I jämförelse med sina föregångare, har moderna lastbilsmotorer genomgått en betydandeutveckling och har utvecklats till effektiva kraftmaskiner med låga utsläpp genom införandet avavancerade avgasbehandlingssystem. Trots att de framsteg som gjorts under utvecklingen av lastbilsmotorer har varit betydande, så framhäver de framtida förväntningarna vad gällerprestanda, bränsleförbrukning och emissioner behovet av snabba samt storskaliga förbättringar av dessa parametrar för att förbränningsmotorn ska fortsätta att vara konkurrenskraftig och hållbar. Utmaningen i att uppfylla dessa till synes enkla krav är den invecklade, ogynnsammabalansgång som måste göras mellan parametrarna. Förbränningsmotorns kärna är förbränningsprocessen, som i sin tur är kopplad till motorns luftbehandlings- och bränsleregleringssystem. I denna studie undersöks Millercykeln som en potentiell lösning till att nå de motstridiga kraven för framtida lastbilsmotorer, framförallt med fokus på potentialen att förbättra prestandan samtidigt som NOx-emissionerna hålls på konstantnivå. Traditionellt har utvärderingen av Millercykeln utförts på encylindriga forskningsmotorer, vilket också har utgjort utgångspunkten i denna studie. Även om studier på flercylindriga simuleringsmodeller och forskningsmotorer har gjorts med konstanta inställningar för Millercykeln, så utförs de inte i samband med undersökningar av encylindriga motorer. Dessutom så möts inte kraven från insugssystemet på samma sätt mellan de olika motorkonfigurationerna. Denna studie undersöker och jämför potentialen för ökad prestanda med Miller-cykeln mellan encylindrig och flercylindrig motorkonfiguration för en lastbilsmotor med ett tvåstegs turboladdningssystem, som representerar ett realistiskt insugssystem som möjliggör implementeringen av Millercykeln. För att undersöka motorprestationen så används i denna studie den kommersiella mjukvaran GT-Power. Ytterligare resultat från studien innefattar kvantifiering av prestandakraven för ett högeffektivt tvåstegs turboladdningssystem och dess inverkan på temperaturen i inloppet till avgasbehandlings-systemet. En kvalitativ förståelse av betydelsen av interaktionen mellan cylindrar och effekten på cylinder-cylinder variationer med Millercykel utfördes också i simuleringar med flercylindrig motorkonfiguration. Studien utvärderade Millertiming inom ett intervall på -90 till +90 graders vev vinkel från utgångsvinkeln för stängning av insugsventilen. Utvärderingen utfördes vid systemjämvikt vid en fullastpunkt (1000RPM), där basfallet för både encylindrig och flercylindrig motor för utvärdering av Millercykeln var det välkända fallet med konstant specifik NOx. Ett ytterligare fall framhäver NOx-reduktionspotentialen med Miller vid konstant EGR-flöde på en encylindrig konfiguration. Fallen med ökad prestation realiserades genom att öka lufttillförseln, bränslemängden och det geometriska kompressionsförhållandet. Maximal prestandaökning observerades i fallet med ökad bränslemängd, och endast i detta fall utvärderades även konfigurationen med fler cylindrar för jämförelse av prestationsförbättringen med en encylindrig motsvarighet med Millertiming. Den flercylindriga motorn innefattade EGR som en lågtryckskrets, och medan detta antagande förenklade i avseende på modellering och kontroll, så var det till fördel för konfigurationen meden flercylindrig motor (jämfört med encylindrig) på grund av reducerade pumpförluster. Som påföljd gjordes en jämförande undersökning med encylinder-modellen med motsvarande mottryck för flercylinder-modellen inställt som gränsvärde. Resultaten visar att encylindermodellen representerar medelvärdet för cylindrarna i flercylinder-motorn när lämpligagränsvillkor tillämpas som kontrollparametrar. Studien ger en grund för jämförelse av Millertiming på encylindrig samt flercylindriga konfigurationer, samtidigt som kraven på insugssystemet fastställs och utgör en utgångspunkt föratt utvärdera Millercykeln och bestämma insugssystemets krav för hela motorns arbetsområde. / Modern heavy-duty engines have undergone considerable development over their predecessors and have evolved into efficient performance machines with a reducing emission footprint through the incorporation of advanced aftertreatment systems. Although, the progress achieved in heavy-duty engine development has been significant, the future expectation from heavy-duty engines in terms of performance, fuel consumption and emissions stresses the need for rapid large-scale improvements of these metrics to keep the combustion engine competitive and sustainable. The challenges in resolving these apparently straightforward demands are the intricate unfavourable trade-off that exists among the target metrics. The core of the combustion engine lies in the combustion process which is inherently linked to the air handling and fuel regulating systems of the engine. This study explores adopting the Miller cycle as a potential solution to the conflicting demands placed on future heavy-duty engines with an emphasis on the performance enhancement potential while keeping the specific NOX emission consistent. Traditionally, evaluation of the Miller cycle is performed on single-cylinder research engines and formed the starting point in this study. While studies on full-engine simulation models and test engines with fixed Miller timing have been evaluated, they appear to be performed in isolation of the favoured single-cylinder approach. Additionally, the charging system requirements are not consistently addressed between the two approaches. This study investigates and contrasts the performance enhancement potential of the Miller cycle on single-cylinder and serial enginemodels of a heavy-duty engine along with a two-stage turbocharging system to represent a realistic charging system that enables implementation of Miller timing. The commercial engine performance prediction tool GT-Power was used in this study. Additional outcomes of the study included quantifying the performance demands of a high efficiency two-stage turbocharging system and its impact on