A Strategy to Control the Turbocharger Energy of a Diesel Engine at Different Altitudes

Power deterioration is a major problem for diesel engines operating at high altitudes.This problem stems from the limited availability of turbocharger energy,which is not enough to increase the boost pressure to the required level.In this study,a control strategy is introduced in order to achieve engine power recovery at different altitudes.It is shown that as the altitude increases from 0 to 4500 m,the required boost pressure ratio increases from 2.4 to 4.3.The needed turbocharger energy should be increased accordingly by 240%,and the TCC(turbine characterization coefficient)should be adjusted within wide ranges.A 12%decrease in the TCC can lead to a rise of the intake air pressure,which can compensate the pressure decrease due to a 1000 m altitude increase.The fluctuation range of boost pressure was within 14.5 kPa for variations in altitude from 0 to 4500 m.

Numerical Analysis of Nozzle Clearance's Effect on Turbine Performance

Variable nozzle turbine （VNT） has become a popular variable geometry turbine （VGT） technology for the diesel engine application. Nozzle clearance, which can＇t be avoided on the hub and shroud side of the VNT turbine due to the pivoting stators, can lead to turbine performance deterioration. However, its mechanism is still not clear. In this paper, numerical investigation, which is validated by experiment, is carried out to study the mechanism of the nozzle clearance＇s effect on the turbine performance. Firstly, performance of the mixed flow turbine with fixed nozzle clearances tested on flow bench. Performance of the tested turbine with the same nozzle clearance is numerically simulated. The numerical result agrees well with the test data, which proves correct of the numerical method. Then the turbine performance with different nozzle clearances is numerically analyzed. The research showed that with nozzle clearance, flow loss in the nozzle increases at first and it reaches the maximum value when the clearance ratio is 5%. Flow at the exit of the nozzle becomes less uniform with nozzle clearance. The negative incidence angle of the rotor also increases with nozzle clearance and leads to more incidence angle loss in the rotor. The low energy fluid formed in the nozzle due to the nozzle clearance migrates from hub to shroud side in the rotor, which is another main reason for the rotor＇s performance degradation. The present research exposed the mechanism of the dramatically decrease of the turbine performance with nozzle clearance： （a） The loss associated with the nozzle leakage increases with the nozzle clearance; （b） The flow loss grows up quickly in the rotor due to the incidence angle loss and migration of the low energy fluid from hub to shroud side.

Method for Evaluating the Reliability of Compressor Impeller of Turbocharger for Vehicle Application in Plateau Area

As turbocharging diesel engines for vehicle application are applied in plateau area, the environmental adaptability of engines has drawn more attention. For the environmental adaptability problem of turbocharging diesel engines for vehicle application, the present studies almost focus on the optimization of performance match between turbocharger and engine, and the reliability problem of turbocharger is almost ignored. The reliability problem of compressor impeller of turhocharger for vehicle application when diesel engines operate in plateau area is studied. Firstly, the rule that the rotational speed of turbocharger changes with the altitude height is presented, and the potential failure modes of compressor impeller are analyzed. Then, the failure behavior models of compressor impeller are built, and the reliability models of compressor impeller operating in plateau area are developed. Finally, the rule that the reliability of compressor impeller changes with the altitude height is studied, the measurements for improving the reliability of the compressor impellers of turbocharger operating in plateau area are given. The results indicate that when the operating speed of diesel engine is certain, the rotational speed of turbocharger increases with the increase of altitude height, and the failure risk of compressor impeller with the failure modes of hub fatigue and blade resonance increases. The reliability of compressor impeller decreases with the increase of altitude height, and it also decreases as the increase of number of the mission profile cycle of engine. The method proposed can not only be used to evaluating the reliability of compressor impeller when diesel engines operate in plateau area but also be applied to direct the structural optimization of compressor impeller.

Fatigue Reliability of Blade Root of Turbocharger Turbine for Vehicle Application

The blade root fatigue is one of important failure modes of turbocharger turbine for vehicle application,and the reliability and life of turbine with blade root fatigue failure mode are studied.Firstly,the stress characteristics of turbine are analyzed,and based on the operating profile of turbocharger corresponding to the endurance test of engine,the stress spectrum of turbine with blade root fatigue failure mode is studied with the simulation method.Then,with the number of endurance test profile cycle as the life parameter,the reliability model and failure rate model of turbine with blade root fatigue failure mode are derived respectively. Finally,the rules that the reliability and failure rate of turbine with the blade root fatigue failure mode changes as life parameters are studied,and the life probabilistic characteristics of turbine are also studied.

Effects of pulse flow and leading edge sweep on mixed flow turbines for engine exhaust heat recovery

Recovery of heat energy from internal combustion engine exhaust will achieve significant road transportation CO2 reduction. Turbocharging and turbogenerating are most commonly used technologies to recover engine exhaust heat energy.Engine exhaust pulse flow can significantly affect the turbine performance of turbocharging and turbogenerating systems,and it is necessary to consider the pulse flow effects in turbine design and performance analysis.An investigation was carried out by numerical simulation on the mixed flow turbine pulse flow performance and flow fields.Results showed that the variations of the turbine efficiency and flowfiled under pulsating flow conditions demonstrate significant unsteady effects.The effect of blade leading edge sweep on turbine pulse flow performance was studied.It is shown that increasing of the leading edge sweep angle can improve the turbine average instantaneous efficiency by about 2 percent under pulsating flow conditions.

Investigation on Centrifugal Impeller in an Axial-radial Combined Compressor with Inlet Distortion

Assembling an axial rotor and a stator at centrifugal compressor upstream to build an axial-radial combined compressor could achieve high pressure ratio and efficiency by appropriate size augment.Then upstream potential flow and wake effect appear at centrifugal impeller inlet.In this paper,the axial-radial compressor is unsteadily simulated by three-dimensional Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations with uniform and circumferential distorted total pressure inlet condition to investigate upstream effect on radial rotor.The results show that spanwise nonuniform total pressure distribution is generated and radial and circumferential combined distortion is formed at centrifugal rotor inlet.The upstream stator wake deflects to rotor rotation direction and decreases with blade span increases.Circumferential distortion causes different separated flow formations at different pitch positions.The tip leakage vortex is suppressed in centrifugal blade passages.Under distorted inlet condition,flow direction of centrifugal impeller leading edge upstream varies evidently near hub and shroud but varies slightly at mid-span.In addition,compressor stage inlet distortion produces remarkable effect on blade loading of centrifugal blade both along chordwise and pitchwise.