13 Piezoelectric Injection Systems

R. Mock and K. Lubitz

13.1 Technical Motivation for Direct Injection Systems

The origin of direct injection can be doubtlessly attributed to Rudolf Diesel who used air assisted injection for fuel atomisation in his rst self-ignition engine. Although it became apparent already at that time that direct injection leads to reduced specic fuel consumption compared to other methods of fuel injection, it was not used in passenger cars for the moment because of its disadvantageous noise generation as the requirements with regard to comfort were seen as more important than a reduced specic consumption. Especially the cold start Diesel knock proved to be unacceptable for a long time. Although one knew at least on a theoretical basis that pilot injections would be the appropriate countermeasure, one was not able to realise them with the available injectors. This situation changed fundamentally in 1989 when Audi launched the rst TDI engine with Diesel direct injection in which the problem of pilot injection was solved. Nonetheless, the combustion noise could not yet be reduced to the level of a gasoline engine. The reason for this was that using the pump-injector principle, the ratio of the dosed fuel amount as well as the timing between pilot and main injection could not be adjusted with the required exibility. It was not before Diesel high pressure pumps became available that the way was paved for the common rail technology. In 1997, the high volume production of common rail injectors was launched using electromagnetic Diesel injectors, in 2000 the rst vehicles left the production plant which were equipped with piezoelectric common rail injectors [14] (see Fig. 13.1). Above all, it was the high exibility of fuel dosing which permitted a variability of fuel injection in form of several (up to seven) split quantities something which had not been considered as possible till then. This technical feature along with the high dosing precision and spray quality broke new ground for a triumphant success of Diesel power train technology which at least in Europe has by far outnumbered the Gasoline vehicles viewing the number of newly registered cars.

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Fig. 13.1. Photographic view of the rst generation PCR injector

13.2 Description of Advanced Direct Injection Systems

13.2.1 Diesel: Common Rail Injectors (2,000 Bar) The rst generation of piezoelectric common rail Diesel injectors (abbrev.: PCR) which in September 2000 was employed for the rst time in a series production vehicle uses a servo-hydraulic principle instead of a direct drive by the piezo actuator to move the injectors nozzle section (Fig. 13.2). For that purpose, the high pressure Diesel fuel (0 < p < 1, 500 bar) acts in two ways on the nozzle section. By directly feeding the Diesel fuel to the bottom part of the nozzle, a constant force is exerted on it. The control piston which forms the upper part of the nozzle section is pressurised by the fuel which is fed via two throttles into a control chamber which is closed by a servo valve. As long as the servo valve is closed, the pressure in the control chamber is equal to that acting on the lower end of the nozzle. As the cross section area of the control piston is slightly larger than that of the lower end of the nozzle, a resulting force is generated which presses the nozzle into its seat.

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Fig. 13.2. PCR Injector: pressure distribution in the closed state (upper view) and in the open state (lower view) of the servo-hydraulic injector drive

To trigger an injection, an electric voltage is applied to the piezoelectric actuator. Via a tappet the expanding actuator lifts the servo valve o its seat and a ring-shaped gap opens through which the fuel inside the control chamber can escape into the low pressure drain (p = 1 bar). As a consequence, the pressure above the control piston drops almost instantaneously. As the pressure on the lower end of the nozzle remains constant, the direction of the resulting hydraulic force on the nozzle is reverted so that the nozzle is lifted o its seat and thereby the nozzle outlets are released through which the fuel is injected into the combustion chamber. In addition it is atomised because of the high system pressure of up to 1,500 bar. A spring between the control piston and the nozzle part on the one hand acts as an impact damper, on the other hand it keeps the nozzle in the closed state as long as no rail pressure is present as it is, e.g. the case when the engine is turned o. When the voltage across the piezo actuator is switched o, it contracts. Driven by a spring force, the servo valve is moved back to its seat. The

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ring-shaped gap is closed again so that via the two throttles the full system pressure is built up again inside the control chamber. As soon as the full pressure is reached, the resulting force acting on the nozzle and control piston again points towards the seat. The nozzle moves into its stationary position and the nozzle outlets are closed. Via the diameter ratio of the two throttles, the opening and closing velocities of the nozzle can be adapted to the requirements of the respective engine. That such a servo principle is used instead of, for instance, a direct drive is due to the fact that the mechanical work that has to be applied in order to open the nozzle exceeds the capabilities of the actual piezo actuator by one order of magnitude. This circumstance is discussed in more detail in Chap. 13.3.1.

