Numerical and experimental study on knocking combustion in turbocharged direct-injection engines for a wide range of operating conditions

A combined experimental and numerical study is conducted on knocking combustion in turbocharged direct-injection spark-ignition engines. The experimental study is based on parameter variations in the intake-manifold temperature and pressure, as well as the air-fuel equivalence ratio. The transition between knocking and non-knocking operating conditions is studied by conducting a spark timing sweep for each operating parameter. By correlating combustion and global knock quantities, the global knock trends of the mean cycles are identified. Further insight is gained by a detailed analysis based on single cycles. The extensive experimental data is then used as an input to support numerical investigations. Based on 0D knock modeling, the global knock trends are investigated for all operation points. Taking into consideration the influence of nitric oxide on auto-ignition significantly improves the knock model prediction. Additionally, the origin of the observed cyclic variability of knock is investigated. The crank angle at knock onset in 1000 consecutive single cycles is determined using a multi-cycle 0D knock simulation based on detailed single-cycle experimental data. The overall trend is captured well by the simulation, while fluctuations are underpredicted. As one potential reason for the remaining differences of the 0D model predictions local phenomena are investigated. Therefore, 3D CFD simulations of selected operating points are performed to explore local inhomogeneities in the mixture fraction and temperature. The previously developed generalized Knock Integral Method (gKIM), which considers the detailed kinetics and turbulence-chemistry interaction of an ignition progress variable, is improved and applied. The determined influence of spark timing on the mean crank angle at knock onset agrees well with experimental data. In addition, spatially resolved information on the expected position of auto-ignition is analyzed to investigate causes of knocking combustion.

Design and Prototype Test of key components of Segmented Ligusticum wallichii Harvester

According to the harvest demand of Ligusticum wallichii, a segmented Ligusticum wallichii harvester was designed. The crushing device was set in the front end of tractor and the vibrating harvester was mounted in the rear end of tractor. Firstly, the strength test of Ligusticum wallichii stalks was carried out, and the basic parameters of the crushing device were determined. The results showed that the minimum required speed of the crushing device was 3880r/min. Secondly, the vibration structure was modeled and analyzed by vector equation, and the vibration structure was simulated and analyzed by ADAMS, and the parameters of the vibration structure were determined. The results showed that when the crank angle was 22~100°, the Ligusticum wallichii-soil mixture was thrown backward away from the vibration steel bar, and throw away distance was 88.42mm. Finally, the field prototype test was carried out. During the test, the crushing device could crush the stems of Ligusticum wallichii normally. The rotational speed was measured at 4020r/min. The obvious rate, loss rate and damage rate of Ligusticum wallichii stem were calculated. The stems obvious rate was 95%, loss rate was 4.5% and damage rate was 0.4%, which met the harvest requirements of Ligusticum wallichii.

Combustion performance investigation of aviation kerosene (RP-3) on a compression ignition diesel engine under various loads

The combustion performance of a compression ignition (CI) four-stroke aviation engine fueled with pure No. 3 rocket propellant (RP-3) was experimentally investigated for comparison with diesel. Pilot injection and main injection for RP-3 and diesel were unified under same test conditions. The results show that when burning RP-3, the maximum power of engine is 1% lower than that of burning diesel, with lower specific fuel consumption (SFC) and effective thermal efficiency (ETE). The combustion durations of RP-3 and diesel show small differences of less than 0.4°CA under heavy loads, while the combustion duration of RP-3 is shorter than that of diesel under low loads. The crank angle at 50% mass fraction burnt (CA50) of RP-3 shows differences of 0.3-1°CA compared to that of diesel. For pilot injection at a high engine speed, the ignition delay angle (IDA) of RP-3 is basically equal to that of diesel. With decreasing engine speed, the maximum difference of 1.2°CA in IDAs exist under medium or small loads. For the main injection, the IDA of RP-3 is lager than diesel under heavy loads at various engine speeds. As the load decreases, the IDA of RP-3 is extended. The peak heat release rate (HRR) of RP-3 during main injection combustion is basically the same as diesel under heavy loads, while the intervention effect of unburnt pilot-injected RP-3 under low loads results in a higher peak HRR.

