A custom-designed limited-angle actuator for an electromechanical engine valve drive Part II: Fabrication and evaluation

Abstract

Research has shown that variable valve timing (VVT) can improve significantly the performance of internal combustion (IC) engines, including higher fuel efficiencies, lower emissions, and larger torque outputs at each point of the engine map. To achieve independent and continuous VVT for each valve, an electromechanical valve drive (EMV) system with a custom-designed limited-angle actuator was proposed previously, whose feasibility with lower power consumption, smaller package, and faster transition was predicted by simulation. In order to validate the concept experimentally, a prototype actuator was built and evaluated in this paper. The fabrication considerations and assembling process of the prototype actuator are discussed before satisfactory experimental results of the whole EMV system with the prototype actuator are presented. A further projection for a full engine valve actuation illustrates a promising future of the EMV system with the limited-angle actuator in a real engine environment up to an engine speed of 6000 rpm.