WORKING MODEL OF A CAMLESS ENGINE

(100 CC 4-STROKE PETROL ENGINE)

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING
BY
MARTIN DHAS. D
JITHIN .T.S

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

C.S.I. INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Thovalai
Kanayakumari Dist

ABSTRACT
The engines powering todays vehicles whether they burn
gasoline or diesel fuel rely on a system of valves to admit fuel and
air into the cylinder and the exhaust gases to escape after
combustion.
Cam has been an integral part of internal combustion engine
from its invention. Cam controls the breathing channels of the IC
engines and hence maintains constant valve timing.
The problem in using cam shafts is being major power wastage in
accelerating and decelerating the components of the valve train.
Friction of camshafts, springs, cam belts etc., also robs us of
precious power and worsens fuel economy not to mention
contributing to wear and tear.
In response to the needs of improved engines some
mechanical or hydraulic devices have been designed to achieve
some variable valve timing and to reduce the disadvantages
accompanied with the usage of cams.
Most four-stroke piston engines today employ one or more
camshafts operated poppet valves. The lobes on the camshafts
operate cam followers which in turn open the poppet valves.
A cam less (or, free valve engine) uses electromagnetic,
hydraulic, or pneumatic actuators to open the poppet valves
instead. Actuators can be used to both open and close the valves,
or an actuator opens the valve while a spring closes it.
In this paper a new lift control strategy is proposed based on the
hydraulic supply pressure and flow control. Though our project
started with hydraulics, later we found that Pneumatic valve

actuation is even more advantageous and hence proceeded with

pneumatic

INTRODUCTION
In the cam less valve train, the valve motion is controlled
directly by a valve actuator theres no camshaft or connecting
mechanisms .Precise electro hydraulic cam less valve train
controls the valve operations, opening, closing etc.
The seminar looks at the working of the electro hydraulic
cam less engine, its general features and benefits over
conventional engines since the invention of engine and till now
four stroke IC engines are working on camshaft mechanism.
Hence cams form concomitant factor of an engine.
Cam is an integral part of an engine as it controls valve
actuation which in turn is responsible for supply of air-fuel mixture
into the combustion chamber and for the removal of exhaust
gases from the combustion chamber.
Although a significant numbers of engine valve-actuation
systems including cam-based and cam less mechanisms have
been already introduced by several researches and companies,
only few types of these systems (mainly cam-based) have been
employed on commercial vehicles due to the liability, durability
and cost issues.
Although cam-based valve systems offer more reliable and
durable functionality, the cam less valve trains can vary valve lift
and timings to a greater extent comparing to the cam-based
types. Among various categories of cam less mechanisms, the
electro-hydraulic valve actuation system is the most repeatable
and durable one.

LITERATURE SURVEY
Cams: 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. In an
overhead-camshaft engine, a chain or belt driven by the
crankshaft turns one or two camshafts located atop the cylinder
head. A single overhead camshaft (SOHC) design uses one
camshaft to move rockers that open both inlet and exhaust
valves.
The double overhead camshaft (DOHC), or twin-cam, setup
does away with the rockers and devotes one camshaft to the inlet
valves and the other to the exhaust valves.

Crankshaft
Crankshaft is the engine component from which the
power is taken. It receives the power from the connecting
rods in the designated sequence for onward transmission to
the clutch and subsequently to the wheels.

The crankshaft assembly includes the crankshaft and

bearings, the flywheel, vibration damper, sprocket or gear to
drive camshaft and oil seals at the front and rear.

Camshaft
The camshaft provides a means of actuating the
opening and controlling the period before closing, both for
the inlet as well as the exhaust valves, it also provides a
drive for the ignition distributor and the mechanical fuel
pump.
The camshaft consists of a number of cams at suitable
angular positions for operating the valves at approximate
timings relative to the piston movement and in the sequence
according to the selected firing order. There are two lobes on
the camshaft for each cylinder of the engine; one to operate
the intake valve and the other to operate the exhaust valve.

1 st stroke: (SUCTION STROKE)

The suction stroke of the combustion cycle is when the
piston travels down the cylinder with the intake valve opens. A
mixture of air and explosive fuel are drawn into the cylinder, the
proportions of which are called the air-fuel ratio. Both the air-fuel
ratio and the quality of the mixture (dispersion, droplet size etc.)
is important for an efficient combustion process.
There are two methods of mixing air and fuel in a
combustion engine, using a carburetor or fuel injection system. In
a carbureted engine, during the intake stroke of the piston a
vacuum is created in the inlet manifold. With a multi cylinder
engine the vacuum is almost constant. The carburetor is located
at the top of the manifold and air is drawn through it by the
vacuum created in the manifold. The carburetor has a small fuel
chamber supplied from the fuel tank by a pump, fuel passes
through the carburetor to small fuel jets positioned in the air flow.

