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A dimensionless relationship that estimates the maximum bearing load of a 4-cylinder 4-stroke in-line engine has been found. This relationship may assist the design engineer in choosing a desired counterweight mass. It has been demonstrated that: 1) the average bearing load increases with engine speed and 2) the maximum bearing load initially decreases with engine speed, reaches a minimum, then increases quickly with engine speed. This minimum refers to a transition speed at which the contribution of the inertia force overcomes the contribution of the maximum pressure force to the maximum bearing load. The transition speed increases with an increase of counterweight mass and is a function of maximum cylinder pressure and the operating parameters of the engine.

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.

The Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP) is a very important engine parameter, giving significant information about the quality of the cycle that transforms heat into mechanical work. For this reason, modern data acquisition systems display, on line, the cylinder pressure variation together with the corresponding IMEP. The paper presents a very simple algorithm for the calculation of IMEP, based on the correlation between IMEP and the gas pressure torque. It was found that that the IMEP may be calculated by a very simple formula involving only two harmonic components of the cylinder pressure variation. The computation of the two harmonic components is very easily performed because it does not involve the calculation of an average pressure and the cylinder volume variation. The method was experimentally validated showing differences less than 0.2% with respect to the IMEP calculated by the traditional method.

The paper presents a method of determining the Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP) and the gas pressure torque of a multi-cylinder engine using data obtained from the measurement of the crankshaft's speed variation. At steady state operating conditions a Fourier series describe the gas pressure torque of a cylinder and the resultant torque may be obtained by adding the harmonic components corresponding to all cylinders. Only the major harmonic orders, having the same phase for all cylinders add algebraically appearing with large contributions in the spectrum of the resultant torque. The lowest major component has a low frequency and, at this frequency, the crankshaft behaves dynamically like a rigid body. In this situation it is possible to correlate the amplitude of this harmonic order of the gas pressure torque to the same harmonic order of the crankshaft speed.

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 objective of this work is to develop a strategy to reduce the penalties in the diesel engine performance, fuel economy and HC and CO emissions, associated with the operation in the low temperature combustion regime. Experiments were conducted on a research high speed, single cylinder, 4-valve, small-bore direct injection diesel engine equipped with a common rail injection system under simulated turbocharged conditions, at IMEP = 3 bar and engine speed = 1500 rpm. EGR rates were varied over a wide range to cover engine operation from the conventional to the LTC regime, up to the misfiring point. The injection pressure was varied from 600 bar to 1200 bar. Injection timing was adjusted to cover three different LPPCs (Location of the Peak rate of heat release due to the Premixed Combustion fraction) at 10.5° aTDC, 5 aTDC and 2 aTDC. The swirl ratio was varied from 1.44 to 7.12. Four steps are taken to move from LTC to ALTC.

The high temperature tribology issue for uncooled Low Heat Rejection (LHR) diesel engines where the cylinder liner piston ring interface exceeds temperatures of 225°C to 250°C has existed for decades. It is a problem that has persistently prohibited advances in non-watercooled LHR engine development. Though the problem is not specific to non-watercooled LHR diesel engines, it is the topic of this research study for the past two and one half years. In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, a tremendous amount of research had been placed upon the development of the LHR diesel engine. LHR engine finite element design and cycle simulation models had been generated. Many of these projected the cylinder liner piston ring top ring reversal (TRR) temperature to exceed 540°C[1]. In order for the LHR diesel to succeed, a tribological solution for these high TRR temperatures had to be developed.

An advanced low heat rejection engine concept has been selected based on a trade-off between thermal insulating performance and available technology. The engine concept heat rejection performance is limited by available ring-liner tribology and requires cylinder liner cooling to control the piston top ring reversal temperature. This engine concept is composed of a titanium piston, headface plate and cylinder liner insert with thermal barrier coatings. Monolithic zirconia valve seat inserts, and thermal barrier coated valves and intake-exhaust ports complete the insulation package. The tribological system is composed of chrome oxide coated cylinder, M2 steel top piston ring, M2 steel valve guides, and an advanced polyol ester class lubricant.

Several mechanisms are discussed to understand the formation of both regulated and unregulated emissions in a high speed, direct injection, single cylinder diesel engine using low sulphur diesel fuel. Experiments were conducted over a wide range of injection pressures, EGR rates, injection timings and swirl ratios. The regulated emissions were measured by the standard emission equipment. Unregulated emissions such as aldehydes and ketones were measured by high pressure liquid chromatography and hydrocarbon speciation by gas chromatography. Particulate mass was measured with a Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance (TEOM). Analysis was made of the sources of different emission species and their relationship with the combustion process under the different operating conditions. Special attention is given to the low temperature combustion (LTC) regime which is known to reduce both NOx and soot. However the HC, CO and unregulated emissions increased at a higher rate.