the inlet temperature of the exhaust aftertreatment system. A qualitative understanding of the significance of cylinder interaction effects on cylinder-cylinder variations with Miller timing was also performed on the serial engine cases. The study evaluated Miller timing within a range of -90 to +90 CAD from the baseline intake valve close angle. The evaluation was performed at steady-state operation of the engine at one full load point (1000RPM) wherein both the single-cylinder and serial engine Miller evaluation included a base case which characterises the Miller effect for constant specific NOX. An additional case highlights the NOX reduction potential with Miller for a constant EGR rate on the single-cylinder configuration. The performance enhancement cases were realised by increasingthe air mass, fuel mass and the geometric compression ratio. Maximum performance increase was observed in the increased fuel mass case and only this case was evaluated on the serial engine for contrasting single-cylinder and serial engine performance enhancement with Miller timing. The serial engine incorporated EGR as a low-pressure circuit and while this simplified modelling and controller considerations, it led to biasing of results in favour of the serial engine configuration (over the single-cylinder) due to reduced pumping loss. A subsequent comparison case was evaluated on the single-cylinder model with backpressure settings from the serial engine model. The results show that the single-cylinder model is representative of the cylinder averaged responses of the serial engine when appropriate boundary conditions are imposed as controller targets. The study provides a basis for contrasting Miller timing on single-cylinder and serial configurations while determining the charging system requirements and presents a starting point to evaluate Miller timing and determine air system demands over the entire engine operating range.

This master thesis project was performed in collaboration with Scania CV AB, Engine Materials group. The purpose with the project was to investigate different ceramic TBC (Thermal Barrier Coating) thermal insulation properties inside the combustion chamber. Experimental testing was performed with a Single-Cylinder engine with TBC deposited on selected components. A dummy-valve was developed and manufactured specifically for this test in order to enable a water cooling system and to ease the testing procedure. The dummy-valve consists of a headlock, socket, valve poppet and valve shaft. Additionally, a copper ring is mounted between the cylinder head and the valve poppet to seal the system from combustion gases. Thermocouples attached to the modified valve poppet and valve shaft measured the temperature during engine test to calculate the heat flux. The TBCs consisted of three different materials: 7-8% yttrium-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ), gadolinium zirconia and lanthanum zirconia. The 8YSZ TBC was tested as standard, but also with microstructural modifications. Modifications such as pre-induced segmented cracks, nanostructured zones and sealed porosity were used. The results indicated that the heat flux of 8YSZ-standard, 8YSZ-nano and 8YSZ-segmented cracks was in level with the steel reference. In the case of 8YSZ-sealed porosity the heat flux was measured higher than the steel reference. Since 8YSZ-standard and 8YSZ-sealed porosity are deposited with the same powder it is believed that the high heat flux is caused by radiative heat transfer. The remaining samples have had some microstructural changes during engine testing. 8YSZ-nano had undergone sintering and its nanostructured zones became fewer and almost gone after engine testing leading to less heat barrier in the top coat of the TBC. However, for 8YSZ-segmented cracks and gadolinium zirconia lower heat flux was measured due to the appearance of horizontal cracks. These cracks are believed to act as internal barriers as they are orientated perpendicular to the heat flow. During long-time (5 hour) engine tests the 8YSZ-standard exhibited the same phenomena: a decrease in heat flux due to propagation of horizontal cracks. One-dimensional heat flux was not achieved and the main reason for that was caused by heating and cooling of the shafts outer surface. However, the dummy-valve system has proven to be a quick, easy and stable to perform tests with a Single-Cylinder engine. Both water-cooling and long-time engine tests were conducted with minor issues. The dummy-valve has been further developed for future tests. Changes to the valve shaft are the most remarkable: smaller diameter to reduce heat transfer and smaller pockets to ensure better thermocouple positioning. Another issue was gas leakage from the combustion chamber through the copper ring and valve poppet joint. The copper ring will be designed with a 1 mm thick track to improve sealing, hence better attachment to the valve poppet.

Engine control systems aim to ensure satisfactory output performance whilst adhering to requirements on emissions, drivability and fuel efficiency. Model predictive control (MPC) has shown promising results when applied to multivariable and nonlinear systems with operational constraints, such as diesel engines. This report studies the torque generation from a mean-value heavy duty diesel engine with exhaust gas recirculation and variable-geometry turbocharger using state feedback linearization based MPC (LMPC). This is accomplished by first introducing a fuel optimal reference generator that converts demands on torque and engine speed to references on states and control signals for the MPC controller to follow. Three different MPC controllers are considered: a single linearization point LMPC controller and two different successive LMPC (SLMPC) controllers, where the controllers are implemented using the optimization tool CasADi. The MPC controllers are evaluated with the World Harmonized Transient Cycle and the results show promising torque tracking using a SLMPC controller with linearization about reference values.