PISTONS: A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar

mechanisms. It is the 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 expanding gas in the cylinder to the crankshaft via a piston rod and/or connecting rod. In a pump, the function is reversed and force is transferred from the crankshaft to the piston for the purpose of compressing or ejecting the fluid in the cylinder. In some engines, the piston also acts as a valve by covering and uncovering ports in the cylinder wall. 3 IMPORTANT JOBS DONE BY THE PISTON The piston does three important jobs. It is a bearing, receiving loads from combustion and transferring them straight and true through the connecting rod to the crankshaft. The piston is also a seal, as it seals combustion's forces and compression's trapped air. Finally, the piston is a heat conductor, transferring some of the cylinder's heat to the outside. In fact, nearly 80 percent of the cylinder's excess heat is drawn away by just the piston's rings. Piston Parts The piston is made of essentially seven parts. The piston's top or crown takes the brunt of combustion's forces and heat. Consequently, the crown is the hottest part of the engine after the spark plug. It must therefore be quite thick so as to not collapse, though it is not always the thickest part of the piston. Moving down the piston, the next thing is the ring groove. The closely manufactured groove accepts the third part, the precisely made piston ring. In the four-stroke engine, natural harmonics cause the ring to rotate as the piston goes up and down in the cylinder. This helps the groove stay clean of carbon. The solid pieces between the grooves are called ring lands. They are similar to the lands in a gun barrel. They support the shock loads the rings receive during combustion. The next part is the piston pin hole. This hole accepts a pin that connects the piston to the connecting rod. The hole is offset from the piston's center slightly so that when the piston and rod reach TDC, they do so at slightly different times. This spreads the shock loads at high rpm, easing stresses on the connecting rod and eliminating a noise called "piston slap." Surrounding the hole inside the piston are

pin bosses, thick masses of metal that support the pin when it is inserted in the hole. The pin bosses are sometimes the thickest part of the piston. In some cases, they are not as thick as the crown. In either case however, the thickness of these two parts is important, as it determines much about how the piston deals with heat. Lastly, we come to the piston skirt. The skirt is the bearing portion of the piston. It slides against the cylinder wall, bearing the force of combustion on the power stroke, and the loads of compression on the compression stroke. There are also stresses involved with rpm that the piston and cylinder are designed together to deal with. The skirt is the part of the piston most in need of lubrication. Thus most lubrication problems show up on the piston skirt first.

Figure 1a: Schematic of a piston.

Figure 1b: Piston head schematic.

Figure 1c: Parts of the piston.

Piston Shapes There are two important ways in which pistons are shaped. First, the piston is not round, but elliptical in shape. The reason is the afore-mentioned pin bosses. The bosses' mass makes them absorb a lot of heat, which makes them expand more than any part of the piston. If the piston was instead made round, it would not be when fully warmed up. That would be a problem. Therefore, the width of the piston at the

area of the bosses is narrower than it is elsewhere. The resulting shape (looking downward onto the piston crown) is an ellipse (an oval). Marine pistons are sometimes called "cam ground," which refers to the same thing (however, it isn't the shape that is being referred to in that case, but rather the machine that produces it). The other (second) shape all pistons have is taper. That is, the diameter of the piston at its crown is considerably smaller than its diameter at the skirt. The reason is the same as for the piston's ellipse. Only this time it is the crown, not the pin bosses, that necessitates the shape. The crown absorbs so much heat that it must be made smaller so that when fully heated, the piston will be straight. PISTONS IN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES: The piston of an internal combustion engine is acted upon by the pressure of the expanding combustion gases in the combustion chamber space at the top of the cylinder. This force then acts downwards through the connecting rod and onto the crankshaft. The connecting rod is attached to the piston by a swiveling gudgeon pin (US: wrist pin). This pin is mounted within the piston: unlike the steam engine, there is no piston rod or crosshead. The pin itself is of hardened steel and is fixed in the piston, but free to move in the connecting rod. A few designs use a 'fully floating' design that is loose in both components. All pins must be prevented from moving sideways and the ends of the pin digging into the cylinder wall, usually by circlips. Gas sealing is achieved by the use of piston rings. These are a number of narrow iron rings, fitted loosely into grooves in the piston, just below the crown. The rings are split at a point in the rim, allowing them to press against the cylinder with a light spring pressure. Two types of ring are used: the upper rings have solid faces and provide gas sealing; lower rings have narrow edges and a U-shaped profile, to act as oil scrapers. There are many proprietary and detail design features associated with piston rings. Pistons are cast from aluminum alloys. For better strength and fatigue life, some racing pistons may be forged instead. Early pistons were of cast iron, but there were obvious benefits for engine balancing if a lighter alloy could be used. To produce pistons that could survive engine combustion temperatures, it was necessary to develop new alloys such as Y alloy and Hiduminium, specifically for use as pistons.

