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2018-01-1766 Published 10 Sep 2018
Design and Development of a Roller Follower
Hydraulic Lash Adjustor to Eliminate Lash
Adjustment and Reduce Noise in a Serial
Production Diesel Engine
Leighton Roberts and James McCarthy Eaton
Citation: Roberts, L. and McCarthy, J., “Design and Development of a Roller Follower Hydraulic Lash Adjustor to Eliminate Lash
Adjustment and Reduce Noise in a Serial Production Diesel Engine,” SAE Technical Paper 2018-01-1766, 2018, doi:10.4271/2018-01-1766.
Abstract
C
ommercial vehicles require continual improvements
in order to meet fuel emission standards, improve
diesel aftertreatment system performance and
optimize vehicle fuel economy. Aftertreatment systems require
significant space claim which makes vehicle packaging a chal-
lenge. Today’s diesel engines require valvetrain lash adjust-
ment settings at distinct intervals to ensure proper valvetrain
performance. This requires removing the engine rocker cover
to access the valvetrain rocker arms for setting lash. Setting
lash for compact vehicle applications sometimes requires
removing the aftertreatment system to provide access to the
rocker cover prior to setting lash. Then, the rocker cover is
reinstalled followed by the aftertreatment system making the
lash setting process time consuming and complex. This paper
focuses on the design, development and validation of adapting
Introduction
T
here are increasing pressures to improve exhaust emis-
sions and fuel economy for commercial vehicles, agri-
cultural equipment and passenger cars. This paper
focuses on the addition of hydraulic lash adjusters (HLAs) for
the diesel engine market to ensure precise operation of the
valvetrain and enable more compact packaging for systems
such as aftertreatment by eliminating the need to set
valvetrain lash.
Passenger car emissions in the United States have been
mandated to improve both fuel economy and CO2 reductions.
The mandates have increased the average fuel economy for
passenger car and light trucks from 27.5 miles per gallon
equivalent (mpge) in 2008 to 35.5 mpge in 2016 [1]. The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National
Highway Transportation and Safety Administration
(NHTSA) extended the improvement of fuel economy and
greenhouse gases for passenger vehicle models in 2017
through 2025 [2]. These actions move the average required
fleet wide fuel economy in 2025 in the range of 55.3 to 56.2
mpge for passenger cars, and 39.3 to 40.3 mpge for light
trucks, resulting in a combined 48.7 to 49.7 mpge [2].
© 2018 Eaton Corporation.
hydraulic lash adjusters (HLAs) into a type V (camshaft in
block) diesel engine thus eliminating the lash adjustment
process. The flat mechanical tappets were replaced with roller
follower HLAs on both the intake and exhaust valves. The
roller was included to reduce valvetrain friction over flat
tappets. An anti-rotation design was included to maintain
alignment between the roller and the camshaft. A major
advantage of using the HLA was reduced engine valvetrain
noise. Minor engine block changes were required to accom-
modate the roller follower HLAs. The HLA design ensured
reliable and repeatable valve motion from engine build thru
cold start and normal engine operation over the useful life of
the engine. Reliability was key for the roller follower HLA as
it is embedded inside the block which makes replacement
impractical. This paper highlights the major design aspects
for including roller follower HLAs in a type V diesel engine.
The passenger car market has adopted HLA technology for
the majority of vehicles [3, 4, 5, 6]. A major reason for the
adoption is noise reduction [7, 8, 9]. Valvetrain friction reduc-
tion is investigated as this has a direct effect on fuel economy
[10, 11, 12].
Figure 1 shows three valvetrain architectures which are
commonly referred to as type II, III and V. A typical passenger
car architecture is type II as shown in Figure 1a. This includes
an HLA under the end pivot of the rocker arm. The camshaft
is centered above the rocker arm. The engine valve opens and
closes in response to the lift profile on the camshaft in combi-
nation with the rocker arm ratio. There is no lash adjustment
screw in this setup as the HLA resets every camshaft rotation
to maintain precise valve control through the engine
useful life.
Typical valvetrain architectures for the commercial
market are type III and V. A type III architecture is shown in
Figure 1b. The camshaft resides below the rocker arm in this
confirmation. It pushes on an end bearing which creates a
moment through the center pivot to open and close the engine
valve. Figure 1c shows a type V configuration in which the
camshaft resides inside the block. The camshaft pushes on a
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2 DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A ROLLER FOLLOWER HYDRAULIC LASH ADJUSTOR

 FIGURE 1   Type II, III and V Valvetrain Architectures.  FIGURE 3   Typical interfaces between the camshaft and
pushrod on Type V engines.