Control-Oriented Model of the Mean and Dispersion of Diesel Combustion Phasing With Ignition Assist

Diesel engines equipped with ignition assist devices such as glow plugs may improve combustion behavior at low temperatures and with low cetane fuels found in remote fields. The coordination of injection timing and the energy input of the ignition assist needs to continuously adjust to maintain the best combustion phasing at all conditions. However, most diesel engines do not use closed-loop combustion control and operate in a sub-optimal manner because the dispersion of combustion phasing, also known as cycle-to-cycle variability, requires careful feedback controller design. This work presents an initial investigation of a control-oriented model that captures the average and statistical influence of commercial glow plugs used for ignition assist beyond the start-up phase. Experiments were conducted at a single speed and load operating point as a proof of concept to obtain a model that quantifies the combustion phasing statistics and thus can guide feedback control design. The developed phenomenological model includes the engine’s thermal state because it impacts combustion behavior over the course of repeated experiments. The 3-term mean phasing model and 2-term standard deviation model estimate start of combustion within 0.6 and 0.2 crank angle degrees, respectively, and can be readily expanded to more operating conditions.

Numerical Analysis of Engine Exhaust Flow Parameters for Resolving Pre-Turbine Pulsating Flow Enthalpy and Exergy

Energy carried by engine exhaust pulses is critical to the performance of a turbine or any other exhaust energy recovery system. Enthalpy and exergy are commonly used concepts to describe the energy transport by the flow based on the first and second laws of thermodynamics. However, in order to investigate the crank-angle-resolved exhaust flow enthalpy and exergy, the significance of the flow parameters (pressure, velocity, and temperature) and their demand for high resolution need to be ascertained. In this study, local and global sensitivity analyses were performed on a one-dimensional (1D) heavy-duty diesel engine model to quantify the significance of each flow parameter in the determination of exhaust enthalpy and exergy. The effects of parameter sweeps were analyzed by local sensitivity, and Sobol indices from the global sensitivity showed the correlations between each flow parameter and the computed enthalpy and exergy. The analysis indicated that when considering the specific enthalpy and exergy, flow temperature is the dominant parameter and requires high resolution of the temperature pulse. It was found that a 5% sweep over the temperature pulse leads to maximum deviations of 31% and 27% when resolving the crank angle-based specific enthalpy and specific exergy, respectively. However, when considering the total enthalpy and exergy rates, flow velocity is the most significant parameter, requiring high resolution with a maximum deviation of 23% for the enthalpy rate and 12% for the exergy rate over a 5% sweep of the flow velocity pulse. This study will help to quantify and prioritize fast measurements of pulsating flow parameters in the context of turbocharger turbine inlet flow enthalpy and exergy analysis.

Characterizing Cycling Smoothness and Rhythm in Children With and Without Cerebral Palsy

Stationary cycling is a practical exercise modality in children with cerebral palsy (CP) that lack the strength for upright exercises. However, there is a lack of robust, sensitive metrics that can quantitatively assess the motor control during cycling. The purpose of this brief report was to characterize the differences in motor control of cycling in children with CP and with typical development by developing novel metrics to quantify cycling smoothness and rhythm. Thirty one children with spastic diplegic CP and 10 children with typical development cycled on a stationary cycle. Cycling smoothness was measured by cross-correlating the crank angle with an ideal cycling pattern generated from participant-specific cadence and cycling duration. Cycling rhythmicity was assessed by evaluating the revolution-to-revolution variability in the time required to complete a revolution. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) using the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test were found between the two groups for both the metrics. Additionally, decision tree analysis revealed thresholds of smoothness <0.01 and rhythm <0.089–0.115 s for discriminating a less smooth, irregular cycling pattern characteristic of CP from typical cycling. In summary, the objective measures developed in this study indicate significantly less smoothness and rhythm of cycling in children with CP compared to children with typical development, suggestive of altered coordination and poor motor control. Such quantitative assessments of cycling motion in children with CP provide insights into neuromotor deficits that prevent them from cycling at intensities required for aerobic benefits and for participating in cycling related physical activities with their peers.

