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To provide optimal performance of a small DI diesel in relation to noise, emissions and fuel economy, an experimental investigation was carried out using Taguchi methods. A single cylinder 3.5 kW diesel was selected for performance test at different engine speeds, loads and static injection timings. These controlled parameters were varied at three levels and the resulting changes in response variables viz. engine noise, smoke, HC, NOx, CO, CO2 emissions and fuel economy (b.s.f.c) were observed. The levels for low noise, smoke, emissions and b.s.f.c could be predicted and relevant combination of controlled parameters specified. Confirmation engine runs were carried out and the results showed good agreement with the predicted optimized quantities of interest based on Taguchi analysis. The effect of engine parameters to the above responses was evaluated in terms of percent contributions by using analysis of variance.

The need for efficient space utilization has provided a framework for the design of a 248mm family of torque converters that supports a wide choice of engine and transmission combinations. The axial length of the part and its weight have been substantially reduced while the performance range has been broadened without degradation of efficiency. The new converter operates in an expanded slipping clutch mode. It significantly contributes to the performance and fuel economy improvements of related vehicles. To meet the cost target, the comprehensive lineup and the resulting complexity have required a high level of component interchangeability. During the design phase, the manufacturing core competencies were scrutinized and process redundancies eliminated, both resulting in optimization of material selection and applicable technology.

Weight reduction of automobiles is key technology in order to improve fuel economy and driving performance. Concerning of the motorcycle engine, weight reduction is also the fundamental and important technologies. Cylinder is one of the main parts of engine and the wear characteristics of the cylinder liner are largely related to the engine performance. Gray iron liners squeezed in aluminum cylinder block have been widely used. This is due to the excellent resistance to abrasion of gray iron. In order to realize light all aluminum cylinder, the good abrasion resistant method is necessary to develop to be applied with inner surface of liners. We have developed the new Rapid Composite Plating System for the motorcycle engine cylinders. This system made it possible to adopt all aluminum cylinders without cast iron liners to new type of engine.

This paper describes the set-up and testing of a single cylinder 25cc, air cooled, 4-stroke Spark Ignition (SI) engine converted to run in Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) mode with the aid of various combustion control systems. The combustion control systems were investigated regarding their effects on combustion stability and heat release phasing. Engine operation was compared with unique findings from previous work done on a very small 2-stroke HCCI engine. HCCI engine operation was possible between 1000 - 4000 rpm when using Diethyl Ether (DEE) as the test fuel. Maximum operational fuel-air equivalence ratio (Φ) was 0.75 when operating without Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR). This relatively high equivalence ratio was attainable due to thermal gradients induced by the high surface area to volume ratio of the small engine combustion chamber, resulting in high chamber heat transfer.

The pistons in a snowmobile engine are subjected to severe temperature conditions not only because snowmobiles are operated in extremely cold temperatures but also because the engine has a high output per unit volume of approximately 150kW/liter. The temperature of the piston top may go from -40°C (when a cold engine is started) to 400°C or higher (when the engine is running at full load). When the piston and cylinder inner wall are cold, the performance of the lubricating oil drops; when they are hot, scuffing may be produced by problems such as tearing of the oil film between the piston and cylinder. When the engine is run at full load for a long time, moreover, the piston is subjected to prolonged high-temperature use, which is conducive to the production of piston boss hole abrasion and ring groove adhesive wear.

A historical review of the patents and literature pertaining to 3-valve stratified charge engines is presented in this paper. This very old invention appears to be a practical approach for the “clean engine” being sought for vehicular use since it has the intrinsic capability of simultaneously giving good fuel economy and producing minimal objectionable exhaust emissions. The prime requisites of this engine are a rich prechamber charge and a very lean main chamber charge regardless of prechamber volume, nozzle diameter, valving and spark plug location. Fuel-air equivalence ratios of the charges in the two combustion chambers are significantly important in order to achieve the proper optimization. These ratios should be about 15% rich for the prechamber and 15 to 30% lean for the main chamber at the moment of ignition.

