See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/242490772

The Development of a Computer-Based Teaching Tool for Internal Combustion

Engine Courses

Article · January 2004

DOI: 10.1115/IMECE2004-61998

CITATIONS READS

2 40

2 authors, including:

Dennis N. Assanis
University of Delaware
330 PUBLICATIONS   6,004 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Influence of Combustion Chamber Deposits on HCCI Combustion View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Dennis N. Assanis on 08 March 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Proceedings of IMECE 2004
2004 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and RD&D Expo
November 13-19, 2004, Anaheim, California USA

IMECE2004-61998

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTER-BASED TEACHING TOOL FOR

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE COURSES

Pin Zeng, Dennis N. Assanis

Automotive Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

ABSTRACT M& f1 : fuel flow rate injected from the injector

In this paper, the authors introduce the development of a
computer-based internal combustion engine teaching tool for M& f2 : fuel flow rate enters the cylinder
the undergraduate and professional training courses. The M& v : fuel flow rate evaporated from fuel film on the wall
teaching tool simulates a SI (Spark Ignition) engine running in
a testing facility. The physical and mathematical models, as of intake port and enters the cylinder
well as the control strategies that govern the engine’s operation
are embedded within the tool. It works as a virtual engine, and Abbreviation s
at the same time it displays and explains the physics behind BDC: Bottom Dead Center
each working process of the engine using graphical and CLT: Coolant Temperature
animation features. The teaching tool serves as an assistant for MAP: Manifold Air Pressure
the instructor of the internal combustion engine course. It MAT: Manifold Air Temperature
provides the students with a visual and interactive environment TDC: Top Dead Center
to learn the physical processes of the internal combustion TPS: Throttle Position Signal
engines faster and easier.
Greek symbols
NOMENCLATURE α: throttle angle degree
η v : volumetric efficient
B: cylinder bore diameter
θ : crank angle degree
k: ratio of the specific heat for air
ω : angular velocity of the crank shaft
l: connecting rod length ρ : density of the gas
L: piston stroke
N: Engine speed
R : gas constant of air INTRODUCTION
r : crank radius The internal combustion engine is the primary power
rc : compression ratio source of automobiles and other transportation devices. Two
s : piston position types of engines, the SI and CI (Compression-Ignition) engines
are usually introduced in the internal combustion engine
V c : clearance volume
courses. In this paper, the authors present the development of a
Vcyl : cylinder volume at each crank angle computer-based teaching tool for the four-stroke, SI engine
which dominates the North American market for passenger car
V d : displacement volume and light-duty vehicles.
M& d : fuel flow rate directly enters the cylinder after The working principle of the SI engine involves a wide
injected from the injector range of knowledge, including mechanics, fluid mechanics, and
chemical reaction. Modern engines are also equipped with
M f : fuel mass in the fuel film on the wall of intake port
sophisticated electronic control systems (Fig.1).

1 Copyright © 2004 by ASME

 (1) Air filter, (2) Throttle body and auxiliary-air device, (3) Intake manifold, (4) Cam and rocker-arm for valve system,
(5) Intake/exhaust valve and valve spring system, (6) Coolant, (7) Spark plug, (8) Piston, (9) Connecting rod,
(10) Exhaust manifold, (11) Cylinder head, (12) Cylinder block, (13) Ignition distributor, (14) 3-way catalyst, (15) Exhaust muffler.

