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Owen Wells
English 1101
Judith McAmis
April 28, 2012

Sealing the Cylinder

As simple as it may seem, there are hundreds of factors that go into designing and
building an engine that will provide the user with reliable power. The internal combustion engine
creates power by burning refined oil based fuels. The air and fuel are combined in the intake
tract upstream of the cylinder. Once in the cylinder, the air/fuel mixture is compressed by a
piston. At a precise time, the mixture is ignited and the piston is forced back down the cylinder
bore, doing work. The work performed turns a crankshaft that powers the wheels. This process
has moved cars and trucks for over 100 years.
Advances in intake, exhaust, and valve train have always been the newsmakers, but the
most important aspect is often overlooked sealing the cylinder. If you cannot seal the piston
within the cylinder wall, any power made by combusting the fuel is instantly lost into the
crankcase. Interestingly enough, sealing the cylinder is still considered a bit of a black art, and
the correct procedure to achieve a sealed engine is still misunderstood by many engine builders.
Achieving a sealed cylinder depends on several factors; the surface on the cylinder bore, the
cylinder bore geometry, and the static or dynamic bore distortion. The purpose of this research
paper is to pursue the important highlight of each facet, dispel the misconceptions, and provide a
resource to work from.

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Crosshatch
In regards to ring seal, the most important part of the engine blocks preparation is when
the cylinders are machined to a precise size utilizing specialized machine and tooling, otherwise
known as cylinder honing. A cylinder honing machine consists of a mandrel that is spun
clockwise while being stroked vertically at the same time. The abrasive honing stones are
attached to the mandrel and as the hone goes through a cycle, the cylinder wall is left with a
crosshatch pattern. This can be identified by what looks like fine scratches on the cylinder wall
intersecting with each other in a crossed or angled pattern. The angles of these scratches are an
important part of cylinder sealing performance. Measured as an included angle from horizontal,
the crosshatch angle for the typical engine can range from 60 degrees to 30 degrees (Jones). The
cross hatch angle will effect both oil travel up the cylinder wall, and piston ring rotation on the
piston/within the bore. The steeper the angle, the more oil that will migrate towards the top of the
cylinder wall, resulting in a ring package that will actually hydroplane over the oil equating a
loss in ring seal. (Understanding of Oil) If the cross hatch angle is too steep the rings will see the
opposite effect and become starved for oil. According to Total Seals Keith Jones, the correct
cross hatch angle for a high performance engine is between 32-45 degrees, and a more accurate
number really depends on the application and other engine parameters.
RPK/RVK
As discussed above, the abrasive nature of the honing stones leaves the cylinder wall with
a pattern of coinciding scratches, known as a crosshatch. Beyond measuring the crosshatch
angle, the characteristics of these scratches must be analyzed further with a profilometer. The
profilometer is a high precision measuring instrument that is able to feel the ridges and peaks

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that make up the cross hatch pattern. On a very small scale the crosshatch pattern is made up of a
series of valleys and peaks, although the surface may feel smooth. With a profilometer, these
peaks and valleys can be measured and the landscape of the cylinder wall can now be analyzed
to fine detail. The depth of the valleys or RVK is where the oil resides and provides lubrication
for the piston rings. The height of the peaks or RPK is where the piston rings ride as they
reciprocate along the cylinder surface (Surface Qualities). A typical RVK number is in the 40-50
micro-inch range, which allows for enough oil to lubricate the rings, but not enough to cause a
hydroplane or starvation situation. On the RPK side, typical high performance measurements are
in the 8-12 micro-inch range (Jones).
The final dimensions determined by the cylinder honing process are bore concentricity
and taper. Concentricity can be defined as how close the cylinder measures to a truly round
shape. Taper can be defined as the variance of measured size from top to bottom in the cylinder
bore. Both measurements are achieved by the honing process, and the capabilities of the
machine. Measuring both dimensions can be performed as combination of a dial bore gauge and
a coordinate measurement machine (CMM). There truly is no dimensional tolerance on taper or
concentricity. You cannot have a round enough or straight enough cylinder bore, there is always
room for improvement. However, advancements in the honing machine and tooling technology
are constantly being pushed forward, creating the ability to produce more accurate cylinder
bores.
Measurement
Critical areas require precise, accurate measurement, and each of the above areas involves
dedicated measurement equipment to provide an accurate measurement that can reach into the

