A New Approach In I.C.

Engines

A NEW APPROACH IN I.C.ENGINES (CAMLESS ENGINES)

PRESENTED BY

SHIVA KUMAR.CH

Shiva_chitta@yahoo.co.in

&

RA GHA VENDER RA O.G

raghu_rao114 @yahoo.co.in

KAKATIYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES - WARANGAL

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

The internal combustion engine(ICE) finds its place in the market with latest design
modifications in various components to improve efficiency, economy and overall
performance. However, one component has remained unchanged in the internal combustion
engine development i.e., the camshaft, has been the primary means of controlling the valve
actuation and timing, and therefore, influencing the overall performance of the vehicle.
Camless technology is capturing the future of internal combustion engines. It has been known
to man that if valves could be controlled independently in an Internal Combustion Engine then
there would be benefits like increased power, reduced emissions and increased fuel economy.
In the camless technology valve motion is operated by valve actuators of electro-mechanical
and electro-hydraulic type. In this paper we compare camless valve operation with
conventional valve . As the important types of actuating valves in camless engines.

Keywords : Valve actuation, Electromechanical actuators, Electrohydraulic actuators.

Introduction

C ams, Lifters, pushrods…all these things have up until now been associated with the internal combustion
engine. The issues that have had to be addressed in the Actuator design include

l Reliable valve performance

l C ost
l Packaging
l Power comsumption

Camless Valvetrain Operation valve to move it open or closed. These systems are
mainly retain poppet valves and are preferred by truck
engine manufacturers.

1. Electromechanical Poppet Valves

This type of system uses an armature attached to the

valve stem. The outside casing contains a magnetic coil of
some sort that can be used to either attract or repel the
armature, hence opening or closing the valve.

The type of camless variable valve actuating systems

being developed can be classed in two groups:
Electrohydraulic and electromechanical.

When it comes to electromechanical valve trains,

there are several designs that are being trialed. Most
developers are using the conventional poppet valve
system (ie valves that look the same as in today's
engines) but an alternative is a ball valve set up. Both
use electromagnets in one way or another to open and
close the valve. Originally created for the Apollo space
program, the electrohydraulic valve actuator works
by sending pressurized hydraulic fluid to.

actuator because they resulted in a

Solenoid and magnetic attraction/repulsion actuating
principals using an iron or ferromagnetic armature. These
types of armatures limited the performance of the and is
directed across the fixed air gap.

These forces are constant along the distance or travel

of the armature because the size of the air gap does
not change.

Referring now to figures 1 to 4 ( in Fig3), an

electromechanical valve actuator of the poppet valve
variety is illustrated in conjunction with an intake or
exhaust valve (22). The valve(22) includes a valve
closure member 28 having a cylindrical valve stem (30)
and a cylindrical valve head(32) attached to the end of
the stme(30), the valve actuator(20) of the poppet
valve system generally includes a housing assembly
(34) consisting of upper and lower tubular housing
members(36) and (42), a magnetic field generator
consisting of upper and lower field coils(48) and (52), a
core (56)

C onsisting of upper and lower core member (58) and

(68), and an armature

field can control the speed

suitably
connected to the valve stme(30), The armature coil is
preferably made from aluminium wire or other electrically
conductive lightweight material, which is highly conductive
for its mass. Minimizing the armature mass is especially
important in view of the rapid acceleration forces placed on
it in both directions.

The ability of the electromechanical valve actuator to

generate force in either direction and to vary the amount of
force applied to the armature in either direction is an
important advantage of this design. For instance, varying
the value of the current through the armature coil and/or
changing in tensity of
of opening and
closing of the valve. This method can also be used to
system consists of a ball through which a passage passes.
slow the valve closure member to reduce the seating
If the ball is rotated such that the passage lines up with
velocity, thereby lessening wear as well as reducing the
other openings in the valve assembly, gas
resulting noise.

can pass through it. (Exactly like the ball valves many of us
The system is able to operate without valve springs as
use to control our boost.) Opening and closing the valve is
shown in Figure 1 or can equally be equipped with then
accomplished by electromagnets positioned around its
as shown in figures 6&7(in Fig.4)
exterior.

