“VLD” a flexible, modular, cam operated VVA system giving variable valve lift and duration and controlled secondary valve openings Tim Lancefield1, Nick Lawrence1, Afif Ahmed2, Hedi Ben Hadj Hamouda2 1: Mechadyne International Ltd, Park Farm Technology Centre, Kirtlington, Oxon, OX5 3JQ, England 2: Renault Powertrain Division, 67 Rue des Bons Raisins, Rueil Malmaison, Cedex F92508, France Abstract: opening and intake valve duration control can be measured. It is becoming more widely understood that advanced VVA systems will be required for future Keywords: VVA, Variable valve lift and duration, diesel engines to enable advanced combustion Exhaust valve re-opening, diesel effective strategies such as HCCI. The cost, however, of compression ratio, HCCI. implementing such systems is commonly seen as a problem. 1. Introduction Affordable VVA systems require low engineering, investment and piece costs to achieve a high cost- The application of VVA to gasoline engines has been well documented with many learned papers benefit ratio. discussing the operational effects of the various Engineering and investment costs can be minimised strategies, from simple camshaft phasers, [1] by the use of modular, interchangeable systems that through to advanced variable lift systems [2]. For a allow maximum commonality between the major variety of reasons, however, this has not been the engine component assemblies, such as the cylinder case with diesel engines. head and covers. These systems allow the valve The valve to piston clearance limitation at TDC in train type to be specified at build time, such that a standard valve train or various levels of VVA can be diesel engines has meant that phasing systems have built into the engine as legislation and product little positive effect and consequently more flexible VVA systems are required. The difficulty is that more differentiation dictate. flexible VVA systems are more invasive of engine This paper describes a modular, camshaft-operated design and more expensive in both prototype and family of valve train solutions that range from a production quantities. Therefore until recently, while standard valve train through to advanced VVA progress in fuel injection and turbocharging could systems for both intake and exhaust. Such a family provide significant gains within existing engine has been built into a common cylinder head architectures, there was little incentive to thoroughly package, to give various levels of functionality. investigate more advanced VVA systems. Variable valve lift, variable open period and Consequently, there is little published information modulated secondary valve openings and the practical combinations of these functions are discussing the effects of using these systems on presented along with their potential uses. diesel engine performance, fuel economy or emissions, but a sample are [3], [4], [5] and [6]. This type of modular design is relatively simple, whilst still meeting all the packaging constraints However, recent investigations into alternative imposed on modern diesel engines. combustion systems such as HCCI, along with the requirement for greater control of in-cylinder This paper describes functional hardware resulting conditions to improve emissions and increase from using this design approach. Dynamic test data specific output, have led to a much increased is also presented from a motored cylinder head interest in VVA for diesel engines.[7], [8], [9] which includes high-speed laser velocity measurements of the valve motion and Whilst cam phasers do not offer sufficient characterisation of the performance of the VVA functionality, variable duration systems, variable lift systems and those capable of generating controlled actuators under a range of operating conditions. secondary valve openings do offer desirable The hardware will now be used for fired engine functionality for application to diesel engines. testing where the real benefits of exhaust valve re- However, while these systems avoid any valve to SIA Conference on Variable Valve Actuation – November 30, 2006 – IFP Rueil Page 1/10 piston contact limitations, they are necessarily more complex than a conventional valve train. Despite the better understanding of the requirements of VVA for diesel engines and the availability of systems with the required functionality the relative complexity and cost of implementing a suitable system remain barriers to adoption: The cost of installing a VVA system falls broadly into three areas: 1. Engineering costs 2. Investment costs 3. Piece costs The crucial factor is the number of parts over which the engineering and investment costs, can be amortised. This is strongly affected by modularity Figure 1: The VLD system – Main components and parts sharing across a range of engine derivatives. 