© 2018 Eaton Corporation

© 2018 Eaton Corporation

 FIGURE 2   Type V Valvetrain Replacing a Flat Faced Tappet
Figure 3b shows a flat tappet in combination with HLA
(a) with a Roller Follower HLA (b).
[17]. Likewise, Figure 3c shows a roller follower HLA (RFHLA).
Both the flat tappet HLA and RFHLA maintain precise valve-
train control for the life of the engine which eliminates the
need to set lash. The elimination of the lash or “gap” reduces
valvetrain noise since mechanical parts remain in contact
thus preventing the rocker arm from hitting the engine valve
each opening event. A flat tappet HLA has the benefit that it
can spin in the valvetrain bore since the tappet is flat and does
not require alignment with the camshaft. The benefit of the
RFHLA is that the roller reduces friction compared to a flat
tappet while an anti-rotation device is needed since the roller
© 2018 Eaton Corporation

must remain perpendicular to the camshaft.

The tappet or RFHLA on a type V engine resides in the
internals of the engine. It is located inside the block and sits
on the camshaft. As a result, these components need to
be reliable. Replacing an HLA is cumbersome as it typically
involves removing the camshaft to access the tappets or HLAs.
Therefore, producing a reliable product is mandatory.
flat face tappet in this configuration which in turn moves the The growing demand for improved fuel economy while
pushrod and rocker arm through a rocker arm center pivot reducing tailpipe emissions is driving development of new
to open and close a pair of engine valves via a valve bridge. engine and aftertreatment technologies. Aftertreatment
This paper focuses on replacing the flat face tappet on a type systems are efficient for removing NOx from the engine
V valvetrain with a roller follower in diesel applications that exhaust. This poses packaging challenges. The addition of an
includes HLA as shown in Figure 2. Literature has shown that HLA to the valvetrain removes the need to take the engine
friction can be reduced by adding diamond like carbon (DLC) rocker cover off for setting lash which allows the vehicle OEM
coating to tappets [13] while a further reduction in friction is to place the aftertreatment system next to the rocker cover.
achieved by using a roller follower [14, 15]. HLAs also have a There are six major advantages of using HLAs in commer-
benefit of dampening the valvetrain which can eliminate or cial vehicles. The first is improved valvetrain dynamics. The
reduce valve bounce [16]. As a result of the friction savings, elimination of lash enables better control of the valvetrain
the roller follower was chosen instead of a flat faced follower. across the engine speed range and lowers the closing velocity
Figure 3 shows alternatives for type V interfaces between of the engine valve. The second benefit is lower noise. Since
the camshaft and the pushrod. Figure 3a shows a flat mechan- valvetrain dynamics are improved and valve closing velocity
ical tappet which is common in the commercial vehicles is decreased, noise is reduced. The third is reduced wear. Wear
market. There is no HLA in this device, and lash must be set between the engine valve and the valve seat is reduced as
on this type of valvetrain. Lash is a gap between the valvetrain closing velocity decreases. The fourth is that it enables compact
and the engine valve such that the valve remains shut while packaging where aftertreatment systems can be placed next
on base circle of the camshaft. The lift portion of the camshaft to or on top of the rocker cover since manual lash adjustment
removes the gap and opens the valve. This gap varies over the is no longer required. The fifth is reduced service cost which
life of the engine which requires schedule maintenance to set is tied to eliminating lash adjustment and, for some applica-
lash such that the valve profile remains correct. tions, eliminating the need to remove and reinstall the
© 2018 Eaton Corporation.
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 DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A ROLLER FOLLOWER HYDRAULIC LASH ADJUSTOR 3

 FIGURE 4   Various locations to place an HLA in a type  FIGURE 5   Image of the RFHLA.
V valvetrain.
© 2018 Eaton Corporation

© 2018 Eaton Corporation

aftertreatment system during lash adjustment. The final
benefit is that it maintains precise control of the valve profile
 FIGURE 6   Cross sections of the RFHLA.
over the life of the engine and is independent of operating
temperature. As a result, the trend from passenger car is
moving into the light and medium duty diesel market. Flat
faced HLAs are currently in production on a Perkins engine
for off-highway [17] for many of the reasons cited above. HLAs
could enter the heavy duty diesel market with the same
benefits cited above.
An HLA for a type V valvetrain can be placed in any
interface between the camshaft and the top of the valve. Figure
4 shows the various positions where an HLA can be placed.
© 2018 Eaton Corporation

