AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Justin W. Behrens, for the Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, presented on June 24, 2011 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: MODIFICATION AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A MONO-VALVE ENGINE MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Suri Rajan A four-stroke engine utilizing one tappet valve for both the intake and exhaust gas exchange processes has been built and evaluated. The engine operates under its own power, but has a reduced power capacity than the conventional 2-valve engine. The reduction in power is traced to higher than expected amounts of exhaust gases flowing back into the intake system. Design changes to the cylinder head will fix the back flow problems, but the future capacity of mono-valve engine technology cannot be estimated. The back flow of exhaust gases increases the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate and deteriorates combustion. Intake pressure data shows the mono-valve engine requires an advanced intake valve closing (IVC) time to prevent back flow of charge air. A single actuation camshaft with advanced IVC was tested in the mono-valve engine, and was found to improve exhaust scavenging at TDC and nearly eliminated all charge air back flow at IVC. The optimum IVC timing is shown to be approximately 30 crank angle degrees after BDC. The mono-valve cylinder head utilizes a rotary valve positioned above the tappet valve. The open spaces inside the rotary valve and between the rotary valve and tappet valve represent a common volume that needs to be reduced in order to reduce the base EGR rate. Multiple rotary valve configurations were tested, and the size of the common volume was found to have no effect on back flow but a direct effect on the EGR rate and engine performance. The position of the rotary valve with respect to crank angle has a direct effect on the scavenging process. Optimum scavenging occurs when the intake port is opened just after TDC.

The automotive industry has been in a marathon of advancement over the past decades. This is partly due to global environmental concerns about increasing amount of air pollutants such as NOx (oxides of nitrogen), CO (carbon monoxide) and particulate matters (PM) and decreasing fossil fuel resources. Recently due to stringent emission regulations such as US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and CARB (California Air Resource Board), improvement in fuel economy and reduction in the exhaust gas emissions have become the two major challenges for engine manufacturers. To fulfill the requirements of these regulations, the IC engines including gasoline and diesel engines have experienced significant modifications during the past decades. Incorporating the fully flexible valvetrains in production IC engines is one of the several ways to improve the performance of these engines. The ultimate goal of this PhD thesis is to conduct feasibility study on development of a reliable fully flexible hydraulic valvetrain for automotive engines. Camless valvetrains such as electro-hydraulic, electro-mechanical and electro-pneumatic valve actuators have been developed and extensively studied by several engine component manufacturers and researchers. Unlike conventional camshaft driven systems and cam-based variable valve timing (VVT) techniques, these systems offer valve timings and lift control that are fully independent of crankshaft position and engine speed. These systems are key technical enablers for HCCI, 2/4 stroke-switching gasoline and air hybrid technologies, each of which is a high fuel efficiency technology. Although the flexibility of the camless valvetrains is limitless, they are generally more complex and expensive than cam-based systems and require more study on areas of reliability, fail safety, durability, repeatability and robustness. On the contrary, the cam-based variable valve timing systems are more reliable, durable, repeatable and robust but much less flexible and much more complex in design. In this research work, a new hydraulic variable valve actuation system (VVA) is proposed, designed, prototyped and tested. The proposed system consists of a two rotary spool valves each of which actuated either by a combination of engine crankshaft and a phase shifter or by a variable speed servo-motor. The proposed actuation system offers the same level of flexibility as camless valvetrains while its reliability, repeatability and robustness are comparable with cam driven systems. In this system, the engine valve opening and closing events can be advanced or retarded without any constraint as well as the final valve lift. Transition from regenerative braking or air motor mode to conventional mode in air hybrid engines can be easily realized using the proposed valvetrain. The proposed VVA system, as a stand-alone unit, is modeled, designed, prototyped and successfully tested. The mathematical model of the system is verified by the experimental data and used as a numerical test bench for evaluating the performance of the designed control systems. The system test setup is equipped with valve timing and lift controllers and it is tested to measure repeatability, flexibility and control precision of the valve actuation system. For fast and accurate engine valve lift control, a simplified dynamic model of the system (average model) is derived based on the energy and mass conservation principles. A discrete time sliding mode controller is designed based on the system average model and it is implemented and tested on the experimental setup. To improve the energy efficiency and robustness of the proposed valve actuator, the system design parameters are subjected to an optimization using the genetic algorithm method. Finally, an energy recovery system is proposed, designed and tested to reduce the hydraulic valvetrain power consumption. The presented study is only a small portion of the growing research in this area, and it is hoped that the results obtained here will lead to the realization of a more reliable, repeatable, and flexible engine valve system.

