Search Results

In the past two years, significant progress has been made in the application of ceramic-matrix composite materials to low heat rejection engine components. However, past R&D programs have identified a number of critical areas which require additional effort including: Life Prediction Methodology, Non-Destructive Testing, Design Methods, Data Base Development, and Verification of Design Rules. This paper discusses an integrated design methodology for addressing these research needs. The paper concludes with a specific example of a ceramic fiber-reinforced metal matrix composite piston which has been designed for application to advanced adiabatic engines.

Since the early inception of the adiabatic diesel engine in 1974, marked progress has taken place as a result of research efforts performed all over the world. The use of ceramics for heat engines in production applications has been limited to date, but is growing. Ceramic use for production heat engine has included: combustion prechambers, turbochargers, exhaust port liners, top piston ring inserts, glow plugs, oxygen sensors; and additional high temperature friction and wear components. The potential advantages of an adiabatic engine vary greatly with specific application (i.e., commercial vs. military, stationary vs. vehicular, etc.), and thus, a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses (and associated risks) of advanced adiabatic concepts with respect to materials, tribology, cost, and payoff must be obtained.

The U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Command is developing a future high power, low heat rejection military diesel engine. Performance requirements for the engine result in a predicted cylinder wall temperature of 560°C at the top piston ring reversal location. Thermal stresses imposed on the lubricant will therefore be unusually severe. Midwest Research Institute is developing the tribological system for this engine. A new general concept for high temperature diesel engine lubrication has been formulated. Our concept includes advanced synthetic liquid lubricants, solid lubricant additives, and self-lubricating materials. The lubricants, additives, and materials that have been selected for initial laboratory and engine evaluations of the concept are reported here.

Predicting the effects of transient heat conduction in low-heat-rejection engine components have been analyzed by applying instantaneous boundary conditions throughout a diesel engine thermodynamic cycle. This paper describes the advantages and disadvantages of one-dimensional finite difference and two-dimensional finite element methods by analyzing simple and complicated geometries like diesel bowl-in pistons. Also the performance characteristics of plasma sprayed zirconia, partially stabilized zirconia, and a monolithic reaction bonded silicon nitride ceramic materials are discussed and compared. Finite element studies have indicated that the steep temperature gradients associated with cyclic temperature swings in excess of 400 K may contribute to the failure of ceramic coatings near the corner joining the surface of the piston and the surface of the bowl for bowl-in pistons.

A computer simulation of the turbocharged turbocompounded direct-injection diesel engine system has been developed in order to study the performance characteristics of the total system as major design parameters and materials are varied. Quasi-steady flow models of the compressor, turbines, manifolds, intercooler, and ducting are coupled with a multi-cylinder reciprocator diesel model where each cylinder undergoes the same thermodynamic cycle. Appropriate thermal loading models relate the heat flow through critical system components to material properties and design details. This paper describes the basic system models and their calibration and validation against available experimental engine test data. The use of the model is illustrated by predicting the performance gains and the component design trade-offs associated with a partially insulated engine achieving a 40 percent reduction in heat loss over a baseline cooled engine.

Joint development of the adiabatic engine by Cummins Engine Company and the U. S. Army began with a feasibility analysis ten years ago. The effort was initially driven by the expectation of substantial performance improvement, a reduction in cooling system size, and several additional benefits. Program emphasis turned quickly to experimentation with the goal of demonstrating the feasibility of the adiabatic engine in working hardware. Several significant achievements were realized as have been reported earlier. Further development of the adiabatic engine is expected to be more evolutionary, paced by available technology in the areas of materials and tribology. Analysis capability necessary for insulated engine development has been found to be inadequate. Additional effort has gone into the development and validation of insulated engine analysis tools, both for cycle simulation and structural modeling.

This paper documents the successful operation of a modified Cummins T46 turbocharger with a ceramic rotor. This turbocharger is modified to incorporate a 4.6 inch diameter ceramic turbine rotor (pressureless sintered silicon nitride) on the hot end. These results document the most complete ceramic turbine rotor performance map, for a large ceramic turbocharger rotor, available to date.

Cummins Engine Company, Inc. and the U.S. Army have been jointly developing an adiabatic turbocompound engine during the last nine years. Although progress in the early years was slow, recent developments in the field of advanced ceramics have made it possible to make steady progress. It is now possible to reconsider the temperature limitation imposed on current heat engines and its subsequent influence on higher engine efficiency when using an exhaust energy utilization system. This paper presents an adiabatic turbocompound diesel engine concept in which high performance ceramics are used in its design. The adiabatic turbocompound engine will enable higher operating temperatures, reduced heat loss, and higher exhaust energy recovery, resulting in higher thermal engine efficiency. This paper indicates that the careful selection of ceramics in engine design is essential.

