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VARIABLE VALVE TIMING

(VVT)
 FOUR STROKE CYCLE

HOW DOES IT WORK EXACTLY?

LET’S LOOK IN MORE DETAIL

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 Four Stroke Cycle
Air is sucked into the cylinder.
1. INDUCTION
Known as SUCK
2. COMPRESSION Air is compressed by the piston.

Known as SQUEEZE
3. COMBUSTION Air and fuel mixture is ignited and the piston

is pushed down.
Known as BANG
4. EXHAUST Burnt gas is pushed out by piston.

Known as BLOW
Which gives:

SUCK, SQUEEZE, BANG, BLOW 3

 INTRODUCTION

SUCTION/ COMPRESSION EXPANSION EXHAUST

INDUCTION

1 ‘Stroke’ = the piston sliding either Therefore in a ‘Four’ Stroke engine

from TDC to BDC or vice versa there are 2 revs of the crankshaft
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 Theoretical Valve Timing
AIR DRAWN (INDUCED - SUCKED) INTO CYLINDER

TDC

PISTON
CRANK MOVES
ROTATES DOWN
CYLINDER

BDC STROKE 1
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 Theoretical Valve Timing

AIR TRAPPED (COMPRESSED - SQUEEZED) IN CYLINDER

PISTON MOVES BACK UP CYLINDER

TDC

CRANK CONTINUES
TO ROTATE

STROKE 2

BDC
STROKE 2
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 Theoretical Valve Timing
AIR/FUEL IGNITED AND BURNS
PISTON FORCED DOWN CYLINDER (COMBUSTION - BLOW) IN CYLINDER

TDC
CRANK
STARTS 2ND
ROTATION

BDC

STROKE 3 7
 Theoretical Valve Timing

BURNT AIR/FUEL PUSHED OUT OF CYLINDER (EXHAUST – BLOW)

TDC PISTON MOVES BACK UP CYLINDER AGAIN

CRANK CONTINUES
2ND ROTATION

BDC
STROKE 4
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 Theoretical Valve Timing
Cycle start with start of
the induction stroke And the whole process
starts again

End with end of the exhaust

stroke is reached

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Typical Theoretical P-V and Valve Timing
Diagrams For S I Engine
And the whole process
starts again

OBERVATIONS:

 P-V Diagram has sharp Edges i.e. Valve opens and close
instantaneously at dead centres 10
 Actual Case
In modern high-performance designs, the extension of the
intake and exhaust periods by opening valves early and
closing them late.

 IVO opens 200 before TDC

IVC closes 350 after BDC

Ignition occurs 350 before

TDC this is to allow the time
delay between spark and
commencement of combustion

EVO opens 350 before BDC

EVC closes 100 after TDC 11

 Remarks
Valve Overlap:

The time during which the both inlet

and exhaust valve remains open at the
same instant e.g. 300 valve overlap in
this case.

The values quoted in actual valve timing diagram are

typical values which may vary from manufacture to
manufacturer and engine to engine.

For High speed engines ,higher values of angles are

desirables to take into account the short time intervals.
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 Actual Case
Reasons for changes:

a)Intake and Exhaust valves do not open and close instantly,

like all mechanisms, they require time to move from one
position to another.

b)IV opens before TDC and closes after BDC so as to get

maximum air inside the cylinder.

 When the IV opens , the charge outside the valve has to be

accelerated upto inlet velocity and this takes time. In order
that maximum inlet velocity occurs at the earliest possible
moment during inlet stroke, the IV valve opens early.
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 Actual Case
Reasons:

The kinetic energy of the moving air is used at the end of

intake stroke to produce ramming effect by closing the
inlet valve slightly after BDC.

The ramming effect thus increases volumetric efficiency.

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 Actual Case
c) EV opens before BDC and closes after TDC

EV opens before the piston reaches BDC so as to

exhaust the combustion product efficiently.

Thus by virtue of its excess pressure above atmosphere,

some exhaust leaves the cylinder. This makes the exhaust
gases to flow freely from the cylinder by the time piston
starts commencing the exhaust stroke.

By closing the EV after TDC, the kinetic energy of the

exhaust gases can be utilised to assist in maximum
exhausting of gases.

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Valve overlap(Internal exhaust gas recirculation )

 The IV begins to open before TDC and EV closes after

TDC is called valve overlap.
 In this process, exhaust gas flows from the exhaust port
into the inlet port while the valves overlap (inlet and
exhaust valves are both open).
 The amount of overlap determines the amount of
recalculated exhaust gas.
 The advantage of internal exhaust gas recirculation over
external exhaust gas recirculation is the fast reaction of
the system and very even distribution of the recalculated
exhaust gases.