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cylinder bore and read the diameter difference or clearance to the tenth of a thousandth of an inch
(0.0001)( for reference, a human hair is 0.003). Measuring cylinder taper/concentricity can
involve 2 separate tools. The more common way is to use the dial bore gauge that is typically
used to measure piston to wall. The dial bore gauge is used to map the cylinder in a number of
predetermined datum points and concentricity and taper can be determined. This is not always
the most accurate way however, since the dial bore gauge does not have a fixed center,
inaccuracies can mount. The best way is to use a coordinate measurement machine (CMM) that
can measure to a reference plane in space, to give the operator a picture of how the cylinder
actually looks at a minute level.
Both RPK and RVK are extremely critical measurements to how a piston ring seals to the
cylinder and measuring the total landscape with a profilometer is the only way to measure a
finished cylinder wall. Until recently, cylinder wall surface finish was almost considered a black
art, only those who had years of experience going from the hone to the dyno had been able to
achieve the knowledge. However, modern advances in surface finish measurement such as the
profilometer have made it possible to produce repeatable surface finishes on every block
(Surface Finish). The main idea in achieving a correct hone finish is to provide the rings with
enough oil lubrication, while robbing the least amount of power through friction.
Engine Blocks
Every internal combustion engine starts its life as a heap of cast iron engine block casted
at an iron foundry. When a cylinder block leaves the casting foundry, it is rough casted with all
the critical positions in approximate locations. From the foundry, the block is rough machined
while referencing from critical datum points to keep every position in specification. As a part of

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the rough machining and casting process, the cast iron engine block is left with internal stresses.
These stresses are typically not normalized until the engine undergoes numerous heat cycles
under running conditions. A brand new block can be built and machined to perfect standards, but
as soon as the engine is fired the block begins to twist and contort, as the intense heat seen within
the engine allows the cast iron to normalize and relieve the machining stress. This is mostly seen
in the cylinder bore, and that once round cylinder bore is now oval, twisted and contorted. The
result is decreased ring seal and increased cylinder blow-by. In order to avoid this harsh reality, a
good choice for any high performance build is a well-seasoned block. However, recent testing
has shown that cryogenic treatment can virtually eliminate all machining stresses, and a brand
new block can be trusted to retain a precise shape under running conditions.
Torque Plates
After the cylinder has been honed, the cylinder wall should hold a close tolerance on
concentricity, out of round and taper. Unfortunately, in an assembled, running engine the cylinder
can be oval, twisted and scattered with pockets (Hot Honing). This is obviously undesirable in
the quest for a perfect ring seal. One method that has been popular in modern machine shops is
the use of a deck plate, to simulate the static loading of the cylinder head being torqued to the
engine block. The head bolts used to fasten the cylinder head can actually push and pull the
cylinder wall material in measurable amounts. By using a deck plate, the block can be honed
straight and round with the cylinder head effectively in place.
Hot Honing
Static distortion is not the only factor in cylinder wall distortion. A running engine
introduces dynamic conditions that can also have a large effect on cylinder wall distortion. The

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heated water that is circulated through an engine completely surrounds the cylinder bore and as
the water temperature rises, the cylinder bore will distort. According to Sunnen Product and
Development Engineer Tim Meara, bore distortion can range from .0007 to .002 in a
NASCAR Cup engine at 180-200 degrees F water temperature (Hot Honing). By using a
machined set of toque plates that allow coolant flow similar to an assembled engine, the engine
block can be raised to operating temperature. When the block is machined, the bores are at
operating temp, and statically loaded by the torqued head bolts. These two operations create an
extremely round, concentric bore that holds shape under running conditions, sealing the cylinder.
The standards of sealing the cylinder are moving forward all the time. Advancements in
surface finishes, measurement, and metallurgy are constantly improving. This all means that the
internal combustion engine will make more power, be more efficient, and win more races.

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Works Cited
Jones, Keith. Piston Ring Performance. Engine Professional July-Sept 2009: 58-62. Print
Goodman, John. Surface Qualities for Performance Engines. Engine Professional July-Sept
2009:36-38. Print
Goodman, John. Surface Finish, Making a Case for Rz. Engine Professional July-Sept 2009:817. Print
McCormick, Harold and Tim Meara. Summary of Results of Development and Validation of
Hot Honing System to Provide Improved Engine Performance. SAE Technical Paper 2002-013299 (2002). Print
McCormick, Harold, Dequan Zou, Micheal Jennings, Daniel Heath ,and Milad Mekari.
Fundamental Understanding of Oil-Gas Mixture (Aerosol) Formation in Ring Belt Region and
Resultant Relationship between Cylinder Kit Design and Oil Characteristics on Oil Transport
Part 1. SAE Technical Paper 2005-01-3807 (2005). Print

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