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The Wankel rotary engine is more compact than conventional piston engines, but its oil and fuel consumption must be reduced to satisfy emission standards and customer expectations. A key step toward this goal is to develop a better understanding of the apex seal lubrication to reduce oil injection while reducing friction and maintaining adequate wear. This paper presents an apex seal dynamics model capable of estimating relative wear and predicting friction, by modeling the gas and oil flows at the seal interfaces with the rotor housing and groove flanks. Model predictions show that a thin oil film can reduce wear and friction, but to a limited extent as the apex seal running face profile is sharp due to the engine kinematics.

It has been required recently that diesel engines for passenger cars meet various requirements, such as low noise, low fuel consumption, low emissions and high power. The key to improve the noise is to reduce a combustion noise known as “Diesel knock noise”. Conventional approaches to reduce the diesel knock are decreasing combustion excitation force due to pilot/pre fuel injection, adding ribs to engine blocks or improving noise transfer characteristics by using insulation covers. However, these approaches have negative effects, such as deterioration in fuel economy and increase in cost/weight. Therefore, modification of engine structures is required to reduce it. We analyzed noise transfer paths from a piston, a connecting rod, a crank shaft to an engine block and vibration behavior during engine operation experimentally, and identified that piston resonance was a noise source.

This paper studies the ignition processes of two biodiesel from two different feedstock sources, namely waste cooked oil (WCO) and palm oil (PO). They were investigated using the direct photography through high-speed video observations and detailed chemical kinetics. The detailed chemical kinetics modeling was carried out to complement data acquired using the high-speed video observations. For the high-speed video observations, an image intensifier combined with OH* filter connected to a high-speed video camera was used to obtain OH* chemiluminscence image near 313 nm. The OH* images were used to obtain the experimental ignition delay of the biodiesel fuels. For the high-speed video observations, experiments were done at an injection pressure of 100, 200 and 300 MPa using a 0.16 mm injector nozzle.

In previous Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods, environmental burden items to be analyzed, prior to a life cycle inventory analysis, were assumed as the main factors of environmental problems regardless of the product category. Next, the life cycle inventory analysis, in which the total amount of environmental burden items emitted during the life cycle of a product was calculated, and an environmental impact assessment were performed. The environmental impact assessment was based on the initially assumed environmental burden items. The process, in other words, was a particular solution based on this assumption. A general solution unconstrained by this assumption was necessary. The purpose of this study was to develop a general method of LCA that did not require such initially assumed environmental burden items, and to make it possible to perform a comprehensive environmental impact assessment and strategically reduce environmental burden of a product.

Internal combustion engines still play a vital role in realizing the low carbon society. For spark ignition engines, further improvement in thermal efficiency can be achieved by increasing both compression and specific heat ratios. In the current work, the authors developed practical technologies to prevent output power loss due to knocking at full load, which is a critical issue for increasing compression ratio. These new technologies allowed to increase the compression ratio significantly and provide an equivalent torque level as a conventional engine. As a result, thermal efficiency has been improved at partial load.

Mazda announced that all customers who purchase Mazda cars are provided with the joy of driving and excellent environmental and safety performance under slogan of "Sustainable Zoom-Zoom" long-term vision for technology development. The purpose of this study is to develop a new approach of Life Cycle Assessment (abbreviated to LCA) to be applied to clean energy vehicles and new car models. The improvement of both environmental performance, e.g., fuel consumption, exhaust emissions, vehicle weight reduction, and LCA that is a useful methodology to assess the environmental load of automobiles for their lifecycles has become more important. LCA by inventory analysis, for RX-8 Hydrogen RE as a rotary engine vehicle used hydrogen as clean energy, was carried out and disclosed the world for the first time. LCA for new Mazda 5 was carried out as the portfolio of all models, previously only the specific model equipped with fuel efficiency device based on ISO14040.

In recent years, improving fuel efficiency and collision safety are important issue. We have worked on a new construction method to develop body structure which is light weight and strong/stiff. We adopt multi type Tailor-Welded Blanks (TWB) which is formed after welding several steel sheets for ATENZA (MAZDA 6), NEW DEMIO (MAZDA 2), and RX-8. This is a technology to consistently improve of such product properties and to reduce costs. Laser welding is a common TWB welding method, but for further equipment cost reductions and productivity improvements, we have developed a higher welding speed and robust plasma welding and introduced this to mass production. We introduce this activity and results in this report.

