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A major concern for a high-power density, heavy-duty engine is the durability of its components, which are subjected to high thermal loads from combustion. The thermal loads from combustion are unsteady and exhibit strong spatial gradients. Experimental techniques to characterize these thermal loads at high load conditions on a moving component such as the piston are challenging and expensive due to mechanical limitations. High performance computing has improved the capability of numerical techniques to predict these thermal loads with considerable accuracy. High-fidelity simulation techniques such as three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics and finite element thermal analysis were coupled offline and iterated by exchanging boundary conditions to predict the crank angle-resolved convective heat flux and surface temperature distribution on the piston of a heavy-duty diesel engine.

Spark ignition knock is highly sensitive to changes in intake air temperature. Hot surface temperatures due to ceramic thermal barrier coatings increase knock propensity by elevating the incoming air temperature, thus mitigating the positive impacts of low heat transfer losses by requiring spark retard to avoid knock. Low thermal inertia coatings (i.e. Temperature swing coatings) have been proposed as a means of reducing or eliminating the open cycle charge heating penalty of traditional TBCs through a combination of low thermal conductivity and low volumetric heat capacity materials. However, in order to achieve a meaningful gain in efficiency, a significant fraction of the combustion chamber must be coated. In this study, a coated piston and intake and exhaust valves with coated combustion faces, backsides, and stems are installed in a single-cylinder research engine to evaluate the effect of high coated fractions of the combustion chamber in a knock-sensitive architecture.

Fatigue analysis of pistons is reliant on an accurate representation of the high temperatures to which they are exposed. It can be difficult to represent this accurately, because instrumented tests to validate piston thermal models typically include only measurements near the piston crown and there are many unknown backside heat transfer coefficients (HTCs). Previously, a methodology was proposed to aid in the estimation of HTCs for backside convection boundary conditions of a stratified charge compression ignition (SCCI) piston. This methodology relies on Bayesian inference of backside HTC using a co-simulation between computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA) solvers. Although this methodology primarily utilizes the more computationally efficient FEA model for the iterations in the calibration, this can still be a computationally expensive process.

In military applications, diesel engines are required to achieve high power outputs and therefore must operate at high loads. This high load operation leads to high piston component temperatures and heat rejection rates limiting the packaged power density of the powertrain. To help predict and understand these constraints, as well as their effects on performance, a thermodynamic engine model coupled to a finite element heat conduction solver is proposed and validated in this work. The finite element solver is used to calculate crank angle resolved, spatially averaged piston temperatures from in-cylinder heat transfer calculations. The calculated piston temperatures refine the heat transfer predictions as well requiring iteration between the thermodynamic model and finite element solver.

An analytical mechanics model was employed to predict the delamination of several thermal-barrier-coated pistons that had been previously tested in a high-output, single-cylinder diesel engine. Some of the coatings delaminated during engine operation. Results are presented for two thicknesses of the same coating material, and for two similar coatings with different levels of stiffness. All the coating thermomechanical properties such as thermal conductivity, density, volumetric heat capacity, thickness, elastic modulus, coefficient of thermal expansion, Poisson ratio and toughness, were measured prior to engine testing. Previous measurements of the piston transient heat flux, based on fast-response surface temperature data, in the same engine were used as an input to calculate the multilayer wall temperature distribution. A theoretical methodology was employed to evaluate and predict the coating durability.

Opposed-piston 2-stroke (OP-2S) engines have the potential to achieve higher thermal efficiency than a typical diesel engine. However, the uniflow scavenging process is difficult to control over a wide range of speeds and loads. Scavenging performance is highly sensitive to pressure dynamics, port timings, and port design. This study proposes an analysis of the effects of port vane angle on the scavenging performance of an opposed-piston 2-stroke engine via simulation. A CFD model of a three-cylinder opposed-piston 2-stroke was developed and validated against experimental data collected by Achates Power Inc. One of the three cylinders was then isolated in a new model and simulated using cycle-averaged and cylinder-averaged initial/boundary conditions. This isolated cylinder model was used to efficiently sweep port angles from 12 degrees to 29 degrees at different pressure ratios.

Five different commercially available high-temperature martensitic steels were evaluated for use in a heavy-duty diesel engine piston application and compared to existing piston alloys 4140 and microalloyed steel 38MnSiVS5 (MAS). Finite element analyses (FEA) were performed to predict the temperature and stress distributions for severe engine operating conditions of interest, and thus aid in the selection of the candidate steels. Complementary material testing was conducted to evaluate the properties relevant to the material performance in a piston. The elevated temperature strength, strength evolution during thermal aging, and thermal property data were used as inputs into the FEA piston models. Additionally, the long-term oxidation performance was assessed relative to the predicted maximum operating temperature for each material using coupon samples in a controlled-atmosphere cyclic-oxidation test rig.

