development history of the k
Post on 14-Jul-2015
22 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
5/13/2018 Development History of the K - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/development-history-of-the-k 1/10
History of the K-series Page 1 of 10
The history of the K series
EngineThe 'Special K'
Words: Names Supplied
Pictures: VariousContents: Introduction I The Beginning I Prototype to Production I Damp Liner IAn engine to be proud of?
The Future I The EUIV hurdle I Going Camless
Introduction
The following article has been put together using published articles, reference material and
anecdotes from former members of Powertrain - the engine development department at MG
Rover Group, and its antecedents. This story is illustrated by exhibits on display at the
Heritage Motor Museum at Gaydon.
In the beginning...
Work began on a replacement for A series in the Advanced engines department of the
Austin Drawing Office in 1984. Opinion was canvassed widely amongst automotive
consultants and in particular the boffins at British Leyland Technology at Gaydon whereSpen King was in overall charge after the Jaguar-Rover-Triumph era. They had most
famously developed the economy prototype/concept vehicle called the ECV (read more on
Keith's Austin-Rover website, and see reference 1). Interestingly, this car sported bodywork
featuring bonded aluminium construction - revolutionary
in its day and many years before the appearance of the
Jaguar XK220 and Lotus Elise. Of more direct interest
to this article, the ECV also featured a high-efficiency 3-cylinder engine (pictured left), which was loosely
derived from the E series. Despite what is reported
elsewhere, this engine bears no direct lineage to the K
series - but this interesting engine did set the scene for
later engine development - of particular interest being
the implementation of lean-burn technology that
British Leyland (BL)/ Austin-Rover had pioneered.
The
aforemention
advanced
engine
research
IECV 3 c'ylilnder team atGaydon had
developed the ports and combustion chambers
for all BL engines of this era (70s & 80s),
including the Jaguar AJ6, as well as the M, T & IN.'~.""
K series used in later Austin-Rover vehicles. The
engines research team had been amongst the
first to identify "barrel-swirl" or "tumble" in 4 valve
per cylinder engines (reference 2), and thistechnology was first found applied in the slant-four cylinder 16v engine installed in the
Triumph Dolomite Sprint of 1974 - a car that was very successful in the British Touring Car
Racing of the late 70s (pictured right) - the engine being extremely efficient with high specific
http://www.mgf.uitimatemg.com/group2/engines/development_history_of_the_K.htmI211 0/20 11
5/13/2018 Development History of the K - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/development-history-of-the-k 2/10
History of the K-series Page 2 of 10
outputs. This engine preceded the current trend for 16 valve four cylinder engines by quite
some years!
Interestingly, the ECV 3-cylinder, like the slant-four 16v installed in the Dolomite Sprint, used
just a single over-head cam shaft to operate all 4-valves per cylinder - an ingenious cost-
saving arrangement (as shown below), but one that was not to be found on the later K
series.
.; -.
. . . . . . . . . -
'!i~~-"llo:p';!I~'-iTI~ i(i~ 'f~!1II~IJ~ ~1I1'i1~ ~~~
J:~ ~·l),I !,VJ;I ·L:" "" I ..,!I,""~~, i.tiii;
I~j,rrd
I~.U.~
With the experience gained from the Triumph 16-valve engine and results from variousresearch projects, Austin-Rover became leading advocates of lean burn combustion (high
activity and dilution tolerance). Indeed, the K series was designed on the basis of this
experience, and was intended to have stable combustion and low emissions out beyond an
air/fuel ratio (AFR) of 20:1 (which is incredibly lean by then-current production enginestandards - see reference 4). However, the environmental lobby scored a spectacular own-
goal by insisting on such low levels of emissions of hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen that
all manufacturers were forced to adopt catalyst after-treatment of exhaust gases (reference
J). On the K series, this development forced the use of a chemically correct (and much
richer than originally intended) AFR of 14.5:1. This richer fuel mixture, combined with the
added restriction that the catalyst in the exhaust system represented adversely affected
efficiency the net impact upon fuel economy was a 5% increase in fuel consumption andthus CO
2emissions leapt up! (For more explanation on this, see the 'Lean Burn' box below.)
Even so, the K series remained an extremely efficient and clean engine - it is not unheard of
for uncatalysed K series engines to sneak through MoT emissions testing with a pass - albeiton a good day and a sympathetic MoT tester ...
