LAB EVALUATION OF ENGINE WEAR AS A FUNCTION OF DUST

AIRBORNE DUST, IF NOT FILTERED, CAN RAPIDLY CAUSE DAMAGE AND PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION IN HEAVY-DUTY DIESEL ENGINES. NEVERTHELESS, QUANTITATIVE DATA DESCRIBING THIS PHENOMENON ARE GENERALLY LACKING, AND QUESTIONS CONTINUOUSLY ARISE CONCERNING THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG DUST SIZE, CONCENTRATION LEVEL, FILTER PERFORMANCE, AND ENGINE WEAR. THIS UNCERTAINTY MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO SPECIFY FILTRATION LEVELS THAT WILL ASSURE ADEQUATE AND COST-EFFECTIVE ENGINE PROTECTION. TO MINIMIZE ENGINE WEAR AND THE RISK OF PREMATURE ENGINE FAILURE, AIR FILTERS MUST PREVENT WEAR-CAUSING PARTICLES FROM ENTERING THE ENGINE. IN ADDITION, OIL FILTERS MUST REMOVE PARTICLES THAT PENETRATE THE INLET AS WELL AS PARTICLES THAT ARE GENERATING DURING ENGINE OPERATION. IN ORDER TO INVESTIGATE CAUSE AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS, A LABORATORY PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO MEASURE ENGINE WEAR AS A FUNCTION OF INTAKE AIR QUALITY USING RADIOACTIVE TRACER TECHNIQUES (RTT). THESE MEASUREMENTS WILL PROVIDE A BASIS FOR QUANTIFYING ENGINE WEAR AS A FUNCTION OF SPECIFIC DUST PARAMETERS, AND IN PARTICULAR, THE PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS THAT MUST BE REMOVED BY THE AIR AND OIL FILTERS WILL BE DETERMINED. BY CORRELATING DUST LEVELS TO FILTER PERFORMANCE, OIL AND AIR FILTER SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS CAN BE DEFINED. FURTHERMORE, BECAUSE ENGINES IN MILITARY VEHICLES OFTEN RUN HOTTER THAN NORMAL, THE INFLUENCE OF HIGH TEMPERATURE OPERATION WILL ALSO BE INVESTIGATED. THIS WILL MEASURE ABRASIVE WEAR DUE TO THE SYNERGISTIC IMPACT OF DUST INGESTION AND LUBRICATION DEGRADATION, WHICH IS LIKELY WHEN OPERATING AT HIGHER THAN NORMAL ENGINE TEMPERATURES. OVERALL, THIS EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM WILL DEVELOP A BODY OF KNOWLEDGE FROM WHICH MEANINGFUL CORRELATIONS AND DECISIONS CAN BE MADE CONCERNING ENGINE WEAR, DUST SIZE, AND FILTER PERFORMANCE.