This paper discusses the goals, progress, and future plans of the TACOM/Cummins Adiabatic Engine Program. The Adiabatic Engine concept insulates the diesel combustion chamber with high temperature materials to allow hot operation near an adiabatic operation condition. Additional power and improved efficiency derived from this concept occur because thermal energy, normally lost to the cooling and exhaust systems, is converted to useful power through the use of turbomachinery and high-temperature materials. Engine testing has repeatedly demonstrated the Adiabatic Engine to be the most fuel efficient engine in the world with multi-cylinder engine performance levels of 0.285 LB/BHP-HR (48% thermal efficiency) at 450 HP representative. Installation of an early version of the Adiabatic Engine within a military 5 ton truck has been completed, with initial vehicle evaluation successfully accomplished.

This paper describes the progress on the Cummins-TARADCOM adiabatic turbocompound diesel engine development program. An adiabatic diesel engine system adaptable to the use of high performance ceramics which hopefully will enable higher operating temperatures, reduced heat loss, and turbo-charged exhaust energy recovery is presented. The engine operating environments as well as the thermal and mechanical loadings of the critical engine components are covered. Design criteria are presented and techniques leading to its fulfillment are shown. The present shortcomings of the high performance ceramic design in terms of meeting reliability and insulation targets are discussed, and the needs for composite designs are shown. A ceramic design methodology for an insulated engine component is described and some of the test results are shown. Other possible future improvements such as the minimum friction-unlubricated engine through the use of ceramics are also described.

Recent developments of high performance ceramics have given a new impetus for the advancement of heat engines. The thermal efficiencies of the Otto, Diesel, Brayton and the Stirling cycle can now be improved by higher operating temperatures, reduced heat loss, and exhaust energy recovery. Although physical and chemical properties of the high performance ceramics have been improved significantly, they still fall short of meeting the requirements necessary for application and commercialization of advanced heat engine concepts. Aside from the need for greater strength, the problems of consistency, quality, design, material inspection, insulative properties, oxidation and other important features must be solved before high performance ceramics can be considered a viable material for advanced heat engines. Several approaches in developing an adiabatic engine design in the laboratory are shown.

The contemporary turbocharged aftercooled diesel engine is providing the world with one of the most efficient and dependable powerplants known to mankind. An adiabatic turbocompound diesel engine is analyzed in this paper to demonstrate that the contemporary diesel cycle without a cooling system could be the beginning of a new era in continued diesel engine efficiency, reliability and durability. The problems with the diesel cooling system encountered in service are presented. The consequence of an adiabatic turbocompound engine without any cooling system is treated for engine performance.

The study relates air/fuel ratio, fuel injection timing, and engine speed to exhaust smoke levels and performance of the diesel engine. Additional data were obtained under supercharged and turbocharged inlet air conditions to investigate the applicability of the derived relationships under these conditions. Limited data using a variance in fuel type were obtained. Insight into the basic mechanism of smoke formation in diesel engines was gained. The relative percentages of fuel injected before ignition (i.e., premixed fuel) and after initiation of combustion (i.e., unmixed diffusion burning fuel) were found to be extremely significant in determining smoke levels. A smoke factor (the ratio of equivalence ratio in the combustion chamber at initial ignition to overall equivalence ratio) was formulated and found to be useful in predicting smoke phenomena in diesel engines.

Crude oils with a wide range of properties were investigated for direct use as fuel in U. S. Army high-speed four-cycle diesel engines. Crude oil properties were divided into two groups; 1. those properties which would be of importance for short-term operational effects, and 2. those properties whose effects would manifest during longer-term operation. Effects of crude oil use on engine subsystem hardware such as fuel filters and fuel injection pumps were investigated. Performance and combustion data were determined using pre-cup and direct injection configurations of the single cylinder CLR diesel engine operating on various crude oils. Performance data, wear and deposition effects of crude oil use were obtained using the TACOM single cylinder diesel engine. Results of this investigation showed that a wide range of crude oils with proper selection and pretreatment are feasible emergency energy sources for U. S. Army four-cycle high-speed diesel engines.

The increased use of turbocharged diesel engines for automotive applications has accentuated the need for accurate power correction functions. The study's purpose was to evaluate the effect of dry ambient intake air pressure, ambient intake air temperature, engine speed, and humidity upon the performance of a turbocharged diesel engine. Each effect is examined individually and weighted in a final relationship for standardized horsepower. Power correction formulas, in a form readily comparable to typical correction functions, are derived from the results. Testing was conducted through the use of various special test procedures, calibrations, and test equipment. With computer aid, test evaluation was conducted by utilizing various analytical and graphical methods. An accuracy comparison between actual and calculated values of power correction is presented.