13.2.2 Gasoline High Pressure Direct Injectors (200 Bar) A fuel atomisation, the quality of which being sucient for a good combustion, is reached in the case of gasoline at pressures of about 200 bar. As a consequence, it is feasible to realise gasoline high pressure injectors actuating the nozzle by a direct drive (Fig. 13.3). In the case of the injector for which series production has been started in 2006 [58], the functional unit of piezo actuator, the nozzle and hydraulic compensator is mounted into a double-walled, cylindric housing. The fuel is fed to the nozzle via the gap between the inner and the outer tubes, thus acting as a coolant for the inner injector parts, mainly the actuator unit. The top cap of the piezo actuator is supported by the hydraulic compensator, whereas the bottom cap is in contact with the valve needle. During the mounting procedure, the needle is loaded by a spring which generates a force of about 200 N by which the needle is pressed into the seat. After the installation and the application of the electric contacting to the piezo actuator, the hydraulic compensator unit is mounted into the injector housing and loaded by a force of about 100 N against the piezo actuator. Thereby the force between the needle and the seat is reduced by just this number so that 100 N remains as a resulting force which retains the nozzle in its seat against a maximum fuel pressure of 200 bar. The fuel enters the gap between the needle and the cartridge at the lower end of the injector housing across two boreholes in the inner tube of the housing. To prevent the piezoactuator from being wetted by the fuel, a bellow between the upper end of the cartridge and the needle acts as a exible seal in the axial direction. Its eective pressure-loaded cross section area is dimensioned such that the hydraulic forces acting on the bellow and the needle compensate in essence. As the piezo actuator is electrically charged, it expands against the forces by the compensator and the needle. As the compensator is conceived such that it forms a hard bearing for a fast switching motion, the valve lifts o

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fuel inlet

hydraulic compensator

piezo actuator

needle group

Fig. 13.3. Photographic view and CAD cross section of a piezoelectric high pressure gasoline injector

due to the electric excitation of the actuator after the closing force has been overcome. A ring-shaped gap opens between the needle and the seat through which the fuel is injected and atomised. As soon as the desired fuel quantity is reached, the piezo actuator is electrically discharged and as a consequence contracts. The preload spring then pulls the needle back to the seat. The ring-shaped gap is closed, and the injection cycle is complete. 13.2.3 Gas: CNG/Hydrogen Injectors (<200 Bar) Considering the CO2 problem and the global warming, gaseous fuels increasingly become the focus of attention for developers. They either exhibit a

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greatly improved CO2 balance than gasoline or Diesel, or like hydrogen they can completely be generated by means of regenerative energy sources and accordingly are CO2 neutral. At present, the development focuses on injectors which take into account the specic requirements of the injection of gaseous fuels [9]. The fundamental dierence to liquid fuels is the completely dierent ow characteristics of gases. To dose a gaseous fuel which contains the same amount of energy as liquid fuels, one has to inject a considerably larger volume. At a pressure of, e.g. 20 bar the injector has to deliver a throughput quantity which exceeds that of gasoline by a factor of fty in order to obtain the same engine power. The injection timing and the gas pressure, however, are dened by system requirements so that the larger volume throughput has to be realised by an increased cross section of the orice. As the diameter of the employed nozzle can be increased only to a limited amount, there remains only an increase of the needle lift to a value of 300 m to guarantee the throughput quantity. However, using the present piezo actuators, a stroke of 50 m cannot be exceeded. Therefore a hydraulic transformer is mounted between the actuator and the nozzle which at the same time acts as a thermal compensator. The working principle of this injector including the hydraulic transformer element is shown in Fig. 13.4.

gas inlet

piezo actuator

hydraulic transformer

needle group

Fig. 13.4. Photographic view and CAD cross section of a piezoelectric CNG injector

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13.2.4 Future Perspectives of Piezo Injectors Unlike their electromagnetic counterparts, piezoelectric injectors provide a rather well dened sensor signal. This is simply due to the fact that a piezoelectric material always shows the piezo sensor and the actuator eect at once. Monitoring the time dependent voltage and the current of a piezo actuator, which is employed in an injector, yields a lot of information about the inner states of the injector as well as the surroundings of the injector. Thus using model-based control strategies which treat the injector as a part of a mechatronic control system it is possible to detect important information about the switching process such as opening and closing time of the servo valve in the PCR by recreating the inner state variables which describe the eect under consideration. Moreover, it appears to be possible to even employ a piezoelectric injector to determine quantities related to the combustion process just by isolating their impact on the injector function by a modelbased control approach. At present, this is work in progress and the rst substantial success in improving the existing products with respect to injection precision, environmental friendliness and the reduced system costs proves that the mechatronic system approach is one which is worth to be pursued over the next years.