Due to the requirements of the market, engine manufacturers and their suppliers must develop new products in a short lead time, with high quality, high reliability and lowest possible costs. A method to obtain a short lead time for a complicated aluminum cylinder head is the design in 3 D CAD and the use of simultaneous engineering. A practical example shows the design of a 16-valve cylinder head in 3 D CAD (Catia). The cylinder head supplier received a CAD-tape with the main dimensions such as valve locations, shape of the combustion chamber and ports and location of the bolts. A design team completed the cylinder head design in 3 D CAD in consideration of the needs for foundry technology, casting tool design and machining of the part. Special casting tools for the prototyping were manufactured parallel to the cylinder head design.

This paper will describe the development of the 3-load cell tumble meter. This is a new method for measuring the tumble component of in-cylinder mixture motion. In-cylinder mixture motion is an important parameter for understanding and improving combustion stability of piston engines.

Today turbo-diesel powertrains offering low fuel consumption and good low-end torque comprise a significant fraction of the light-duty vehicle market in Europe. Global CO₂ regulation and customer fuel prices are expected to continue providing pressure for powertrain fuel efficiency. However, regulated emissions for NO and particulate matter have the potential to further expand the incremental cost of diesel powertrain applications. Vehicle segments with the most cost sensitivity like compacts under 1400 kg weight look for alternatives to meet the CO₂ challenge but maintain an attractive customer offering. In this paper the concepts of downsizing and downspeeding gasoline engines are explored while meeting performance needs through increased BMEP to maintain good driveability and vehicle launch dynamics. A critical enabler for the solution is adoption of gasoline direct injection (GDi) fuel systems.

A 3-dimensional numerical study has been conducted investigating the combustion process in a VW 1.9l TDI Diesel engine. Simulations were performed modeling the spray injection of a 5-hole Diesel injector in a pressure chamber. A graphical methodology was utilized to match the spray resulting from the widely used Discrete Droplet Spray model to pressure chamber spray images. Satisfactory agreement has been obtained regarding the simulated and experimental spray penetration and cone angles. Thereafter, the combustion process in the engine was simulated. Using engine measurements to initialize the combustion chamber conditions, the compression stroke, the spray injection and the combustion simulation was performed. The novel RTZF two-zone flamelet combustion model was used for the combustion simulation and was tested for partial load operating conditions. An objective analysis of the model is presented including the results of a numerical parameter study.

A three-dimensional model for premixed- charge naturally-aspirated rotary engine combustion is used to identify combustion chamber geometries that could lead to increased indicated efficiency for a lean (equivalence ratio =0.75) natural gas/air mixture. Computations were made at two rpms (1800 and 3600) and two loads (approximately 345 Kpa and 620 Kpa indicated mean effective pressure). Six configurations were studied. The configuration that gave the highest indicated efficiency has a leading pocket with a leading deep recess, two spark plugs located circumferentially on the symmetry plane (one after the minor axis and the other before), a compression ratio of 9.5, and an anti-quench feature on the trailing flank.

In-cylinder flows in a motored four-valve SI engine were examined by simultaneous three-component LDV measurement. The purpose of this study was to develop better physical understanding of in-cylinder flows and quantitative methods which correlate in-cylinder flows to engine performance. This study is believed to be the first simultaneous three-component LDV measurement of the air flow over a planar section of a four-valve piston-cylinder assembly. Special attention is paid to the tumble formation process, three-dimensional turbulent kinetic energy, and measurement of the tumble ratio. The influence of the induction system and the piston geometry are believed to have a significant effect on the in-cylinder flow characteristics. Using LDV measurement, the flows in two different piston top geometries were examined. One axial plane was selected to observe the effect of piston top geometries on the flow field in the combustion chamber.

An investigation of the possibility to extend the 3-dimensional modeling capabilities from conventional diesel to the HCCI combustion mode simulation was carried out. Experimental data was taken from a single cylinder engine operating with early injections for the HCCI and a split-injection (early pilot+main) for the high speed Diesel engine operation. To properly phase the HCCI mode in the experiments, high amounts of cooled EGR and a decreased compression ratio were used. In numerical simulation performed using KIVA3-V code, modified to incorporate the Detailed Chemistry Approach the same conditions were reproduced. Special attention is paid on the analysis of the events leading up to the auto-ignition, which was reasonably well predicted.

