Plasma Texturing for Friction Reduction of Internal Combustion Engine Components

随着各种电气化技术的快速引入，包括各种混合动力汽车，燃料电池和电池电动汽车，其中大多数仍然依赖于内燃机（ICE），因此该领域的持续进步仍然很重要。不断发展的电气化为内燃机设计提供了新的方法，这将使ICE和动力总成电气化之间的协同作用更高。除了为内燃机开发先进的燃烧技术外，汽车制造商还非常重视减少摩擦以提高内燃机效率和燃油经济性，因为减少20-30%的摩擦可以节省3-5%的燃油。一个重要的策略是使用凹坑、凹槽和其他表面纹理来控制滑动界面中的摩擦。 本研究将通过以下活动开发一种新的具有成本效益的表面纹理方法：i）生成表面纹理图案（即，凹坑）;和ii）研究等离子体放电工艺参数（即电流和电压）对所选合金的表面织构形态和材料微观结构的影响。该项目旨在i）进行受控实验，创建不同的凹坑几何形状和凹坑的大小，以减少三种润滑状态下的摩擦; ii）研究油粘度和添加剂对纹理图案表面摩擦的影响。研究小组将i）评估纹理表面的抗磨损性能，并探索纹理图案与对应表面的兼容性，特别是在边界润滑状态下;以及ii）最终通过等离子体纹理建立摩擦控制策略。本研究的目的是开发一种新的等离子毛化技术，以产生不同的尺寸和面密度的气缸套和轴承材料的凹痕，以减少动力总成的摩擦。该研究将有助于更好地了解在不同润滑状态下，凹坑表面织构对摩擦的影响，以减少寄生（摩擦）损失。 本研究开发的等离子毛化技术有望为活塞-气缸动力系统、轴承、水泵密封和机械密封等提供显著的减摩效果（20-40%），从而导致降低的能量消耗和更长的耐久性。如果20%的车辆使用这项技术，燃油效率提高1-2%，北美每天将节省600万升燃油。因此，该项目除了技术进步外，在环境保护方面也具有重要意义。该研究项目还将为加拿大汽车和制造业提供重要的HQP培训和人员。

With rapid introduction of a diverse range of electrification technologies, including various hybrids, fuel cell and battery electric vehicles, the majority of these still rely on internal combustion engines (ICEs) so continuing advances in that area remain important. Growing electrification presents new approaches for internal combustion engine design, which will enable greater levels of synergy between the ICE and powertrain electrification. Apart from developing advanced combustion technologies for ICE, automakers have paid great attention to friction reduction to increase ICE efficiency and fuel economy, since 20-30% reduction in friction can lead to 3-5% fuel saving. An important strategy is the use of dimples, grooves, and other surface textures to control friction in sliding interfaces.      This research will develop a new cost-efficient surface texturing approach through the following activities: i) generate surface texturing patterns (i.e., dimples) using a new plasma discharging method (called plasma texturing); and ii) study effects of plasma discharging process parameters (i.e, current and voltage) on surface textured morphology and material microstructures of selected alloys. The project intends to i) conduct controlled experiments that create different dimple geometric shapes and dimple's sizes tailored for reducing frictions in three lubrication regimes; and ii) study effects of oil viscosity and additives on friction of the texturally patterned surfaces. The research group will i) evaluate the anti-wear properties of the textured surfaces and explore compatibility of the textural patterns to counterpart surfaces, particularly under the boundary lubrication regime; and ii) finally establish a strategy of friction control via the plasma texturing. The objective of this research is to develop a new plasma texturing technology to create dimples with different sizes and areal densities on cylinder liner and bearing materials for reducing friction of powertrains. The research would provide a better understanding about the influence of dimple surface textures on friction at the different lubrication regimes for less parasitic (friction) losses.      The plasma texturing technology developed in this research is expected to provide significant friction reduction (20-40%) for piston-cylinder power system, bearing, water pump seals and mechanical seals, etc., resulting in reduced energy consumption and longer durability. If 20% vehicles use the proposed technology, leading to say 1-2% improvement in fuel efficiency, 6 million litres of fuel per day will be saved in North America. Thus, this proposed project will be very significant in environmental protection apart from technical advancement. The research project will also provide the important HQP training and personnel for the Canadian auto and manufacturing sectors.