Piston dynamic characteristics analyses based on FEM method Part I: Effected by piston skirt parameters

•Type line is parameterized to lubrication problem with function.•Finite element method is coupled with Runge–Kutta to solve skirt lubrication.•The effects of structural parameters on slapping noise are investigated in detailed.

The dynamic and lubrication characteristics are all very complex problem in piston-liner analysis, and they have great effect on the power output, vibration, noise emission. In this paper, the numerical model which concludes lubrication part and dynamic motion is established, the lubrication is solved by the finite element method, and dynamic equation is solved by Runge–Kutta. The effect of piston skirt parameters on dynamic characteristics are compared based on a typical inline six-cylinder engine, such as: clearance, offset of piston pin, length of piston skirt, position of bump, curvature parameter and ellipticity of the piston, all the result mainly focus on the slap noise of the engine. All the analyses are very useful to design of piston-liner at the development of the engine, and it can provide the guidance for the design of the low noise engine.