Piston

R2026b

Piston mechanism of reciprocating combustion engine

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Piston block

To add a block to a model, double-click the canvas and start typing the block name. Then, select the block from the list.

Libraries:
Simscape / Driveline / Engines & Motors

Description

The Piston block represents the piston mechanism of a reciprocating combustion engine. The Piston block accounts for the instantaneous torque transmitted to the engine crankshaft, which enables you to simulate vibrations in the drivetrain due to piston revolution. To model a multi-piston engine, use the Piston Engine block.

Port B represents a piston container such as an engine block and port F represents the rotating crankshaft. The piston force follows from the cylinder pressure and cross-sectional area. The block obtains the combustion pressure from a lookup table parameterized in terms of the crank angle and, optionally, the crank angular velocity and engine throttle level.

The crank torque follows from the piston force and crank angle, the crank and connecting rod lengths. In terms of these inputs, the ratio of the piston force and crank torque is

$$\frac{T_{\text{F}}}{F_{\text{B}}}=-\text{c}\left(sin(\theta )+\frac{sin(2\theta )}{2\sqrt{{\left(\frac{\text{r}}{\text{c}}\right)}^2-{\sin }^2(\theta )}}\right),$$

where:

• F_B is the instantaneous piston force associated with the base port.

• T_F is the instantaneous crank torque associated with the follower port.

• c is the crank length.

• θ is the instantaneous crank angle.

• r is the connecting rod length.

Piston Dimensions

Port T lets you specify the engine throttle level as a fraction between 0 and 1. This fraction corresponds to the percentage of full power generated. The block uses the data at point T whenever the pressure lookup table in the block property inspector is parameterized only in terms of the crank angle.

Ports

Input

T — Normalized engine throttle level, unitless

physical signal

Physical signal input port that specifies engine throttle setting.

Programmatic Use

Port: T

Output

FC — Fuel consumption, kg/s

physical signal

Physical signal output port that returns the fuel consumption rate.

Dependencies

To enable this port, set Fuel consumption model to one of the following.

• Constant per revolution

• Fuel consumption by speed and torque

• Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and torque

• Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and brake mean effective pressure

Programmatic Use

Port: FC

Conserving

B — Base port associated with piston container

mechanical rotational

Rotational mechanical conserving port associated with the piston container.

Programmatic Use

Port: B

F — Follower port associated with crank torque

mechanical rotational

Rotational mechanical conserving port that connects to the engine crankshaft.

Programmatic Use

Port: F

Parameters

Main

Cylinder bore — Inside diameter of piston cylinder wall

.10 m (default) | positive scalar

Inside diameter of the piston cylinder wall. The Piston block uses this measurement to compute the torque table. You must specify a value greater than zero.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: bore

Piston stroke — Length of translational piston travel

.06 m (default) | positive scalar

Distance from the fully retracted position to the fully extended position of the piston. The Piston block uses this measurement to convert pressure on the piston into torque values. You must specify a value greater than zero.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: stroke

Piston rod length — Length of piston-to-crankshaft connecting rod

.1 m (default) | positive scalar

Distance from the center of the piston pin hole to the center of the crankshaft hole in the piston rod. The block uses this measurement to convert pressure on the piston into torque. You must specify a value greater than zero.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: rod

Number of strokes per cycle — Number of piston strokes to complete one combustion cycle

4 (default) | positive even scalar

Number of piston phases required to intake, compress, combust, and exhaust the combustion gases. Typically, engines are two-stroke or four-stroke. You must use a multiple of two.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: stroke_num

Pressure parameterization — Method used to determine pressure applied to piston

By crank angle (default) | By crank angle and throttle | By crank angle, throttle, and crank velocity

Parameter group that you want the block to use to parameterize the pressure data.

Programmatic Use

Parameter:	parameterization
Values:	"sdl.enum.piston_parameterization.Angle" | "sdl.enum.piston_parameterization.AngleThrottle" | "sdl.enum.piston_parameterization.AngleThrottleVelocity"

Crank angle vector — Different piston crank angles

[-360, -90, -30, 10, 30, 90, 160, 360] deg (default) | vector

Angle of the piston crank starting at or above the minimum angle and ending at or below the maximum angle. You can calculate the minimum or maximum angle by multiplying the number of strokes by -90 degrees or 90 degrees, respectively. You must specify at least two values.