A phenomenological zero-dimensional spray penetration model was developed for diesel-type conditions for a constant volume chamber. The spray was modeled as a protruding cone which is well-mixed at its tip after passing through initial primary and secondary breakup zones. The resulting cone model is strictly dependent on injection parameters; density ratio, injection and chamber pressure, nozzle characteristics, and cone angle. The proposed model was compared with data from three different sources and performed well in most cases except for low density environments.

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.

Signals indicative of in-cylinder combustion have been under investigation for the control of diesel engines to meet stringent emission standards and other production targets in performance and fuel economy. This paper presents the results of an investigation on the use of the ion current signal for the close loop control of a heavy duty four cylinder turbocharged diesel engine equipped with a common rail injection system. A correlation is developed between the start of ion current signal (SIC) and the location of the peak of premixed combustion (LPPC) in the rate of heat release trace. Based on this correlation, a PID closed loop controller is developed to adjust the injection timing for proper combustion phasing under steady and transient engine operating conditions.

Thermal barrier coatings are becoming increasingly important in providing thermal insulation for heat engine components. Thermal insulation reduces in-cylinder heat transfer from the engine combustion chamber as well as reducing component structural temperatures. Containment of heat also contributes to increased in-cylinder work and offers higher exhaust temperatures for energy recovery. Lower component structural temperatures will result in greater durability. Advanced ceramic composite coatings also offer the unique properties that can provide reductions in friction and wear. Test results and analysis to evaluate the performance benefits of thin thermal barrier coated components in a single cylinder diesel engine are presented.

An experimental setup using rapid compression machine to provide excellent optical access to visualize simulated high-speed small-bore direct injection diesel engine combustion processes is described. Typical combustion visualization results of diesel spray combustion under different EGR, swirl, and injection pressure and nozzle conditions are presented. Different swirl intensities are achieved using an air nozzle with variable orientations and a check valve to connect the compression chamber and the combustion chamber. Different EGR ratios are achieved by pre-injection of diesel fuel prior to the main observation sequence. Clear visualization of the high-pressure fuel injection, ignition, combustion and spray/wall/swirl interactions is obtained. The injection system is a high-pressure common-rail system with either a VCO or a mini-sac nozzle. High-speed movies up to 35,000 frame-per-second are taken using a framing drum camera to record the combustion events.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate combustion and performance characteristics for an advanced class of diesel engines which support future Army ground propulsion requirements of improved thermal efficiency, reduced system size and weight, and enhanced mobility. Advanced ground vehicle engine research represents a critical building block for future Army vehicles. Unique technology driven engines are essential to the development of compact, high-power density ground propulsion systems. Through an in-house analysis of technical opportunities in the vehicle ground propulsion area, a number of dramatic payoffs have been identified as being achievable. These payoffs require significant advances in various areas such as: optimized combustion, heat release phasing, and fluid flow/fuel spray interaction. These areas have been analyzed in a fundamental manner relative to conventional and low heat rejection “adiabatic” engines.

JP-8 is an aviation turbine engine fuel recently introduced for use in military ground vehicle applications and generators which are mostly powered by diesel engines. Many of these engines are designed and developed for commercial use and need to be adapted for military applications. This requires more understanding of the auto- ignition and combustion characteristics of JP-8 under different engine operating conditions. This paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of an engine operation using JP-8 and ultra low sulfur diesel fuel (ULSD). Experiments were conducted on 0.42 liter single cylinder, high speed direct injection (HSDI) diesel engine equipped with a common rail injection system. The results indicate that the distillation properties of fuel have an effect on its vaporization rate. JP-8 evaporated faster and had shorter ignition delay as compared to ULSD. The fuel economy with JP-8 was better than ULSD.

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.

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.

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.

Future U.S. Army low heat rejection (LHR) diesel engines will operate with oil sump temperatures higher than 350°F and cylinder wall temperatures (at the top ring reversal position) which may reach 1100°F. None of the synthetic lubricants which have previously been evaluated in LHR engine prototypes are able to function for long in such a severe thermal/oxidative environment. Work is being performed for the U.S. Army on development and evaluation of new high temperature diesel engine lubricants. The most significant result of this work has been the development of a low cost liquid lubricant which exhibits high temperature performance superior to the best previously developed LHR engine lubricant in all respects: deposit-forming tendencies, stable life under high temperature oxidative conditions, and friction and wear properties.