There are many considerations in choosing the proper location

in each application. A primary design consideration is the
ability to feed oil to the HLA. This paper is focused on using
a RFHLA while the other configurations are highlighted.
A flat face HLA can be positioned at the same location as
the RFHLA which is between the camshaft and the pushrod.
The RFHLA for this paper was chosen over the flat faced to
reduce valvetrain friction. The HLA could also be mounted
to the top of the pushrod. Likewise, the HLA could be inserted
into the rocker arm on the pushrod side. Finally, the HLA
could be inserted into the rocker arm on the engine valve side.
This paper focuses on the design, development and reli-
ability of a RFHLA for diesel engines applicable for the light
duty and medium duty diesel market.
Design
This section reviews the design elements of the RFHLA
discussed in this paper. Figure 5 shows a rendered image of
the final design of the RFHLA. The roller is located on the
bottom which serves as the camshaft interface. The roller axle
is supported by two struts connected to the HLA body. The
anti-rotation component is located above the roller. The anti-
rotation mechanism protrudes from the outside diameter of
the body to interface in a groove in the RFHLA bore. The HLA
components are located inside the body. The next section will
discuss the design of each of these elements.
© 2018 Eaton Corporation.
Figure 6 shows cross sectional views of the RFHLA and
the internal components. The roller, axle and anti-rotation
components were introduced in Figure 5. The internal compo-
nents contained in the inner diameter of the body include a
socket, plunger, check valve, including a check ball, spring
and retainer and a plunger spring. This section describes the
design details associated with each of these components.
The socket is the interface for the push tube. Generally
the angles of the exhaust and intake push tubes are different.
One socket design can accommodate both angles.
Oil Feed
The oil reservoir in the HLA is designed to provide the neces-
sary oil to the HLA upon startup. Every valve event will
deplete some of this oil until the HLA is fed positive oil
pressure which replenishes the reservoir. The HLA design
discussed in this paper is fed from the main oil gallery in the
block. There is an opening on one side of the RFHLA bore
into the main oil gallery. A small oil supply channel is drilled
into the body such that there is continuous oil pressure to
the reservoir.
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4 DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A ROLLER FOLLOWER HYDRAULIC LASH ADJUSTOR
A secondary benefit of having this oil communication
with the oil supply is lubrication. The RFHLA body is continu-
ously oscillating within the bore with every valve event. The
oil passage allows oil to seep around the outer diameter of the
RFHLA body and lubricate the body to RFHLA bore interface.
There are other options for oil feed not chosen for this
design which include a feed from the overhead via a hollow
push tube or feed from a sleeve adaptor. The HLA could also
provide the path through which the overhead receives oil
pressure via the ball socket and a hollow push tube.
The essence of the HLA design is not unique and has been
proven over decades of production HLAs. This HLA was
designed using common HLA components with other produc-
tion HLAs that have proven reliable.
Hydraulic Components
The HLA internal components are comprised of a plunger, a
check valve system including a check ball, check ball spring
and retainer, and a plunger spring. The chamber inside the
plunger is called the reservoir. The volume beneath the plunger
is the high pressure chamber (HPC) which also contains the
plunger spring.
The main function of the HLA is to take up the lash in
the valvetrain system. The plunger spring is the primary driver
that consumes the valvetrain lash. The spring provides a
constant load, extending the length of the HLA until contact
is made to both the cam and the push tube.
The HLA must be able to adjust down or up over time
and during engine operation for wear and thermal change.
Leakdown provides the ability for the HLA to adjust shorter.
Leakdown is an important parameter of an HLA. When the
cam rotates onto the lobe, the valve springs impart a load onto
the valvetrain. The oil column in the HPC resists this load,
but due to the high pressure, a small amount of oil bleeds
through the clearance between the plunger and the body,
known as the leakdown clearance. This occurs throughout
the entire valve lift event. When the cam returns to base circle,
there is no more force imparted on the HLA, the checkball
opens to allow oil in the reservoir to refill the volume in the
HPC to maintain the proper HLA height. From the time the
engine starts to the time it warms up, the valvetrain compo-
nents will experience thermal growth. The HLA effective
height will reduce to maintain the proper size as temperature
changes. Over time the effective height of the HLA will gener-
ally lengthen to accommodate for any wear in the
valvetrain system.
Because of the oil flow through the leakdown clearance
during each valve event, this rate of flow is tightly controlled,
known as the leakdown rate. The clearance in the leakdown
path is generally less than 8 microns. Other than the sizes of
the plunger and the body, leakdown rate is also dependent
upon the form of the features (straightness, roundness, and
cylindricity) and the engagement length.
Viscosity difference in oil grades will also affect the HLA
leakdown behavior. This HLA was validated to three oil specs.
The leakdown rate specification must be validated for
each valvetrain system. This is an important parameter to
control as it significantly affects dynamic performance.
The leakdown rate is chosen to maintain balance between
dynamic control and manufacturability. There are negative
consequences if the leakdown rate is specified either too fast
or too slow. If the HLA leakdown is too fast it results in
collapsing too much when loaded (during lift) which leads to
excessive lift loss, incorrect valve profile and potential dynamic
instability. If the HLA leakdown rate is too slow the HLA will
not be able to adjust to lash changes fast enough and leads to
holding the valve off the seat when the valve should be closed.
The HLA also becomes more difficult to manufacture because
the HLA components become very sensitive to form errors.
To control the leakdown rate, each HLA body is matched
with a corresponding plunger based on size. The leakdown
rate is verified via measurement.
The HLA relies on the oil in the HPC to provide stiffness.
Oil is generally assumed incompressible. For the HLA to
maintain zero lash condition at all times, the HPC must
remain full of oil. The primary error state of an HLA is
ingesting air into the HPC which is a compressible fluid. If a
significant volume of air is in the HPC, the HLA will experi-
ence lift loss as the air is compressed under load. This will
result in the mistiming of the valve opening and closing events
with the cam ramps. This results in higher accelerations than
designed in the lift profiles leading to valvetrain noise and
potential dynamic instability.
Roller/Axle Assembly
The roller axle is supported within the struts. As mentioned
in the introduction, durability is crucial as servicing the
RFHLA is impractical. The axle was designed to withstand
the life of the engine with minimal wear. This was accom-
plished using a 52100 steel axle with a diamond like carbon
(DLC) coating applied to the axle diameter. The axle is
retained in the struts as a free floating axle. This means that
the axle is free to rotate which distributes any wear contact
with the roller or struts around the entire diameter. Manganese
phosphate coating and a bronze axle were also tested during
the development of the RFHLA. Data on the results of these
designs are shown in the results section.
The roller follower is a journal bearing design with no
needles. This simplifies the roller assembly while maintaining
reduced friction compared to a flat faced follower. The roller
is crowned to allow for some variation in the block, camshaft
and RFHLA alignment.
Anti-Rotation Mechanism
As mentioned above, the use of a roller follower necessitates
the implementation of an anti-rotation mechanism. The
RFHLA described in this paper utilizes a protruding element
from one side of the RFHLA body which mates with a corre-
sponding groove in the RFHLA bore in the block. This keeps
the roller aligned with the camshaft given any rotational force
that the RFHLA experiences.
The anti-rotation mechanism is designed as a round piece
inserted into a round hole on the RFHLA body. The round
insert includes a cylindrical protrusion which acts as the
contact surface with the groove in the block. Two major
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 DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A ROLLER FOLLOWER HYDRAULIC LASH ADJUSTOR 5

