To address the critical issue where in methanol engines, owing to inherent fuel properties, trigger lubricating oil dilution, elevated acid value, and the formation of corrosive byproducts (e.g. formic acid and formaldehyde), which ultimately exacerbate wear of the cylinder liner-piston ring friction pair, this study focuses on the effect of honing crosshatch angle on the tribological performance of the friction pair. A synergistic approach combining numerical simulation and experimental validation is employed to determine the optimal honing parameters and elucidate their intrinsic mechanism of action.
Based on Archard's wear theory, a finite element model of the cylinder liner-piston ring friction pair is established to simulate the variations in wear volume and friction stress for four distinct honing angles (35°, 45°, 55°, 65°) and a smooth surface under methanol-induced lubrication dilution conditions. Using the control variable method, honed crosshatch specimens with the aforementioned angles are fabricated via a laser marking machine. Laser processing parameters are precisely calibrated as follows: power of 30 W, scanning speed of 200 mm/s, frequency of 20 kHz, and a single scanning pass, ensuring consistent crosshatch depth and width across all specimens. A pin-on-disk friction pair is configured, with the upper specimen made of GCr15 and the lower specimen of 40Cr. A mixture of methanol and 10W-40 lubricating oil is utilized to replicate the degraded lubrication environment inherent to methanol engines. Tribological performance tests are conducted on an MMW-1000 vertical universal friction and wear tester, covering a load range of 10-25 N and a rotational speed range of 150-600 r/min, to validate the reliability and accuracy of the simulation results.
Simulation results demonstrate that the wear volume of honed crosshatch surfaces is significantly lower than that of the smooth surface. Specifically, the 45° honing angle yields the minimum wear volume (1.12×10-13 mm3), representing a 32.11% reduction compared with the smooth surface. Furthermore, this angle exhibits the optimal friction stress stability, with a maximum friction stress of only 10.44 MPa, which is lower than those of the other angles and the smooth surface (13.41 MPa for the smooth surface). Experimental results are highly consistent with the simulation outcomes: the wear volume of the specimen with a 45° honing angle is 0.001 4 g, a 39.13% decrease relative to the smooth surface (0.002 3 g). Under varying load and rotational speed conditions, the friction coefficient of honed crosshatch surfaces is generally lower than that of the smooth surface, and the 45° angle surface demonstrates the most stable friction coefficient during the steady wear stage.
Key experimental insights reveal that honed crosshatches mitigate abrasive wear substantially by capturing wear debris and storing lubricating oil in micro-grooves to enable secondary lubrication, an effect particularly prominent under methanol-lubricated dilution conditions. The 45° honing angle achieves an optimal balance between the oil storage capacity of micro-grooves and hydrodynamic lubrication effects, facilitating the formation of a stable hydrodynamic oil film and effectively suppressing fluctuations in friction stress. Under high loads, honed crosshatches enhance hydrodynamic effects through squeeze lubrication, thereby preventing a significant increase in the friction coefficient with increasing load. At high rotational speeds, centrifugal force drives lubricating oil from the micro-grooves to replenish the contact surface, whereas the smooth surface exhibits elevated friction coefficients due to lubricant loss. This study confirms that the design of honed crosshatch morphology significantly reduces the wear volume and stress-strain levels of the cylinder liner surface. Notably, the 45° honing angle exhibits superior tribological properties, and its unique friction and wear reduction mechanism is systematically clarified. These findings provide a robust theoretical foundation for the optimization of honing morphology design for cylinder liner-piston ring friction pairs in methanol engines.
Key words
methanol engine /
cylinder liner /
honing crosshatch /
honing angle /
friction and wear /
friction performance
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Funding
National Nature Science Foundation of China (52475117)
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