Applied Failure Analysis
Pistons, Rings & Liners
Media Number -SEBV0553-00 Publication Date -01/01/1988 Date Updated -22/01/2004
SEBV05530001
Pistons, Rings & Liners
PISTON TERMS
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This illustration gives the generally accepted terms for the various parts of the piston.
LINER TERMS
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Liner terms are shown above.
RING TERMS
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Piston rings are either keystone or rectangular shaped with a barrel, taper, or flat contact face that
is coated with a hard wear resistant material. Top rings are hardfaced with chrome or
molybdenum while intermediate rings are usually chrome hardfaced. Most intermediate rings
have a step cut into the backside producing a twist ring.
PISTON, RING, AND LINER STRUCTRUE
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Most pistons are one piece aluminum castings made by pouring molten aluminum into a reusable
mold. Aluminum surrounds and bonds to a special cast iron insert that carries the rings. The
aluminum cools and forms a random grain structure similar to other cast materials.
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Piston rings are castings produced in sand molds from cast iron. Most rings are made from
ductile cast iron containing graphite spheres instead of flakes, but a few rings are still made from
gray iron. The ductile iron rings are stronger and more resistant to impact loading.
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Cylinder liners are made four to six at a time in sand molds and contain a random grain structure
with graphite flakes. The liner inside diameter is induction hardened to wear longer.
PISTON, RING, AND LINER OPERATION
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All of the combustion load is carried by the top of the piston pin bore making this one of the
highest loaded areas of the piston. Piston designs provide thicker sections in the top of the pin
bore to carry these loads. rv1ost pistons are also heat treated and work hardened to give extra pin
bore fatigue strength.
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Combustion puts high loads on the upper corner of the cast iron insert requiring a good bond
between the aluminum casting and iron band. Thrust skirts are also heavily loaded as the piston
cocks slightly in the bore under combustion loads.
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Heat affects the piston's ability to carry loads. Pistons must transfer heat to the liner and lube oil
for removal by engine coolant or they can overheat, over expand and seize in the bores. Piston
rings remove about 1/3 of this heat.
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Gas loading pushes compression rings down on ring grooves and out against liner surfaces
sealing in combustion gasses Oil rings are loaded outward by expander springs allowing the
correct amount of oil film to remain on liner surfaces.
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Combustion gas loading creates bending loads on liner flange fillets that try to crack the flange
off the liner. Liner fillets are work hardened to improve fatigue strength. Liners are also loaded
by piston slap creating a vibration of the liner wall.
PERFORMING PISTON, RING,
AND LINER FAILURE ANALYSIS
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Because Cat pistons, rings, and liners are very carefully designed and manufactured, they seldom
fail. However, when they do, we need to determine if a system problem, assembly error or a
material or process flaw caused the failure. Following an organized approach such as the Eight
Steps of Applied Failure Analysis is the quickest and surest way to identify the correct root cause
of each failure and to satisfy customers.
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Wear and fracture facts should be obtained through careful visual examination of failed parts as
well as other related components. Especially examine ring witness laps and ring grooves for
evidence of excessive wear and samples of foreign material that may be responsible for it. Heat
discoloration in the undercrown may give clues to hostile operating conditions. These facts will
act as roadsigns to guide us to the correct root cause.
HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS
CROWN OVERHEATING
Overfueling, spray jet problems, exhaust or inlet restrictions, leaky fuel nozzles, and incorrect
injection timing are some common causes of crown overheating. With current piston designs,
most crown overheating will not cause seizure due to the increased top land clearance on most
pistons.
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Some roadsigns of prolonged crown overheating are found on the undercrown. Abnormal
brown/black discoloration extending down the pin bores and onto the thrust skirts indicates
excessive heat has been present cooking the oil onto the piston. Additional roadsigns are found
on top of the piston.
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Severe thermal cracking is the roadsign of overheating due to high rack setting, prolonged full
load operation, etc.
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Combustion bowl erosion indicates cool inlet air is not protecting the aluminum. Look for air
inlet or exhaust restrictions.
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Nibbled sharp edges around the combustion crater indicate that those edges have been melted
away by excess heat.
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Eroded pockets indicate fuel is being sprayed on the aluminum during combustion. This
indicates early injection.
SKIRT OVERHEATING
Skirt overheating can be caused by crown overheating, by lack of coolant, by lack of lube, etc.
When overheated, the thicker pin bore strut area expands the most resulting in four corner
smearing. Since the roadsigns are similar, regardless of which system started the problem, it is
sometimes difficult to identify the root cause by looking at the pistons. Look at other components
affected by the system to determine which root cause is correct.
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Skirt overheating roadsigns are initially a "four corner" smearing of aluminum at each of the
thick pin bore sections. This usually causes the oil ring to stick creating loss of oil film and more
scuffing.
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If overheating persists, wear spreads over the entire skirt. Lack of unusual undercrown
discoloration may indicate oil was cooling the undercrown but coolant levels were low, causing
the skirt to expand.
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During later stages of scuffing, damage may hide the initial problem. It becomes necessary to
inspect other parts affected by the systems. If lack of lube is suspected, look at the bearings.
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Piston skirts are not round until they reach operating temperature. If pistons are run at high loads
or rpm before warming up, center scuffing of the skirt can occur.
