Advanced Fuel Injection System and Valve Train Technologies

The Phase I research aim is to demonstrate how the Army’s objectives; increased fuel economy, power density, and reduced specific heat rejection of high output diesel engines required to operate on battlefield available fuels, are achievable with Sturman technology. To maintain battlefield superiority, future military vehicles require engines with higher specific power output while maintaining or reducing specific heat rejection and fuel consumption. Enabling technology in air-fuel delivery for optimized combustion and advanced combustion strategies is required. Future engines will integrate high-pressure multi-mode fuel injection with fully flexible camless hydraulic valve actuation (HVA), operated and optimized with advanced electronic control algorithms utilizing in-cylinder pressure sensing for combustion feedback. Phase 1 will utilize Sturman’s advanced modeling and analysis techniques, and existing test data, to demonstrate feasibility of this concept. Potential improvements to existing Sturman hardware will be evaluated to optimize performance demonstration in Phase 2. Converting Phase 1 analytical work to practice is the Phase 2 focus; emphasizing quantification of engine performance improvements through dynamometer testing. Achieving the Army’s future engine goals requires utilization of Sturman’s existing technology and knowledge to create a bridge to an advanced control system that fully integrates air and fuel to optimize the combustion process.