Scuffing Failure Analysis Due to an Abrasive Contaminant in High Pressure Injection Fuel System

The presence of rigid abrasive contaminant between the plunger and sleeve of high-pressure injection fuel system causes scuffing failure. The abrasive contaminant is modeled as a spherically shaped rigid particle. The contaminant is envisioned to penetrate into the sleeve while positioning itself in rubbing contact with the plunger. Excessive temperature rise known as flash temperature between the particle-plunger interface is used as an indication of whether scuffing would take place. The model uses flash temperature in conjunction with the material properties to determine the critical particle size that may result in scuffing failure. The range of critical particle size initiating significant abrasive wear is determined and validated with the experimental results available in literature. Our predicted model can be used as a guide for selecting an appropriate filter size for high-pressure injection fuel system.