A Cogging Torque Assisted Motor Driven Valve Actuation System for Internal Combustion Engines

Abstract

Electromechanical valve actuation (EVA) for internal combustion engines promises to significantly improve engine efficiency and lower emissions by reducing pumping losses and allowing for novel combustion strategies. However, current designs have not been able to meet the stringent performance criteria for reliability, efficiency, acoustic emissions, weight, and cost that are required by the automotive industry. This paper describes a novel cogging torque assisted motor driven (CTAMD) valve actuation system that promises to meet both the performance and robustness requirements. In contrary to existing EVA systems that recover the kinetic valve energy using a mechanical spring system, the CTAMD system recovers kinetic energy in a magnetic field. This allows for high efficiency while maintaining a simple and elegant electromechanical design. This paper describes the characteristics of CTAMD systems and outlines an electromechanical design for such a system. Then computer simulations of the proposed design are used to demonstrate the expected performance of the system. Finally, the simulated results are compared to other EVA systems to highlight the anticipated improvements.