13.3 Technical Specications of Injection Systems

13.3.1 Diesel: Common Rail Injectors (2,000 Bar) Due to the dierent working principles of the three injector concepts presented before, the technical requirements which have to be established for a suitable piezo actuator greatly dier. Nevertheless, the basic procedure by which the mechanical and electric characteristics are specied is the same in all the three cases. For the PCR, this procedure will be explained in some detail. By the functional principle of the PCR, it becomes obvious that the opening and closing event only occurs when the pressure inside the control chamber has reached its respective end value. Particularly during the opening event, the pressure drop inside that chamber has to be eected suciently fast so that the movement of the control piston and the valve needle begins after a minimum time delay. As this pressure drop is substantially inuenced by the ow characteristic of the servo valve, the piezo actuator has to full two tasks in this case: 1. It has to provide sucient stroke so that the servo valve is fully unthrottled in the opened condition (i.e. only the xed throttles in the high pressure feed determine the ow rate) 2. It has to generate enough force to open the servo valve suciently fast against the pressure in the control chamber

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To guarantee the rst requirement, the ow cross section area released by it has to be signicantly larger than that of the two xed throttles which act in series with it. In case of the PCR the ow cross section at a stroke of 35 m is roughly twice as large as that of the largest xed throttle therefore just sucient to full the requirement. The force on the servo valve built up by the chamber pressure can be calculated from the pressure loaded surface of the valve at a given pressure. Taking into account also the force of the closing spring, the actuator has to generate a force of about 400 N at maximum system pressure before the servo valve is moved at all. Detailed simulations show that in order to obtain a sucient dynamics of this process one indeed needs about 1,000 N! The piezo actuators maximum force, however, is not available during the complete actuation process. Due to the limited stiness of the mechanical connections (weldings, etc.), part of the mechanical energy generated by the actuator is consumed by the mechanical work needed to expand the housing and its components. Provided that the stiness values of housing and mechanical connections are optimised, the actuator has to exhibit a blocking force of about 2,100 N at a blind lift of 35 m this corresponds to a spring stiness of 60 N m1 to guarantee a net blocking force of 1,100 N for the switching cycle. From the electric point of view, the second requirement means that the actuator has to be electrically energised with a rise and fall time of 100 s to the maximum eld strength of 2 kV mm1 . Regarding technical boundaries and system costs, these electric characteristics have to be realised at moderate voltages (<200 V) and currents (<30 A). The consequence of this is that the piezo actuator has to be conceived as a multilayer stack with an appropriate number of piezoelectric layers.

13.4 Material Aspects

Motor injection systems in the past were realised solely with electromagnetic drives. In order to replace them by the completely new concept of a piezoelectric drive, the latter must have comparable production costs, life time and reliability and in addition a remarkably better functionality. It is described in the following section how a specic material design, i.e. matching of construction form, material composition and fabrication technology can lead to such a solution. If we consider the functional principles of Diesel injection valves shown in Sect. 13.2.1, we can summarise the specications for the piezoelectric drive itself by the following conditions: Drive voltage of up to 200 V DC, drive frequency of up to 100 Hz, piezoelectric elongation of 40 m, blocking force of about 2,000 N, pulse length without rise and fall times 50100 s, operating temperatures from 40 to +160 C, where the maximum temperature is given by the external motor heating and by self-heating, and nally a minimum life time of >109 cycles.

