V8 ENGINE Ceramic Coatings for Pistons
- Details
- Published on Friday, 04 November 2016 00:29
An engines piston is probably one of the first and most important engine components that should be considered for coating with a thermal barrier ceramic coating. Coating the piston mainly reduces the operating temperature of the piston dome and this helps reduce detonation. Ceramic coating can increase the horsepower of an engine and allows for a tighter piston to bore clearance because the piston runs cooler and therefore there is less expansion taking place. This essentially enables the engine builder to reduce the ring end gaps of the compression, scraper and oil rings which contributes to better ring seal with no increase in friction, which means more compression is created without the risk of scored cylinders and piston skirts.
There are three basic methods or systems in which the coatings can be applied which are dry film lubricants, thermal barrier coatings and oil dispersing coatings. The above systems will be beneficial to all internal combustion pistons powered engines including, petrol powered four stroke engines, two stroke engines, diesel powered engines, gas powered engines, alcohol powered engines, nitrous oxide assisted engines, turbo and supercharged assisted engines and Wankel rotary engines etc.
Thermal barrier coatings insulate the engines pistons against damaging heat transfer which keeps more of the heat generated from combustion taking place within the combustion chamber increasing the downward pressure on the piston thereby increasing power and torque.
The ceramic coated piston dome repels the burnt hot gasses resulting in less heat transferred through the piston dome as well as the incoming fuel/air mixture, reducing detonation thus allowing a more efficient combustion process to occur on each compression stroke. The coatings also enable the heat at the surface to flow more evenly, reducing hot spots. Heat transfers most rapidly when there is a large difference in temperature.
When all the above is added up it enables more fuel molecules to oxidize which allows more fuel in on the intake stroke which burns more efficiently, creating more power, which equates to less fuel required for optimum power. Any naturally aspirated engine struggles to suck in fuel/air mixture and expel burnt gas as it is whereas supercharged and/or turbocharged engines have a pump to take care of speeding up the process.
The above results in an engine that can run with a leaner fuel air mixture which requires less initial timing due to the fact that there is less thermal expansion due to absorbed heat as well as the heat transfer through pistons, combustion chambers and ports being slowed down, forcing the burnt gasses to flow out into the exhaust manifold quicker.
CLICK HERE or contact Nick at V8 ENGINE on 082-4400664 for more information and expert advice about 'Thermal Barrier Ceramic Coatings' and how important the process is for drastically reducing heat, improving performance and reliability on all your engine components.