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of a SI engine

This computer-based teaching tool is developed to present
a system level simulation of the engine operation processes
graphically and interactively. The objective is to assist the
students in applying and synthesizing the knowledge that they
have learned in the class, so as to develop an improved
understanding of the working principle of the SI engine.
Traditional teaching tools used by the instructor of an
internal combustion engine course are real engines, engine
models and textbooks [1 to 4]. Real engines give students the
concept about how an engine is built from its parts and
components. The engine models are used to demonstrate the
main mechanical motions of the engine, such as the motion of
the piston, connecting rod and crank shaft. The textbooks
contain comprehensive knowledge and explanations for the
working principle of different engines.
The computer-based teaching tool becomes an additional
assistant for the instructor of the internal combustion engine
course. It reinforces the working principle of the engine by
utilizing the graphical and interactive features of the computer
to integrate the equations listed in the textbooks into a system
to simulate the engine’s operation. Note that this teaching tool
is not a direct adoption of the engine simulation software used
to obtain detailed and accurate simulation results for engine
research purposes. Research grade simulations often lack user-
friendly graphical interfaces and require lengthy computational
time. In contrast, a teaching tool for undergraduate and
professional training courses requires a user-friendly graphical
interface for easy usage and short computational time for
interactive calculations. It emphasizes on providing
conceptually and qualitatively correct results, without the level
of detail and accuracy required for engine research.
This teaching tool takes the modern PFI (Port Fuel
Injection) engine as the subject. As shown in Fig.1, it includes
engine electronic control system, and excludes the carburetor
used by the old SI engine, developed before 1980’s. For a
engine, the engine specifications, such as the dimensions of the
bore diameter and stroke, are the input parameters. The engine
throttle position and a series of data tables related to fuel
injection and spark timing are the input data. The physical and
mathematical models, as well as the control strategies
embedded in this teaching tool use these inputs to simulate the
engine operation. In addition to the output data, such as engine
speed, torque and power that directly affect the engine
performance, a series of intermediate data, such as intake
manifold pressure, air flow rates, fuel flow rate, and cylinder
pressure, are also calculated. When a user inputs a driving
pattern, i.e. a series of throttle positions as a function of time,
the teaching tool works as a virtual engine simulating the
operating processes and displaying all output results
graphically. The values in the data tables can also be changed
to allow the students to carry-out parametric studies for a range
of operating conditions. In this way, the teaching tool has the

2 Copyright © 2004 by ASME

ability to illustrate to the students the fundamental concepts Mechanical motion of the engine
about the engine’s mechanical motion, chemical reactions, as The most important motion of the engine is the mechanical
well as the control strategy of the air and fuel flow. motion of the piston, connecting rod and the crankshaft. It
A simulation used for the engine research purposes could converts the linear, reciprocating motion of the piston into the
include fluid dynamic, combustion and complex cylinder
rotary motion of the crankshaft. Then, the rotary motion can be
pressure calculations, which need intensive computation time.
output to the driving wheels of the vehicle through the clutch,
For the teaching tool, two approaches are used to reduce the
transmission and shafts. Figure 2 illustrates the cylinder
computational time and achieve interactive ability. First, the
simulation of the fluid dynamics and combustion process are pressure acting on the piston, as well as the geometry of the
not included in the calculation. Without the simulation of the piston, connecting rod and crankshaft. During the combustion
fluid dynamics, the simulation accuracy for the intake air flow and expansion processes, the high cylinder pressure pushes the
rate will decrease. Without the simulation of the combustion piston down. During compression and intake/exhaust
process, the teaching tool cannot give detailed information processes, the inertial of the flywheel and the cylinder pressure
about the formation of harmful substances in the exhaust gases. of other cylinders drive the piston motion.
Second, a method of reconstructing engine cylinder pressure,
developed earlier by the authors [5, 6 and 7,] is used to
calculate the cylinder pressure. This method calculates the
cylinder pressure trace using simple algebraic relations, without
the need for solving the differential equation that is normally
used in engine research simulations. From the cylinder
pressure diagram, the engine torque, power, speed and other
information can be calculated using different physical and
mathematical models. By using the above two approaches, the
computational time is greatly reduced and the interactive
calculation becomes possible. At the same time, the simulation
results are still conceptually and qualitatively correct and
meaningful.
The computer-based teaching tool and its user-friendly
GUI (Graphic User Interface) are developed using a
commercial software platform, LabView [8]. The functions of
the tool are organized in a menu driven structure. With the help
of a simple user manual, the user can easily learn to use the
software. The teaching tool accepts engine parameters and
operating data through on screen input and text data file. It is Fig. 2 Mechanical motion of the piston,
used for the undergraduate and professional training courses. connecting rod and crankshaft
As the prerequisites to study these courses and use this
software, the students should have had basic knowledge or
courses on thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, chemistry and From the geometric relation, the mechanical motion of the
electronics. Knowledge on the Fourier’s transformation and
piston at any crank angle position can be defined by its position
automatic control theory will be a plus to better understand and
use of this tool. to the center of the crankshaft expressed by Eq. (1).
The requirements and approach for the development of the
computer-based teaching tool have been introduced in this s = r cos θ + (l 2 − r 2 sin2 θ )1/ 2 (1)
section. In the next section, the functions of the tool will be
described.
Then, the cylinder volume that is related to the piston work can
be calculated using equation (2).
FUNCTIONS EMBEDDED IN THE TEACHING TOOL
Five functions related to the mechanical motion of the π B2
Vcyl = Vc + (l + r − s)
engine, the chemical reactions of the fuel-air mixture, and the 4

