Technical Paper
Numerical Examinations on the Effect of Active Piston-Movement Control
2004-09-27
2004-32-0065
In order to improve thermal efficiency of spark ignition engines, a novel method to increase degree of constant volume was considered. Because the combustion speed is not infinity as assumed in Otto cycle but limited, it is necessary to decrease the piston-movement around TDC so as to increase degree of constant volume. At first, experimental study was made to confirm this. A test engine which has longer expansion stroke than compression stroke and enables a slow piston-movement during combustion period was built. The experimental data indicated an increase in degree of constant volume, but did not show an increase in thermal efficiency. In order to clarify this reason, numerical simulations are conducted in this paper. As a result, the gain due to the increase in degree of constant volume caused by piston-motion during combustion was found not exceeding the loss by increased heat loss.