A study on the effect of pressure balance between the second and third land of a piston on engine oil consumption

Engine oil consumption causes particulate matter, poisoning of catalysts, abnormal combustion like pre-ignition in a gasoline engine, and an increase in customer's running cost. Oil consumption, therefore, must be reduced. It is well known that pressure at a piston second land sometimes becomes larger than the cylinder pressure in the latter half of the expansion stroke. Larger pressure at the second land causes an increase in engine oil consumption. For reducing the second land pressure, increasing volume of a piston second land is one of design schemes. Pressure at a piston second land is calculated in piston design stage. In the calculation, pressure at a piston third land is assumed as same as pressure at the crankcase. This study aimed the effect of volume of the third land of a piston on engine oil consumption. The third and the second lands pressure were measured using an optical fiber type pressure sensor. It was found that the third land pressure showed a quite different trend from the crankcase pressure. It was also found that the pressure balance between the second land and the third land affected engine oil consumption. It was suggested that the third land pressure should be considered in the calculation for lands pressure of a piston and further investigation on third land design for reducing engine oil consumption may be required.