Pistons

Requirements and Functions

The functions carried out by the piston include accepting the pressures created by the ignition
of the fuel and air mixture, transferring these forces via the wristpin and the connecting rod to
the crankshaft, and, in addition, providing guidance for the small conrod eye. As a moving
wall that, working in conjunction with the piston rings, transfers power, the piston has to
reliably seal the combustion chamber against gas escaping and lubricant oil flowing by in all
operating situations. Increases in engine performance have caused parallel increases in the
demands on the pistons. One example for piston loading: When a gasoline engine is running
at 6000 rpm, every piston (D = 90 mm) at peak cylinder pressure of 75 bar, 50 times a second,
is subjected to a load of about 5 tons.
Engineering Designs
We find that, given the operational requirements of the various internal combustion engine
designs (two-cycle, four-cycle, gasoline, and diesel engines), the aluminumsilicon alloys are
as a rule the most suitable piston materials. Steel pistons are used in special cases, but they
then require special cooling measures.
In the interest of weight reduction, a carefully worked out engineering design for the pistons
is necessary, combined with the requirement for good piston cooling. Important terms and
dimensions used to describe the geometry are shown in Figs. 7-2 and 7-3.
The increase in engines' specific performance is affected in part by increasing engine speed.
The strong rise in the mass inertias that results in the reciprocating engine components is
largely compensated for by reducing the compression height and optimizing the weight in the
piston engineering design.
Particularly in smaller, high-speed engines the total length of the piston (GL), referenced to
pistondiameter, is shorter than in larger engines running at medium speeds.
The compression height influences overall engine height and most decisively the weight of
the piston. The engineer thus strives to keep this dimension as small as possible.
Consequently, the compression height is always a compromise between demands for a short
piston and for high operational reliability.
The values given in Fig. 7-2 for the head thickness s apply generally for pistons with a flat
and level head, as well as for those with a convex or concave crown. In the case of pistons for
diesel engines with direct injection, with deep recesses, the head thicknesses, depending on
maximum cylinder pressure, lie between 0.16 and 0.23 times the maximum recess diameter
(DMu).
We learn from the guideline values in Fig. 7-2, in regard to the wristpin diameter, that the
higher working pressures in diesel engines require larger wristpin diameters. The piston ring
zone, together with the piston rings themselves, represents moving seals between the
combustion chamber and the crankcase. The length of this zone depends on the number and
thickness of the piston ringsm used and the lengths of the lands between the rings. The
compression ring set, with just a few exceptions, comprises two compression rings and an oil
control ring. The three-ring piston is the standard design today.
The length of the first ring land is selected in accordance with the ignition pressure occurring
in the engine and the temperature of the land. The lengths of the lands located below are
shorter, which is because of the falling temperature and loading due to gas pressure. The
piston skirt is used to guide the piston within the cylinder. It transfers to the cylinder wall, in
sliding fashion, the lateral forces occurring because of the deflection of the conrod. With

sufficient skirt length and close guidance the so-called "piston slapping," occurring at the
moment when contact shifts from the one side of the piston to the opposite side (secondary
piston motion), is kept to a minimum. This is important for smooth engine running and to
reduce wear at all the piston's sliding surfaces.
The piston bosses must transfer all longitudinal forces from the piston to the wristpin and
must therefore be well supported against the head and the skirt. Sufficient distance between
the upper face of the boss bore and the inside of the piston head favors a more uniform
distribution of stresses at the cross section for the support area. At high loads particularly
careful design of the support area is thus required. To avoid fissures forming at the bosses, the
mean calculated surface pressure in the boss bore (dependent on the boss and wristpin
configuration and particularly dependent on the boss temperature) should not exceed values of
between 55 and 75 N/mm2. Attaining higher values is possible only by adopting special
measures to increase the strength at the boss bore.

Piston Designs
Ongoing piston development has produced a large number of designs, the most important of
which, having proven themselves in practice, are presented here. In addition, new directions
for development are being pursued, for example, pistons for engines with an extremely low
profile, pistons made of composites with local reinforcing elements, or pistons with a variable

compression height, which permit variable compression ratios. Modern gasoline engines use
lightweight designs with symmetrical or asymmetrical oval skirt shapes (cam ground pistons)
and, if indicated, differing wall thicknesses for the contact side and the opposite side. These
piston designs are distinguished by optimized weight and particular flexibility in the center
and lower skirt areas. It is for the reasons mentioned here that the regulating piston is
becoming less and less common. Older designs are also discussed briefly in the interest of
completeness.
Piston Materials
Aluminum Alloys
Pure aluminum is too soft and too susceptible to wear for use in pistons and for many other
purposes. That is why alloys have been developed that are matched particularly to the
requirements found in piston engineering. They combine, at low specific weight, good heat
strength properties with a low tendency to wear, high thermal conductivity, and, in most cases,
a low coefficient of thermal expansion as well.
Aluminum-Silicon Alloys:
Eutectic alloys containing from 11 % to 13% silicon and smaller amounts of Cu, Mg, Ni,
and the like. Included in this group of piston alloys, the ones used most frequently in engine
construction, is MAHLE 124, which is also used for cylinders. For most applications they
offer an ideal combination of mechanical, physical, and technological properties. The
MAHLE 142 alloy, with a greater proportion of copper and nickel, was developed for use
particularly at high temperatures. It is distinguished by better thermal stability and
considerably improved strength when heated. A further step in this direction is the nearly
eutectic MAHLE 174 alloy.
Supereutectic alloys contain from 15% to 25% of silicon and use copper, magnesium, and
nickel as additives to deal with high temperatures; examples include MAHLE 138 and
MAHLE 145. They are used wherever a need for reduced thermal expansion and greater
wear resistance is in the foreground. The MAHLE 147 (SILUMAL) alloy is used for
cylinders and/or engine blocks without any special treatment for the running surfaces.
Aluminum-Copper Alloys:
To a lesser extent, alloys containing copper but almost no silicon and just a small amount of
nickel as an additive are used for their good heat strength. In comparison with the Al-Si
alloys, they exhibit greater thermal expansion and less wear resistance. While the Al-Si alloys
can be both cast and reformed when warm, the Al-Cu alloys are more suitable for warm
reforming.