Future of Internal Combustion Engine

F1 has been using solenoid valve closure for a while now I think. Conventional valve springs tend to float at 20,000 rpm.

I think the internal combustion engine will be leapfrogged at some point with SUVs like these:

 

http://scarbsf1.com/valves.html

Add to that , more recently KERS technology

 

Way back in the 80s Smokey Yunick developed a " hot cycle engine"
I saw it in HotRod magazine.
I worked on heating the gasoline to a vapor before intrducing it to the cylinder via a homogizer ( his name for it ) kind of a turbo with heat.
When gas is a vapor it combusts much better than as a liquid.
Much better burning and less wasted out the exhaust.
Results were double HP and MPG on test 4 cyl and V-8s
Last I heard a gentleman bought the right and has not moved forward with it.

 

This has been in the making for a while. Certainly is efficient. People worried about a similar system that is used in almost all engines now. Variable valve timing.

When Honda introduced VTEC, everyone was saying this was going to be problematic and a failure. Now everyone uses it. It also uses a hydraulic solenoid to actuate rocker arms to use different cam lobes. Same as our VVTI engines, which are based off of Hondas design after patents expired.

All it takes is the design of the solenoids to last for x amount of time. When Honda designed the actuators for the VTEC system, they designed them to last an equivalent of 15 years. They have obviously gone above and beyond that.

 

Maybe that gentleman was from an oil company?

 

We have been talking for decades on how to get rid of camshafts and optimize valve timing for different running conditions. This seems like a good way of doing things...

Way back when Detroit Diesel used camshafts to time their injectors, now they are all electronic. I know there was some work on electric valve actuators, and I spend some time working on various hydraulic actuator. Pneumatic actuators have been part of industrial equipment for over 100 years and still used widely in automation.

Eventually, if the technology is proofed out, we will probably see it on our daily drivers. The camshaft used to be common is automation and is now been replaced by electric, pneumatic and hydraulic systems. This of the flywheel punch press and the much quieter and safer hydraulic press.

Howard

 

This is true for VVTL-i, which according to Wikipedia isn't produced anymore.

VVTi works differently. Oil pressure works on the camshaft sprockets directly to adjust timing. There isn't a second set of cam lobe profile. See propaganda video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83yBCI07W-E

 

Your right about the VVTi vs VVTli My point though is the actuators and hydraulic pistons have already proven that they can last the lifetime of a vehicle. People get scared at new technology and ideas, but that's what pushes advancements towards the next great engine or whatever craft is being built.