 0.03D+t1+4.9= 0.03 x 51+1.33+4.9 = 7.76 mm
Thk of piston barrel at the open end : t 4 = 0.25 t3 to 0.35 t3= 0.25 x 7.76= 1.94 mm≈ 2m
Length of skirt:Ls = 0.6 D to 0.8D= 0.6 x 51= 30.6 mm
Length of piston pin in the conn. rod bushing:l 1 = 45% of the piston dia= 0.45 x 51= 22.95 mm
Piston pin diameter:d0 = 0.28 D to 0.38 D= 0.28 x 51= 14.28 mm
Note: Center of the piston pin should be 0.02D to 0.04D above the center of the skirt

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

Table 4- Final Dimension of piston

S/no. Description Nomencleture Value in mm
1 Thickness of piston head tH 5.25
2 Radial width of the ring t1 1.33
3 Axial thickness of the piston t2 1
4 Width of top land b1 6.53
5 Width of ring land b2 0.75
6 Thickness of piston barrel at the top end t3 7.76
7 Thickness of piston barrel at the open end t4 2.7
8 Length of skirt ls 30.6
9 Length of piston pin in the connecting rod bushing l1 22.95
10 Piston pin diameter d0 14.28
IV. GEOMETRICAL MODELING AND FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS
4.1 GEOMETRICAL MODELING

The dimension calculated for the piston according to the procedure and the specification given in the design data book
are used for preparing the model using UG Nx-8 3D modelling software. Piston was modelled using UG Nx-8 software
which is shown in below figure 3 and4
Fig 3- 3D- model of piston Fig 4- 3D- half section of piston
4.2 MESHING OF 3D MODEL OF PISTON

The element selected for meshing the piston model is solid187 tetrahedron type of element which is higher order
tetrahedral element. The mesh count contains 33743 numbers of nodes and 19541 numbers of elements. Below figure
shows the meshed model of piston.
Fig 5- Meshing of 3D model

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

4.3 BOUNDARY CONDITION FOR STRUCTURE ANALYSIS (UNCOATED AND COATED PISTON)
Combustion of gases in the combustion chamber exerts pressure on the head of the piston during power stroke. The
pressure force will be taken as boundary condition in structural analysis using ANSYS work bench. Fixed support has
given at surface of the pin hole because the piston will move from Top dead center (TDC)to Bottom dead center (BDC)
with the help of fixed support at pin hole. So whatever the load is applying on the pistons due to gas explosion causes
the failure of piston pin including bending stresses. As per analytical calculation pressure acting on the piston due to
combustion is 12.08 MPa.The load variation analysis is performed on piston at 100%, 125%, 150%, 175%, 200%, 225%
and 250% of the calculated pressure as the load varies from 100% to 250% in Bajaj Kawasaki four stroke petrol
engines.
(a) (b)
Fig 6- Boundary condition for structural analysis (a) at 100% of load (b) at 250% of load
4.4 STRESS DISTRIBUTION AND TOTAL DEFORMATION BEFORE COATING
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Fig 7- stress distribution and totaldeformation of uncoated piston (a) Equivalent stress at 100% load (b)Equivalent
stress at 250% load (c) Total deformation at 100% load (d)Total deformation at 250% load

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

4.5BOUNDARY CONDITION FOR STRUCTURE ANALYSIS UNDER COUPLED FIELD (UNCOATED AND COATED PISTON)
Temperature distribution, loading and Boundary condition for uncoated and coated piston. Figure shows the
temperature distribution, loading and the boundary condition considered for the analysis. The temperature distribution
at piston head, top land, piston ring area and piston skirt according to table 4.1 is applied for thermal analysis and the
uniform pressure from 100% to 250% of calculated pressure is applied on crown of piston which is indicated by red
color and the model is constrained on upper half of piston pin hole as shown by violet color.
Table 5 – Temperature and heat transfer coefficient applied to the piston
S/No Piston region Temperature in 0C Heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K)

