The effect of thermal barrier coated piston crown on engine characteristics

While there have been numerous research papers in recent years describing t he theoretical benefits obtained from the use of ceramic components in reci procating engines, the amount of literature that describes practical result s is very limited, Although successes have been reported and ceramic compon ents are now in service in production engines, mainly for reduced in-cylind er heat rejection, many researchers have experienced failures or a drop in engine performance. This article presents the work completed on a low heat rejection engine. Extensive experiments were conducted on a three-cylinder SI Daihatsu engine with piston crowns coated with a layer of ceramic, which consisted of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), Measurement and comparison of engine performance, in particular fuel consumption, were made before and after the application of YSZ coatings deposited onto the piston crowns. Th e details of the cylinder pressures during the combustion process were also investigated.