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Although idling vibration is usually caused by 1st order of engine combustion force, other engine forces also occur at frequencies lower than the 1st order of combustion (called low frequency idling vibration in this paper). The drive-line of the Toyota Hybrid System II (THS II) has different torsional vibration characteristics compared to a conventional gasoline engine vehicle with an automatic transmission. Nonlinear characteristics caused by the state of backlash of pinions and splines influence changes in the torsional resonance frequency. The torsional resonance frequency of the drive-line can be controlled utilizing the hybrid system controls of the THS II.

The aim of this work is to investigate the possibility of heat insulation by “Temperature Swing”, that is temperature fluctuation, on combustion chamber walls coated with low-heat-conductivity and low-heat-capacity materials. Adiabatic engines studied in the 1980s, such as ceramic coated engines, caused constantly high temperature on combustion wall surface during the whole cycle including the intake stroke, even if it employed ceramic thermal barrier coating methods. This resulted in increase in NOx and Soot, decrease in volumetric efficiency and combustion efficiency, and facilitated the occurrence of engine knock. On the other hand, “Temperature Swing” coat on the combustion chamber walls leads to a large change in surface temperature. In this case, the surface temperature with this insulation coat follows the transient gas temperature, which decreases heat loss with the prevention of intake air heating, and also which is expected to prevent NOx and Soot from increasing.

A newly developed AR series 4-cylinder engine has achieved high fuel efficiency through the following: adopting roller rocker arms for the valvetrain system and a variable output oil pump to reduce the friction losses, optimizing the combustion chamber and its cooling system for high compression ratio, and adopting VVT-i (Variable Valve Timing-intelligent) for both intake and exhaust camshafts to enhance thermal efficiency of the engine. Engine torque has been enhanced across the entire range of engine speeds while high performance at low engine speed is achieved by adopting a variable induction intake manifold system (ACIS-III). Output power has been enhanced by making the intake and exhaust systems highly efficient. A hinge type tumble control valves were developed to improve emissions at low temperature by improving combustion when the engine is cold in order to comply with the U.S. Cold-NMHC.

Recently, diesel engine manufacturers have been improving the tolerance of fuel injection quantity and timing in response to the strengthening of emissions regulations and the introduction of various kinds of diesel fuels. This paper describes the Intelligent Accuracy Refinement Technology (i-ART) system, which has been developed as a way of achieving substantially improved tolerances. The i-ART system consists of a fuel pressure sensor installed in the injectors. It calculates the injection quantity and timing at high speed using a dedicated microcomputer designed for pressure waveform analysis. As the injector can directly measure the fuel injection pressure waveform for each injection, it can compensate the injection quantity and timing tolerance at any time. Toyota Motor Corporation has introduced this system in Brazilian market vehicles. In Brazil, the PROCONVE L6 emissions regulations will be introduced in 2012, and the market also uses various kinds of diesel fuels.

Toyota introduced a new engine control system using a new microprocessor during the Fall of 1982. The new control system is used effectively for more complex application to engine and automatic transmission control. It controls air-fuel ratios in combination with the transmission shift control to achieve good fuel economy, driveability, as well as emission reduction. This system includes a self diagnostic capability, in which the electronic control unit (ECU) diagnoses system abnormalities, stores them in the memory and turn on the CHECK ENGINE lamp. To assure the proper system operation against any failure of the processor, the electronic control unit has a back up circuit which executes the predeterminded operation of fuel injection and spark timing. For this system, a new 12-bit microprocessor capable of high speed real time processing was developed.

A new variable venturi carburetor has been developed, in order to achieve high metering accuracy, fuel economy, higher power and good driveability of the vehicle. This carburetor is a down-draft-type, and has better characteristics compared with the fixed venturi carburetor, such as better fuel atomization, lower cycle-to-cycle variation of combustion in lean mixture, faster response, and higher power. For this carburetor, a new type venturi and a new cold enrichment system has been developed. This venturi type has an exponential-profile with a nearly constant increasing rate of venturi opening area to the suction piston stroke. The new cold enrichment system controls the airfuel ratio in all conditions by changing air bleed quantities using the thermo-wax. With this system, cold drive-ability is improved greatly.

Higher compression ratio and lower air-fuel ratio tend to raise the required break down voltage. Various types of electrode configurations were examined. It was found that a very thin platinum plate attached to each elect-rode was effective in reducing the electrode wear. This newly developed platinum tipped spark plug uses a small sized center electrode and an enlarged initial spark gap. The lean misfire limit and the torque fluctuation at partial load are improved with the platinum tipped spark plug. After a durability test, the break down voltage became lower due to the grained platinum surface. The spark gap was almost unchanged during an 80 thousand kilometer durability test run.

The lean combustion of an SI engine has been recognized as one of the most promising methods for further improvement of fuel economy. There has been, however, difficulty in extending the lean misfire limit enough to realize NOx emission levels below the mandatory level and still keep satisfactory driveability. A simulation study has been carried out to search for the possibility of getting better fuel economy under the constrainsts of NOx emission and driveability. To realize the optimum calibration, the lean misfire limit has been extended by the introduction of (1) high swirl and high combustion chamber turbulence through the use of a helical port with an unique swirl control valve, (2) a newly developed ZrO2 lean mixture sensor and (3) the multi-point fuel injection with sophisticated control. A very good fuel economy level of 17.0 km/1 (Japanese 10 mode) has been accomplished while still meeting the NOx emission cycle regulation of 0.25 g/km.

The application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for three-dimensional (3D) combustion analysis coupled with detailed chemistry in engine development is hindered by its expensive computational cost. Chemistry computation may occupy as much as 90% of the total computational cost. In the present paper, a new two-step iso-octane combustion model was developed for spark-ignited (SI) engine to maximize computational efficiency while maintaining acceptable accuracy. Starting from the model constants of an existing global combustion model, the new model was developed using an approach based on sensitivity analysis to approximate the results of a reference skeletal mechanism. The present model involves only five species and two reactions and utilizes only one uniform set of model constants. The validation of the new model was performed using shock tube and real SI engine cases.

The use of predictive models in the study of Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) allows reducing developing cost and times. However, those models are challenging due to the complex and multi-phase phenomena occurring in the combustion chamber, but also because of the different spatial and temporal scales in different components of the injection systems. This work presents a methodology to accurately simulate the spray by Discrete Droplet Models (DDM) without experimentally measuring the injector mass flow rate and/or momentum flux. Transient nozzle flow simulations are used instead to define the injection conditions of the spray model. The methodology is applied to a multi-hole Gasoline Direct injection (GDi) injector. Firstly, the DDM constant values are calibrated comparing simulation results to Diffused Back-light Illumination (DBI) experimental technique results. Secondly, transient nozzle flow simulations are carried out.