Each element in Crank angle vector corresponds to an element in Pressure vector (gauge) or the M-row of Pressure matrix (gauge) or each Pressure 3D matrix (gauge) matrix.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: angle_vector

Throttle vector — Different throttle positions

[0, .3, .8, 1] (default) | vector

Different throttle positions that correspond to the pressures in the Pressure matrix (gauge) or Pressure 3D matrix (gauge) parameters. The throttle position must remain in the range [0,1] with 0 representing no throttle and 1 representing full throttle.

Each element in Throttle vector corresponds to the N-column of Pressure matrix (gauge) or each Pressure 3D matrix (gauge) matrix.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Pressure parameterization to By crank angle and throttle or By crank angle, throttle, and crank velocity.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: throttle_vector

Crank velocity vector — Different angular velocities

[0, 1000, 6000] rpm (default) | vector

Different crank velocities that correspond to pressures in Pressure 3D matrix (gauge).

Each element in Crank velocity vector corresponds to one of the O-matrices of Pressure 3D matrix (gauge).

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Pressure parameterization to By crank angle, throttle, and crank velocity.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: velocity_vector

Pressure vector (gauge) — Crank angle parameterized pressures

[0, 3, 20, 50, 20, 10, 8, 0] bar (default) | vector

Vector of pressure values that correspond to different crank angle positions.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Pressure parameterization to By crank angle.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: pressure_vector

Pressure matrix (gauge) — Crank angle and throttle parametrized pressures

M-by-N matrix (default) | matrix

Matrix of pressure values that correspond to different crank angle and throttle combinations. The default value is [0, 0, 0, 0; 0, .9, 2.4, 3; 0, 6, 16, 20; 0, 15, 40, 50; 0, 6, 16, 20; 0, 3, 8, 10; 0, 2.4, 6.4, 8; 0, 0, 0, 0] bar.

The elements of Crank angle vector correspond to the M-rows in Pressure matrix (gauge). The elements of Throttle vector correspond to the N-columns in Pressure matrix (gauge).

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Pressure parameterization to By crank angle and throttle.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: pressure_matrix

Pressure 3D matrix (gauge) — Crank angle, throttle, and crank velocity parameterized pressures

M-by-N-by-O matrix (default) | 3-D matrix

Concatenated matrix of pressure values that correspond to the various crank angle, throttle, and crank velocity combinations. The default value is cat(3, [0, 0, 0, 0; 0, .9, 2.4, 3; 0, 6, 16, 20; 0, 15, 40, 50; 0, 6, 16, 20; 0, 3, 8, 10; 0, 2.4, 6.4, 8; 0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0; 0, .9, 2.4, 3; 0, 6, 16, 20; 0, 15, 40, 50; 0, 6, 16, 20; 0, 3, 8, 10; 0, 2.4, 6.4, 8; 0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0; 0, .9, 2.4, 3; 0, 6, 16, 20; 0, 15, 40, 50; 0, 6, 16, 20; 0, 3, 8, 10; 0, 2.4, 6.4, 8; 0, 0, 0, 0]) bar.

The elements of Crank angle vector correspond to the M-rows. The elements of Throttle vector correspond to the N-columns. The elements of Crank velocity vector correspond to the matrices you concatenate along dimension O.

By default, M = 8, N = 4, and O = 3.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Pressure parameterization to By crank angle, throttle, and crank velocity.

Bearing viscous friction coefficient — Tendency of the main and rod bearings to dissipate power

.001 N*m/(rad/s) (default) | positive scalar

Aggregate viscous friction coefficient of the main and rod bearings. The block uses this parameter to compute the viscous power losses between the base and follower shafts.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: mu_visc

Offset angle — Angular deviation between middle of engine cycle and top dead center

0 deg (default) | scalar

Point in the engine cycle when the piston reaches top dead center. The engine cycle spans in angle from -S*180 to +S*180 degrees, where S is the value of the Number of strokes per cycle parameter.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: theta_offset

Initial crank angle — Crank angle at simulation start

90 deg (default) | scalar

Crank angle at time zero relative to a top dead center position.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: theta_init

Fuel Consumption

Fuel consumption model — Parameterization of fuel consumption

No fuel consumption (default) | Constant per revolution | Fuel consumption by speed and torque | Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and torque | Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and brake mean effective pressure

Model for calculating fuel consumption. Model parameterizations are compatible with standard industrial data.

Selecting any option other than No fuel consumption enables the FC port and related parameters. When you set Fuel consumption model to No fuel consumption, the block does not calculate fuel consumption. Selecting this option increases simulation speed.

