Camless engine with elctromechanical valve actuator




The cam has been an integral part of the IC engine from its invention. The cam controls the "breathing channels" of the IC engines, that is, the valves through which the fuel air mixture (in SI engines) or air (in CI engines) is supplied and exhaust driven out.

Besieged by demands for better fuel economy, more power, and less pollution, motor engineers around the world are pursuing a radical "camless" design that promises to deliver the internal-combustion engine's biggest efficiency improvement in years. The aim of all this effort is liberation from a constraint that has handcuffed performance since the birth of the internal-combustion engine more than a century ago. Camless engine technology is soon to be a reality for commercial vehicles. In the camless valvetrain, the valve motion is controlled directly by a valve actuator - there's no camshaft or connecting mechanisms. Precise electronic circuit controls the operation of the mechanism, thus bringing in more flexibility and accuracy in opening and closing the valves. The seminar looks at the working of the electronically controlled camless engine with electro-mechanical valve actuator, its general features and benefits over conventional engine.

The engines powering today's vehicles, whether they burn gasoline or diesel fuel, rely on a system of valves to admit fuel and air to the cylinders and to let exhaust gases escape after combustion. Rotating steel camshafts with precision-machined egg-shaped lobes, or cams, are the hard-tooled "brains" of the system. They push open the valves at the proper time and guide their closure, typically through an arrangement of pushrods, rocker arms, and other hardware. Stiff springs return the valves to their closed position