{ ]}
(2)
[
calculation of the intake flow rate, the fuel flow rate and the
cylinder pressure are presented in this section. Embedded these = Vc 1 + 1 (rc − 1) λ + 1 − cos θ − (λ2 − sin2 θ )1 / 2
2
functions in the computer-based teaching tool can illustrate to
the students fundamental concepts related to the engine’s
operation and control strategy where λ = l / r .

3 Copyright © 2004 by ASME

Chemical reaction of the air-fuel mixture
Gasoline is used as the fuel for the SI engine. It is a blend
of many different hydrocarbon compounds obtained by refining
petroleum. The hydrogen to carbon ratio in the gasoline is
about 1.85. Hence, it is convenient to write gasoline as
CH 1. 85 . The chemical reaction of the air-gasoline mixture for
the complete combustion can be expressed as
The engine schematic diagrams shown in Fig. 1 and 3 use
the speed-density method to calculate the air flow rate using
signals for the manifold air pressure Pm and manifold air
temperature Tm . The air density in the intake manifold can be
calculated from the ideal gas law ρ m = Pm R Tm . Then, the
air flow rates through the throttle M& a1 and into the cylinder

CH 1. 85 + 1.46 (O 2 + 3.76 N 2 )
M& a 2 can be calculated by Eq. (4) using engine speed N and
123 1442443 air density ρ m .
gasoline air
(3)
⇒ CO 2 + 1.85 H 2 O + 1.46 × 3.76 N 2
2
From Eq. (3), the stoichiometric AFR (Air Fuel Ratio) can be
calculated as ( AFR) s ≈ 14.6, i.e. burning 1 kg gasoline
consumes 14.6 kg air. The energy released from the chemical
reaction creates high cylinder pressure to drive the piston to
move.
Equation (3) expresses the states of the mixture before and
after combustion. In fact, the real combustion process in the
engine is very complex. Besides CO 2 , H 2 O and N 2 , many
other species, such as pollutants CO, HC and NO x
(NO and NO 2 ) exist in the products of combustion. A Fig. 3 Intake air flow rate calculation
detailed combustion simulation is required to estimate the
quantities of these pollutants. As mentioned before, the
combustion simulation is time consuming, and hence not
1
included in this computer-based teaching tool. As shown in M& a1 = M& a 2 = Vd η v ( N ρ m ) (4)
Fig. 1, the modern SI engine is equipped with a 3-way catalyst 2
that converts CO & HC into CO 2 & H 2 O , and NO x into
N 2 to eliminate the pollutant emission. The 3-way catalyst where the volumetric efficiency η v is obtained from engine
has a high conversion efficiency only when the engine runs at a experiments and stored in a 3-D table for different engine
narrow window around the stoichiometric air fuel ratio speeds N and intake manifold pressures Pm .
( AFR) s ≈ 14.6. Therefore, modern SI engines use an
During transient running conditions, when the throttle
Electronic Control Unit (ECU) to accurately calculate and angle α is rapidly changed, the manifold air pressure Pm
control the fuel injection quantity to keep the air-fuel ratio in
the cylinder to be 14.6 for most of the operating conditions. changes, which results in a change of air density ρ m . Hence,
Only for limited conditions, such as cold start and full load the air mass stored in the manifold changes (see Fig. 3). The
conditions, fuel enrichment is required for faster engine air flow rate through the throttle body is not equal to the air
starting, for warming-up and for generating more power.
flow rate into the cylinder. However, the manifold air pressure
sensor does not respond fast enough to capture the pressure
Intake air flow rate calculation
change. The throttle angle α signal is used for estimating the
The intake air flow is controlled by the throttle position manifold air pressure and the air flow rate into the cylinder
that is linked to the acceleration pedal. When the driver steps using the following equations:
on the acceleration pedal, the throttle angle α increases; the air
flow cross-sectional area increases; and the air flow rate ⎛ R Tm ⎞
increases. With higher intake air flow rate, to keep the air-fuel P&m = ( M& a1 − M& a 2 ) ⎜ ⎟ (5)
⎝ Vm ⎠
ratio constant at 14.6, more fuel is injected into the engine to
generate more power for acceleration or for driving uphill.
Two methods are commonly used in the ECU to estimate M& a 2 = 1 V d η v ( N ρ m ) (6)
2
the air flow rate for different engines during steady running
condition when the throttle angle α is kept constant. M& a1 = C D A t (1 − cos α ) f (Ta , Pa , Pm ) (7)
• Using the signal of an air flow sensor installed before the
throttle body where C D is the discharge coefficient of the throttle valve and
• Using the speed-density method described below A t is the cross section area for the air flow in the throttle body