aspects of the design considered were anti-rotation insert  FIGURE 7   Schematic of type V valvetrain with bridge.
robustness and retention. Robustness refers to the ability to
resist wear and longevity of the components, remaining func-
tional for the life of the RFHLA and the engine. Retention
refers to the endurance of the alignment, or orientation, of
the insert.
The cylindrical protrusion is designed to increase surface
area and decrease the wear rate when there is contact between
the anti-rotation insert and the block groove. This feature,
however, requires the ability to orient the insert such that the
cylindrical protrusion is aligned with the RFHLA axis to
be able to assemble in the bore. Maintaining orientation of
the anti-rotation insert is accomplished via staking. Once the

© 2018 Eaton Corporation

anti-rotation insert is in place and oriented correctly, the
RFHLA is placed in a press. Small pins are pressed onto either
side of the cylindrical protrusion feature which deforms the
outside diameter of the insert. This creates an interference fit
which keeps the insert aligned correctly with the RFHLA.
While a similar strategy of anti-rotation mechanism
exists on fuel pump tappets, the method of incorporating into
the lifter body is less flexible for an HLA. Retaining this feature
 FIGURE 8A   Example valve profiles for exhaust and intake.
on the HLA must be done without access to the inside of the
body as this must remain hydraulically isolated.
Nominally, there is clearance designed between the anti-
rotation insert and the block. The interface is designed such
that there is only contact between the two surfaces when there
is a force on the roller causing RFHLA rotation.
Another typical method for accomplishing the anti-rota-
tion function is by putting one or two flat features on the
RFHLA body which mate with flat surfaces in the block or a
© 2018 Eaton Corporation

block insert. This is generally designed for applications where

there is access to the top side of the RFHLA bore.

System Design
 FIGURE 8B   Valve overlap at various lash settings.
The HLA was designed to be incorporated into a type V engine
block with minimal block changes. This engine is configured
with valve bridges with each RFHLA operating pairs of valves
both intake and exhaust. An example schematic is shown in
Figure 7. The two major considerations are the size of the
RFHLA bore and the method of feeding oil. Accommodating
the size is accomplished by simply increasing the size of the
roller follower bore. Providing oil pressure to the HLA is done
© 2018 Eaton Corporation

by tapping into the existing main oil gallery.