The automotive industry has been in a marathon of advancement over the past decades. This is partly due to global environmental concerns about increasing amount of air pollutants such as NOx (oxides of nitrogen), CO (carbon monoxide) and particulate matters (PM) and decreasing fossil fuel resources. Recently due to stringent emission regulations such as US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and CARB (California Air Resource Board), improvement in fuel economy and reduction in the exhaust gas emissions have become the two major challenges for engine manufacturers. To fulfill the requirements of these regulations, the IC engines including gasoline and diesel engines have experienced significant modifications during the past decades. Incorporating the fully flexible valvetrains in production IC engines is one of the several ways to improve the performance of these engines. The ultimate goal of this PhD thesis is to conduct feasibility study on development of a reliable fully flexible hydraulic valvetrain for automotive engines. Camless valvetrains such as electro-hydraulic, electro-mechanical and electro-pneumatic valve actuators have been developed and extensively studied by several engine component manufacturers and researchers. Unlike conventional camshaft driven systems and cam-based variable valve timing (VVT) techniques, these systems offer valve timings and lift control that are fully independent of crankshaft position and engine speed. These systems are key technical enablers for HCCI, 2/4 stroke-switching gasoline and air hybrid technologies, each of which is a high fuel efficiency technology. Although the flexibility of the camless valvetrains is limitless, they are generally more complex and expensive than cam-based systems and require more study on areas of reliability, fail safety, durability, repeatability and robustness. On the contrary, the cam-based variable valve timing systems are more reliable, durable, repeatable and robust but much less flexible and much more complex in design. In this research work, a new hydraulic variable valve actuation system (VVA) is proposed, designed, prototyped and tested. The proposed system consists of a two rotary spool valves each of which actuated either by a combination of engine crankshaft and a phase shifter or by a variable speed servo-motor. The proposed actuation system offers the same level of flexibility as camless valvetrains while its reliability, repeatability and robustness are comparable with cam driven systems. In this system, the engine valve opening and closing events can be advanced or retarded without any constraint as well as the final valve lift. Transition from regenerative braking or air motor mode to conventional mode in air hybrid engines can be easily realized using the proposed valvetrain. The proposed VVA system, as a stand-alone unit, is modeled, designed, prototyped and successfully tested. The mathematical model of the system is verified by the experimental data and used as a numerical test bench for evaluating the performance of the designed control systems. The system test setup is equipped with valve timing and lift controllers and it is tested to measure repeatability, flexibility and control precision of the valve actuation system. For fast and accurate engine valve lift control, a simplified dynamic model of the system (average model) is derived based on the energy and mass conservation principles. A discrete time sliding mode controller is designed based on the system average model and it is implemented and tested on the experimental setup. To improve the energy efficiency and robustness of the proposed valve actuator, the system design parameters are subjected to an optimization using the genetic algorithm method. Finally, an energy recovery system is proposed, designed and tested to reduce the hydraulic valvetrain power consumption. The presented study is only a small portion of the growing research in this area, and it is hoped that the results obtained here will lead to the realization of a more reliable, repeatable, and flexible engine valve system.