When you burn any fuel that is a compound of Hydrogen and carbon the natural by
products are CO2and H
20 (both inert). The amount of CO
2is emitted is directly
proportionate to the amount of fuel burnt. In the case of gasoline the chemically correctmixture of air and fuel is 14.5:1 - i.e. there is just enough oxygen to burn all the fuel. It's
the fuel that contains the energy. If we run richer than this stoichiometric ratio then
unburnt hydrocarbons must result (not enough oxygen to burn all the fuel) and this
Lean Burn
http://www.mgf.uitimatemg.com/group2/engines/development_history_of_the_K.htmI211 0/20 11
5/13/2018 Development History of the K - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/development-history-of-the-k 3/10
History of the K-series Page 3 of 10
mostly manifests itself as CO (carbon monoxide) and has to be dealt with by the catalyst. When we start
from cold on a rich mixture (not choke these days but you know what I mean), it takes some time (circa 90
seconds) for the catalyst to fully "light off" and deal with the unburnt hydrocarbons. The problem is then that
it has to be fed small amounts of CO to stop it "going out" and it is this that precludes lean burn. However it
is a relatively small amount of fuel that is wasted. These days, the after-treatment is so effective that in
cities the exhaust gases coming out are cleaner than the air going in (minus the oxygen of course).
The idea behind lean burn was to operate at part-load in such a manner that the thermal efficiency (theratio of the useful work to energy in the fuel) would start to approach the diesel engine which always
operates with excess air (or lean if you like) by dint of the fact it hasn't got a throttle. At full load a lean burn
petrol engine may approach 33% efficiency, against the best diesels at 40% - the diesels get some
advantage from the high compression ratio and smaller combustion chamber volume. It is on part-load that
the diesel engines exhibit the biggest advantage in thermal efficiency. However the biggest single factordiesel has in its favour is that it is 13% denser than petrol, and we buy fuel by volume. The calorific value
( how much energy there is in a kg) is about the same. Thank heavens there's a limit to how many diesel
cars there can be because when the crude oil is cracked, there is at least twice as much petrol as diesel -
so someone has to burn the petrol.
Its a sad fact that at best only a third of the energy in the fuel is used to propel the vehicle; about 20% goes
to the coolant and is dissipated by the radiator and the majority of the rest goes down the exhaust pipe in
the hot gases.
There is another disadvantage to running too lean. At higher temperatures the nitrogen in the air breaks
down or dissociates and starts to combine with oxygen to form NOx. This is nasty stuff causing asthma and
all sorts of health complaints. It is probably NOx reduction that drove the legislators towards Catalysts
rather than hydrocarbons. The emission levels from engines such as K were really low compared with older
engines with Carburettors and dodgy ignition systems. As new rounds of the EU legislation came out, the
amounts of CO and NOx permitted were reduced progressively so that Catalysts were the only solution.Ford and Peugeot, like Rover, invested a lot of time and resource into lean burn technology, but
significantly, the German manufacturers didn't. ..
By 1985 the engine development team at Longbridge had designed, built and run the 3 (973
cc) and 4 cylinder (1300cc) concept design level engines. The specific output (bhp/litre)
and light weight were astonishing straight out of the box. All the K series features were there
in these engines: twin cams; 4 valves per cylinder; layered construction; long "stretch" bolts;
wet liners; bedplate and low volume but high flow rate cross-flow cooling system etc. Even
back then it was felt that environmental pressures would force downsizing of engines, sohigh output fuel efficient engines would be required in the future.
From Experimental Prototype to Production K-series
By the end of 1985, the responsibility for subsequent
design levels was handed over to the ProductionEngine Team, who up to this point had been working on
4 valve per cylinder versions of 5and 0 series as well
as the A+ engine for Metro. They set about designing a
mass-production feasible version of what was to
become known as the K series. They came up with an
engine which is still a model in design for ease of
manufacture; the layered construction was one featurethat enabled the use of Low Pressure Sand casting
technique for which Austin Rover own a number of
patents. As part of the productionisation of the engine,
the crankshaft stroke was increased, raising the
capacity to 1.4 litres to capitalise upon an apparent tax
break. In addition, a smaller capacity 1.1 litre engine
was also developed, along with a more basic, and
cheaper to produce 8-valve cylinder head to give the
s. tm'tch
.bolt\
[ I
L
\Headg'a.skt jJ t
http://www.mgf.uitimatemg.com/group2/engines/development_history_of_the_K.htm 12110/2011
5/13/2018 Development History of the K - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/development-history-of-the-k 4/10
History of the K-series Page 4 of 10
new engine range an entry level. (For more on these
developments, see references §. and §.) This was also the time when the drawing boards all
but disappeared from the Austin Design Office (ADO) and CADCAM (Computer Aided
Design/ Computer Aided Modelling) was being adopted. CADCAM enabled the wide use of
mathematical modelling techniques which included Finite Element and Computational Fluid
Dynamics analysis, which was employed extensively on K series to optimise the
NoiseNibration/Harshness (NVH) characteristics (reference 7) and thermo-mechanical
performance (reference S). In many ways, Rover were way ahead of the competition in thisregard (you only have to look at contemporary engines to see exactly how far - an early 90s
Ford Escort anyone? - Ed).