Figure 8a shows example intake and exhaust valve profiles
for a lashed valvetrain. Each profile is also modulated to
indicate what the theoretical valve profile would be given lash
settings that are +0.2 mm or − 0.2 mm from the nominal.
This has a significant effect on valve lift height and, more
importantly, valve duration. Figure 8b shows a close up view
of the valve overlap. A change in valve overlap effectively lift heights, ramp heights, and durations for both to optimize
changes the mass of the residual exhaust gas in the cylinder the air flow either into or out of the cylinder. With these differ-
each cycle. Implementing an HLA eliminates the variation in ences come different load profiles imparted on the RFHLA.
valve duration allowing more precise tuning of the valve The RFHLA is validated to be  robust to both intake and
events and combustion parameters. exhaust profiles.
Many valvetrain components are specifically designed Table 1 shows the main requirements and operating
for either intake or exhaust (e.g. the valves, rocker arms, cam conditions that are expected for the RFHLA. The load is
lobes) while the HLA is common for both. There are different dependent on size of plunger, which was designed to a
© 2018 Eaton Corporation.
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6 DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A ROLLER FOLLOWER HYDRAULIC LASH ADJUSTOR

TABLE 1  RFHLA requirements  FIGURE 9   Design Validation (DV) Test Plan.

Requirement Value
Max Axial Load 7500 N
Oil Supply Pressure Greater than 0 bar

© 2018 Eaton Corporation

Oil Temperature –29 to 149 C

© 2018 Eaton Corporation

Lash Range ~3.5 mm
Life Requirement for engine 98.00% for HLA at
(12 RFHLAs) 250,000 miles (50% confidence)
Oil Spec. 10 W30, 15 W40 and 5 W30

maximum of 7500  N. This can be  scaled with a larger or

smaller diameter of HLA. The HLA pressure requirements
are minimal. The primary design consideration is minimizing
oil loss due to the communication of oil to the HLA reservoir.
Socket to body clearance must be managed accordingly. The
important requirement to note is that the oil pump does not
need to be upsized. As the temperature drops the oil becomes
more viscous. This makes it more challenging to keep air out
of the HPC upon engine start at cold temps. If the oil is too
viscous the oil does not flow well and air is ingested causing
the valvetrain to make noise until the air is purged from the
HLA. This HLA was designed for temperatures down to -29C.
The high oil temperature limit is consistent with engine oil
temperature limits. This is tested to verify that low viscosity
oil will not cause too much lift loss from leakdown during a
valve event.
The Life Requirement is based off a life of 250,000 miles
with an engine containing 12 RFHLAs. The target set is 98%
for the engine, which equates to 99.83% for HLA. The useable
lash range is ~3.5 mm which is designed to allow the HLA to
accommodate for all the variation in lash over the life of the
engine. This includes install lash variation from valvetrain
tolerances, change due to long term wear and thermal change
during operation. It is desirable to have an HLA compatible
with multiple oil grades. This was validated for 10  W30,
15 W40, 5 W30.
This HLA is designed as a type V roller follower HLA
where access to the HLA is limited. Generally, the RFHLAs
are installed in the inverted state prior to the cam installation.
The HLA is designed to seal against the loss of the reservoir
oil prior to assembly. The purpose of this is to ensure that
when the engine is first started, the HLA reservoirs are full
and will not ingest air, leading to a quiet valvetrain.
strut and various tests to ensure that the RFHLA did not
rotate. The extreme limit testing pillar included overspeed,
aerated oil testing, along with limit tests for lash, oil pressure
and leakdown rates. The accelerated system aging pillar
included long hour durability cycles along with fired engine
durability, contaminated oil, and forced rotation on
the RFHLA.
The following sections describe the results of select tests
from each of the three pillars of validation. Results from the
performance verification tests are described first.
Performance Verification
Wear of each individual component of the RFHLA was
measured after long hour durability cycles. It was mentioned
above that three variants of axle design were evaluated.
Figure  10 shows wear results from each of the potential
designs. Manganese phosphate coated steel axles exhibited
the most wear with an average of 15 microns after 1000 hour
test. Bronze axles showed significantly improved wear results
over the manganese phosphate coated axles with an average
of about 3 microns of wear. DLC was the selected design due
to the immeasurable wear performance demonstrated,
showing an average less than 1 micron of wear.
The test was also conducted on both coatings using a
sleeved bearing configuration. The results of each of these
designs only increased the amount of wear observed at the
roller interface at the end of the test. The axle design with no
sleeve proved to be more durable and less complex.
 FIGURE 10   Axle outside diameter wear from
durability test.