FOREIGN MATERIAL DAMAGE
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Foreign material damage to the top of pistons creates a chewed up appearance or pitting. It is
sometimes mistaken for damage caused by a leaky fuel nozzle. At left is a piston damaged by a
nozzle while at right is a piston damaged by foreign material. Try to identify the foreign material
to discover the source.
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Broken rings create erosion of the cast iron band and aluminum as the piece of ring breaks up to
form little pieces of shot. Examine the ring for evidence of assembly damage or material flaws.
Also examine the other pistons and rings for evidence of detonation or rough combustion.
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Erosion of pin bores is usually caused by a broken snap ring. Since piston pins are hollow, a
piece of broken snap ring can find its way to the other side of the piston and cause similar
damage there.
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Abrasive carbon deposits can be caused by operating too cold, by incomplete combustion, etc.
These deposits remove material from the top land. This is referred to as carbon cutting.
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Fine abrasives entering the air inlet can scratch the top ring wear face, cause increased blow by,
and damage oil control rings.
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Abrasive material in the oil usually causes heaviest cutting in the center of the skirt. Inspect other
parts affected by the lube system for abrasive damage and follow the roadsigns to the source of
the abrasive particles.
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Foreign material contamination of the lube oil may produce severe wear of ring side faces.
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Severe side wear and ring face wear indicate the presence of abrasive contaminants. By carefully
examining bearings, piston ring grooves, and oil rings, the responsible contaminant can usually
be found.
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This hard abrasive material caused the severe wear of the piston and ring previously pictured. It
was found in the ring grooves and bearings and was identified to be grit from a glass bead blaster
.
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Another source of abrasive contaminants are liners themselves. If liners are rehoned, they must
be carefully and thoroughly washed to remove the hard abrasive honing material before they are
reused.
CORROSIVE ENVIRONMENTS
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Roadsigns of corrosive conditions on the inside diameter are excessive pitting and brownish
stains at the top of the ring travel area.
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At higher magnification the brownish stains appear very blotchy. This is the flake structure in the
cast iron being exposed by acid etching
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Pitting on the outside diameter is the roadsign of cavitation erosion which is usually a result of
incorrect water conditioning.
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Caterpillar recommends using a 50/50 mixture of water and glycol with about 3 to 6%
conditioner to prevent corrosion. Use of Cat coolant is another excellent way to avoid cavitation
erosion and corrosion of cooling system components.
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Heavy scale deposits and deep pitting are roadsigns of using contaminated water, not using water
conditioner, or allowing the conditioner to become depleted. This pitting looks different than
pitting caused by cavitation since the bottom of the pits cannot be easily seen as with cavitation
erosion.
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The pitting in the previous picture differs from cavitation erosion in that large holes are produced
below the surface.
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Sometimes corrosive attack is more severe at the lower end of the liner around O-ring seals
where coolant is more stagnant and acidic conditions are more likely to occur.
PARTS PROBLEMS
Most often failures are caused by adverse operating conditions due to a system problem,
incorrect maintenance, incorrect operation, or misapplication. However, there are occasions
where parts can be the root cause of failures.
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Insufficient bonding between the aluminum and cast iron insert can result in fatigue failures like
this one. Road- signs are a section of crown missing with little or no other damage.
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Occasionally casting flaws are in the aluminum. The roadsigns are holes or dark colored
impurities at the crack initiation site as seen at the edge of the pin bore fatigue fracture.
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Fatigue roadsigns are bright polished aluminum with more polishing at the origin. This casting
contained a flaw in the oil spray jet notch which started a fatigue crack that grew to the oil ring
groove.
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Roadsigns of hardfacing problems are large sections of flaked off hardfacing. Small localized
flaking is not usually a problem.
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Occasionally cylinder liners will be roughly handled before assembly causing a small crack at
the flange inner diameter. Roadsigns are a fatigue crack growing down one side of the liner.
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The roadsign of incorrect work hardening of the liner under flange fillet is a crack growing from
the fillet (arrow) straight upward to the fire dam.
WORKMANSHIP
Some failures are the result of poor workmanship which causes parts to be flawed before they
are put into service. These flaws can cause cracks to grow in service or can result in unusual
wear and early failure.
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Chipped hardfacing on one edge of a piston ring can be caused by insufficient ring compression
during installation. The protruding ring edge can catch on the liner causing the chipping.
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Ring breakage 180° from the gap can be caused by overexpansion of the ring during installation.
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Sometimes cylinder heads are installed with too much liner protrusion or without the head gasket
in place. This results in direct head contact with the fire dam, causing the liner flange to crack
from the underflange fillet to the liner inside diameter.
CONCLUDING THE ANALYSIS
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By using The 8 Steps of Applied Failure Analysis we should be able to arrive at the most
probable root cause of a problem by letting the facts guide us. We must be careful not to let
preconceived ideas sidetrack us from following the roadsigns to a successful conclusion.
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Once we have a most probable root cause we should compare it to the facts to insure the facts fit
the case. We should also ask ourselves the doublecheck question, "Is there any possible way the
other party could have caused this failure?" When we are sure of the answer, we are ready to
proceed to getting the payoff .
Copyright 1993, 2004 Caterpillar Inc. Fri Oct 15 17:54:33 UTC+0400 2004
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