4 Copyright © 2004 by ASME

position. Function f (Ta , Pa , Pm ) can be calculated using the During transient running conditions, the dynamic
equation for compressible flow through a flow restriction listed equilibrium cannot be achieved. When accelerating, the intake
in any textbook of fluid mechanics, such as [9]. manifold air pressure increases, which suppresses the fuel
evaporation. More fuel stays in the fuel film and less fuel
enters the cylinder; hence, the air-fuel mixture will become too
f (Ta , Pa , Pm ) =
lean. On the contrary, at deceleration, more fuel from the fuel
⎧ ⎧ 1/ 2 film evaporates and enters the cylinder; therefore the air-fuel
( k +1) / k ⎤ ⎫
⎪ P ⎪ 2 k 1 ⎡⎢⎛ Pm ⎞
2/k
⎛ Pm ⎞ ⎪ mixture will become too rich. This wall wetting phenomenon
⎪ a ⎨ k − 1 R Ta ⎢⎜⎝ Pa ⎟⎠ −⎜ ⎟ ⎥⎬
⎝ Pa ⎠ ⎥⎦ ⎪⎭ creates a problem for the engine control system. The feedback
⎪ ⎩ ⎪ ⎣ control using the oxygen sensor signal is too slow to correct the
⎪ air-fuel ratio during rapid transient running conditions.
⎪ Pm ⎛ 2 ⎞ k / ( k −1)
⎪ for >⎜ ⎟ subsonic flow (8) Therefore, a model for the transient fuel flow rate calculation
⎪ Pa ⎝ k + 1 ⎠ shown in Fig. 5 can be used to compensate the control error [10
⎨ and 11]. This model can be expressed using the following
⎪ 1/ 2
⎪ ⎛ 2 ⎞ k / ( k −1) ⎛ 2 k 1 ⎞ equations:
⎜ ⎟
⎪ ⎝ k +1⎠ ⎜ ⎟
⎪ ⎝ k + 1 R Ta ⎠ M& d = c M& (10)
f1
⎪
⎪ Pm ⎛ 2 ⎞ k / ( k −1)
⎪ for Pa ≤ ⎜⎝ k + 1 ⎟⎠ sonic flow M& v = 1 M (11)
⎩ τ f

M& f = M& d − M& v (12)