Results
The design validation (DV) plan for the RFHLA was
constructed with three distinct pillars as shown in Figure 9.
The majority of the DV tests were performance verification
tests on engine fixtures without firing the engine where the
oil temperature and engine speed were modulated to specific
© 2018 Eaton Corporation

conditions. Engine firing tests were performed to ensure that

all performance factors were adequately captured in the DV
testing. The performance verification pillar included ensuring
valvetrain dynamics across the operating speed range, cold
start, hot idle and ensuring that pump-up did not occur. This
was followed by material durability selection of the axle, roller,
© 2018 Eaton Corporation.
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 DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A ROLLER FOLLOWER HYDRAULIC LASH ADJUSTOR
Extreme Limit Testing
In this next section, the results of the limit dynamics and
aeration tests are discussed.
Dynamics The dynamics test was conducted to verify the
stability of the valvetrain across the entire speed range of the
engine. The parameters used for the analysis of dynamic
performance were valve closing velocity, valve event duration,
© 2018 Eaton Corporation
valve bounce during seating and push tube strain. The strain
was used to verify that the system remains loaded during the
entire valve event at all speeds. This data was also used to
evaluate HLA pump-up and valve train resonance issues.
Dynamic performance testing was conducted at nominal
parameters and at the limits for oil temperature, viscosity,
pressure, dry lash and leakdown rate. Strain gages were used
to record push tube strain for valvetrain load, and valve
displacement data was recorded using proximity probes
located at the valve spring retainer. The engine speed was
swept from idle to fuel cutoff, including overspeed for some
tests. Data for 30 consecutive valve events at each speed was
collected. This data was post-processed to calculate valve
closing velocity, event length and valve bounce.
The closing velocity analysis provides a reliable measure
of valvetrain stability. High closing velocities causes signifi-
cant valve bounce, and results in wear, noise and possible
damage to valvetrain. Dynamic stability is demonstrated for
the RFHLA at each of the limits mentioned above. The closing
velocity results of the RFHLAs with limit (low) oil pressure
and fast leakdown rate are discussed. This condition in combi-
nation with a maximum dry lash part would be the most likely
to exhibit high lift loss resulting in excessive valve closing
velocities. This is due to the fact that the HLA will collapse
more with a faster leakdown time, and the HLA has less force
to expand with lower oil pressure being supplied to the reser-
voir. Additionally, RFHLA stiffness is reduced with greater
dry lash.
Figure 11 shows the closing velocity on the intake valves
A and B (on either side of the bridge). The maximum,
minimum and mean closing velocities of the 30 valve events
at each speed are shown to demonstrate the variation over the
speed range. The closing velocity limit shown is for the mean
closing velocity. This limit is set for noise, performance, and
 FIGURE 11   Closing velocity for intake valves with limit low
oil pressure, oil viscosity, and low HLA leakdown rate.
© 2018 Eaton Corporation
© 2018 Eaton Corporation
© 2018 Eaton Corporation.
7
 FIGURE 12   Closing velocity for exhaust valves with limit
low oil pressure, oil viscosity, and low HLA leakdown rate.
durability based on historical experience evaluating valve
durability. The intake valves mean closing velocity remained
below 46% of the limit up to fuel cutoff speed.
Closing velocities for the exhaust position are shown in
Figure 12. Closing velocity remains relatively low through fuel
cutoff speed. The mean of the 30 events is used as measure-
ment against the closing velocity limit. A minimum margin
of 43% is retained against the closing velocity target.
The dynamics test results show that the valvetrain is in
control to extreme limits. Valve movement follows the
camshaft profile through the normal speed range of the engine.
The following section discusses the validation process
and results for considering dynamic performance with
aerated oil.
Aeration Aerated oil is an important consideration for
HLAs because air mixed with oil can cause air to get ingested
into the HPC causing the RFHLA to experience lift loss
collapsing under load. The performance of the RFHLA with
worst case aeration percentage was validated by first deter-
mining the highest aeration level created in the firing engine.
The second phase of the testing involved artificially increasing
the air in solution while monitoring valve closing velocity to
determine the aeration level at which dynamic constraints
were violated.
Figure 13 shows a diagram of the external oil circuit used
for aeration testing. The engine oil was fed through an external
loop at the oil filter adapter. A portion of the oil was split from
the main flow and fed through another rig which was set up to
capture and isolate a sample of oil and evaluate the percentage
of air in the sample. This was done using a pump to pull a vacuum
on the oil sample to drive out all air in solution. The volume of
air was compared to the volume of oil after the air is separated.
 FIGURE 13   Diagram of the oil circuit for aeration testing.
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8 DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A ROLLER FOLLOWER HYDRAULIC LASH ADJUSTOR

The rig mentioned in Figure 13 was attached to an engine  FIGURE 14   Anti-rotation insert wear surface.
and measured the aeration at several points within the speed
range of the engine. The maximum aeration measured was
23% at the overspeed condition. The aeration rig was then
connected to another motored engine rig in which another
pump was connected to the oil circuit to add additional air to
the engine oil while valve motion was monitored. The test was
run at the overspeed condition with aeration levels up to 38%
with no detrimental effect to the valvetrain dynamic perfor-
mance. It was determined that 15% aeration tolerance was
sufficient and aeration investigation was not conducted
beyond this value.