In this work, a novel opposed piston architecture is proposed where one crankshaft rotates at twice the speed of the other. This results in one piston creating a 2-stroke profile and another with a 4-stroke profile. In this configuration, the slower piston operates in the 2-stroke CAD domain, while the faster piston completes 2 reciprocating cycles in the same amount of time (4-stroke). The key benefit of this cycle is that the 4-stroke piston increases the rate of compression and expansion (dV/dθ), which lowers the combustion-induced pressure rise rate after top dead center (crank angle location of minimum volume). Additionally, it lowers in-cylinder temperatures and pressures more rapidly, resulting in a lower residence time at high temperatures, which reduces residence time for thermal NOx formation and reduces the temperature differential between the gas and the wall, thereby reducing heat transfer.

This paper presents the transient power optimization of an organic Rankine cycle waste heat recovery (ORC-WHR) system operating on a heavy-duty diesel (HDD). The optimization process is carried on an experimentally validated, physics-based, high fidelity ORC-WHR model, which consists of parallel tail pipe and EGR evaporators, a high pressure working fluid pump, a turbine expander, etc. Three different ORC-WHR mixed vapor temperature (MVT) operational strategies are evaluated to optimize the ORC system net power: (i) constant MVT; (ii) constant superheat temperature; (iii) fuzzy logic superheat temperature based on waste power level. Transient engine conditions are considered in the optimization. Optimization results reveal that adaptation of the vapor temperature setpoint based on evaporation pressure strategy (ii) provides 1.1% mean net power (MNP) improvement relative to a fixed setpoint strategy (i).

An experimental investigation was conducted to explore the impact in-cylinder pressure oscillations have on piston heat transfer. Two fast-response surface thermocouples embedded in the piston top measured transient temperature and a commercial wireless telemetry system was used to transmit thermocouple signals from the moving piston. Measurements were made in a light-duty single-cylinder research engine operated under low temperature combustion regimes including Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) and Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) and Conventional Diesel (CDC). The HCCI data showed a correlated trend of higher heat transfer with increased pressure oscillation strength, while the RCCI and CDC data did not. An extensive HCCI data set was acquired. The heat transfer rate - when corrected for differences in cylinder pressure and gas temperature - was found to positively correlate with increased pressure oscillations.

Commercial vehicles transport the majority of the inland freight in US and a significant number of passengers. They are large fuel consumers as they operate a large number of hours per day, pulling heavy loads. The increasing fuel price and the Green House Gas emission regulation have provided a strong impetus for new technologies capable of improving the commercial vehicle fuel economy. Among others, optimized powertrain control can improve the vehicle fuel economy, particularly if it is based on accurate information about the instantaneous load demand. Furthermore, model-based online vehicle parameter estimator is critical for implementation of an adaptive vehicle controller. While vehicle mass estimation has been successfully demonstrated, rolling resistance and aerodynamic drag estimation has not been fully explored yet. This paper examines this problem using model-based approach with a supervisory data extraction scheme.

The limited operational range of low temperature combustion engines is influenced by near-wall conditions. A major factor is the accumulation and burn-off of combustion chamber deposits. Previous studies have begun to characterize in-situ combustion chamber deposit thermal properties with the end goal of understanding, and subsequently replicating the beneficial effects of CCD on HCCI combustion. Combustion chamber deposit thermal diffusivity was found to differ depending on location within the chamber, with significant initial spatial variations, but a certain level of convergence as equilibrium CCD thickness is reached. A previous study speculatively attributed these spatially dependent CCD diffusivity differences to either local differences in morphology, or interactions with the fuel-air charge in the DI engine. In this work, the influence of directly injected gasoline on CCD thermal diffusivity is measured using the in-situ technique based on fast thermocouple signals.

Abundant supply of Natural Gas (NG) is U.S. and cost-advantage compared to diesel provides impetus for engineers to use alternative gaseous fuels in existing engines. Dual-fuel natural gas engines preserve diesel thermal efficiencies and reduce fuel cost without imposing consumer range anxiety. Increased complexity poses several challenges, including the transient response of an engine with direct injection of diesel fuel and injection of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) upstream of the intake manifold. A 1-D simulation of a Cummins ISX heavy duty, dual-fuel, natural gas-diesel engine is developed in the GT-Power environment to study and improve transient response. The simulated Variable Geometry Turbine (VGT)behavior, intake and exhaust geometry, valve timings and injector models are validated through experimental results. A triple Wiebe combustion model is applied to characterize experimental combustion results for both diesel and dual-fuel operation.

