This work presents the application of a combined approach to investigate the friction losses in a modern four-cylinder passenger-car diesel engine. The approach connects the results from engine friction measurements using the indication method and the results from journal-bearing simulations. The utilization of the method enables a subassembly-resolved friction loss analysis that yields the losses of the piston group, crankshaft journal bearings, and valve train (including the timing drive and crankshaft seals). The engine and engine subassembly friction losses are investigated over the full speed and load range, covering more than 120 engine operation points at different engine media supply temperatures ranging from 70 to 110 ∘ C. The subsequently decreasing lubricant viscosity due to higher engine media supply temperatures allow for the identification of friction reduction potentials as well as possible risks due to an onset of mixed lubrication. Furthermore, additional strip-tests have been conducted to determine the friction losses of the crankshaft radial lip seals, the timing drive, and the crankshaft journal bearings, thus enabling a verification of the calculated journal-bearing friction losses with measurement results. For the investigated diesel engine, a friction reduction potential of up to 21% could be determined when increasing the engine media supply temperature from 70 to 110 ∘ C, at engine speeds higher than n = 1500 rpm and part load operating conditions. At low engine speeds and high load operations, the friction loss reduction potential is considerably decreased and below 8%, indicating mixed lubrication regimes at the piston group and valve train.

Internal combustion engines (ICE) for the use in heavy-duty trucks and buses have to fulfil demanding requirements for both vehicle efficiency as well as for emission of greenhouse gases. Beside the piston assembly the journal bearings are among the largest contributors to friction in the ICE. Through a combination of measurements and validated simulation methods the journal bearing friction losses of a state-of-the-art heavy-duty Diesel engine are investigated for a large range of real world operating conditions. To this task recently developed and extensively validated simulation methods are used together with realistic lubricant models that consider the Non-Newtonian behaviour as well as the piezoviscous effect. In addition, the potential for further friction reduction with the use of ultra-low viscosity lubricants is explored. The results reveal a potential of about 8% friction reduction in the journal bearings using a 0W20 ultra-low viscosity oil with an HTHS-viscosity (The HTHS-viscosity is defined as the dynamic viscosity of the lubricant measured at 150• C and at a shear rate of 10 6 s −1 ) of 3.6 mPa s. For the investigated engine, HTHS-viscosity limitations are determined which indicate that the use of lubricants with further reduced HTHS-viscosity would require engine and/or journal bearing modifications to be able to maintain the high service life of the engine.

The friction power losses of a turbo-charged heavy-duty diesel engine of the 13 litre class are investigated both by fired engine tests as well as by pressurized motoring tests. During pressurized motoring compressed air is applied to the engine intake which creates loads comparable with fired operation but without the strong and changing thermal influence of combustion. By using this combined approach the influence of the load and the thermal influence of the combustion can be studied separately for the first time. It is found that pressurized motoring yields comparable but generally a bit higher friction power losses as in fired operation. In particular, for full load operation, the agreement between the two methods is very good which supports the reasoning that for full load operation the mechanical load is the dominant factor for the friction power losses. However, for part load operation significant differences arise. Without the thermal influence from combustion, increasing the load on the engine leads to a rather linear increase in the friction power losses as is seen from pressurized motoring. This is in contrast to the fired engine tests, where the friction power losses stay almost constant over a rather large range of part loads and only increase for full load operation. It is argued that the reason for this different behaviour is the thermal impact from combustion.

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A spectacular measurement campaign was carried out on a real-world motorway stretch of Hungary with the participation of international industrial and academic partners. The measurement resulted in vehicle based and infrastructure based sensor data that will be extremely useful for future automotive R&D activities due to the available ground truth for static and dynamic content. The aim of the measurement campaign was twofold. On the one hand, road geometry was mapped with high precision in order to build Ultra High Definition (UHD) map of the test road. On the other hand, the vehicles—equipped with differential Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) for ground truth localization—carried out special test scenarios while collecting detailed data using different sensors. All of the test runs were recorded by both vehicles and infrastructure. The paper also showcases application examples to demonstrate the viability of the collected data having access to the ground truth labeling. This data set may support a large variety of solutions, for the test and validation of different kinds of approaches and techniques. As a complementary task, the available 5G network was monitored and tested under different radio conditions to investigate the latency results for different measurement scenarios. A part of the measured data has been shared openly, such that interested automotive and academic parties may use it for their own purposes.

In this work, friction loss investigations and comparisons of three different four-cylinder engines for passenger car applications are presented, using a recently developed combined approach. By merging extensive experimental with reliable and predictive journal bearing simulation results, a sub-assembly-resolved friction loss analysis of the piston group, crankshaft journal bearings and valve train is conducted for all three engines. The engines have been chosen individually based on their specific power output and crank train geometry. The measurement program covers a wide range of corresponding engine operation points (identical speed, load and thermal boundary conditions). In addition, the investigations are carried out for different engine media supply temperatures ranging from 70 ∘ C to 110 ∘ C for a comprehensive consideration of the friction losses at reduced lubricant viscosity. For reasons of comparability, all investigations conducted in this work have been carried out using the same modern SAE 5W30 lubricant. This is done to exclude influences from different lubricant properties which may have significant effects on the tribological behaviour of the engines’ sub-assemblies. While the diesel engine showed a friction reduction potential over the entire engine operation range when increasing the engine media supply temperatures, the gasoline engines showed a different behaviour. For the gasoline engines, disadvantages arise especially at low engine speeds. By using the developed combined approach, it was possible to assign mixed lubrication regimes at the valve train systems and at the piston groups.

Abstract:With the increasing pressure to reduce emissions, friction reduction is always an up-to-date topic in the automotive industry. Among the various possibilities to reduce mechanical friction, the usage of a low-viscosity lubricant in the engine is one of the most effective and most economic options. Therefore, lubricants of continuously lower viscosity are being developed and offered on the market that promise to reduce engine friction while avoiding deleterious mixed lubrication and wear. In this work, a 1.6 L downsized Diesel engine is used on a highly accurate engine friction test-rig to determine the potential for friction reduction using low viscosity lubricants under realistic operating conditions including high engine loads. In particular, two hydrocarbon-based lubricants, 0W30 and 0W20, are investigated as well as a novel experimental lubricant, which is based on a polyalkylene glycol base stock. Total engine friction is measured for all three lubricants, which show a general 5% advantage for the 0W20 in comparison to the 0W30 lubricant. The polyalkylene glycol-based lubricant, however, shows strongly reduced friction losses, which are about 25% smaller than for the 0W20 lubricant. As the 0W20 and the polyalkylene glycol-based lubricant have the same HTHS-viscosity , the findings contradict the common understanding that the HTHS-viscosity is the dominant driver related to the friction losses.

The paper presents the measurement campaign carried out on a real-world motorway stretch of Hungary with the participation of both industrial and academic partners from Austria and Hungary. The measurement included vehicle based as well as infrastructure based sensor data. The obtained results will be extremely useful for future automotive R&D activities due to the available ground truth for static and dynamic content. The aim of the measurement campaign was twofold. On the one hand, road geometry was mapped with high precision in order to build Ultra High Definition (UHD) map of the test road. On the other hand, the vehicles - equipped with differential Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) for ground truth localization - carried out special test scenarios while collecting detailed data using different sensors. All test runs were recorded by both vehicles and infrastructure. As a complementary task, the available 5G network was monitored and tested. The paper also showcases application examples based on the measurement campaign data, in which the added value of having access to the ground truth labeling and the created UHD map of the motorway section becomes apparent. In order to present our work transparently, a part of the measured data have been shared openly such that interested automotive as well as academic parties may use it for their own purposes.