Ever increasing specific power of diesel engines has put huge demand on effective thermal management of the pistons for the desired reliability and durability. The piston temperature control is commonly achieved by injecting cooling oil into piston galleries, but the design of the cooling system as well as the boundary conditions used in FEA simulations have so far relied mostly on empirical methods. A numerical procedure using 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has therefore been developed to simulate the cooling process and to estimate the cooling efficiency of gallery. The model is able to predict the detailed oil flow and heat transfer in gallery, of different designs and engine applications, under dynamic conditions. The resulted spatially resolved heat transfer coefficient from the CFD model, with better accuracy, enables improved prediction of piston temperature in finite element analysis (FEA).

A 3-D numerical analysis model of transient heat transfer among the multi-component coupling system in combustion chamber of internal combustion engine has been developed successfully in the paper. The model includes almost all solid components in combustion chamber, such as piston assembly, cylinder liner, cylinder head gasket, cylinder head, intake valves and exhaust valves, etc. With two different coupling heat transfer modes, one is the lubricant film heat conduction between two moving components, another is the contact heat conduction between two immovable solid components, and with the direct coupled-field analysis method of FEM, the heat transfer relation among the components is established. The simulation result dedicates the transient heat transfer process among the components such as moving piston assembly and cylinder liner, moving valves and cylinder head. The effect of cylinder head gasket on heat transfer among the components is also studied.

This project is an experimental investigation and optimization of piston slap noise in small two-stroke gasoline engine. Piston slap is one of the most significant mechanical noise sources in an internal combustion engine. It is a dynamic impact phenomenon between the piston and the cylinder block caused by changes in the lateral forces acting on the piston. The change in cylinder block vibration level caused by the piston impact is considered as a measure of piston slap during this experiment. The intensity of piston slap is measured in terms of vibration level in ‘g’ units, by means of accelerometers mounted on the cylinder block with Top Dead Center (TDC) and Bottom Dead Center (BDC) marker. For the design of low noise engines, all the major parameters, which contribute to piston slap, are listed and the critical four are examined through additional experiments.

GHP which, is the heat pump system for an air conditioning, is directly driven the compressor by a small gas engine. The NOx was reduced 70% less than a conventional gas engine with improvement of thermal efficiency. The combustion chamber shape using strong squish flow is improved in order that the pattern of a heat release is changed to be suitable. Because the relation between NOx and the thermal efficiency is the trade off relation, the air fuel ratio and the ignition timing must be precisely controlled. Detecting the change of the Pi variation calculated from the engine speed variation can control the air fuel ratio.

In recent years, engine manufacturers have been continuously involved in the research of proper technical solutions to meet more and more stringent CO2 emission targets, defined by international regulations. Many strategies have been already developed, or are currently under study, to attain the above objective. A tendency is however emerging towards more innovative combustion concepts, able to efficiently burn lean or highly diluted mixtures. To this aim, the enhancement of turbulence intensity inside the combustion chamber has a significant importance, contributing to improve the burning rate, to increase the thermal efficiency, and to reduce the cyclic variability. It is well-known that turbulence production is mainly achieved during the intake stroke. Moreover, it is strictly affected by the intake port geometry and orientation.

Multidimensional computations are carried out to aid in the development of a direct injection Diesel engine. Intake, compression, injection and combustion processes are calculated for a turbo-charged direct injection Diesel engine with a single intake valve. The effects of engine speed and engine load, as well as the influence of exhaust gas recirculation are compared to experimental measurements. The influence of piston bowl shape is investigated. Three dimensional calculations are performed using a mesh built from the complete CAD definition of the engine, intake port, cylinder and piston bowl. The injection characteristics are found to be of primary importance in the control of the combustion process. At a given injection set, piston bowl shape can be optimized for fluid dynamic and combustion.

Recently the analysis of air-fuel mixing and combustion has become important under the stringent emissions regulations of diesel engines. In the case of gasoline engines, the KIVA computer program has been developed and used for the analysis of combustion. In this paper, the calculations of combustion phenomena in DI diesel engines are performed by modifying the KIVA program so as to be applicable to multi-hole nozzles and arbitrary patterns of injection rate. The thermophysical and ther-mochemical properties of gasoline are altered to those diesel fuel. In order to investigate the ability of this modified program, the calculations are compared with the experiments on single cylinder engines concerning the pressure, flame temperature and mass change of chemical species in cylinders. Furthermore, the calculation for the heavy duty DI diesel engine is performed with this diesel combustion program.