Cylinder Liner; Piston Rings; Cylinder Head - Wartsila 31 Product Manual

4. Description of the Engine
4.2.2 Crankshaft
Crankshaft line is built up from several pieces: crankshaft, counter weights, split camshaft
gear wheel and pumpdrive arrangement.
Crankshaft itself is forged in one piece. Both main bearings and big end bearings temperatures
are continuously monitored.
Counterweights are fitted on every web. High degree of balancing results in an even and thick
oil film for all bearings.
The connecting rods are arranged side-by-side and the diameters of the crank pins and journals
are equal irrespective of the cylinder number.
All crankshafts can be provided with torsional vibration dampers or tuning masses at the free
end of the engine, if necessary. Main features of crankshaft design: clean steel technology
minimizes the amount of slag forming elements and guarantees superior material durability.
The crankshaft alignment is always done on a thoroughly warm engine after the engine is
stopped.
4.2.3 Main bearings and big end bearings
The main bearings and the big end bearings are of tri-metal design with steel back, lead-bronze
lining and a soft running layer. The bearings are covered with a Sn-flash for corrosion protection.
Even minor form deviations can become visible on the bearing surface in the running in phase.
This has no negative influence on the bearing function. A wireless system for real-time
temperature monitoring of connecting rod big end bearings, "BEB monitoring system", is as
standard.
4.2.4

Cylinder liner

The cylinder liners are centrifugally casted of a special alloyed cast iron. The top collar of the
cylinder liner is provided with a water jacket for distributing cooling water through the cylinder
liner cooling bores. This will give an efficient control of the liner temperature.
A jet cooling nozzle inside the cylinder liner is injecting oil to the underside of the piston and
is then cooling the piston and lubricating the gudgeon pin bearing through the oil channels in
the top of the connecting rod.
4.2.5 Piston
The piston is of composite type with steel crown and nodular cast iron skirt. A piston skirt
lubricating system, featuring oil bores in a groove on the piston skirt, lubricates the piston
skirt/cylinder liner. The piston top is oil cooled by the jet cooling as mentioned above. The
piston ring grooves are hardened.
4.2.6

Piston rings

The piston ring set are located in the piston crown and consists of two directional compression
rings and one spring-loaded conformable oil scraper ring. Running face of compression rings
are chromium-ceramic-plated.
4.2.7

Cylinder head

The cross flow cylinder head is made of cast iron. The mechanical load is absorbed by a flame
plate, which together with the upper deck and the side walls form a rigid box section. There
are four hydraulically tightened cylinder head bolts. The exhaust valve seats and the flame
deck are efficiently and direct water-cooled. The valve seat rings are made of alloyed steel,
for wear resistance. All valves are hydraulic controlled with valve guides and equipped with
valve springs and rotators.
4-2
Wärtsilä 31 Product Guide
Wärtsilä 31 Product Guide - a1 - 18 October 2016