A few early gas engines had double-acting cylinders, but otherwise effectively all internal combustion engine pistons are single-acting. During World War II, the US submarine Pompano was fitted with a prototype of the infamously unreliable H.O.R. double-acting two-stroke diesel engine. Although compact, for use in a cramped submarine, this design of engine was not repeated.

Figure 2: Representation of a internal combustion engine piston.

TRUNK PISTONS: Trunk pistons are long, relative to their diameter. They act as both piston and also as a cylindrical crosshead. As the connecting rod is angled for part of its rotation, there is also a side force that reacts along the side of the piston against the cylinder wall. A longer piston helps to support this. Trunk pistons have been a common design of piston since the early days of the reciprocating internal combustion engine. They were used for both petrol and diesel engines, although high speed engines have now adopted the lighter weight slipper piston. A characteristic of most trunk pistons, particularly for diesel engines, is that they have a groove for an oil ring below the gudgeon pin, not just the rings between the gudgeon pin and crown. The name 'trunk piston' derives from the 'trunk engine', an early design of marine

steam engine. To make these more compact, they avoided the steam engine's usual piston rod and separate crosshead and were instead the first engine design to place the gudgeon pin directly within the piston. Otherwise these trunk engine pistons bore little resemblance to the trunk piston: they were of extremely large diameter and were double-acting. Their 'trunk' was a narrow cylinder placed mounted in the center of this piston.

Figure 3: Basic section drawing of a trunk type piston.

CROSSHEAD PISTONS: Large slow-speed Diesel engines may require additional support for the side forces on the piston. These engines typically use crosshead pistons. The main piston has a large piston rod extending downwards from the piston to what is effectively a second smaller-diameter piston. The main piston is responsible for gas sealing and carries the piston rings. The smaller piston is purely a mechanical guide. It runs within a small cylinder as a trunk guide and also carries the gudgeon pin. Because of the additional weight of these pistons, they are not used for high-speed engines.

Figure 4: Typical crosshead piston.

SLIPPER PISTONS: A slipper piston is a piston for a petrol engine that has been reduced in size and weight as much as possible. In the extreme case, they are reduced to the piston crown, support for the piston rings, and just enough of the piston skirt remaining to leave two lands so as to stop the piston rocking in the bore. The sides of the piston skirt around the gudgeon pin are reduced away from the cylinder wall. The purpose is mostly to reduce the reciprocating mass, thus making it easier to balance the engine and so permit high speeds. A secondary benefit may be some reduction in friction with the cylinder wall, however as most of this is due to the parts of the piston that are left behind, the benefit is minor.

Figure 5: Typical slipper piston.

