Calculation of the lubrication system of a reciprocating internal combustion engine

Abstract

This article discusses the principles of calculating lubrication systems, including determining oil consumption, pressure, viscosity, and performance of an internal combustion engine oil pump. A retrospective of the development of methods for calculating lubrication systems is given, and there is a tendency to develop energy-saving solutions for modern and promising internal combustion engines. The methods of reducing the consumption of lubricating fluid, problems in the calculation of the internal combustion engine lubrication system are considered. It is indicated that the main elements of the lubrication system, as part of the overall tribosystem, determining its operability and reliability, are liquid friction sliding bearings, therefore, the algorithm should be based on the hydrodynamic calculation of all pressure lubricated sliding bearings. It is proposed to use the universal Elrod equation for the degree of gap filling to calculate the pressures in the lubricating layer instead of the Reynolds equation, assuming that the gap is completely filled with lubricating fluid between the spike and the bearing. This will make it possible to describe the processes in the lubricating layer in a physically reasonable manner, and significantly improve the accuracy of predicting oil starvation in tribo-conjugations. The use of the computational capabilities of the Elrod algorithm for the joint calculation of triboconjugations of internal combustion engines and their oil supply system will allow us to reach a new level of creation and refinement not only of individual hydrodynamic sliding bearings of internal combustion engines, but also of the entire internal combustion engine lubrication system, avoid the use of oil pumps with excessive capacity, and reduce power losses to their drive.