Development of a Small Scale Resonant Engine for Micro
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DEVELOPMENT OF A SMALL SCALE RESONANT ENGINE FOR MICRO AND MESOSCALE APPLICATIONS By SINDHU PREETHAM BURUGUPALLY A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering AUGUST 2014 To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the Committee appointed to examine the dissertation of SINDHU PREETHAM BURUGUPALLY find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. ____________________________________ Cecilia D. Richards, Ph.D., Chair ____________________________________ Michael J. Anderson, Ph.D. ____________________________________ Robert F. Richards, Ph.D. ____________________________________ Konstantin Matveev, Ph.D. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I would to thank my doctoral advisor Dr. Cecilia Richards who gave me the opportunity to work on the MEMS/mesoscale engine project. She has been a great mentor who supported and helped me succeed at both personal and professional levels. Without her guidance and motivation, I wouldn’t have had carried such a successful doctoral study. I am grateful to Dr. Michael Anderson who formally introduced me to the art of mathematical modeling. He was always approachable and helped me understand the concepts related to system dynamics. His inputs were valuable. I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Robert Richards and Dr. Konstantin Matveev who agreed to be on my committee despite their busy schedules. Their comments helped me improve this dissertation. My special thanks go to my Pullman friends who made my stay pleasant. Finally, I would like to thank my wife Bhavana Palakurthi, my parents Teleshwaraiah and Sarala, and all other family members for their love and constant support. iii DEVELOPMENT OF A SMALL SCALE RESONANT ENGINE FOR MICRO AND MESOSCALE APPLICATIONS Abstract by Sindhu Preetham Burugupally, Ph.D. Washington State University August 2014 Chair: Cecilia D. Richards In this study, work on developing a small scale internal combustion engine operating on a four-stroke principle is conducted. To mitigate the parasitic losses, a complaint engine concept is proposed in which the piston-cylinder assembly is replaced by a flexible cavity. This approach offers various advantages, such as mitigating friction and blow-by losses, fuel-flexibility, and a simpler design. The study encompasses mathematical modeling, feasibility analysis, and testing of a prototype engine. A physics-based lumped-parameter model is developed to predict the engine performance for a range of equivalence ratios at various load conditions in both open and closed cycle operations. The open and closed cycle results showed similarities. For instance, both the cycles showed that for a fixed load, increasing the heat input results in increase of stroke length and efficiency. However, the predictions from the cycles differed numerically in terms of efficiency, operating frequency etc. For example, the indicated thermal efficiencies obtained from open and closed iv cycles were 38.4% and 47.6%, respectively. It has been realized that when modeling the compliant engine in a more realistic way, an open cycle would be more appropriate. The open cycle results highlight some unique features of the complaint engine. For instance, the engine volume excursions are found to be dependent on the heat input or equivalence ratio and load condition. To ascertain the feasibility of a practical engine, super compliant structures fabricated from metals and, or composites that can sustain extreme pressures and temperatures are evaluated. In addition, a prototype engine is realized to practically demonstrate the compliant engine concept. The engine is motored to estimate the parasitic losses at resonant operation, and the results are presented in the form of an energy flow diagram. The results showed that friction losses associated with the flexible cavity are less than that in a piston-cylinder assembly. An example simulation based on open cycle with practical engine parameters showed that the ratio of friction work to indicated work is about 8%; less than targeted 10%. This result reinforces that a compliant resonant engine has the potential to outperform the contemporary engines at small scale. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1 1.1 Motivation .............................................................................................................1 1.2 Organization of dissertation ..................................................................................4 1.3 Literature review ...................................................................................................5 1.4 Research objective ..............................................................................................26 Chapter 2 SMALL SCALE RESONANT ENGINE ......................................................................28 2.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................28 2.2 Engine operation .......................................................................................................29 2.3 Realization of a prototype engine .............................................................................31 2.3.1 Design challenges ............................................................................................31 2.3.2 Materials to use ................................................................................................32 2.3.3 Engine assembly ..............................................................................................33 2.3.4 Design calculations ..........................................................................................34 Chapter 3 MATHEMATICAL MODEL ........................................................................................39 3.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................39 vi 3.2 Four-stroke air-standard Otto cycle ..........................................................................39 3.2.1 Assumptions .....................................................................................................39 3.2.2 Open cycle .......................................................................................................41 3.2.3 Closed cycle .....................................................................................................51 Chapter 4 EXPERIMENT..............................................................................................................60 4.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................60 4.2 Experimental apparatus .............................................................................................60 4.2.1 Edge welded metal bellows .............................................................................61 4.2.2 Electromagnetic vibration shaker ....................................................................62 4.2.3 Pressure transducer ..........................................................................................63 4.2.4 Force sensor .....................................................................................................64 4.2.5 Solenoid valve ..................................................................................................65 4.2.6 Laser doppler vibrometer .................................................................................65 4.2.7 Solenoid valve amplification circuit ................................................................66 4.3 Experimental procedure ............................................................................................67 4.3.1 Engine configuration ........................................................................................67 4.3.2 Frequency response plot ..................................................................................69 4.3.3 Motoring test ....................................................................................................70 4.3.4 Estimation of performance parameters ............................................................73 Chapter 5 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................75 vii 5.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................75 5.2 Estimation of parasitic losses ....................................................................................75 5.2.1 Determination of resonant frequencies ............................................................75