This paper reports on the theoretical analysis on the lubrication characteristics between the piston ring and the grooved cylinder liner. The circular shape piston ring and two types grooves are consider, and the minimum oil film thickness during the full engine cycle are obtained by using iterative technique. The comparative results of minimum oil film thickness and viscous friction force between the smooth and grooved liner are presented. And various design parameter of piston ring and liner groove are tested. The groove in the liner generally reduces the minimum value of minimum oil film thickness, but the maximum viscous friction force is increased at the minimum film position.