Development of tribo-tester for tribological studies of piston ring/bore pair

A reciprocating tribo-tester integrated with multi-functional components was developed for the purposes of studying the scuffing failure of piston ring/bore parts in engine. The apparatus, equipped with heating and temperature controlling devices, can measure the temperature of contact region using tiny thermocouple. Lubrication status can be indicated real time by the dynamic contact resistance between ring and bore using full-bridge circuit. Experiments show the designed tester with good stability to measure multiple parameters, can be used to study the mechanism of scuffing failure reliably.