Fatigue Life Analysis of an Engine Piston Fueled with E۱۰ Under Different Operating Conditions

This study investigates, based on software simulation, the thermomechanical behavior and fatigue life of an internal combustion engine piston under naturally aspirated and turbocharged conditions, using gasoline and E۱۰ fuels. Thermomechanical boundary conditions—including in-cylinder pressure, average temperature, and convective heat transfer coefficient—were obtained through AVL BOOST combustion simulations and used to calculate fatigue stress amplitudes. Probabilistic fatigue life analysis of the aluminum alloy piston was conducted using four statistical models: Weibull, three-parameter Weibull, lognormal, and exponential, with the standard Weibull distribution providing the best fit according to Anderson-Darling tests. Turbocharged operation increased cylinder pressure by ۱۵.۱۳% for gasoline and ۲۲.۹% for E۱۰, and raised maximum piston temperature by ۳۸.۲۶% and ۳۵.۷۴%, respectively. Correspondingly, maximum stress increased by ۱۵.۶۶% for gasoline and ۲۰.۹۶% for E۱۰, with the piston pin seat identified as the critical stress location. Despite higher stress under turbocharged conditions, the use of E۱۰ fuel led to lower effective stress and improved fatigue life compared to gasoline. Software-based fatigue life predictions at ۹۰% and ۹۵% reliability indicate that E۱۰-fueled pistons under turbocharged conditions exhibit longer fatigue life than gasoline pistons, highlighting the combined benefits of thermomechanical simulation and statistical reliability analysis. This work provides a comprehensive assessment of piston durability under varying operating conditions and demonstrates that E۱۰ fuel can enhance engine component reliability while maintaining performance.

Keywords:

Piston , Reliability , Thermodynamic Modeling , Thermomechanical Fatigue