Orientador: Robson Pederiva / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T19:18:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RubensGoncalvesSalsaJunior_M.pdf: 19298740 bytes, checksum: e9f9763c1d9d97af499156bb958078e0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar uma forma computacional eficaz de manipular a curva que representa o perfil dos camos, objetivando a sua aplicação em simulações computacionais e rotinas de otimização de um trem de válvulas. Ao longo dos anos, os motores de combustão interna têm sido pesquisados e aprimorados, seja na busca de maior potência, seja na busca de menor consumo de combustível. Um subsistema automotivo que afeta diretamente o desempenho dos motores é o sistema de acionamento de válvulas, que permite controlar a entrada e saída dos gases da câmara de combustão. Diversos pesquisadores têm estudado a cinemática e dinâmica do sistema de acionamento de válvulas para melhorar o desempenho do motor, focando nas características construtivas do perfil dos camos: ele tem ação preponderante sobre a dinâmica do sistema. Neste trabalho foi aplicado o método de otimização da evolução diferencial de modo a otimizar a resposta dinâmica da válvula de exaustão de um motor Diesel, modelada por um sistema de cinco graus de liberdade, utilizando o perfil do camo como variável de projeto. Em um dos estudos de caso obteve-se redução de aproximadamente 60% nos picos de aceleração no fechamento da válvula. Em outro estudo de caso a área sob a curva de aceleração foi maximizada, aumentando aproximadamente 9%. Também Foi demonstrado um artifício matemático para que fossem considerados dois objetivos na otimização, já que os esforços para maximizar a área sob a curva de aceleração e minimizar a aceleração mostraram-se antagônicos. Por fim, mostrou-se que o perfil ótimo do camo varia com a rotação do motor / Abstract: The objective of this work is to present an efficient computational way to manipulate the curve representing the cam profile, aiming their application in computer simulations and optimization routines for a valvetrain. Over the years internal combustion engines have been researched and improved, be it in the search for more power or be it in the search for lower fuel consumption. An automotive subsystem that directly affects the performance of the engine is the valvetrain system. This system allows the control of the admittance and release of gases from the combustion chamber. Several researchers have studied the kinematics and dynamics of the valve actuation system to improve engine performance focusing in the design characteristics of the profile of the cams: it has a predominant action on the dynamics of the system. In this work the optimization method of differential evolution was applied to optimize a Diesel engine exhaust valve's dynamic response using the cam profile as a design variable. In one case of study the acceleration peak had a 60% reduction. In another case of study the area under the valve's displacement curve was increased by 9%. A mathematical scheme was demonstrated to consider tow objectives for the parameters acceleration and area showed to be ambivalent. In addition, it was also demonstrated that the optimal cam profile varies with the engine speed / Mestrado / Mecanica dos Sólidos e Projeto Mecanico / Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica

This master's thesis deals with the determination of mechanical losses in the valvetrain of the combustion engine. It describes the computational and experimental methods of determining the mechanical losses of valve mechanism. The practical part of the thesis focuses on the programing of structures in Matlab. This application calculates the values of mechanical losses of valvetrain and displays their graphical representation. This program is used for computing the mechanical losses of the selected real engine.