Accelerated System Aging

© 2018 Eaton Corporation

Accelerated aging tests are designed to test for long term
effects and wear on the RFHLA with cycles designed to
be aggressive on the system or individual components. The
results from long hour durability and the forced rotation
testing are described and presented in this section.

Following the test, 19-24 million impacts were observed

Forced Rotation Test The two considerations with vali-
ranging from an equivalent torque of 27.1-162.7 N-m on the
dating the anti-rotation interface are wear out and loss of
round anti-rotation insert. This was approximately 20 times
insert alignment. The forced rotation test was designed to
more impacts than the desired goal.
validate both of these aspects of the integrity of the anti-rota-
All anti-rotation inserts were aligned at the end of test.
tion design on the RFHLA body. Testing of the initial anti-
This testing demonstrates that the staking retention design is
rotation design proved that there is potential for this interface
sufficient to retain the inserts in position. Figure 14 shows a
to experience a significant level of impact. Exploration of this
close up view of the contact surface of the insert after test.
behavior showed that the force is greatest during engine
Analysis of the wear determined that these were acceptable
startup when there is little or no oil pressure in the HLA reser-
results for the anti-rotation insert and block groove.
voir which adds additional force between the roller and
camshaft. The RFHLA tends to stay aligned with the camshaft
Long Hour Durability The long hour durability test
lobe when there is enough axle force between the roller
consisted of a motored speed cycle at various speeds from idle
and camshaft.
to rated speed. This cycle was run with multiple iterations
Validating this interface required inducing rotational
with various oil conditions from clean to used oil from
force on the RFHLA to cause repeated contact between the
field trucks.
anti-rotation insert and the block groove. Creating the correct
One way to measure robustness is the ability to maintain
parameters to induce RFHLA rotation for an extended period
dynamic stability during the life of the engine. Figure 15
of time was not practical for rig testing. To accomplish this
shows the leakdown rate before and after 1000  hour
testing, the RFHLAs were forced to rotate using specially
made rollers with lobes ground on the outer diameter on
opposing ends. As the lobe on the roller made contact with  FIGURE 15   Leakdown rate measurements before and after
the camshaft lobe, a rotational force was imparted on durability test.
the RFHLA.
Prior to the start of the validation test, RFHLAs were run
with stamped clips instrumented with strain gages in order
to determine the typical rotation force imparted on the anti-
rotation feature. Stamped clips were used because strain gages
could not be implemented on the anti-rotation insert design.
The linear force measured with the strain gages was trans-
formed into an equivalent torque on the anti-rotation insert.
This was done by multiplying the force by the radius of the
insert assuming that the force would be  imparted at the
© 2018 Eaton Corporation