Fuel injection flow rate calculation
M& f2 = (1 − c) M& f1 + M& v (13)
A pressure regulator is used to keep the difference between
the fuel pressure in the injector and the air pressure in the where c represents the percentage of the fuel injected from the
intake port constant. The fuel injector is a solenoid valve. The injector directly into the cylinder. τ is the time constant for
fuel injection quantity can be controlled by the pulse width of the fuel mass in the fuel film to evaporate. c and τ can be
the control signal to the injector. obtained from engine experiments and stored in the 3-D data
When the fuel is injected into the intake port, part of the tables against engine speed N and intake manifold air pressure
fuel directly enters the cylinder, while part of the fuel enters the Pm . τ is also affected by the wall temperature. Hence, the
fuel film on the wall and does not enter the cylinder
coolant temperature signal is used to adjust the value for τ .
immediately. At the same time, part of the fuel in the fuel film
evaporates and enters the cylinder.
During steady running conditions, a dynamic equilibrium
can be achieved. The fuel flow rate injected from the injector
is equal to the fuel flow rate entering the cylinder (see Fig. 4).
The fuel flow rates M& and M&f1 can be calculated from the
f2

intake air flow rates M& a1 and M& a 2 , as well as the

stoichiometric air-fuel ratio ( AFR) s ≈ 14.6.

M& a 1 M& a 2
M& f1 = M& f2 = = (9)
( AFR) s ( AFR) s
Fig. 4 Fuel injection flow rate calculation

The calculated fuel flow rate is still not accurate enough to

keep the air-fuel ratio within a narrow window around
( AFR) s ≈ 14.6, which gives the best efficiency for the 3-way
catalyst. An oxygen sensor is installed in the exhaust manifold
to detect whether the air-fuel ratio is larger or smaller than
( AFR) s ≈ 14.6 (see Fig. 1). The output voltage of the oxygen
sensor signal changes abruptly as the air-fuel ratio changes
around ( AFR) s ≈ 14.6. It is used to carry-out feedback control
of the air-fuel ratio to obtain the required accuracy. Fig. 5 Transient fuel injection compensation

5 Copyright © 2004 by ASME

Cylinder pressure calculation N

The authors of this paper developed a method to P (t ) = P + ∑ [A

n =1
n cos (nωt ) + B n sin (nωt )]
reconstruct cylinder pressure [5, 6 and 7]. This method (14)
involves the following steps: N
• Taking cylinder pressure data over a matrix of test points.
• Transforming all the cylinder pressure data into the
=P+ ∑C
n =1
n cos (nωt + φ n )
frequency domain, expressed in Eq. (14), and storing time-
and
averaged cylinder pressures P and the first order harmonic
amplitudes C1 in data tables.
• In the frequency domain, the cylinder pressure plots are Cn = An2 + Bn2 amplitude (15)
decomposed into amplitude and phase angle curves
expressed in Eqs. (15) and (16).
• It can be found that the phase angle curves can be φ n = arctan ( Bn An ) phase angle (16)
approximated by straight lines. By storing the ending
values of these curves, the phase angle curves can be
calculated by Eq. (17). φ n = φ 1 + [ (n − 1) / ( N − 1) ] (φ N − φ1 ) (17)
• The amplitude curves are normalized by their first order
harmonic amplitudes (C n C1 ) . The (C n C1 ) curves all
collapse to each other into a narrow range. Then, a (C n C1 ) poly = a 0 + a1 n + a 2 n 2 + a 3 n 3 (18)
polynomial equation can be fitted to represent these curves
in the form of Eq. (18).
• Finally, the results of Eqs. (17) and (18), as well as the N

values of P and C1 stored in the data tables, are

P (t ) = P + ∑C
n =1
1 (C n C1 ) poly cos (nωt + φ n ) (19)
substituted into Eq. (19) to reconstruct cylinder pressure.

