A key element of TriboPack is the cylinder liner manufactured in cast iron, which needs a controlled hard-phase content and the best grain structure in the running surface for both good strength and running behaviour. Careful machining followed by full deep honing to remove all damaged hard phase from the liner surface reportedly delivers an ideal running surface for the piston rings, together with an optimum surface microstructure. Deep honing of the full liner running surface is a prerequisite for maximizing the benefits of TriboPack, says Wärtsilä: its experience has shown that plateau honing
of a wave-cut liner is not adequate because, once the plateau is worn down, the rings run on liner metal whose hard phase structure was damaged during machining. This damaged hard phase must be removed by deep honing.