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Legal constraints concerning CO2 emissions have made the improvement of light duty vehicle efficiency mandatory. In result, vehicle powertrain and its development have become increasingly complex, requiring the ability to assess rapidly the effect of several technological solutions, such as hybridization or internal combustion engine (or ICE) downsizing, on vehicle CO2 emissions. In this respect, simulation is nowadays a common way to estimate a vehicle's fuel consumption on a given driving cycle. This estimation can be done with the knowledge of vehicle main characteristics, its transmission ratio and efficiency and its internal combustion engine fuel consumption map. While vehicle and transmission parameters are relatively easy to know, the ICE consumption map has to be obtained through either test bench measurements or computation.

Emission regulations have become increasingly stringent in recent years. Current regulations need the development of a new worldwide driving cycle which gives greater weight to the pollutants emitted during transient phases or cold starts. Powertrains contain a large number of components such as multistage turbocharger systems; exhaust gas recirculation, after-treatment devices and sometimes an electric motor. In this context, 0D predictive models of heat transfer in the exhaust line, calibrated with experimental data, are particularly interesting. Many investigations are related to the development of precise control laws in order to optimize the light-off of after-treatment elements during the engine starting phase. A better understanding of the thermal phenomena occurring in the exhaust line is necessary. To study the heat transfer in the exhaust line of a Diesel engine during transient conditions, the temperature in the exhaust line must be known precisely.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming is becoming one of the key issues of the 21st century. As a growing contributor to this phenomenon, the aeronautic transport sector has recently taken drastic measures to limit its impact on CO2 and pollutants, like the aviation industry entry in the European carbon market or the ACARE objectives. However the defined targets require major improvements in existing propulsion systems, especially on the gas generator itself. Regarding small power engines for business aviation, rotorcrafts or APU, the turboshaft is today a dominant technology, despite quite high specific fuel consumption. In this context, solutions based on Diesel Internal Combustion Engines (ICE), well known for their low specific fuel consumption, could be a relevant alternative way to meet the requirements of future legislations for low and medium power applications (under 1000kW).

We propose a model of in-cylinder air mass and residual gas fraction of a turbocharged SI engine with Variable Valve Timing (VVT) actuators. VVT devices are used to produce internal exhaust gas recirculation at part load, providing beneficial effects in terms of fuel consumption and pollutant emissions. At full load, VVT actuators permit to push back knock limit by scavenging fresh air to the exhaust pipes. Modeling in-cylinder composition is an essential task for control purpose. Actually, VVT actuators affect in-cylinder fresh air charge. This has an impact on engine torque output (leading to driveability problems), and on Fuel/Air Ratio (leading to pollution peaks). In this paper, we present a model of in-cylinder air mass and residual gas fraction using only commercial-line sensors (engine speed, intake manifold pressure and VVT actuators positions). It is designed for real-time control purpose. The model does not necessitate a lot of calibration time.

The powertrain simulation tools are nowadays an efficient support to optimize cost and duration of the whole engine technological developments. They can deliver optimized simulator versions for various targets such as system understanding, design investigation, non-measurable value access or virtual bench use for control and calibration. Under the condition of an accurate modelling and simulation know-how to take into account the simulator using constraints, the simulation can become an undisputable support for powertrain design as the test bed already is. The goal of this paper is to present the large range of the powertrain simulation capabilities for the specific application of a downsized turbocharged GDI engine with twin VVT embedded in a concept car. The modelling framework is first presented and different items are laid-out. A first part is dedicated to the engine air path and in particular to the modelling of gas exchange phenomena such as back-flow.