Acceleration Test Method For A High
Acceleration Test Method For A High
SAE TECHNICAL
PAPER SERIES 942478
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ISSN 0148-7191
Copyright 1994 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
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942478
Acceleration Test Method for a High
Performance Two-Stroke Racing Engine
Robert J. Kee and Gordon P. Blair
The Queen’s University of Belfast
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conditions may differ from that produced on the race The results presented in this paper relate to a
track. Figure 1 illustrates the influence of cylinder reed valve induction engine which is manufactured
temperature on engine performance. by the lame company and marketed under the Sirio
brand. The specification of this engine is given in
Table 1 and the engine is illustrated in Fig. 2.
Table 1 Engine Specification
Engine Sirio
Bore 50.0 mm
Stroke 50.0 mm
Swept Volume 100 cm3
Induction Reed Valve
Cooling Air
Fig. 1 Influence of Cylinder Temperature Exhaust Port Opens 92.5° atdc
Transfer Ports Open 116.5° atdc
A further difficulty arises when the engine is fitted
with a mechanical exhaust timing control device, as Trapped Compression Ratio 10:1
the response of the mechanism to a change in Carburettor Venturi Diameter 19.8 mm
engine speed will incorporate a finite lag time (1). In Carburettor Type Butterfly
order to maximise performance during acceleration,
advanced management systems incorporate facilities
in which the ignition timing, fuelling and exhaust
timing strategies are dependent on the acceleration
rate of the engine. For such engines, it is
immediately apparent that steady state testing will
not provide representative performance
characteristics (2).
Finally, steady state testing usually involves
measurement of performance at discrete speed
intervals of 500 or 1000 rev/min. Occasionally, a
significant decrease or ‘hole’ in the torque
characteristic can fall between two measurement
speeds.
From the foregoing it is clear that, in addition to
the practical difficulties, the optimization of
performance under steady state conditions is unlikely
to give the optimum characteristics for the dynamic
racing situation. Laboratory optimization of high
performance two-stroke racing engines ideally
requires the use of a technique which reproduces the
dynamic conditions of the racing circuit. This paper
describes the development and application of a
simple and effective dynamic test method which Fig. 2 100 cm3 Kart Engine
employs the use of an inertial dynamometer.
INERTIAL DYNAMOMETER
KART ENGINE
The inertial dynamometer is an alternative testing
In the European 100 cm3 kart racing classes, the system which measures power under acceleration
crankshaft of the engine is directly coupled to the conditions. This method has many attractions, but
rear axle by a chain. Consequently the drive ratio is the transient nature of the test procedure requires
fixed. The rules do not exclude the use of centrifugal the use of a computer and a data acquisition system.
clutchs, but in practice they are only used by some The current availability of low cost computer
junior classes. The typical racing circuit is 500 to hardware has eliminated this potential drawback.
1000 meters in length, and usually incorporates one
major straight. Since only one drive ratio is available, At The Queen’s University of Belfast, an inertial
the engine is required to operate over a wide range dynamometer has been designed by students as the
of speeds. Typically, the current engines reach project element of their engineering degree course.
speeds above 18000 rev/min at the end of the The dynamometer incorporates a flywheel of
straight and approximately 6000 rev/min at the appropriate moment of inertia to simulate the mass of
slowest corner (3). the kart and
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driver. The test procedure involves measurement of to record the temperature of either the crankcase or
the flywheel speed during an acceleration phase the spark plug seat.
resulting from opening the engine throttle. The test procedure involves the following:
Calculation of the instantaneous flywheel
acceleration corresponding to each engine speed 1. Set engine speed limits for data acquisition
directly gives a measure of the torque characteristic. (usually 7000 and 16000 rev/min).
A computer data acquisition system is used to record
the flywheel speed and to calculate the performance
2. Start engine.
characteristics.
DYNAMOMETER DESIGN - The dynamometer 3. Operate at low speed until the engine
incorporates a flywheel which is directly coupled to temperature measured at the plug seat reaches
the engine by a chain as shown in Fig. 3. The chain 75 °C.
drives the flywheel via a flexible rubber coupling and
a shear pin. The function of the flexible coupling is to
introduce compliance into the drive system and 4. Switch computer data acquisition system to
thereby reduce the loading on the engine crankshaft ‘acquire’ mode.
due to torque and speed fluctuations. The shear pin
is included to reduce damage to the engine in the 5. Open throttle fully and record flywheel speed
event of an engine seizure. When the pin breaks, the during the ensuing acceleration.
flywheel will continue to rotate on lubricated bushes
and thus the stored energy will not be dissipated 6. When the maximum engine speed is reached,
through bending and breakage of engine close throttle.
components. A disc brake is incorporated in the
design to reduce the flywheel and engine speeds
after each test. An automotive clutch allows the 7. Apply the brake to stop the flywheel.
flywheel to be accelerated prior to engaging the
clutch and starting the engine.
