The Polymer Piston at the 10th EFRC conference
During the 2016 EFRC conference in Düsseldorf, a paper was presented which marked the completion of the R&D work by the EFRC on the light weight piston concept. Some 70 attendants were able to obtain an overview of the project which had lasted more than 3 years up to the transition into competitive product development.
Before this project, many in the industry had undertaken work to come up with lighter moving parts to reduce reciprocating mass. Without exception, these were not successful for many reasons, including high cost if there was a technical feasibility at all. So the EFRC project was commissioned from which a polymer piston emerged and then Panacea Piston Company was founded.
The article describes this all. Besides the obvious technical issues (materials) that had to be solved and inventions that were made (test methods), one part of the article addresses the innovation aspect, which includes the removal of all kinds of real life obstructions that get in the way of success. Also, the readers learns about the high priority aspects suitable for pre-competitive development, and those which are left for actual product development.
The article is recommended reading for those who are curious how well the development was done and want an overall appreciation of the technology.
