Abstract
KEYWORDS – Split-Crankshaft Engine (SCE), combustion engine with a disengageable crankshaft, active downsizing, Split-Clutch Unit (SCU), electromechanical clutch actuation
ABSTRACT
Driven by the ongoing shortage of fossil fuels and a tougher legislation on emissions, the development process of internal combustion engines rediscovers and enhances concepts discarded for reasons of complexity and costs in former decades. One of these rejected concepts is the Split-Crankshaft Engine (SCE), which is currently under development at the Institute of Internal Combustion Engines in cooperation with the Gear Research Centre, both at the Technical University of Munich.
The SCE is an internal combustion engine layout for passenger cars consisting of two partial engines. Their crankshafts are arranged inline and can be connected by the Split-Clutch Unit (SCU) at a transient driving operation. The general objective is to decrease the fuel consumption by rising the engine operating point via a variable displacement and additionally saving the entire friction losses of the non-firing cylinders. The development of the SCE operating strategy regarding partial engine’s load-distribution, activation and deactivation determination as well as the shifting strategy are presented in this paper. Furthermore the test bench implementation of the SCE and the upcoming investigations are shown.