Computational modeling of temperature field and heat transfer analysis for the piston of diesel engine with and without air cavity

The present paper presents a theoretical study carried out to investigate the temperature field and heat transfer rate from the pistons of diesel engines with and without air cavity. the material was removed inside the piston,creating an air cavity. this cavity acts as an insulating medium which prevents the heat flow; thus,the need for providing insulation coating on piston crown is minimized. the main motive of this is to reduce the weight of the engine and the cost associated with thermal barrier coating. a detailed analysis was given for estimating the heat transfer rates to the cooling media and temperature field (isothermal distribution) in the piston body of water-cooled engines at different loads with and without air cavity. this analysis was done with numerical simulation models using fortran programming. results indicate that after creating an optimized air cavity in the piston,temperature,at all nodal point,decreases,which was presented in the form of contour bands and 4% of reduction in heat loss through piston,which leads to a better thermal efficiency. the fea result provides effective theoretical evidence for further improving the pistons' performance. additional benefits include protection of metal combustion chamber components from thermal stresses and reduced cooling requirements. © 2015 jordan journal of mechanical and industrial engineering.