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A CAE-based optimization method is developed for Lube Oil Consumption (LOC) analysis of the piston-ring system. With accurate thermodynamic boundary conditions from 1D engine combustion simulation, piston motion, dynamics of piston ring, and characteristics of oil consumption are simulated using AVL Piston&Ring. The model is validated by comparing with available test data. Good match is achieved. The model is then applied to a diesel engine. The root cause of excessive LOC of the engine has been identified through CAE. The improved understanding has been applied to optimize the piston and piston ring. Engine dyno test, 1200-hour engine durability test, and 45000-kilometer vehicle test have been conducted to validate the optimized design. The experiment results are in good agreement with CAE predictions, and the oil consumption has been improved over the original design.

The present paper is Part III of an investigation on the influences of the late intake valve closing (LIVC) and the early intake valve closing (EIVC) on the engine fuel consumptions at different loads and speeds. The investigation was conducted with two 1.5L turbo-charged gasoline direct injection (TGDI) engines, one with a low-lift intake cam (the Miller engine) and the other with a high-lift intake cam (the Atkinson engine). This paper focuses on the influence of the intake-valve-closing timing on the fuel economy with and without exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). It was found that the Miller engine had a lower friction than the Atkinson engine; however, the impact of the difference in engine frictions on the fuel economy was mainly for low-speed operations. Across the engine speed range, the Miller engine had longer combustion durations than the Atkinson engine as a result of the impact of EIVC on the cylinder charge motion.

In order to improve low speed torques, turbocharged gasoline direct injection (TGDI) engines often employ scavenging with a help of variable valve timing (VVT) controlled by the cam phasers. Scavenging improves the compressor performance at low flows and boosts low-speed-end torques of the engines. Characteristics of the engine combustion in the scavenging zone were studied with a highly-boosted 1.5L TGDI engine experimentally. It was found that the scavenging zone was associated with the highest blowby rates on the engine map. The blowby recirculation was with heavy oil loading, causing considerable hydrocarbon fouling on the intake ports as well as on the stem and the back of the intake valves after the engine was operated in this zone for a certain period of time. The low-speed pre-ignition (LSPI) events observed in the engine tests fell mainly in the scavenging zone.

This paper reports an experimental investigation on the influence of the crankcase oil properties on the engine combustion in the low-speed pre-ignition (LSPI) zone. The investigation was conducted on a highly boosted 1.5L TGDI engine operated at the low-speed-end maximum torque, at which LSPI events were observed most frequently. Six different engine oils were tested, covering SAE 0W-20, 0W-30, 0W-40, 5W-20, 5W-30 and 5W-40. In order to evaluate the evaporative characteristics of the crankcase oil, for each of the selected engine oils, the tests were conducted at two different coolant temperatures, 90°C and 105°C. Because SAE 5W-30 was the base oil for the engine under study, for this particular oil, the investigation was extended to the impact of different levels of the mixture enrichment.

The biggest challenge in developing Turbocharged Gasoline Direct Injection (TGDI) engines may be the abnormal combustion phenomenon occurring at low speeds and high loads, known as low-speed pre-ignition (LSPI). LSPI can trigger severe engine knocks with intensities much greater than those of spark knocks and thus characterized as super knocks. In this study, behavior and patterns of LSPI were investigated experimentally with a highly-boosted 1.5L TGDI engine. It was found that LSPI could occur as an isolated event, a couple of events in sequence, or a trail of events. Although occurring randomly among the engine cylinders, LSPI took place frequently when the engine was operated at low speeds and high loads in the zone where scavenging was employed for boosting engine torques at low speeds, typically < 2500 rpm.

Turbocharged gasoline direct injection (TGDI) engines can achieve a very high level of brake mean effective pressure and thus the engines can be downsized. The biggest challenge in developing highly-boosted TGDI engines may be how to mitigate the pre-ignition (PI) triggered severe engine knocks at high loads and low engine speeds. Since magnitudes of cylinder pressure fluctuations during aforementioned engine knocks reach those for peak firing pressures in normal combustion, they are characterized as super knocks. It is widely believed that the root cause for super knocks is the oil particles entering the engine cylinder, which pre-ignite the cylinder mixture in late of the compression stroke. It is neither possible nor practical to completely eliminate the oil particles from the engine cylinder; a reasonable approach to mitigate super knocks is to weaken the conditions favoring super knocks.