An optical shaft encoder is coupled to the Analysis functions within the computer
dynamometer flywheel to provide a frequency signal programme calculate the engine torque, bmep and
which is converted to an analogue voltage by an power. Figure 5 shows a typical speed characteristic.
integrated circuit. This voltage is proportional to
flywheel speed and is connected to one input of a
custom designed data acquisition system. A second
input channel is used
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optimum speed for the exhaust system, Comparison 2. At the higher speeds, a relatively rich mixture
of the two characteristics shows that the plugging setting was used to prevent seizure of the engine.
pulse reflected from the solid cone had a greater
3. The control of air/fuel ratio during the acceleration
amplitude and was followed by a suction pulse, just
test may differ from that of the steady state
prior to exhaust closure. These differences resulted
condition.
in the 1 bar decrease in bmep noted at 8000 rev/min.
4. The steady state exhaust gas temperatures may
Figures 12 and 13 show exhaust pressure traces
be significantly different from those during an
recorded at 10000 and 16000 rev/min with the solid
acceleration test.
cone fitted. These traces illustrate the exhaust
pressure wave characteristics at the tuned speed In an effort to ascertain the influence of the final
and at a speed well beyond the peak torque point. At factor, a fast response thermocouple was installed in
10000 rev/min, a strong suction pulse is followed by the mid-section of the exhaust pipe. This
a plugging pulse which arrives at the exhaust port thermocouple had a 0.5mm diameter inconel sheath
just prior to closure. These features maximise both and had a grounded junction to give improved
the airflow into the engine and the mass of the thermal conductivity. The actual response
charge trapped in the cylinder when the port closes. characteristics of the thermocouple have not yet
At 16000 rev/min, it is clear that the plugging pulse been measured, but in the near future, a single pulse
arrives after the exhaust port has closed. rig will be used to determine the response to a step
change in gas temperature.
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addition of a system for recording a series of 7. S.J. Kirkpatrick, G.P. Blair, R. Fleck and R.K.
pressure traces at predetermined engine speeds McMullan, ’Experimental Evaluation of 1-D
during a single acceleration has provided a powerful Computer Codes for the Simulation of Unsteady
tool to aid the tuning of engines and the validation of Gas Flow Through Engines - A First Phase’,
computer simulations. SAE International Off-Highway & Powerplant
Congress, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1994, SAE Paper No. 941685.
The authors acknowledge The Queen’s 8. M.E.G. Sweeney, R.G. Kenny, G.B. Swann
University for provision of the manufacturing, and G.P. Blair, ’Single Cycle Gas Testing
experimental and computing facilities employed in Method for Two-Stroke Engine Scavenging’,
this study. The contributions of QUB technician SAE International Congress, Detroit, Michigan,
Raymond McCullough, students Robin Montgomery, February 1985, SAE Paper No. 850178.
Clive Stewart, Paul McEntee, David Scullion, Peter
Turner and Adrian Cunningham, and visiting
students Kai, Stephano and Stephane are also 9. M.G. Reid and R. Douglas, ’Quasi-
gratefully acknowledged. Castrol International Ltd. is Dimensional Modelling of Combustion in a Two-
acknowledged for supply of the test engine and Stroke Cycle Spark Ignition Engine’, SAE
lubricants. International Off-Highway & Powerplant
Congress, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September
REFERENCES 1994, SAE Paper No. 941680.
1. Karl-Heinz Bendix, ’Optimizing of the 10. R. Fleck, G.P. Blair, R.A.R. Houston, ’An
nonsteady operational behaviour of high Improved Model for Predicting Reed Valve
performance two-stroke engines’, SAE Paper Behaviour in Two-Stroke Engines’, SAE
No. 931509, SETC Conference, Pisa, 1993. International Off-Highway & Powerplant
Congress, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September
1987, SAE Paper No. 871654.
2. Kart-Heinz Bendix, ’Optimierung des
Instationaren Betriebsverhaltens von
Hochleistungszweitaktmotoren’, 5th
International Two-Wheeler Symposium,
Technische Universitat Graz, Austria, April
1993.
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