DEFLECTOR PISTONS: Deflector pistons are used in two-stroke engines with crankcase compression, where the gas flow within the cylinder must be carefully directed in order to provide efficient scavenging. With cross scavenging, the transfer (inlet to the cylinder) and exhaust ports are on directly facing sides of the cylinder wall. To prevent the incoming mixture passing straight across from one port to the other, the piston has a raised rib on its crown. This is intended to deflect the incoming mixture upwards, around the combustion chamber. Much effort, and many different designs of piston crown, went into developing improved scavenging. The crowns developed from a simple rib to a large asymmetric bulge, usually with a steep face on the inlet side and a gentle curve on the exhaust. Despite this, cross scavenging was never as effective as hoped. Most engines today use Schnuerle porting instead. This places a pair of transfer ports in the sides of the cylinder and encourages gas flow to rotate around a vertical axis, rather than a horizontal axis.

Figure 6: A two stroke deflector piston.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PISTONS: In a piston, the top portion of it is called the head or the crown. In general, the low cost and low performance engines have a flat head. In certain pistons, valve reliefs are provided and some might have a raised dome. This is generally done to increase the compression ratio. Here, we would be explaining a few types of pistons which are generally used in Engines. 1. CAST STEEL PISTON: These pistons are cast from alloy steel which containing silicon and copper with a cadmium plating. Cast Steel Pistons have been found to be highly wear and tear, heat resistant.

Figure 7: Actual representation of a cast steel piston.

2. ANODIZED PISTONS: The bearing properties of the pistons are improved by Anodizing. The coating of these types of pistons is dark grey in color since anodizing is done by the sulfuric acid process.

Figure 8: A diamonds type 3 hard-coat anodized piston.

3. TINNED PISTONS: Good lubrication is very important and it has been found that deposits of about 0.007 mm thickness ensure good lubrication during the starting operations of the piston.

Figure 9: Actual representation of a tinned surface piston.

4. OIL COOLED PISTONS: Pistons meant for high speed diesel engines are oil cooled since oil cooling reduces the temperatures of the piston. They are also used to reduce the temperature at the top ring to prevent carbon formation in the groove.

Figure 10: Cross-sectional representation of a oil cooled piston.

5. TWO PIECE PISTONS: Two-piece type pistons are used in engines where the engine temperature exceeds the working range for the normal oil cooled aluminum alloy pistons. Engines whose bore size exceeds 180 mm use the two-piece pistons since having different materials is an advantage.

Figure 11: Actual representation of a two-piece diesel piston design.

6. CERAMIC INSULATED PISTONS: Internal combustion engine pistons are provided with aluminum bodies with highly insulate ceramic inserts cast in place in the upper combustion chamber defining wall. In each of the disclosed embodiments, the ceramic insert has tapered edges to dovetail the insert in place. A fibrous ceramic cushioning layer applied around the insert edge before casting distributes cooling stresses and allows limited relative expansion and contraction of the aluminum body and ceramic insert without overstressing either of the members. 7. SQUEEZED CAST PISTONS: An alternative process of squeeze casting using selective reinforcement at the top groove and land area provides a superior alternative to the conventional method of gravity die-casting and forging. Indirect squeeze casting machine designed and developed as a collaborative project between IIT Chennai and India Pistons has successfully been used to produce such an alternative piston. This types of piston has been subjected to static and dynamic tests to establish its superiority in terms of strength, wear resistance and fatigue.

Figure 12: Actual representation of a squeeze cast piston.

