Design and Experimental Investigation of Lapping Process for Productivity Improvement of I-Section Piston Rings

Piston rings are the important components of a piston in an IC engine since it will seal the combustion chamber and regulate the oil consumption. In order to produce good quality of piston rings it is important to identify the defects in production process. In this project experimental survey has been carried out to identify the defects. From the survey by Pareto diagram flank chipping was identified as the major cause and from Ishikava diagram root cause has been identified that loading method in lapping process. The objective of this project work is to improve the productivity and decrees the scrap rate. FEA has been carried out in lapping process it is found that stresses was more than the yield strength of a material as a result flank chipping defect occurring in lapping process therefore design improvement is required. A new ring loading method has been developed in lapping process and FEA is carried out, it is found that stresses developed are closer to the yield strength and reduction of stress concentration. From experimental it is observed that there has been an increase in the productivity and reduction of flank chipping scrap rate from 2.46% to 1.10% is noticed.