Referring to Fig.5, the valve housing (7) is shown in two

pieces. Ball valve (8) has two rigidly attached pivots(12).
2. Electromechanical Ball Valves The disc(10) is permanently attached and indexed to the
ball valve and contains permanent magnets around its
An alternative to the conventional poppet valve for use perimeter.
in camless valve trains is a ball valve. This type of
electromechanical valve system

Electrohydraulic Poppet Valves flow conditions, rather than be accelerated up and down
in a linear fashion. A partially open ball valve state may
also be able to be used to create more turbulence.
The basic design of the electrohydraulic valvetrain
hardware is illustrated inFig.6. The engine poppet valves
(22) and the valve springs(24) that are used to reset them Electromechanical valve train implementation would not
are shown. The poppet valves are driven by hydraulic be possible with a normal 12V electrical system, the
actuators(26), which are controlled by electrically operated automotive industry has chosen a 42V electrical system
electrohydraulic valves (28) supplying hydraulic fluid to the as the next automotive standard.
actuators via conduit(29). The preferred hydraulic fluid is
engine oil, supplied to the electro-hydraulic valves by the
Electrohydraulic Poppet Valves
pressure rail(30).

In general terms, present designs of electrohydraulic

valves comprise poppet valves moveable between a first
and second position. Used is a source of pressurized
hydraulic fluid and a hydraulic actuator coupled to the
poppet valve. The motion between a first and second
position is responsive to thefolw of the pressurized
hydraulic fluid. And electrically operated hydraulic valve

More torque is made available through out the rev-range

dure to the valve timing changes enabling optimal
volumetric efficiency. This increases engine performance
encoder, a valve/ignition timing decoder controller,
and decreases fuel consumption, also decreasing harmful
injection driver electronics, valve coil driver electronics,
emissions, increasing durability and engine life and
ignition coil driver electronics, air idle speed control driver
allowing compensation for different types of fuel and
electronics and poser down control electronics.
varying altitudes.

A valve developed by sturman Industries is said to be

C ylinder deactivation (ie an eight cylinder can become a
about six times faster than conventional hydraulic valves.
six as needed!) is also possible , with the associated
To achieve such speeds, it uses a tiny spool sandwiched
reduction in emissions. Further fuel consumption
between two electrical coils, By passing current back and
reductions could be obtained by combining camless valve
forth between the coils, a microprocessor-basedcontroller
technology with a high-pressure direct fuel injection
can quickly move the spool back and forth, therby
system. The amount of engine oil required would also be
actuating the engine valves in accordance.
dramatically reduced because no lubrication would be
required for the traditional comlex cam shaft valve .

Benefits of Camless Engines

The benefits of camless valve actuator systems are

numerous. The most obvious

C old start wear would also be minimal to the valve When graphed , the cycle of opening and closing of
train hardware. There is also a general consensus a valve driven by a mechanical camshaft will
that electromechanical valve actuation will increasedisplay a shape similar to a sine curve. The
overall valvetrain efficiency by eliminatin the opening period (as measured in crankshaft
frictional losses of the camshaft mechanism, the degrees) remains constant for any engine load or
weight of the mechanism and the cam rpm. However, the cycle of opening and closing of
mechanism's drain of powe from the crankshaft. valves driven by the electromechanical valve
actuators operates much faster. Designed to match
valve- opening rates at the maximum engine rpm,
the electromechanical valve actuators open the
valve at this same rate regardless of engine
operation condition. Because of this improved
speed, greater flexibility in programming valve
events is possible, allowing for improved low-end
torque, lower emissions and improved fuel
economy. The massive opening period for the
electromechanically driven valve can also be seen!
The
improvement in the speed of operation valve
actuation and control system anc be readily
appreciated with reference to Fig.7. it shows a
comparison between valve speeds of a mechanical
camshaft engine and the camless engine valve
actuation. The length of the valve actuation. The
length of the valve stroke in inches versus degrees
of rotation of a mechanical camshaft is illustrated.

Conclusions From all these we can conclude that by applying

camless technology to internal combustion engines
the overall performance of the vehicle with
The main difference between camless engine and
enhance.
conventional engine arose when we deal with the
valve actuating methods in both of these engines.
In conventional engines the valves are actuated by References
using camshafts, lobes and gears. But in camless
internal combustion engines all theseare eliminated
by using actuators like electrohydraulic or electro-
mechanical type by which we can overcome the
problems with conventional i.c.engines. the • Fundamentals of I.C .Engines by J.B.Heywood.
benefits like reduced emission, increased power,
increased fuel economy can be obtained by • Kim D, Anderson M.A dynamic model of
applying camless technology to internal electrohydraulic camless valve train system SAE
combustion engines. Article.

• Schechter MM, Levin MB C amless engine, SAE

article.

• Article in autospeed on camless engines.

• A website www.ausospeed.con , article on

camless engines.

C reated by Department of C SE