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 Variable Valve Timing
 The conventional IC engine has fixed valve timing and
synchronization between the camshaft and crankshaft,
thus a compromise results between engine efficiency,
performance and its maximum power.

 So it is essential that engine-speed and load dependent

adjustment of the inlet and exhaust camshaft is
indispensable.

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 Variable Valve Timing
i) EVO(Exhaust valve open)

 At part load/low rpm conditions, it is generally

beneficial if EVO moves closer to BDC as the
cylinder pressure is much closer to the exhaust back
pressure and takes less time to escape through the
valve.
 Conversely, full load/high rpm operation tends to
result in an earlier EVO requirement because of the
time taken for the cylinder pressure to drop to the
exhaust back-pressure.

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 Variable Valve Timing
ii) EVC(Exhaust valve close)
 For part load/low rpm operation, it may be beneficial to
retain some of the exhaust gases, as this will tend to
reduce the ability for the cylinder to intake fresh air &
fuel. Retained exhaust gas thus reduces the need for the
throttle plate to restrict the intake and results in lower
pumping losses in the intake stroke. Moving EVC
Timing further after TDC increases the level of internal
EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) with a corresponding
reduction in exhaust emissions
 For full load operation, it is desirable for the minimum
possible quantity of exhaust gas to be retained in the
cylinder as this allows the maximum volume of fresh air
& fuel to enter during the Intake stroke. This requires
EVC to be at, or shortly after TDC 19
 Variable Valve Timing
ii) EVC(Exhaust valve close)
 For part load operation, it may be beneficial to retain
some of the exhaust gasses, as this will tend to reduce the
ability for the cylinder to intake fresh air & fuel. Retained
exhaust gas thus reduces the need for the throttle plate to
restrict the intake and results in lower pumping losses
(see Appendix A) in the intake stroke. Moving EVC
Timing further after TDC increases the level of internal
EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) with a corresponding
reduction in exhaust emissions
 For full load operation, it is desirable for the minimum
possible quantity of exhaust gas to be retained in the
cylinder as this allows the maximum volume of fresh air
& fuel to enter during the Intake stroke. This requires
EVC to be at, or shortly after TDC 20
 Variable Valve Timing

 By using variable valve timing (VVT) technology it is

possible to control the valve lift, phase and valve timing at
any point on the engine map, with the result of enhancing
the overall engine performance.
 Variable valve timing has the task of setting the most
advantageous valve timing for the particular engine for the
operating modes idle, maximum power and torque as well
as exhaust gas recirculation. 21
 Components of Variable Valve Timing

i) Vane cell Adjuster:

 The two Vane Cell Adjusters for adjusting the inlet and
exhaust camshaft are fitted directly on the inlet and exhaust
camshaft. It adjusts the inlet and exhaust camshafts
according to signals from the Engine Control Unit.
 Both Vane cell Adjusters are hydraulically operated and are
connected to the engine oil system via the control housing.
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 Design of Variable Valve Timing

ii)Camshaft Timing Control Solenoid:

 The solenoids are located in front of the camshaft at the
front of the cylinder head.
 The solenoids are designed as proportional solenoids, i.e.
the armature travel, and therefore the position of the
control plunger in the vane-cell adjuster, depends on the
strength of current in the coil.
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 Operation of Variable Valve Timing

The Engine Control Unit controls the variable valve timing.

Solenoids are actuated at the by the Engine Control Unit by means

of a PWM signal (pulse width modulated signal). The
frequency of the PWM signal is 150 Hz.
The control plunger are actuated via the map-dependent duty
cycle of the PWM signal. 24
 Operation of Variable Valve Timing

Pressure oil flows from the hollow camshafts into the

vane-cell adjuster.
The camshafts adjust to the respective direction of
rotation.
The intake camshafts adjust to "advanced". The exhaust
camshafts adjust due to their reverse direction of rotation
to "retarded“. 25
 Operation of Variable Valve Timing

Depending on the position of the control plunger, more or

less pressure oil flows out of the hollow camshafts into the
vane-cell adjuster oil galleries.
This is achieved by bore holes located at various points on
the control plungers and by oil ducts in the vane cell
adjusters.
The vane-cell adjusters adjust the camshafts according to
their filling with pressure oil. If the solenoids are no longer
actuated, a mechanical reset against the direction of rotation 26
takes place.
THANK YOU

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