CAMLESS ENGINES

Deepak Pathak, Mechanical Student, ITM University, deepak.pathak27@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Since the invention of IC engine, Cam has been an integral part which controls the breathing channels i.e the
intake and the exhaust valves through which the fuel air mixture (in SI engines) or air (in CI engines) is supplied and exhaust
driven out.
Camless engine technology is speeding to be a reality for commercial vehicles. In the electromechanical Camless valve train,
the valve actuator is employed to control the valve motion - theres no camshaft or connecting mechanisms. Accurate
electronic circuit helps in controlling the operation of the mechanism, thus the opening and closing operation of valves works
with more accuracy and greater flexibility. 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 nowadays use one or more camshafts operated poppet valves. The lobes on the
camshafts help in giving motion to Cam followers which in turn open the poppet valves. Currently a Camless engine (or, free
valve engine) uses hydraulic, electromechanical, or pneumatic actuators to open and close the poppet valves instead. Actuators
can be used to both close and open the valves

INTRODUCTION: In the cam less valve train, the

valve actuator helps in controlling the valve motion
directly. Hence camshaft or connecting mechanisms are
not required. Precise electromechanical cam less valve
train controls the valve operations, opening, closing etc.
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 cambased) have been employed on commercial vehicles due to
the liability, durability and cost issues. Although cambased 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-mechanical valve actuation system is the most

repeatable and durable one. This paper explains the

working of the Electromechanical Valve actuator Camless
engine, its theoretical analysis, its characteristics,
advantages and disadvantages over conventional IC
engines.

OVERVIEW OF CAMLESS ENGINE: Mainly,

Camless engine comprises of Five Sensors which sense
five important parameters that are Speed of the engine,
Load on the engine, Exhaust gas Sensor, Valve position
Sensor and Current Sensor. These Sensors sense the
Parameters and send the signals to Electronic Control Unit
(ECU). In ECU, Small Microprocessors are present to
publish the signals. These Microprocessors control the
Actuators to Work according to Requirement.

Actuation of the lower electromagnet maintains the valve

in the open position.
The advantage of the electromechanical valve actuator is it
generates force in either direction and to vary the amount
of force applied to the armature in either direction the
force is generated on the armature coil that drives the
armature coil within the gap in a straight line in a direction
parallel to the valve stem.
Fig 1 - overview of Camless engine

WORKING: Electromechanical actuators, commanded

by a distribution management unit, control the movement
of the valves. There is therefore no longer any direct
mechanical bond between the valves and the crankshaft.
The electromechanical actuators are placed at the tail-end
of the valves. They are composed of two superimposed
electromagnets, between which moves a metal part that is
interdependent with a pushrod. The management unit
sends commands to the electromagnets which alternatively
attract the moving component. Two springs supplement
the system and assist the valve movement, to help reduce
the systems electrical consumption.

Depending on the movement of the current provided to

the armature coil, the valve will automatically be driven
towards an open or a closed position i.e. to the extreme
valve positions.
In synchronicity with a switching time of hardly 4
milliseconds.
The engine with 16 Valve 4 cylinders is undergoing tests
in Germany, by Siemens, and is furnished with 16 valve
actuator and their respective armature-position sensors.

Fig 3 Valves Open and Closed

THEORETICAL ANALYSIS:

Fig 2 - working of electromechanical Camless engine

When the upper electromagnet is activated, the vane is
held upward. The valve is in the closed position
When the upper electromagnets magnetic field is
disrupted, the vane is pulled downward by springs.

Normally in a conventional IC engine, the exhaust valve

closes 150 to 300 after TDC and inlet valve opens 100 to
200 before TDC, both valves are open during overlap
period.
The advantage of valve overlap comes at high engine
speed when the valve open periods with longer duration
result in higher volumetric efficiency. A forcasted situation
where the valve overlap duration can be varied with
respect to the speed of the engine in an ICE using

electromechanical valve Actuator came up with graphs

shown in fig.6. The dotted line is lift profile at low engine
speed. From the graph in fig.6; valve overlap period is
longer at higher engine speed.
A proposed longer period of valve overlap of rams and
turning effects can be fully utilized, since at higher engine
speeds, the inertia of the gas in the intake system (as the
intake valve is closing) increases the pressure in the port,
but the period of the reverse flow into the intake (back
flow). It is predicted that v/s versus N graph for a
varying valve turning (including varying valve overlap)
looks like fig.8 (a) because the turning and ram effects will
be fully utilized; choking effect will be eliminated or
greatly reduced so also will back flow effects be greatly
reduced.

Fig 6 - Valve lift Vs crank angle varying w.r.t time at high

and low engine speeds

ADVANTAGES OF CAMLESS ENGINE

Infinitely variable valve timing.

More torque is made available throughout the revrange.
Increases durability and engine life.
Valve train weight which limits the rotational
speed at which the engine can operate is reduced.
Increases engine performance.
Decreases fuel consumption
Decreases harmful emissions, eliminates use of
EGR
Valeo concluded that the efficiency of a Camless
engine would be 25% greater than a conventional
camshaft operated engine
Reduction in size & weight
ECU system can now stabilize valve acceleration,
valve velocity and deceleration

Fig 4 - Valve Timing diagram for typical ICE

Fig 5 - Valve lift vs. crank angle for ICE

Fig- Prototype of electromechanical Camless engine

DISADVANTAGES:
Comparatively high cost: if we compare the Camless
engine with a conventional engine, the cost of operating
the Camless engine and manufacturing is much higher than
that of conventional engine.

Packaging:
The
complete
assembly
of
a
electromechanical Camless engine is very complex and its
packaging into a single unit is a very delicate process

5.

Power Consumption: The major demerit of Camless

engine is its high power consumption due to use of
extensive solenoids, spring and magnets .

6.

Vibration and Noise: While functioning of a Camless

Engine, the solenoids and the magnets operate abruptly
and the opening and closing of the valves is not smooth.
Hence it results in noise and vibration in the engine.
Accurate closing of the valves is not insured as voltage is
too high, so noise and wear of components also takes place

CONCLUSION:
It is possible theoretically and experimentally to control
the valves of an IC engine electromechanically and
achieve the benefits of variable valve timing, but
technically, it is challenging. Some of these challenges
include:
The reliability and durability of the whole control
system;
The great increase in complexity of the model, since
other subsystem of an IC engine like the starting
subsystem depends on camshaft.
Finally, it can be concluded that by applying Camless
technology to internal combustion engines the overall
performance of the engine will be enhance.

REFERENCES:
1.

2.

3.

4.

Gould, L; Richeson, W; and Erickson, F., 1991,

Performance Evaluation of a Camless Engine
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1997, Dynamic Model of a Springless
Electrmechanical Valvetrain, SAE Paper No.
970248
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Control-Oriented Model for Camless Intake
Process Part 1, Transactions of the ASME Vol
122, March 2000
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Control of a Camless Intake Process Part II,
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