Search Results

Current legal requirements based on new driving cycles like WLTP or RDE focus on elevated power and torque from the engine. The gear ratios are chosen so as to permit low engine speeds to reduce fuel consumption and consequently CO2 emissions by shifting the operating point to higher loads with reduced throttling and friction losses at low engine speeds. To achieve the required acceleration values the engine tends to be operated more frequently close to its power and torque limits. Thus, the knock occurring at the load limits will increase in significance. Today, in series production, knock is detected via structure-borne sound sensors and eliminated via retarded ignition. New low-cost in-cylinder pressure sensors (ICPS) suitable for series-production now permit evaluation of every single combustion cycle, thus detecting knock in the engine control unit (ECU) at all speed and load ratios independent of parasitic noise.

In the past few years the gasoline direct injection (GDI) downsizing approach was the dominating gasoline engine technology used to reduce CO2 emission and to guarantee excellent transient performance. Forecasts for the next several years indicate that the worldwide market share of GDI engines will grow further. By 2022 it is expected that the gasoline DI engine will be the most popular combustion engine for passenger car application. However in the future the gasoline engine will have to comply with more stringent emission and CO2 standards. The European legislation demands a fleet average CO2 emission of 95g/km latest by 2021. Therefore, CO2 emission improvement, without compromising driveability, is the major goal of powertrain development. The perspective of more stringent CO2 and emission legislation in highly loaded drive cycle necessitates major development efforts.