The recent advent of highly effective drilling and extraction technologies has decreased the price of natural gas and renewed interest in its use for transportation. Of particular interest is the conversion of dedicated diesel engines to operate on dual-fuel with natural gas injected into the intake manifold. Dual-fuel systems with natural gas injected into the intake manifold replace a significant portion of diesel fuel energy with natural gas (generally 50% or more by energy content), and produce lower operating costs than diesel-only operation. Diesel-natural gas engines have a high compression ratio and a homogeneous mixture of natural gas and air in the cylinder end gases. These conditions are very favorable for knock at high loads. In the present study, knock prediction concepts that utilize a single step Arrhenius function for diesel-natural gas dual-fuel engines are evaluated.

An experimental study has been conducted to provide insight into heat transfer to the piston of a light-duty single-cylinder research engine under Conventional Diesel (CDC), Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), and Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) combustion regimes. Two fast-response surface thermocouples embedded in the piston top measured transient temperature. A commercial wireless telemetry system was used to transmit thermocouple signals from the moving piston. A detailed comparison was made between the different combustion regimes at a range of engine speed and load conditions. The closed-cycle integrated and peak heat transfer rates were found to be lower for HCCI and RCCI when compared to CDC. Under HCCI operation, the peak heat transfer rate showed sensitivity to the 50% burn location.

This paper investigates the development of a deaeration device to remove nitrogen from the hydraulic fluid in hydraulic hybrid vehicles (HHVs). HHVs, which use accumulators to store and recycle energy, can significantly reduce vehicle emissions in urban delivery vehicles. In accumulators, nitrogen behind a piston cylinder or inside a bladder pressurizes an incompressible fluid. The permeation of the nitrogen through the rubber bladder into the hydraulic fluid limits the efficiency and reliability of the HHV system, since the pressure drop in the hydraulic fluid can in turn cause cavitation on pump components and excessive noise in the system. The nitrogen bubbles within the hydraulic fluid may be removed through the employment of commercial bubble eliminators if the bubbles are larger than a certain threshold. However, gas is also dissolved within the hydraulic fluid; therefore, novel design is necessary for effective deaeration in the fluid HHV circuit.

The U.S. Army currently uses JP-8 for global operations according to the "one fuel forward policy" that was enacted almost twenty years ago in order to help reduce the logistics burden of supplying a variety of fuels for given Department of Defense vehicle and base applications. One particular challenge with using global JP-8 is the lack of or too broad a range of specified combustion and fuel system affecting properties including ignition quality, high temperature viscosity, and lubricity. In addition to these challenges, the JP-8 fuel specification currently allows the use of blending with certain types of synthetic jet fuels up to 50% by volume. This blended fuel also doesn't include an ignition quality or high temperature viscosity specification, but does include a lubricity specification that is much less restrictive than DF-2.

The paper describes the approach, addresses integration challenges and discusses capabilities of the Hybrid Powertrain-in-the-Loop (H-PIL) facility for the series/hydrostatic hydraulic hybrid system. We describe the simulation of the open-loop and closed-loop hydraulic hybrid systems in H-PIL and its use for concurrent engineering and development of advanced supervisory strategies. The configuration of the hydraulic-hybrid system and details of the hydraulic circuit developed for the H-PIL integration are presented. Next, software and hardware interfaces between the real components and virtual systems are developed, and special attention is given to linking component-level controllers and system-level supervisory control. The H-PIL setup allows imposing realistic dynamic loads on hydraulic pump/motors and accumulator based on vehicle driving schedule.

Energy security and climate change challenges provide a strong impetus for investigating Electric Vehicle (EV) concepts. EVs link two major infrastructures, the transportation and the electric power grid. This provides a chance to bring other sources of energy into transportation, displace petroleum and, with the right mix of power generation sources, reduce CO₂ emissions. The main obstacles for introducing a large numbers of EVs are cost, battery weight, and vehicle range. Battery health is also a factor, both directly and indirectly, by introducing limits on depth of discharge. This paper considers a low-cost path for extending the range of a small urban EV by integrating a parallel hydraulic system for harvesting and reusing braking energy. The idea behind the concept is to avoid replacement of lead-acid or small Li-Ion batteries with a very expensive Li-Ion pack, and instead use a low-cost hydraulic system to achieve comparable range improvements.

The number of control actuators available on spark-ignition engines is rapidly increasing to meet demand for improved fuel economy and reduced exhaust emissions. The added complexity greatly complicates control strategy development because there can be a wide range of potential actuator settings at each engine operating condition, and map-based actuator calibration becomes challenging as the number of control degrees of freedom expand significantly. Many engine actuators, such as variable valve actuation and flow control valves, directly influence in-cylinder combustion through changes in gas exchange, mixture preparation, and charge motion. The addition of these types of actuators makes it difficult to predict the influences of individual actuator positioning on in-cylinder combustion without substantial experimental complexity.