Measurement of the Radial Pressure Distributions of Piston Rings Based on Partial-Thin-Walled Cylinder

The pressure distribution of piston rings is very important for minimizing lubricating oil wastages to lower gas emission and for improving the friction status to lessen the gasoline consumption as well as for heat transfer and guiding precision. To measure it accurately and efficiently, a new PC based prototype instrument was developed, which was based on the so-called Partial-Thin-Walled cylinder. The principle of this method and the calibration of the instrument were introduced detailedly. Curves and tables obtained from experiments performed on different kinds of piston rings showed good repeatability and accuracy of the proposed measuring method.