Programmatic Use

Parameter:	fc_model
Values:	"sdl.enum.fuel_consumption_model.FuelOff" | "sdl.enum.fuel_consumption_model.FuelConstant" | "sdl.enum.fuel_consumption_model.FuelSpeedTorque" | "sdl.enum.fuel_consumption_model.BSFCSpeedTorque" | "sdl.enum.fuel_consumption_model.BSFCSpeedBMEP"

Fuel consumption per revolution — Fuel consumed during a single crank revolution

25 mg/rev (default) | scalar

Volume of fuel consumed in one crankshaft revolution.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Fuel consumption model to Constant per revolution.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: fc_per_rev

Speed vector — Crankshaft angular velocity

[1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000] rpm (default) | vector

Vector of engine speeds used in lookup table parameterizations. The vector length must match the Torque vector.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Fuel consumption model to one of these settings:

• Fuel consumption by speed and torque

• Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and torque

• Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and brake mean effective pressure

Programmatic Use

Parameter: fc_w_tab

Torque vector — Torque applied for given speed

[0, 80, 160, 200, 240, 320, 360, 400] N*m (default) | vector

Vector of engine torques used in the lookup table parameterizations. The vector length must match the Speed vector parameter.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Fuel consumption model to Fuel consumption by speed and torque or Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and torque.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: fc_trq_tab

Fuel consumption table — Matrix of fuel consumption rates for given combinations of speed and torque

P-by-Q matrix (default) | matrix

Matrix of fuel consumption rates corresponding to engine speed and torque vectors. The number of rows, P, must equal the number of elements in the Speed vector parameter. The number of columns, Q, must equal the number of elements in the Torque vector parameter. The default value is [.5, .9, 1.4, 1.6, 1.9, 2.7, 3.4, 4.4; 1, 1.7, 2.7, 3.1, 3.6, 5, 6, 7.4; 1.4, 2.7, 4, 4.8, 5.6, 7.5, 8.5, 10.5; 2, 3.6, 5.8, 6.7, 8, 10.4, 11.7, 13.3; 2.5, 4.8, 7.9, 9.4, 10.8, 14, 16.2, 18.6; 3.1, 6, 10.3, 11.9, 13.8, 18.4, 22, 26.5] g/s.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Fuel consumption model to Fuel consumption by speed and torque or Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and torque.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: fc_tab

Brake mean effective pressure vector — Average cylinder pressure required to produce a given torque

[0, 250, 500, 625, 750, 1000, 1150, 1250] kPa (default)

Vector of brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) values. The BMEP satisfies the expression:

$$BMEP=T\cdot \left(\frac{2\pi \cdot n_c}{V_d}\right),$$

where:

• T is the output torque.

• n_c is the number of cycles per revolution.

• V_d is the cylinder displaced volume.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Fuel consumption model to Fuel consumption by speed and torque or Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and brake mean effective pressure.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: bmep_tab

Brake specific fuel consumption table — Fuel efficiency for brake specific fuel consumption rates

P-by-Q matrix (default) | matrix

Matrix of brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) rates. BSFC is the ratio of the fuel consumption rate to the output power. The number of rows, P, must equal the number of elements in the Speed vector parameter. The number of columns, Q, must equal the number of elements in the Torque vector parameter. The default value is [410, 380, 300, 280, 270, 290, 320, 380; 410, 370, 290, 270, 260, 270, 285, 320; 415, 380, 290, 275, 265, 270, 270, 300; 420, 390, 310, 290, 285, 280, 280, 285; 430, 410, 340, 320, 310, 300, 310, 320; 450, 430, 370, 340, 330, 330, 350, 380] g/hr/kW.

When you set Fuel consumption model to Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and torque, enter a matrix with BSFC rates corresponding to engine speed and torque vectors.

When you set Fuel consumption model to Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and brake mean effective pressure, enter a matrix with BSFC rates corresponding to engine speed and brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) vectors.the number of rows must equal the number of elements in the Speed vector parameter. The number of columns must equal the number of elements in the Brake mean effective pressure vector parameter.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Fuel consumption model to Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and torque or Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and brake mean effective pressure.

Programmatic Use

Parameter: bsfc_tab

Interpolation method — Speed and torque behavior between data points

Linear (default) | Smooth

Interpolation method to calculate fuel consumption at intermediate speed and torque values. Outside the data range, fuel consumption remains constant at the last value given in the lookup table for both methods.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Fuel consumption model to one of these settings:

• Fuel consumption by speed and torque

• Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and torque

• Brake specific fuel consumption by speed and brake mean effective pressure

Programmatic Use

Parameter:	fc_interp_method
Values:	"simscape.enum.interpolation.linear" | "simscape.enum.interpolation.smooth"

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation
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Version History

Introduced in R2016a