TYPES OF MANUFACTURING PROCESSES: 1. FORGING: The three basic types of aluminum alloy forgings are: open-die forgings, closed-die forgings, and rolled rings. In open die forging, the work component is not completely confined as it is being shaped by the dies. This process is commonly associated with large parts such as shafts, sleeves, and disks, but the parts weight can range from 5 to 500,000 lbs. Most open die forgings are produced on flat sides. Round swaging dies and V dies are also used in pairs or with a flat die. As the forging work piece is hammered or pressed, it is repeatedly manipulated between the dies until it reaches final forged dimensions. Because the process is inexact and requires a skilled forging operator, substantial work piece stock allowances are retained to accommodate forging irregularities. The forged part is rough machined and then finished machined to final dimensions. In open die forging, metals are worked above their recrystallization temperatures. Since the process requires repeated changes in work piece positioning, the work piece cools during open die forging below its hot-working or recrystallization temperature. It then must be reheated before forging can continue. Impression die forging is the most basic example of impression die forging and accounts for the majority of forging production. In impression die forging, two dies are brought together and the work piece undergoes plastic deformation until its enlarged sides touch the die side walls. Some material flows outside the die impression, forming flash. The flash cools rapidly and presents increased resistance to deformation, effectively becoming part of the tool. This builds pressure inside the bulk of the work piece, aiding material flow into unfilled impressions. Ring rolling has evolved from an art into a strictly controlled engineering process. In the ring rolling process, a preform is heated to forging temperature and placed over the internal roll of the rolling machine. Pressure is applied to the wall by the main roll as the ring rotates. The cross-sectional area is reduced as the inner and outer diameters are expanded. Rings can be rolled into numerous sizes, ranging from roller bearing sleeves to rings of 25 ft in diameter with face heights of more than 80 in.

The forged piston is a more recent development. It appeared first on highpowered two-stroke engines. These engines were made in low production numbers, and their performance and use resulted in frequent detonation. Both of these traits, as we'll see, made the forged piston a pretty good match for this application. Forging Alloys The earliest forged pistons were also made with poor alloys. In many cases however they were even worse than the alloys the cast pistons used, because when the cast piston finally got silicon, the forged piston did not. The same brittleness that makes the cast piston crack when bumped hard would have resulted in even larger defects had it been used in a forging. Consequently, during the time that the cast piston defined a piston's normal expansion rate, the forged piston was far behind the technology. The forged piston had to be fitted loose, which made it noisy and wasted power. Recently however, silicon has been introduced to the forged piston. A mixture of alloys has been found that together with silicon do not result in defective forgings. For example, nickel has been found to offset the silicon's tendency toward brittleness. However, not very much nickel can be used, as it is a heavy metal, and it affects the mixture in other ways. The result is that the modern forged piston is much more dimensionally stable than was true in the past. Mass Efficiency However, once again, the forged piston's mass does more to define its characteristics than does even its materials. The forged piston has historically had a crude interior shape. The forging ram is straight, which results in a rectangular rather than an intricate interior. There is too much mass there. Consequently, the forged piston has poor dimensional stability. Its expansion is not very controllable. Many engine builders overcome these two problems (too much weight, unpredictable expansion) at least partly by removing by hand the extra material inside the forged piston. This allows them to fit them tighter and rev them higher. However, many forged pistons also have overly thick skirts as well as unsophisticated interiors. This is because the forging produces a piston blank, remember, and not a finished piston. The piston wholesaler takes this blank, and from

it, carves out several different sizes and shapes of pistons. If the piston being made happens to be the largest the blank supports, it ends up with the thickest skirt. While hand reworking (or CNC milling, as many do now) the forged piston can lighten it and make it behave more like an intricately made cast piston, there is still excess weight due to the thick skirt. Applications Unlike the cast piston, the forged piston is easy to manufacture. Smaller piston manufacturers therefore specialize in this piston type, even if some of them may not be as competent at making pistons as are the larger cast piston makers. Forged pistons have quickly become the choice of custom engine builders because they can be had very quickly, and in virtually any configuration desired. Moreover, the forged piston's added thickness is used by these builders to custom configure the piston even further. For example, fly cuts on the piston's crown for high performance valve relief is an easy process with the forged piston. There's a lot of material there in which to do it, much more than there is in the cast piston. The forged piston was also the first piston type to adopt the modern ultra-thin piston ring, for the same reason. It could be done easily and immediately. There were no molds for such a piston among the cast piston manufacturers for at least a year afterward. This situation has resulted in the forged piston acquiring something of a high performance persona, even though its overall technology is less current than the cast piston's. Most of that reputation is unearned, but in at least one way it is in fact a reality. The forged piston is inherently stronger than the cast piston. Lower silicon content of course would result in this, making the forged piston less brittle. However, there is another reason as well. The forging process compresses the alloy's molecules, making the material denser than a casting. The result is a piston that withstands the pounding of detonation better. This is why OEMs use the forged piston in two-strokes and turbocharged engines. Forged pistons are also included in many OEM high performance options kits for their street models.