Environmental health awareness has elevated in recent years alongside the evidence that supports the need to mitigate harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from non-renewable energy resources. The transportation sector alone significantly contributes to the pollutants on a global scale. Although it is commonly used for its superior energy-density and fuel efficiency, diesel engines are a significant portion of the transportation sector that contributes to these pollutants. As a result, this motivates novel research to simultaneously drive fuel efficiency improvements and emissions reductions. <div><br></div><div>The aftertreatment system for a diesel engine is critical in reducing the amount of harmful tailpipe emissions. Efficient operation of these aftertreatment systems generally requires elevated temperatures of 250◦C or above. In this effort, a flexible valvetrain will be utilized to demonstrate fuel-efficient strategies via intake valve closure (IVC) modulation at elevated speeds and loads. In addition, thermal management strategies will be demonstrated at low-to-moderate loads via cylinder deactivation (CDA), cylinder cutout, exhaust valve opening (EVO) modulation, and high-speed idle operation.</div><div><br></div><div>At elevated engine speeds, late intake valve closure (LIVC) enables improved cylinder filling via a dynamic charging effect. It is experimentally and analytically demonstrated that LIVC at 2200 RPM and 7.6 bar to 12.7 bar BMEP can be used to increase the volumetric efficiency and enable higher exhaust gas recirculation fractions without penalizing the air-to-fuel ratio. As a result, efficiency improving injection advances are implemented to achieve 1.2% and 1.9% fuel savings without sacrificing NOx penalties. In order to implement the LIVC benefits on a cammed engine, production-viable valve profile solutions were investigated. It is demonstrated that lost-motion-enabled and/or added-motion-enabled boot shape profiles are capable of improving volumetric efficiency at elevated engine speeds and loads. These profiles were also considered for one (of two) -valve modulation and two-valve modulation. Nearly 95% of the volumetric efficiency benefits are possible using production-viable boot or phase profiles, while 80% of the benefits are possible for single-valve modulation. </div><div><br></div><div>At curb idle, CDA and cylinder cutout operation realize stay-warm aftertreatment thermal management improvements by leveraging their impact on the gas exchange process. Specifically, cylinder cutout demonstrates 17% fuel savings, while CDA demonstrates 40% fuel savings, over the conventional six-cylinder thermal calibration. Additionally, the performance of cylinder cutout is subject to the geometry of the exhaust manifold, location of the EGR loop, and ability to control the exhaust manifold pressure. </div><div><br></div><div>Elevating the idle speed, while maintaining the same idle load, enables improved aftertreatment warm-up performance with engine-out NOx and PM levels no higher than a state-of-the-art thermal calibration at conventional idle operation. Elevated idle speeds of 1000RPM and 1200 RPM, compared to conventional idle at 800 RPM, realized 31% to 51% increase in exhaust flow and 25◦C to 40◦C increase in engine-out temperature, respectively. Additional engine-out temperature benefits are experimentally demonstrated at all three idle speeds considered (800, 1000, and 1200 RPM), without compromising the exhaust flow rates or emissions, by modulating the EVO timing. </div><div><br></div><div>At low-to-moderate loads modern diesel engines manipulate exhaust manifold pressures to drive EGR and thermally manage the aftertreatment. In these engines exhaust manifold pressure control is typically achieved via either a valve after the turbine, a variable geometry turbine, or wastegating. It is experimentally demonstrated that valvetrain flexibility enables efficient engine and aftertreatment operation without requiring exhaust manifold pressure control. Specifically, IVC modulation and CDA at elevated engine speeds, along with EVO modulation, CDA, and internal EGR at low engine speeds can match, or improve, efficiency and thermal management performance compared to a stock thermal calibration that requires exhaust manifold pressure control.<br></div>

The master´s thesis deals with the design of two-stroke uniflow scavenged motorcycle engine according to patent František Pudil (PV 7018-80) 216305. The engine has been designed for using in off-road sport motorcycles. The objective of this thesis is to design the engine of this conception and to reveal benefits and defects of this concept by using this method. In this thesis the emphasis is put on design of the construction groups which are directly related to unconventional concept of engine. On the other hand, the parts which can be designed conventionally were solved marginally or were not solved at all. In the first part of the thesis there are thoroughly dicsussed expected benefits and disadvantages of this concept. Computational part focuses on valvetrain and porting of engine. Last part deals with design of engine parts.

A new camless electrohydraulic valve train concept for combustion engines was developed at Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland) and tested on a spark ignition passenger car engine. Besides full flexibility with regard to lift and timing of the engine gas exchange valves it features robustness, simplicity and in particular a low own drive power need due to a maximum of hydraulic energy recuperation. The engine test results confirm substantial efficiency gains in classical as well as in hybrid power trains while also maintaining additional advantages. The system also has the potential to become a key element for load control of piston based compressors and expanders, reciprocating Joule Cycle engines and derivable future electricity storage systems.