The flow of air past the jets creates a pressure difference

causing the fuel to be drawn out. The fuel vaporizes in the air flow
and passes through the manifold and into cylinders on their intake
stroke or suction stroke.

2 nd stroke: (COMPRESSION STROKE)

The compression stroke is the upwards movement of the
piston in the cylinder with the valves closed following the intake
stroke. This upwards motion compresses the fuel air mixture
inside the combustion chamber raising the pressure.

3 rd stroke: (POWER STROKE) POWER stroke:

In this is the start of the second revolution of the engine.
While the piston is close to Top Dead Center, the compressed air
fuel mixture in a petrol engine is ignited, usually by a spark plug.
Spark plugs are used to generate the spark which ignites the
compressed fuel and air mixture in the spark ignition engine. To
generate the spark a high voltage of around 20,000 Volts is
applied. Low voltage current is fed through the primary winding of
an inductor coil generating a magnetic field.
The high voltage is generated when the low voltage supply
is interrupted and the magnetic field breaks down generating a
high voltage in the secondary winding which has a much larger
number of coils. The low voltage supply to the coil is controlled by
the distributor which also controls the spark plug that the high
voltage surge is sent to. The distributor timing is critical and
usually is timed mechanically from the engine.

4 th stroke: (EXHAUST STROKE) EXHAUST stroke:

During the exhaust stroke, the piston once again returns to
top dead center while the exhaust valve is open. This action
evacuates the burnt products of combustion from the cylinder by
expelling the spent fuel-air mixture out through the exhaust valve

WORKING

Single cam and valve

Pushrod engines have been installed in cars since the dawn

of the horseless carriage. A pushrod is exactly what its name
implies. It is a rod that goes from the camshaft to the top of the
cylinder head which push open the valves for the passage of fuel
air mixture and exhaust gases.
Each cylinder of a pushrod engine has one arm (rocker arm)
that operates the valves to bring the fuel air mixture and another
arm to control the valve that lets exhaust gas escape after the
engine fires.

There are several valve train arrangements for a pushrod.

When the crank shaft turn the cam shaft the cam lobs come up
under the valve lifter and cause the lifter to move upwards.
The upward push is carried by the pushrods through the
rocker arm. The rocker arm is pushed by the pushrod, the other
end moves down. This pushes down on the valve stem and cause
it to move down thus opening the port. When the cam lobe moves
out from under the valve lifter, the valve spring pulls the valve
back upon its seat.
At the same time stem pushes up on the rocker arm, forcing
it to rock back. This pushes the push rods and the valve lifter
down, thus closing the valve. Cam-valve arrangement in
conventional engines. Single cam and valve conventional valve
train mechanism

Since the timing of the engine is dependent on the shape of

the cam lobes and the rotational velocity of the camshaft,
engineers must make decisions early in the automobile
development process that affect the engines performance.
The resulting design represents a compromise between fuel
efficiency and engine power. Since maximum efficiency and
maximum power require unique timing characteristics, the cam
design must compromise between the two extremes.
This compromise is a prime consideration when consumers
purchase automobiles. Some individuals value power and lean
toward the purchase of a high performance sports car or towing
capable trucks, while others value fuel economy and vehicles that
will provide more miles per gallon.
Recognizing this compromise, automobile manufacturers
have been attempting to provide vehicles capable of cylinder

deactivation, variable valve timing (VVT), or variable camshaft

timing (VCT).
These new designs are mostly mechanical in nature.
Although they do provide an increased level of sophistication,
most are still limited to discrete valve timing changes over a
limited range.

CONCLUSIONS
An electro hydraulic cam less valve train was developed for a
cam less engine. Initial development confirmed its functional
ability to control the valve timing, lift, velocity, and event
duration, as well as to perform selectively variable deactivation in
a four-valve multi-cylinder engine. The system employs the
hydraulic pendulum principle, which contributes to low hydraulic
energy consumption.
The electro hydraulic valve train is integral with the cylinder
head, which lowers the head height and improves the engine
packaging. Review of the benefits expected from a cam less
engine points to substantial improvements in performance, fuel

economy, and emissions over and above what is achievable in

engines with camshaft-based valve trains.
The development of a cam fewer engines with an electro
hydraulic valve train described in this report is only a first step
towards a complete engine optimization.

REFERENCES:
1. Automobiles volume 2 Kirpal Singh
2. www.newtechpaper.com
3. IC engines Ganeshan