Lightweight Cylinder Block and Lubrication Circuit Thermal Management Solutions for Low CO_2 Emissions

摘要

The UK funded Latitude project is researching advanced boosting technology, integrated with an engine combustion system, incorporating leading edge fuel injection equipment and controls, for application in future premium vehicles. The project aims to deliver over 10 percent fuel economy and CO_2 emissions improvement, compared with current production vehicles. The process of Topology optimisation has become a relatively well-established method of identifying optimal designs for structural requirements. In the application of engine design the multiple requirements of structural, thermal and, importantly in modern road cars, vibration presents significant challenges to the application of the Topology Optimisation method. A key research activity of the Latitude project has been the development of the Topology optimisation code, VR&D GENESIS, to couple directly to Ricardo's MATLAB based structural vibration calculations. The process presented several technical challenges which, once overcome, delivers a unique approach to identifying optimal engine block configurations. The paper presents the methodology for developing a new oil circuit using extensive use of 3D CFD and 1D thermo-hydraulic analysis which enables to draw an energy balance. The energy balance for the new oil circuit with the new lightweight cylinder block is then compared to the one from the baseline oil circuit and cylinder block in order to assess the fuel consumption and CO_2 emissions benefits over WLTC.