Integrated investigation of piston–cylinder impact-induced noise and passive control of the piston’s secondary motion using nonlinear absorbers

Although alternative power sources are getting well-established, transportation will remain primarily dependent on IC engines using fossil fuels for at least a few more decades. The IC engines typically employ reciprocating pistons to convert the combustion pressure into mechanical work required by the vehicle. Engine NVH issues make their appearance at the piston-cylinder interface in the form of impulsive vibration signals. The piezo-viscous nature of the lubricant at the piston-cylinder conjunction can change the dynamic response of the impacting structures. Much of the published research to date has excluded the elasto-hydrodynamic effects of the lubricant on piston impact noise. Even when these effects were studied, the research focus has been primarily on the tribology of the contact. Thus, an accurate methodology is required to identify and predict piston impact noise using real in-cylinder conditions, especially at the lubricated piston-cylinder conjunction. [Continues.

Passive control of piston secondary motion using nonlinear energy absorbers

The impulsive behaviour of the piston in the cylinder liner plays a key role in the Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) of internal combustion engines. There have been several studies on the identification and quantification of piston impact action under various operation conditions. In the current study, the dynamics of the piston secondary motion are initially explored in order to describe the aggressive oscillations, energy loss and noise generation. The control of piston secondary motion (and thus, impacts) is investigated using a new passive approach based on energy transfer of the highly transient oscillations to a nonlinear absorber. The effectiveness of this new method for improving the piston impact behaviour is discussed using a preliminary parametric study that leads to the conceptual design of a nonlinear energy absorber

An investigation on impact-induced oscillations and noise in lubricated conjunctions

Energy efficiency and Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) have been in the centre of attention for automotive manufacturers during the last decades. Energy losses occur in different forms, such as friction, impacts and noise. Physical understanding of the mechanisms that lead to aggressive dynamics and noise generation is a key in order to design more efficient systems with better NVH performance. In the current study, impact energy is calculated at the lubricated piston-liner conjunctions combining dynamics and tribology. The vibration power at the engine block surface is converted into sound pressure level (SPL) at any desired location analytically. Then, a technique is presented to reduce the severity of impact dynamics by controlling piston's secondary motion, comprising vibration absorbers with nonlinear characteristics. The piston secondary motion dynamics are studied and the absorber effectiveness on vibration reduction is discussed

Design optimization study of a nonlinear energy absorber for internal combustion engine pistons

Piston impacts against the cylinder liner are the most significant sources of mechanical noise in internal combustion engines. Traditionally, the severity of impacts is reduced through the modification of physical and geometrical characteristics of components in the piston assembly. These methods effectively reduce power losses at certain engine operating conditions. Frictional losses and piston impact noise are inversely proportional. Hence, reduction in power loss leads to louder piston impact noise. An alternative method that is robust to fluctuations in engine operating conditions is anticipated to improve the engine's NVH performance, whilst exacerbation in power loss remains within the limits of conventional methods. The concept of Targeted Energy Transfer (TET) through the use of Nonlinear Energy Sinks (NES) is relatively new and its application in automotive powertrains has not been demonstrated yet. In this paper, a TET device is conceptually designed and optimised through a series of parametric studies. The dynamic response and power loss of a piston model equipped with this nonlinear energy sink is investigated. Numerical studies have shown a potential in reducing the severity of impact dynamics by controlling piston's secondary motion

Performance of poly alpha olefin nanolubricant

The viscosity and tribological behavior of nanofluids formed by dispersed nano-diamond particles within Poly-Alpha-Olefin (PAO6) lubricant is studied at different concentrations. The variation of coefficient of friction with nanoparticle concentration is measured using pin-on-disc tribometry under boundary, mixed, and hydrodynamic regimes of lubrication. A multi-scale multi-physics thermo-mixed lubrication model is developed to provide fundamental understanding of the measured tribometric results. The analytical approach combines continuum contact mechanics, thermal-mixed lubrication comprising the interaction of rough surfaces, as well as a thermal network heat transfer model. In particular, Einstein's viscosity model for dispersed hard particles together with Vogel’s viscosity-temperature dependence model for fluid viscosity containing nanoparticles represent new contributions to knowledge. This integrated numerical-experimental study of nanofluid thermal and tribological assessment has not hitherto been reported in literature. It is shown that improved heat transfer capability of nanofluids is particularly effective in the reduction of friction under a mixed regime of lubrication