Impact of low reactivity fuel type on low load combustion, emissions, and cyclic variations of diesel-ignited dual fuel combustion

In this study, cyclic variations in dual fuel combustion with diesel ignition of three different low reactivity fuels (methane, propane, and gasoline) are examined under identical operating conditions. Experiments were performed on a single cylinder research engine (SCRE) at a low load of 3.3 bar brake mean effective pressure (BMEP). The start of injection (SOI) of diesel was varied from 280 to 330 absolute crank angle degrees (CAD). Engine speed, rail pressure, and boost pressure were held constant at 1500 rpm, 500 bar, and 1.5 bar, respectively. The energy substituted by the low reactivity fuel was fixed at 80% of the total energy input. It was found that diesel-methane (DM) and diesel-propane (DP) combustion were affected by diesel mixing to a greater extent than diesel-gasoline (DG) combustion due to the higher reactivity of gasoline. The magnitude of low temperature heat release was greatest for DG combustion followed by DM and DP combustion for all SOIs. The ignition delay for DG combustion was the shortest, followed by DM and DP combustion. DM and DP combustion exhibited more cyclic variations than DG combustion. Cyclic variations decreased for DM and DP combustion when SOI was advanced; however, DG combustion cyclic variations remained essentially constant for all SOIs. Earlier SOIs (280, 290, 300, and 310 CAD) for DM and (280, 290, and 300 CAD) for DP combustion indicated some prior-cycle effects on the combustion and IMEP (i.e. some level of determinism).

Real-time engine model development based on time complexity analysis

Real-time simulation models play an important role in the development of engine control systems. The mean value model (MVM) meets real-time requirements but has limited accuracy. By contrast, a crank-angle resolved model, such as the filling -and-empty model, can be used to simulate engine performance with high accuracy but cannot meet real-time requirements. Time complexity analysis is used to develop a real-time crank-angle resolved model with high accuracy in this study. A method used in computer science, program static analysis, is used to theoretically determine the computational time for a multicylinder engine filling-and-empty (crank-angle resolved) model. Then, a prediction formula for the engine cycle simulation time is obtained and verified by a program run test. The influence of the time step, program structure, algorithm and hardware on the cycle simulation time are analyzed systematically. The multicylinder phase shift method and a fast calculation method for the turbocharger characteristics are used to improve the crank-angle resolved filling-and-empty model to meet real-time requirements. The improved model meets the real-time requirement, and the real-time factor is improved by 3.04 times. A performance simulation for a high-power medium-speed diesel engine shows that the improved model has a max error of 5.76% and a real-time factor of 3.93, which meets the requirement for a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation during control system development.

A Novel Framework for Quantifying Accuracy and Precision of Event Detection Algorithms in FES-Cycling

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a technique used in rehabilitation, allowing the recreation or facilitation of a movement or function, by electrically inducing the activation of targeted muscles. FES during cycling often uses activation patterns which are based on the crank angle of the pedals. Dynamic changes in their underlying predefined geometrical models (e.g., change in seating position) can lead to desynchronised contractions. Adaptive algorithms with a real-time interpretation of anatomical segments can avoid this and open new possibilities for the automatic design of stimulation patterns. However, their ability to accurately and precisely detect stimulation triggering events has to be evaluated in order to ensure their adaptability to real-case applications in various conditions. In this study, three algorithms (Hilbert, BSgonio, and Gait Cycle Index (GCI) Observer) were evaluated on passive cycling inertial data of six participants with spinal cord injury (SCI). For standardised comparison, a linear phase reference baseline was used to define target events (i.e., 10%, 40%, 60%, and 90% of the cycle’s progress). Limits of agreement (LoA) of ±10% of the cycle’s duration and Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) were used to evaluate the accuracy and precision of the algorithm’s event detections. The delays in the detection were determined for each algorithm over 780 events. Analysis showed that the Hilbert and BSgonio algorithms validated the selected criteria (LoA: +5.17/−6.34% and +2.25/−2.51%, respectively), while the GCI Observer did not (LoA: +8.59/−27.89%). When evaluating control algorithms, it is paramount to define appropriate criteria in the context of the targeted practical application. To this end, normalising delays in event detection to the cycle’s duration enables the use of a criterion that stays invariable to changes in cadence. Lin’s CCC, comparing both linear correlation and strength of agreement between methods, also provides a reliable way of confirming comparisons between new control methods and an existing reference.