A two-material thermal barrier coating spatially tailored for high-efficiency GCI combustion

Continued research into thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) for internal combustion engines has generated insights into the design of TBCs that can increase fuel conversion efficiency. In this work, two low thermal inertia TBCs (a commercially available Gen 1 material, Gadolinium Zirconate, and a proprietary Gen 2 material) were experimentally tested in gasoline compression ignition (GCI) on a light-duty single cylinder research engine. Compared to a metal baseline, a 250-micron thick Gen 1 coated piston produced an efficiency benefit of 0.4 percentage points (pp) at 6 and 10 bar net indicated mean effective pressure (IMEPn) and a 0.2 pp penalty at 15 bar IMEPn. The Gen 1 coating also showed an uHC and smoke penalty. An 80-micron thick Gen 2 coated piston showed an efficiency benefit of 0.9 pp at 6 bar IMEPn and 0.4 pp at 10 bar IMEPn, but an efficiency penalty of 0.5 pp at 15 bar IMEPn. The Gen 2 coating, which has a lower thermal inertia than the Gen 1 coating, displayed durability problems while the Gen 1 coating did not. A third piston was coated with a 120-micron thick Gen 2 coating everywhere except the high failure outer bowl region, which was coated with a 120-micron Gen 1 coating. This hybrid coating displayed good durability, an uHC emission penalty, a smoke benefit, an efficiency benefit of 0.1 pp at 6 bar IMEPn, an efficiency benefit of 0.4 pp at 10 bar IMEPn, and no change in efficiency at 15 bar IMEPn. These results indicate that a durable Gen 1/Gen 2 coating can provide an efficiency benefit to GCI combustion, and that further improvements on piston-spray interaction optimization and surface sealing of the TBC, as well as increasing the coated combustion chamber surface area (e.g. head and valves) can add further improve efficiency.