Fig.6 Response of engine parameters to rapid change of the throttle position

6 Copyright © 2004 by ASME

 Figure 6 shows one set of transient simulation results for
the response of several engine parameters to the rapid change
of the throttle position, using Eqs. (1) to (13). Some of the
parameters, such as the fuel mass in the fuel film and the fuel
flow rate into the cylinder are hard to measure experimentally.
Therefore, the simulation becomes a useful tool to investigate
and exhibit their behaviors. It is worth noticing that because of
the wall wetting problem, there is an overshoot in the fuel mass
within the fuel film when the throttle rapidly opens. In order to
compensate for this overshoot, extra fuel needs to be injected
from the injector to keep the air-fuel ratio in the cylinder
constant at 14.6. The difference between the fuel flow rate
injected from the injector and that entering the cylinder is the
net fuel flow rate into the fuel film. Several seconds after the
throttle position stops changing, the difference is gradually
reduced to zero, and the dynamic equilibrium for the fuel film
is reached.
Figure 7 compares the measured and reconstructed
cylinder pressure plots, using Eqs. (14) to (19), for four engine
operating conditions. The results show that the simulation
methods used in this teaching tool agree well with the
experimental data.
Fig.7 Measured and reconstructed cylinder pressure
CONCLUSIONS
In addition to the traditional teaching tools, i.e., the real
engine, engine models and textbooks, the computer-based
teaching tool presented in this paper provides an interactive and
graphical teaching assistant to the instructor of an internal
combustion engine course. The teaching tool simulates the
engine operating processes and conditions at a system level to
help the students apply and synthesize the knowledge that they
have learned from the engines courses, as well as other related
courses. In order to utilize the computer features to achieve
interactive simulation ability at a system level, time consuming
simulation processes, such as fluid dynamic and combustion
ones, are not included. In the class, the instructor can use the
teaching tool to illustrate to the students the physics behind
each engine working process and explain the working principle
View publication stats
of the SI engine. After class, the students can use the teaching
tool to investigate how each equation governs a certain engine
working process and how the equations taught by the instructor
and listed in the textbooks can be linked together for a system
level engine simulation. The practical use of this teaching tool
has proved that it helps the instructors explain the details of the
physical equations governing the engine’s operation, as well as
the students to faster and better understand the engine working
principles.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study has been sponsored by the Automotive
Research Center at the University of Michigan. The authors
wish to Mr. Rob Prucka for providing experimental data used
for reconstructing cylinder pressure in the example presented in
this paper.
REFERENCES
1. Heywood J. B., Internal Combustion Engine
Fundamentals, Mc-Graw Hill Book Co., New York, 1988
2. Lumley J. L. and W. C. Reynolds, Engines: An
Introduction, Cambridge University Press, 1999
3. Stone R., Introduction to Internal Combustion Engines, 3rd
Edition, Society of Automotive Engineer, 1999
4. Pulkrabek W. W., Engineering Fundamentals of the
Internal Combustion Engine, Prentice Hall, 2003
5. Zeng P., and D. N. Assanis, “Cylinder Pressure
Reconstruction and its Application to Heat Transfer,” SAE
Paper 2004-01-0922, 2004
6. Zeng, P., R. G. Prucka, Z. S. Filipi and D. N. Assanis,
“Reconstructing cylinder Pressure of a Spark-Ignition
Engine for Heat Transfer and Heat Release Analysis,”
Proceedings of ASME ICEF 2004, Long Beach, CA, USA,
2004
7. Zeng, P., “Unsteady Convective Heat Transfer Modeling
and Application to Internal Combustion Engines,” Ph.D.
Thesis, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, 2004
8. Beyon J. Y., LabVIEW Programming, Data Acquisition
and Analysis, Prentice Hall Professional Technical
Reference, 2000
9. Kundu P., Fluid Mechanics (2nd Edition), Elsevier Science
& Technology Books, 2001
10. Aquino C. F., “Transient A/F Control Characteristics of the
5 liter Central Fuel Injection Engine,” SAE Paper 810494,
1981
11. Moyne L. L. and F. Maroteaux, “Air-fuel flow modeling
applied to the reduction of air-fuel ratio excursions during
transients on port-injected S.I. engines,” SAE Paper
970513, 1997
7 Copyright © 2004 by ASME