An integrated tribodynamic model for investigation of efficiency, durability and NVH attributes of gear mesh in electric vehicle powertrains

An integrated gear tribodynamics model is proposed for the study of EV powertrains’ performance. The model considers the transient effects of lubrication regimes, non-Newtonian shear thinning, inlet shear heating, deformation states of asperities in mixed regime of lubrication and contact temperature using a set of analytical routines, which are computationally efficient. The proposed gear tribodynamics model provides a breakdown of the interdependency of these attributes and studies their impact on the performance of gear contacts. The results indicate that up to 30% of the contact load can be carried by asperities, of which 80% undergo elastoplastic deformation. In addition, the contribution of lubricant to contact stiffness can be greater than that of surface asperities by an order of magnitude.</p

Prediction of acoustic emissions of turbocharger bearings

© 2020SAE International. All Rights Reserved. Turbochargers are progressively used in modern automotive engines to enhance engine performance and reduce energy loss and adverse emissions. Use of turbochargers along with other modern technologies has enabled development of significantly downsized internal combustion engines. However, turbochargers are major sources of acoustic emissions in modern automobiles. Their acoustics has a distinctive signature, originating from fluid-structure interactions. The bearing systems of turbochargers also constitute an important noise source. In this case, the acoustic emissions can mainly be attributed to hydrodynamic pressure fluctuations of the lubricant film. The developed analytical model determines the lubricant pressure distribution in the floating journal bearings used mainly in the modern turbocharges. This allows for an estimation of acoustic emissions. The use of such an analytical approach is computationally efficient when compared with full numerical analysis approaches, whilst also providing reliable predictions. The results from the developed analytical model are used to determine the power loss as well as sound pressure levels generated in the turbocharger bearings due to oil flow which can be correlated with the acoustic emissions of turbochargers

An efficient analytical model to predict the root cause of electric gear whine [Abstract]

An efficient analytical model to predict the root cause of electric gear whine [Abstract]</p

An integrated tribodynamic model for investigation of efficiency, durability and NVH attributes of gear mesh in electric vehicle powertrains

An integrated gear tribodynamics model is proposed for the study of EV powertrains’ performance. The model considers the transient effects of lubrication regimes, non-Newtonian shear thinning, inlet shear heating, deformation states of asperities in mixed regime of lubrication and contact temperature using a set of analytical routines, which are computationally efficient. The proposed gear tribodynamics model provides a breakdown of the interdependency of these attributes and studies their impact on the performance of gear contacts. The results indicate that up to 30% of the contact load can be carried by asperities, of which 80% undergo elastoplastic deformation. In addition, the contribution of lubricant to contact stiffness can be greater than that of surface asperities by an order of magnitude.</p

Application of nonlinear vibration absorbers to the control of piston secondary motion in internal combustion engines

The impulsive behavior of piston plays a key role in the Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) of internal combustion engines. There have been several studies on the identification and quantification of piston impacting action under various operation conditions. In the current study, the dynamics of piston secondary motion are briefly explored, since this is fundamental to understanding the aggressive oscillations, energy loss and noise generation. Concepts of controlling piston secondary motion (and thus, impacts) are investigated and a new passive control approach is presented based on the nonlinear energy absorption of the highly transient oscillations. The effectiveness of this new method on the improvement of piston impact behavior is discussed, using a preliminary optimization exercise (with respect to engine excitation/speed, damping and stiffness of the nonlinear oscillator) that leads to the conceptual design of a nonlinear energy absorber