Effects of split injection, with a relatively short time interval between the two sprays, on the spray development process, and the air entrainment into the spray, were investigated by using laser induced fluorescence and particle image velocimetry (LIF-PIV) techniques. The velocities of the spray and the ambient air were measured. The cumulative mass of the ambient air entrained into the spray was calculated by using the entrainment velocity normal to the spray boundary. The vortex structure of the spray, formed around the leading edge of the spray, showed a true rotating flow motion at low ambient pressures of 0.1 MPa, whereas at 0.4 MPa, it was not a true rotating flow, but a phenomenon of the small droplets separating from the leading edge of the spray and falling behind, due to air resistance. The development processes of the 2nd spray were considerably different from that of the 1st spray because the 2nd spray was injected into the flow fields formed by the 1st spray.

A technique to strengthen body frame with a polymeric structural foam has been developed with benefits of reducing vehicle weight and improving drivability and fuel economy. The idea of this new technology was evolved from the concept that body frame strength will increase drastically if the body frames are prevented from folding on collision. The energy of a collision impact would be effectively absorbed if weak portions of body frames are reinforced by a high strength structural foam. The new technology composed of the high strength structural foam and a light-weight frame structure with partial foam filling is reported here.

Aldehydes are the cause of sick house syndrome or chemical sensitivity and have harmful influences for human beings. In the cabin of vehicle, aldehydes which are included in the volatilization gas from the interior materials, DE emission gas in intake air, cigarette smoke and so on spoil the comfortableness. Active carbon, which has been used as an adsorbent, shows an excellent removal efficiency for most of the gas components by physical adsorption. But for aldehydes, it has difficulty because aldehydes are hard to be adsorbed physically. We have developed new aldehydes adsorbent undergoing addition reaction with gaseous aldehydes on its surface. Aldehydes capture material (ACM) make use of the chemical reaction using a resorcin as a reagent and an H-type zeolite as a water-containing support, and active hydrogen is used as a catalyst to promote the reaction. In addition, we have applied ACM to cabin air filter (CAF) of vehicle.

Recently, an audible clattering noise has been noticed in some vehicles during cold engine starts, mainly in the U.S. The clattering is referred to by various names, such as “carbon knock,” “carbon rap,” “mechanical knock” and “combustion chamber deposit interference (CCDI).” CCDI is believed to be caused by the deposit formation in the combustion chamber. In the research effort described here, CCDI was successfully reproduced in a 2.5-liter multipoint injection engine with a polyolefin amine gasoline additive. It was determined that the CCDI was caused by mechanical contact between the piston top and the cylinder head deposits. The vibration due to CCDI originated mainly at the thrust side of the piston right after top-dead-center on compression stroke and was characterized by a high frequency response. Combustion chamber deposit (CCD) formation depends on many factors, including gasoline additives.

A new type of three way catalyst for lean engine was developed in order to reduce hydrocarbon (HC), carbon-monoxide (CO) and nitrogen-oxides (NOx) in lean exhaust gas. This catalyst has a base support material of MFI zeolite loaded with active metals including platinum (Pt), iridium (Ir) and rhodium (Rh). It showed good catalytic activity and thermal durability on a lean engine. This catalyst made it possible to enlarge the lean operating region of the lean burn engine. It showed the NOx reduction of 51% in Japanese 10-15 mode emission test and the emissions were found low enough to satisfy the new Japanese emission standards. Consequently, fuel economy of the lean vehicle with this catalyst has been improved about 16% in comparison with a comparable current stoichiometric combustion vehicle. This catalyst has been mass-produced for Mazda 323 lean burn vehicle (Z-Lean) for the Japanese domestic market.

A large quantity of recirculated exhaust gas is used to reduce NOx emissions and improve fuel economy at the same time. The effect of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) was investigated under the stoichiometric and lean operating conditions and compared with the effect of lean operation without EGR. A mixture injected SI engine that has a mechanically driven mixture injection valve installed was prepared. In this engine, it is possible to charge combustible mixture independently from combustion air and recirculated exhaust gas introduced from intake port in order to stratify the mixture. The effect of the EGR ratio on NOx emissions and fuel consumption was measured under the stoichiometric and lean operating conditions. Due to the mixture distribution controlled by the mixture injection, a large quantity of recirculated exhaust gas could be introduced into the combustion chamber under the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio. The limit of EGR ratio was 48 %.