01 Piston Head 350 300
02 Width of top land 330 160
03 Piston ring area 250 120
04 Piston skirt land 140 600
Fig8 - Temperature and convection coefficient distribution
4.6 STRESS DISTRIBUTION &TOTAL DEFORMATION OF UNCOATED PISTON UNDER COUPLED FIELD
(a) (b)
Fig 9- stress distribution and total deformation of uncoated piston under coupled field (a) Equivalent stress at 100%
load (d)Total deformation at 1000% load

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

4.7 STRESS DISTRIBUTION &TOTAL DEFORMATION OF COATED PISTON UNDER COUPLED FIELD
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Fig 10- stress distribution and total deformation of coated piston under coupled field (a) Equivalent stress at 100% load
(b)Equivalent stress at 250% load(c) Total deformation at 100% load (d)Total deformation at 250% load
V.RESULT
The values of equivalent stress and total deformation at different loading condition are recorded
Table 6 Static structural analysis result of uncoated piston under thermal and mechanical loads
S/no Pressure/ load (Mpa) Equivalent stress (Mpa) Total deformation (mm)
01 12.08 (100%) 524.88 0.10507
Table 7 Static structural analysis result of coated piston under thermal and mechanical loads
S/no Pressure/ load (Mpa) Equivalent stress (Mpa) Total deformation (mm)
01 12.08 (100%) 274.453 0.071246
02 15.10 (125%) 290.73 0.0701
03 18.12 (150%) 307.48 0.07525
04 21.14 (175%) 324.68 0.099344
05 24.16 (200%) 342.26 0.12117
06 27.18 (225%) 363.05 0.14299
07 30.70 (250%) 390.12 0.16481

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

V. CONCLUSION
The result showed that coated piston with ceramic material has better performance in stress and deformation in
comparison with the aluminium alloy named A2618 under the joint action of the thermal and mechanical loads.
The preliminary thermo-mechanical FE analysis was presented in the thesis. Its main purpose was to compare
behaviour of the piston made of different type of materials under thermal load. The new composite material was
primarily considered due to low hysteresis of the coefficient of thermal expansion for heating and cooling. The
obtained results shows that the new composite piston has around 2.5 times lower radial displacements than the actual
one. Therefore, a dimensional stability of the piston is strongly improved. The radial component of the stress is also
much lower for the new composite piston as well.
Combined CAD and ANSYS, get the results of stress and deformation and temperature when the piston under the
mechanical loads, thermal loads and assembly the mechanical and thermal load. And get the discussion as below:
1) The temperature is higher at the combustion chamber side of the deviation from the center of the piston. Highest
temperature appears in the throat of the exhaust port of the combustion chamber adjacent side, the temperature reached
350°C . The temperature of the piston ring area is extremely important for the reliability of the engine, if the
temperature of the ring zone is too high, it will make the lubrication oil to be deterioration even carbonization. It causes
the piston ring bonded, loss of activity to make the piston rapid wear, deformation.
2)
3) The stress under the mechanical action, the maximum stress value of the piston is 390 Mpa, and the most stress of
other parts below 100Mpa. For the tensile strength of the piston, it’s having an enough strength margin.
4) When under the assembly of mechanical and thermal loads, the value of the largest displacement is 0.16 mm,
causing at the center of the piston top. The stress of the top of the piston is mainly caused by the temperature load and
the deformation of the piston is caused by the thermal expansion.
5)
Graph 1- showing Stress vs. Pressure/load Graph 2 - showing Deformation vs. Pressure/load
VII.FUTURE SCOPE OF WORK
Further more research is required to select the base material and coating material which has less weight and higher
strength with high thermal coefficient of thermal expansion.More number of iteration is required with change the
geometry of piston
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ISSN(Online): 2319-8753

ISSN (Print): 2347-6710

International Journal of Innovative Research in Science,

Vol. 4, Issue 6, June 2015