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The solution is a piezoceramic prismatic stack with dimensions of 7 7 30 mm3 . This stack is manufactured as a monolithic component in multilayer technology and has an internal structure as shown in Chap. 4.5, p. 123. On the base and top of this part, where force and elongation are transferred, always a 12 mm thick piezoelectrically inactive zone is incorporated in order to avoid friction and mechanical tensile stresses by piezoelectric transverse contraction. The active part of the stack consists of some hundreds of 80100 m thick ceramic sheets lying in between thin AgPd-electrodes having alternating polarity. They are driven by a voltage of 200 V or an electric eld strength of 2 kV mm1 . In combination with the eective d33 the active height of the stack determines the elongation and the cross section the force of the actuator. During the rise of a pulse the actuator mainly generates force and after the opening of the valve, a no-load deection. The specication values require an eective d33 of 750 pm V1 at 2 kV mm1 . Such large values are only achieved by soft-PZT. A further boundary condition, the maximum operation temperature, in addition demands a material with Curie temperatures >300 C. In consequence only low doped soft PZT can be used, for example with Rare Earths on A-place or Nb on B-place of the perovskite. Using standard ceramic fabrication technology such materials have sintering temperatures of 1,2501,300 C. The manufacturing of multilayer stacks with AgPd-70/30 inner electrodes, however, needs a reduction of the sintering temperatures to values <1,130 C. This can be achieved by the application of high energy milling whereby the primary particle size before sintering can be remarkably reduced [10]. Particularly the sintering temperature can be reduced by small additions of acceptor elements like K or Ag (see Chap. 4.3 and 4.5) by which the soft PZT does not change its properties like low mechanical quality factor or high large signal d33. Looking at Figs. 4.22 and 4.23 of Chap. 4.5 we can see that using AgPd inner electrodes the Pd is forming a PbPd interface between PZT and electrode and that Ag may diuse into the ceramic grain volume. In combination with a ne adjustment of the doping concentrations, the reduction of the sintering temperature can be achieved which is necessary for the application of the multilayer technology. A rst piezoelectric multilayer stack was realised already in 1983 as a driving element of a needle printer, admittedly using a low sintering complex ceramic with a Curie temperature of 150 C [11]. The rst multilayer stack functioning in an injection valve with AgPd inner electrodes, low doping and a Curie temperature of 320 C however was presented not until the end of the nineties [12, 13]. The stack technology is similar to that described in Chap. 4.5 but requires two essential modications: The rst one relates to the polarisation in combination with the driving conditions, the second one concerns the method of contacting the stack. If a free stack is driven by an above described pulse sequence, it splits after some hundreds of cycles. Although the lowest resonance frequency of the actuator is about 50 kHz and electrical pulses of 100 s imply a quasistatic

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driving condition, in this dynamic mode during the falling pulses mechanical tensile stresses occur which by undercritical and critical crack growth destroy the stack very fast. Therefore a constant compressive stress must act on the stack in such a way that on no account tensile stresses can occur within the sample. That will be realised by tube springs in which the stack is welded under a compressive stress of 10 MPa [14]. The polarisation takes place within the tube spring. The superimposed compressive stress remarkably reduces the remanent relative elongation compared with a free poling. The number of domains oriented parallel to the poling eld is lowered due to the ferroelastic inuence of the mechanical stress. During driving and under an electrical eld of 2 kV mm1 many domains are switched in eld direction and the stack elongation reaches the necessary amount. This kind of polarisation has a further benecial eect. In Fig. 13.5, the thermal expansion coecients are plotted of unpoled and poled piezoceramics parallel and perpendicular to the poling direction [15]. In poling direction, against all normal experience the coecient is negative. This is due to a decrease of the spontaneous polarisation and of the anisotropic lattice distortion with increasing temperature. The stack polarisation under mechanical compression stress creates a domain structure similar to that of an unpoled sample. Thus the thermal expansion coecient is positive and comparable to that of the surrounding metallic tube spring. The most important point which at all has made possible the application of piezo stacks as injection valve drives and which guarantees life time and reliability, is the application of quite specic electrical contacts. They must control and eliminate the detrimental inuence of in principle originating
Pr = +7 x106 K1

I/I 4 x104 3 x104 2 x104 1 x104 0 1 x104 2 x104 3 x104 4 x104 = 5 x106 K1 20 30 40 50 = +2 x106 K1

unpoled

60

70 temperature [ C]

Pr

Fig. 13.5. Thermal expansion coecients of unpoled and poled samples parallel and perpendicular to the remanent polarisation

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S [103] 3

309

2 Crack 2 + 3 1 Crack 1 0 0 1 2 E [kV/mm]

Crack 2 at 1130 V/mm Crack 1 at 960 V/mm Crack 3 at 1140 V/mm inactive contact zone