The new combustion method in DISC engine has been developed. It has a double structure combustion chamber characterized as ‘Caldera’. The chamber is constructed by a center cavity for the purpose of forming a stable mixture around a spark plug electrode, and by an outer cavity which has a role of a main chamber. This method makes possible a perfect un-throttling operation, and a fuel consumption equal to a diesel engine is achieved. With regard to an out-put of DISC engine, a stoichmetric combustion and a high torque are achieved by controling a fuel injection timing with an electro-magnetic injection system device. With regard to emission regulations, a heavy EGR include residual gas decreases greatly NOx and HC emissions simultaneously, and which suggests a possibility to achieve LEV/ULEV regulations.

We have introduced a supercharged Miller Cycle gasoline engine into the market in 1993 as an answer to the requirement of reduction in CO2 emission of vehicles. Improvement in the fuel economy of a supercharged Miller Cycle engine is achieved by the reduction of friction loss due to a smaller displacement. The biggest problem of a conventional supercharged engine is knocking. In order to avoid the knocking, lower compression ratio, which accompanies lower expansion ratio, has been adopted by the conventonal engines and achieved insufficient fuel economy improvement. The Miller Cycle obtains superior anti-knocking performance as well as lowering compression ratio, while keeping the high expansion ratio. The decreased friction loss by the smaller displacement has completely lead to the improvement of fuel economy.

Mazda has been pursuing the research of side exhaust porting for its rotary engine in an effort to improve the engine's fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions characteristics. The side exhaust porting configuration provides greater flexibility in setting port timing and shape, as compared to the peripheral exhaust porting configuration, which is in use in the current-generation rotary engines; the side exhaust porting configuration enables the selection of a port timing more favorable to reduced fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. The side exhaust port rotary engine used in this research has its exhaust port closure timing around the top dead center (TDC) and has no intake-exhaust timing overlap. As a result, burnt gasses entering the next cycle of combustion are reduced, thus enhancing combustion stability; also, the air-fuel ratio can be set leaner for improved fuel consumption.

A gasoline engine with an entirely new combustion cycle deriving from Miller Cycle is developed. By delaying closing timing of intake valve and with new Lysholm Compressor which provides higher boost pressure, engine knocking is avoided while high compression ratio is maintained and approximately 1.5 times larger toque than that of a naturally aspirated(NA) engine of the same displacement is realized. This V6 Miller Cycle gasoline engine can be the alternative to a larger displacement NA engine because of its equivalent torque performance and its lower fuel consumption by the effect of smaller displacement.

A study of a direct-injection stratified-charge system (DISC), as applied to a rotary engine (RE) for motor vehicle usage, was undertaken. The goals of this study were improved fuel consumption and reduced exhaust emissions. These goals were thought feasible due to the high thermal efficiency associated with the DISC-RE. This was the first application of this technology to a motor vehicle engine. Stable ignition and ideal stratification systems were developed by means of numerical calculations, air-fuel mixture measurements, and actual engine tests. The use of DISC resulted in significantly improved fuel consumption and reduced exhaust emissions. The use of an exhaust gas recirculating system was studied and found to be beneficial in NOx reduction.

Mazda has developed new-generation V6 engines. The new V6 series comprises 2.5-litre, 2.0-litre and 1.8-litre engines. The development objective was to ensure high output performance for excellent “acceleration and top-end feel”, while satisfying “Clean & Economy” requirements. The engines also had to have a pleasant sound. Mazda selected for these engines a short stroke, 60° V-shaped 24 valve DOHC with an aluminum cylinder block. Various techniques are adopted as follows: Combustion improvement and optimization of control to achieve high fuel economy and low emissions Improvement of volumetric efficiency, inertia reduction of rotating parts and optimization of control to achieve excellent “acceleration and top-end feel” Adoption of a high-rigidity, two-piece cylinder block and crankshaft and weight reduction of reciprocating parts to achieve a pleasant engine sound Material changes and elimination of dead space to achieve a compact, lightweight engine

Both NOx and unburned HC were reduced by changing the direction of the flame propagation. It is generally said that the optimum ignition position of spark ignition engine is in the center of combustion chamber. However by igniting arround the chamber and propagating the flame toward the center, a smooth heat release pattern due to the decrease in the flame area and a decrease in the unburned gas entering the ring crevise can be anticipated. These effects of this combustion process, which was named the surrounding combustion process (SCP), were experimntally confirmed using the constant volume combustion vessels and the spark ignition engine equipped with six spark plugs per cylinder. Next, the steps for decreasing the number of ignitions TCre considered, and additional three spark plugs for SCP were installed in the four valve pentroof combustion chamber. With this engine, the NOx reduction and the capability of SCP to further improve the lean burn engine fuel economy were confirmed.