Lean Powertrain Development
For Latest Developments on the Lean Powertrain Development
Project Follow this Link
In July 2005 I was awarded an EPSRC
Advanced
Fellowship to research Modern Vehicle Powertrain Development Techniques
The award funds me to undertake this research for a period of 5
years (September 2005-2010) alongside which a further project has been funded
to support a postgraduate research student and the costs of some of the
necessary equipment to undertake the experimental work
Details of these projects
can be found at
I believe that the
proposed research programme will tackle issues which are of fundamental
importance to the
Objective:
To develop an integrated
approach to Powertrain design, performance optimisation and rapid calibration,
through a simulation model based philosophy
For a detailed background to the LPDEV project
click here
Expected
Project Outcomes:
A practical
method for complex Powertrain design and calibration
A more integrated
and better optimised Powertrain solution
Reduction of
intensive experimental and modelling procedures
Predictive
methods developed for understanding the effects of emerging hardware
Reduction in
final product complexity
What is a
Powertrain?
Figure 1The above picture shows a modern vehicle Powertrain
The
vehicle Powertrain consists primarily of
The Engine (Shown in
orange), typically Diesel or Gasoline, but other combustion concept exist or
are on the horizon.
The Transmission (Shown in
green), either a manual, automatic, continuously/infinitely variable
transmission, or a hybrid Powertrain with additional electrical components!
After-treatment Systems such
as catalysts or particulate traps (Shown in blue)
Electronic Control Units
(ECU) and Control Software
All
of these components interact significantly. For example the engine determines
the exhaust gases passing over the catalyst, the transmission affects the
operating point of the engine depending on its ratio, and all of these
subsystems have to be optimised to offer good vehicle performance, with good
fuel economy, low emissions and a high degree of reliability. The ECU receives
signals from a multitude of sensors fitted to the Powertrain and in response
controls a large number of actuators on each of the Powertrain components.
Potential
Future Technologies:
Engine:
·
fully
flexible variable valve activation (VVA)
·
Multiple
injection events or rate shaping injection
·
Homogenous
charge compression ignition (HCCI)
·
Variable
compression ratio
·
High
complexity air charge management systems (series/parallel turbo-charging),
supercharging E-boost
Transmission:
·
Continuously variable transmission (CVTs), Infinitely variable
transmissions (IVTs), Auto-shift manual transmissions (ASMs)
·
Hybridisation using electrical motors /generators in parallel or series
with the IC prime mover
After-treatment:
·
Advanced catalyst, particulate traps, lean NOx traps
ECU
& Control:
·
Closed loop combustion control
o Combustion pressure
feedback
o Ionisation detection
·
Closed loop emissions control
Methods
& Techniques:
Figure 2 Flow
diagram for proposed project (timescale indicated in Figure 3)
Figure
3 Project structure for the 5 years is split into 4
distinct phases
Figure 3 The final stage of the project will use the
advanced simulation techniques undertake first run calibration of the
powertrain control unit. This will be installed in a vehicle and tested on the PVRC chassis dynamometer
at Bath
Figure 4 Gantt chart showing milestones and deliverables
throughout the project phases
Page last updated
06/02/07, by Sam Akehurst