Simulation of wear in combustion engines

The presented model is based on the experimental findings about the importance of the nano-layers (10-70 nm) which are formed on the surface of both the piston ring and cylinder of combustion engines during production. running-in and the following use. This layer consists mostly of carbon coming from fuel, lubricant and graphite of the cast iron as well as of iron oxides. It is shown that the experimentally measured wear rate of about several nanometer per hour can be explained if we accept interpretation of wear as the "pressing out" of this nano-layer. In this paper, the rate of "pressing" out and the distribution of deformation across the layer have been simulated numerically and compared with a simple analytical model and experimental data obtained by measuring wear via radioactive isotopes. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.