2.2 Operating characteristics of VLD More advanced VVA systems for diesel engines The system allows for either fixed opening or fixed usually add some dynamic mass to the valve train, valve closing for single lifts as shown in Figure 2, and result in reduced overall system stiffness. Thus and a large degree of flexibility in the range of valve a well optimised design is needed to produce lift variation, as shown in Figure 3. A variety of systems with the required functionality that are “well- different secondary valve lift strategies are also behaved” dynamically. possible, two of which are shown in Figure 4. The final part of any VVA application is the control Although this paper concentrates on the system. The major question usually being “how fast applications to DOHC light duty diesel engines, this does the actuator need to be?” This question is a system is also applicable to gasoline engines for result of needing to understand the interactions valve head load control, and has derivatives that are between the VVA system and other engine systems applicable to both light and heavy duty SOHC diesel such as the turbo-charger and after-treatment. engines. However, very high speed actuation is typically expensive and may require power sources that are usually not available on automotive engines. Therefore, it is conventional to use hydraulic actuators powered by engine oil to control VVA systems. The question then becomes “how fast is the actuator” over the engine operating envelope as this type of actuator is very dependent upon oil viscosity (temperature) and oil pressure (engine speed.) These points are discussed below for Mechadyne’s VVA system known as VLD. 2. VLD functionality 2.1 Construction of the VLD system The VLD system is a highly flexible VVA system that Figure 2: Fixed opening or closing characteristics produces variable valve lift characteristics by adding together two cam profiles. Figure 1 shows an isometric view of the full system and a section through its main components. The system is controlled by altering the relative phase between the blue and red cam profiles and a continuous range of valve lift characteristics is available between the extreme settings. Figure 3: Different lift ranges possible with VLD SIA Conference on Variable Valve Actuation – November 30, 2006 – IFP Rueil Page 2/10 Figure 4: Variable secondary opening strategies 2.3 VVA operating effects in diesel engines Control of the following parameters will help to enable advanced combustion strategies within diesel Figure 5c: Re-opening the intake valve during the engines: exhaust stroke (with intake duration control). • Internal EGR (I-EGR). I-EGR has both advantages and disadvantages and both are associated with temperature. I-EGR is • Intake valve closing (IVC). hotter than external EGR, which is usually passed • Exhaust valve opening (EVO). through a cooler. This higher temperature is helpful Methods to control these using VLD and their effects in avoiding the need for an EGR cooler bypass for on engine performance are discussed below: light load operation where cooler fouling can be a Internal EGR: Three strategies for generating I-EGR, problem. It is also helpful in creating higher in- in diesel engines, are possible with VLD: See figure cylinder temperatures at light load when combustion 5: can be improved by raising temperatures. However, the use of hot I-EGR has two disadvantages: It is not as good at controlling NOx formation because the peak cylinder temperature is higher than it would be with cooled EGR, and I-EGR has a lower density than cooled EGR and thus displaces more fresh charge for a given boost pressure, than would happen with cooled external EGR. Thus to restore a given AFR more boost is needed, leading to higher pumping work. EVO: Controls the energy balance between expansion work, blow down work and energy flow to the turbine. Retarded EVO offers increased expansion work and can help with low speed, fuel economy at part load. It has also been demonstrated to improve output at full load under low speed conditions. [10], [11] Figure 5a: Negative valve overlap. Advancing EVO has the effect of supplying more energy to the turbine which can help with transient torque rise. Extreme strategies, involving very early EVO are being investigated as a means of controlling the exhaust gas temperature for control of DPF regeneration. IVC: Aside from the widely know effect of optimising volumetric efficiency across the engine speed range, variation in IVC can also be used to control effective compression ratio (compression ratio calculated with the swept volume from IVC to TDC rather than BDC to TDC). This is usually lower than the geometric compression ratio, but can be equal to the geometric compression ratio if IVC is at BDC, which it can be with VVA. This helps with cold starting, or reduction in compression ratio for control of maximum cylinder pressure. Figure 5b: Re-opening the exhaust valve during the In addition, late IVC can lead to improved intake stroke. thermodynamic efficiency through providing a SIA Conference on Variable Valve Actuation – November 30, 2006 – IFP Rueil Page 3/10 compression stroke that is shorter than the Once these features are defined the remainder of expansion stroke. the interfaces are relatively straightforward to define.