Study on Lubrication Efficiency and Friction Power Loss of Engine Based on a Hybrid Hydrodynamic Model

Abstract

Friction loss is one of the main factors affecting engine power. Reducing friction power losses to improve the power of engines is a significant concern for designers. Especially, under the background of energy-saving and emission reduction, it is indispensable to carry out an in-depth investigation on engine bearing lubrication characteristics. Unlike the previous studies of separate modelling, a new modelling method of coupling the dynamic and lubrication model is proposed in this paper. The bearing capacity, friction force, friction coefficient and eccentricity ratio were taken as the evaluation criterion, and the influence of design parameters such as angular speed, bearing radius and width on the lubrication efficiency and friction power loss (LE-FPL) were studied. The results indicate that increasing the angular speed, bearing radius or width can effectively reduce the eccentricity ratio and raise the minimum oil film thickness, which is beneficial to improve the lubrication efficiency. However, the above methods to improve engine lubrication efficiency will lead to more power loss of engine to a certain extent. Therefore, studies on reducing the friction power loss for the engine and on improving the lubrication efficiency for the engine should be considered coordinately in the dynamic design and optimisation of the engine.