furthest edge in a worst-case scenario. The target moment on

the anti-rotation feature for this testing was set to >27.1 N-m.
This testing was conducted at various speeds. The target
was to obtain a total of 800,000 impacts on the anti-rotation
device. This goal was set as the assumed number of impacts
for an engine started several times every day for ten years.
© 2018 Eaton Corporation.
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 DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A ROLLER FOLLOWER HYDRAULIC LASH ADJUSTOR
durability test. As the internal component of the HLA expe-
rience relative motion, the surfaces polish and wear slightly.
It is important that the HLAs maintain a reasonable
leakdown rate after long hours of operation to ensure
© 2018 Eaton Corporation
dynamic stability.
Contaminated Oil One iteration of durability testing
involved contaminated oil. Used oil was collected from other
engine tests and tested evaluated to reach high limits of fuel
dilution and soot. A calibrated quantity of sand was also added
to the oil mixture to provide additional aggravation to any
wear surfaces. The durability test was conducted for 500 hours.
The wear of the valvetrain system was evaluated throughout
the test at approximately 100 hour increments. Valvetrain
wear was measured by recording dry lash at the HLA. The
wear at each interval was between 0.2-1.3  mm for each
position. Upon resuming the test for each successive interval,
the push rods and rocker arms were replaced to maintain
proper dry lash during the test. At the end of the test, the
HLA’s were evaluated, and minimal wear was observed at the
axle/roller and socket interfaces. It was concluded that the
RFHLA is less sensitive to wear aggravators than other compo-
nents in the valvetrain.
The DV testing was used to assess reliability of the
RFHLA. The total number of HLAs tested exceeded 3000
individual parts. Reliability of the product was evaluated
assuming a 250,000 mile useful life at a 50% confidence
interval. This provided a 100,000 mile buffer for the useful
life with light duty diesel passenger car products having a
useful life of 150,000  miles and a 65,000 mile buffer for
medium duty commercial diesel engines having a 185,000
engine useful life.
Figure 16 shows the DV test plan along with the number
of HLAs tested and the associated reliability. An in-line six
cylinder engine was used having a type V valvetrain where
the RFHLA’s acted on pairs of valves through a valve bridge.
The RFHLA was identical for the intake and exhaust totaling
12 RFHLA’s per engine. The reliability goal in DV was set to
98.00% while testing showed that the goal was met, achieving
a 98.40% engine reliability at 250,000 miles (50% confidence).
The reliability for each RFHLA can also be calculated. The
engine goal of 98.00% translates to a reliability for one RFHLA
99.83%. This goal was also met, achieving a RFHLA reliability
of 99.87%.
 FIGURE 16   Design Validation (DV) Testing Pillars
and Reliability.
© 2018 Eaton Corporation
© 2018 Eaton Corporation.
9
TABLE 2  Projected Reliability for Including Production
Validation (PV) and Truck Testing at 250,000 miles with
50% Confidence
Projected Reliability for
Including PV & Truck Testing
(at 250,000 miles)
DV Reliability 2x DV 3x DV 4x DV
Engine (12 HLAs) 98.40% 98.90% 99.20% 99.40%
One HLA 99.87% 99.91% 99.93% 99.95%
The reliability of a product is typically calculated using
all testing. The reliability from Figure 16 included DV testing
while Production Validation (PV) testing and truck testing
should be added to the reliability growth calculations. Since
both PV and truck testing are underway, projections for reli-
ability are shown in Table 2 based on multiples of DV testing.
The first column shows the DV testing reliability for the engine
and individual RFHLAs, which was discussed previously. It
is likely that adding both PV and truck testing to the reliability
growth will result in a multiple of four times DV. This results
in a projected reliability of 99.40% on the engine (i.e. 12
RFHLAs) and 99.95% for each individual RFHLA. This reli-
ability is better than four sigma on the engine and close to
five sigma for each RFHLA using these projections.
The RFHLA was subjected to several tests outlined in the
DV test plan in Figure 16. Performance verification tests
showed the RFHLA provides the dynamic stability benefits
of HLAs and is resistant to wear. The extreme limit tests
verified the RFHLA is robust to abusive conditions outside of
the expected operating conditions. The RFHLA also demon-
strated that after accelerated system aging tests the HLA func-
tionality is not diminished. Reliability was demonstrated
above the DV goal achieving 99.83% for the RFHLA.
Conclusions
A RFHLA was designed, developed and proven reliable for an
inline six cylinder, type V diesel engine targeted for the light
and medium duty market. The RFHLA was chosen over a flat
face HLA to reduce valvetrain friction. Since a roller follower
was chosen, the proper anti-rotation mechanism was engi-
neered to maintain the roller perpendicularity to the camshaft
lobe. This design uses a common RFHLA for both the intake
and exhaust where each RFHLA acted on pairs of valves via
a valve bridge. The RFHLA was designed for valvetrain loads
of up to 7500 N which exceeds actual loads for these markets.
Additionally, minimal modifications were required to inte-
grate the RFHLA into an existing production engine.
The RFHLA was shown to meet all performance metrics.
Valvetrain dynamics achieved a 43% margin in closing
­velocities at the fuel cutoff engine speed for limit oil and HLA
conditions. The limit oil was the lowest oil pressure and
viscosity and the limit HLA was at the fastest leakdown rate.
These lower closing velocities are indicative of reduced valve-
train noise and less wear on the engine valves and seat inserts.
Leakdown times remained in range from first build to end of
life. Finally, a durable axle was included having a DLC coating
that demonstrated negligible wear.
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10 DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A ROLLER FOLLOWER HYDRAULIC LASH ADJUSTOR
Design validation testing showed that all reliability goals
were met for the product. A 98.40% reliability was achieved
for an engine set of RFHLAs surpassing the goal of 98.00% at
250,000 miles at 50% confidence. This translated into a reli-
ability for a single RFHLA of 99.87%. The reliability was
projected to include PV and truck testing at 99.40% for the
engine and 99.95% for a single RFHLA.
Future Work
Future work includes adding cylinder deactivation (CDA) to
the RFHLA which makes it a deactivating roller follower with
HLA. This can be accomplished by lengthening the body to
include the CDA function into the HLA. This is a natural step
for diesel as this has been implemented on passenger cars
already [18, 19].
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.
Positions and opinions advanced in this paper are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of SAE International. The author is solely responsible for the
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Contact Information
Leighton Roberts
leightonroberts@eaton.com