Engine warm up optimization study using 1D virtual tool

Automotive emission and fuel consumption regulations are becoming more stringent decade over decade. These regulations are expected to be stricter in future to protect environment from global warming, associated health issues and conserve energy. Automobile industries find it difficult to meet the fuel and emission regulations during homologation cycle i.e. NEDC (New European Drive Cycle). Experiments and researches indicates that engine structural parts achieve steady state near end of the homologation cycle which leads to associated cold start drawbacks during testing. Also, studies have proved that thermal efficiency of IC engine is severely affected in cold start conditions due to higher friction losses, incomplete combustion and their allied effects. Oil and coolant temperatures helps in diminishing mechanical losses and achieving complete combustion. Hence, effective distribution of combustion heat during cold start is of utmost importance. The competitive dynamics of automobile industry demands shorter vehicle development time along with obliging the upcoming stringent norms. Effective usage of CAE virtual tools is essential to meet these requirements. Indeed, one dimensional (1D) virtual tools have both time and cost benefits over physical testing and 3D tools with judicious outputs. The present study is intended to analyze various design concepts to optimize engine warm up time by using 1D FloMASTER tool; combined effort to study different designs as well as support stern vehicle development timings. The study has been conducted in two phase: (i) Develop baseline engine thermal 1D model and validate with cold ambient test data and (ii) Simulate and analyze different engine thermal management system(s) and/or their control strategies to reduce and optimize engine warm up. This improvement will have direct gain in fuel consumption and emission regulations during homologation testing. The design and production feasibility of the optimum design(s) will also be discussed.