Effects of Different Piston Materials and Head Design on the Thermal Performance of Four Stroke Spark Ignition Engine Piston


Ataş H., Karaçor B., Özcanlı M.

Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Fen ve Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi, cilt.25, sa.6, ss.1470-1480, 2025 (TRDizin)

Özet

In this study, the effects of using different materials in different piston head designs for internal combustion engines on the thermal performance of the piston heads were analyzed. Three different piston head models were created using the CAD/CAM software CATIA V5 R21 and thermal analysis were performed in ANSYS Workbench. The designs were evaluated using Al 6061 and AlSiC materials to investigate the temperature distribution and heat flux performance. The analysis results showed significant differences between the two materials. Based on the results of piston head designs 1, 2, and 3, AlSiC showed superior performance due to its high thermal conductivity and temperature resistance. In the results, piston head design 2 with AlSiC showed higher performance than Al 6061 with a maximum heat flux of 8.21 x105 W/m in piston 2 head design. However, Al 6061 offers advantages in terms of lower cost and ease of manufacture. Among the three piston head designs, piston head 2 was characterized by a balanced temperature distribution (min. 456.75°C, max. 500°C) and superior thermal performance. When using AlSiC, the maximum heat flux of 8.21 x105 W/m² compared to 8.15 x 105 W/m2 for Al 6061 showed improved thermal conductivity, resulting in exceptional stability against high temperature fluctuations.