Fig. 13.6. Formation of delamination cracks during poling inside the inactive contact areas

cracks. Within the contact areas of the stacks (see Fig. 4.21, Chap. 4.5) even during polarisation and beginning operation tensile stresses arise although the active stack area is under compression stress by the tube spring. These stresses can be calculated, are highest in the middle of the stack and lead to delamination cracks in the contact area in general between PZT and the electrode. In Fig. 13.6, the evolution of such cracks during poling is measured by sound emission analysis and also their position is shown. These ssures act as mechanical stress relievers so that their number after short operation time remains constant, depending on design, technology and especially on the strength of the interface PZT inner electrodes. The crack tips stop permanently within the transition region to the active stack area which is under compression stress. Also some design variations are known where a series of articial slits within the contact areas of the stack is incorporated during the fabrication having the same stress relief function [16, 17]. During operation in the region of the relief cracks a large stroke can be observed corresponding to the total elongation of the adjacent undamaged stack segment. Locally relative elongations of more than 100% may occur which, after short operation time, unravel the originally continuous metallic contact strip. In order to provide all these single stack elements with electrical energy, a multiple contact design is necessary. That can be realised for example by a wire harp or by soldered metal wool. With the sum of the described measures, it succeeds to manufacture reliable stacks with life times of >109 cycles. Meanwhile, they are in use in cars a millionfold. It is remarkable that the absolute stack length as well as the elongation remain constant within narrow limits during life time. This means that both the remanent domain structure and the number and kind of domains switched up to saturation during each pulse remain unchanged. This also shows the future potential of piezoceramic stacks in the area of actuator applications if material and technology are modied specically.

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References
1. D. Baranowski, W. Kluegl, D. Schoeppe, in Simulation and Design Optimization of a Common Rail Piezo Injector for Passenger Car DI Diesel Engines Fuel Injection System, London, GB, Dec 12, 1999 (IMechE Seminar Publication, London, 1999) 2. K. Egger, D. Schoeppe, Diesel Common Rail II Einspritztechnologie fuer die Herausforderungen der Zukunft Fortschritt-Berichte VDI Reihe 12, Nr. 348, Band 2 3. R. Mock, P.-C. Eccardt, B. Gottlieb, A. Kappel, K. Niederer, in Modellierung der dynamischen und akustischen Eigenschaften eines piezoelektrischen CommonRail-Diesel-Hochdruckinjektors mit ANSYS XXVI. FEM-Kongress, BadenBaden, D, 1516 Nov. 1999 4. K. Egger, J. Warga, W. Kl gl, Motortechnische Zeitschrift. 63(9), 1417 u (English), 696704 (German) (2002) 5. E. Achleitner, S. Berger, H. Frenzel, M. Klepatsch, V. Warnecke, BenzinDirekteinspritzsystem mit Piezo-Injektor f r strahlgef hrte Brennverfahren u u MTZ (Motortechnische Zeitschrift) 05/2004 6. E. M ller, R. Otte, Potenzial der Doppeleinspritzung beim DI-Ottomotor MTZ u (Motortechnische Zeitschrift) 09/2006 7. A.E. Funaioli, E. Achleitner, H. Baecker, in Direct Injection Systems for Otto Engines SAE World Congress and Exhibition, April 2007, Detroit, MI, USA, Session: Direct Injection SI Engine Technology (Part 3 of 3), 2007-01-1416 8. W. Mhrle, C. Luttermann, M. Krauss, N. Klauer, High-Precision Injection in a Combination with the New BMW Twin-Turbo Petrol Engine MTZ Worldwide 03/2007 9. A. Koch, G. Lugert, E. Magori, G. Bachmaier, S. Eisen, in Key Components for Gaseous Fuels: Actual Demands and Future Concepts 1st International Symposium on Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines, University of Graz (Austria) September 2006 10. K. Lubitz, H. Hellebrand, D. Cramer, I. Probst, in Euro-Ceramics II, Proceedings ECerS91, September 1114 (1991), Augsburg, 1995 11. S. Takahashi, A. Ochi, M. Yonezawa, T. Yano, T. Hamatsuki, I. Fukui, Ferroelectrics 50, 181 (1983) 12. C. Schuh, K. Lubitz, T. Steinkop, A. Wol, in Piezoelectric Materials in Advances in Science, Technology and Applications, ed. by C. Galassi et al. (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 2000), pp. 391399 13. K. Lubitz, C. Schuh, T. Steinkop, A. Wol, in Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Actuators, Actuator 2000, June 1921, Bremen, Germany, pp. 5861 (2000) 14. Patent EP 1053568 B1, 2000 15. K. Lubitz, C. Schuh, T. Steinkop, A. Wol, in Piezoelectric Materials in Devices, ed. by N. Setter (edited and published, Lausanne, 2002), pp. 183194 16. Patent US 6307306 B1, 2001 17. Patent EP 0844678 B1, 2002