Turbochargers for automotive application

Since over 25 years, the Research Group ICEG has been involved in studies on exhaust turbochargers thanks to the availability of an original experimental facility that allows to perform investigations under steady and unsteady flow conditions.

ICEG has been/is involved in several research projects, such as European Projects (NICE, POWERFUL, UPGRADE), in a research collaboration with CRITT M2A, in several technical collaborations with General Motors Powertrain-Europe S.r.l, Centro Ricerche Fiat, Ferrari, Honeywell-Garrett, Microtecnica, Ansaldo Ricerche, Röchling Automotive Engineering. 

ICEG’s skills regard different aspects related to the definition of intake and exhaust components performance, such as:

  • development of theoretical and experimental techniques to extend the definition of turbocharger compressor and turbine steady flow characteristics (Fig.1);
  • unsteady flow investigations on components and subassemblies of ICE intake and exhaust circuit;
  • characterisation of turbocharger turbine under steady and transient conditions (Fig.2);
  • characterisation of turbocharger compressor under steady and unsteady flow conditions (Fig.3);
  • control strategies optimisation of engine valve opening to improve turbocharger transient performance;
  • development and application of unsteady flow performance prediction procedures.

The available I/E components test facility allows to carry out several research activities, such as:

  • optimisation of the exhaust circuit geometry for automotive turbocharged engines (manifolds, junctions, etc.);
  • development of optimised control strategies to enhance the behaviour of the subsystem valves-exhaust manifold-turbine in unsteady flow conditions;
  • analysis of compressor surge in turbochargers under steady and unsteady flow conditions;
  • parametric studies on turbocharger response to the main pulse parameters;
  • development and experimental validation of advanced predicting procedures for turbocharger performance under unsteady flow operation.

Researches

  • Silvia Marelli
  • Massimo Capobianco

Laboratories

  • Laboratorio di Motori a Combustione Interna

Publications

  • S. Marelli, M. Capobianco, G. Zamboni, “Pulsating Flow Performance of a Turbocharger Compressor for Automotive Application”, International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, Volume 45, pages 158-165, doi: 10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2013.11.001, February 2014. 
  • S. Marelli, C. Carraro, G. Marmorato, G. Zamboni, M. Capobianco , “Experimental Analysis on Steady Flow Performance under Unstable Operating Conditions and on Surge Limit of a Turbocharger Compressor”, Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, Volume 53, pages 154-160, doi: 10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2013.11.025, February 2014. 
  • F. Piscaglia, A. Onorati, S. Marelli, M. Capobianco, A detailed one-dimensional model to predict the unsteady behavior of turbocharger turbines for internal combustion engine applications. International Journal of Engine Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468087417752525SAE, 2018.
  • S. Marelli, V. Usai, Experimental Evaluation of the Performance of an Automotive Electric Supercharger, SAE paper no. 2020-37-0008, 2020.
  • G. Montenegro, M. Tamborski, A. Della Torre, A. Onorati, S. Marelli, Unsteady modeling of turbochargers for automotive applications by means of a quasi-3d approach , Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, GTP-20-1521, 2020.

Last update 19 January 2022