Figure 13: Piston forging press.

Figure 14: Actual representation of a forged piston.

2. CASTING:

The cast aluminum alloy piston has perhaps the longer history. It took over for the original steel part during the internal combustion engine's early development. The cast piston is the most familiar piston type. Casting Alloys Early cast aluminum pistons were made with inferior alloys. The piston expanded dramatically, requiring a loose fit in the cylinder and resulting in

noisy operation when cold. Harley-Davidson pistons once had steel ribs inside them to control this expansion. Since about the 1960s however, most cast pistons have been untrusted. Their alloys have gained silicon, a material that gives the pistons natural lubricity and limits heat expansion. All modern pistons have silicon in them. However, cast pistons have historically had the most. Some of them have as much as 25 percent silicon by volume. Silicon does bring a disadvantage however. It makes the piston brittle. Dropping a modern cast piston will usually crack it, so the piston must be handled carefully. Mass Efficiency Probably the greatest benefit of the cast piston is the efficiency of its mass. The multiple-piece molds allow intricate contours inside and out, resulting in light weight, good expansion control, and predictable heat flow through the part. That is, the piston designer can plan in the specific thickness in each place in the part that is desired, to result in expansion at those places that is warranted. So predictable is the cast piston's heat in fact that race tuners view the undersides of the piston to gauge the combustion efficiency of the engine. In much the same way others read spark plug, they read the dark splotches under the crown. Applications The cast piston is however expensive to manufacture. Die casting is costly, because it requires huge machines that do very specific jobs, and can't be easily adapted to do more than one kind of job. The result is that the casting process for pistons is relegated to the large piston supplier. The downside is that the cast piston is often found only in OEM specified sizes and types. There aren't a lot of different cast pistons to chose from if you are modifying an engine. The upside of this situation is that since only large piston manufacturers can afford to make cast pistons, they are usually competently made. In fact, the cast piston generally typifies the best technology that the piston industry has to offer. However, this doesn't mean it's the best piston for every application.

ADVANTAGES OF FORGED PISTONS: The main characteristic that makes forged pistons excel in high performance applications is strength and durability. The high silicon content of cast pistons makes them brittle compared to forged pistons. Silicon gives the metal lubricity and is mixed in the alloy to limit heat expansion. This is primarily the reason why cast pistons require careful handling. Mild shock applied to it may cause the material to break. The process of forging compresses the molecules inside the alloy, which results in a denser surface area compared to a cast piston. It is true that forged pistons are heavier than cast pistons, but this is counteracted by the ability to provide a high compression ratio inside the engine, enabling the engine to rev higher and produce more power. Most turbocharged and high performance car models use forged pistons because they're more tolerant to the abuses of extreme heat, detonation and pressure inherent in performance oriented engines. An engine modification tweaked toward producing more power will benefit from a forged piston, as the high tolerance to abuse enables the tuner or engine builder to make incremental adjustments to enhance engine performance. Forged pistons are also readily available compared to cast pistons which are only available in OEM sizes, hampered by the expensive casting process.

COMPARISSON OF CAST VS FORGED PISTONS: The cast piston is light and very dimensionally stable. It is found in high-rpm massproduced engines that are not subject to modification or prone to detonation. The piston is however fairly brittle, and the cost of its manufacture has limited its availability outside the OEM sources and applications. On the other hand, the forged piston is inherently heavy and less dimensionally stable. It is a good choice for engines in which detonation is probable, and its wide availability has made it the choice of engine modifiers. The special demands of these end users has given the forged piston its own niche in the power sports market.