K series went into production in 19S5, funded largely by the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI). The production facilities were genuinely state of the art for the time. Both
Ray Horrocks and Harold Musgrove had to put their jobs on the line (with huge credit tothem) to ensure the investment that was to have such a positive impact upon the future of
Rover.
The "Damp liner"
The Engine Design Team now turned its attention to designing Vee engines based upon the
K-series architecture. The team spent over a year designing a KVS - but with no obvious
vehicle platform that would make use of this power plant meant that no engine was ever
built. Landrover had clearly been the intended recipient for this engine, but perhaps a VS
with double the capacity of a 1.S four-cylinder - a mere 3.6 litres - was simply not adequate
for the off-road division, who were by then using the massively torquey 2-valve per cylinder
4.6 litre Buick/Rover VSs in their top-range Range Rovers. What ever the reason for this
engine not appearing, it is a great pity, as a KVS would have been perfect for the RWD MGZT! Fortunately, however, the KVS development effort was not completely wasted, as
eventually the KV6 for the Rover SODand Rover 75 (and latterly, the MG ZS and MG ZT)came into fruition. Perhaps the most important development from KV6 that spilt over to the
4-cylinder variants was the introduction of the larger SOmm bore diameter - enabling the 4
cylinder K series to increase in capacity from 1.4 litres up to 1.S litres. This bore
increase was not without considerable technical difficulties, due to the thin-walled casting
design of the original engine - effectively, it proved impossible to retain the top hung wet liner
of the 1.4 litre. Cast in or sleeved liners (as found on the venerable Rover VS) would haveinvolved considerable investment in boring and honing machines. The eventual cost-
effective solution was the adoption of the pre-finished mid hung or 'damp liner' - a concept
that was not too dissimilar in concept to contemporary Triumph motorcycle or Peugeot-
Citroen engines. The resulting 1.6 and 1.S litre engines quickly found applications within the
Rover range: the 1.6 litre engine displaced the Honda engine in Rover 200 and 400 and the1.S litre was developed for the MGF and later filtered through to other Rover vehicles -
ultimately including the Rover 75 in turbo-charged form. And then there was the VVC - which
is another story! (Reference 10) The VVC to this day remains one of the most advancedcam timing systems available on a production car engine, uniquely being able to vary both
phase and open-duration of the inlet valves. The result is an incredibly linear torque and
power curve (compare with the stepped character of the Honda VTEC), with high specific
outputs, yet retaining excellent emissions profiles.
K-series - an engine to be proud of?
The K-series was developed as a powerful and Ilightweight road-going engine capable ofoperating continuously at an engine speed of References:
http://www.mgf.uitimatemg.com/group2/engines/development_history_of_the_K.htmI211 0/20 11
5/13/2018 Development History of the K - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/development-history-of-the-k 5/10
History of the K-series
6500 rpm (and intermittently higher than that -
read more on the durability testing Rover
employed in reference 9). The K-series is
undoubtedly a durable engine; the bottom end is
practically unburstable on engines that have not
been tuned (and there is some latitude for tuning
efforts within limitations, particularly with regard
to engine speed). It is also worth looking in theback of Autocar and calculate some specific
outputs of rival's comparable engines in the 1.4,
1.8 and 2.5 litre classes. The K-series manages
105 PS out of 1.4litres, 160 PS (VVC) & 200 PS
(turbo) out of 1.8 litres, and 190 PS out of 2.5
litres - and don't forget the four-cylinder engine
weighs only 100kg (and the KV6 weighs in at an
equally impressive 150kg)! Incredibly, after allthis time, the K-series remains a class-leading
engine. The fact that K series powered cars in its
latest 2-litre guise is still winning races in the
British Touring car championships 20 years after
its inception speaks volumes. Over 3 million K-
series engines have been built since the engine's
introduction, and over 100,000 KV6s. The vast
majority of these engines are apparentlyindestructible in practice (head gasket issues
notwithstanding - Ed).
Page 5 of 10
1. KING, C.S. 'A car for the nineties: BL's EnergyConservation Vehicle' Sir Henry Royce memorial
lecture IMechE 1984
2. BENJAMIN, S.F. 'The development of the GaydonTechnology Ltd barrel swirl combustion system with
application to four valve spark ignition engines'Combustion in engines IMechE 1988.
3. WALLACE, S. & WARBURTON, A 'The control of
CO, HC, NOx emissions and the appl ication of lean
burn engines' - Vehicle emissions and their impact onEuropean air quality IMechE London 1987.
4. CHAPMAN, J. DRAPER, A. , FAIRHEAD G.S. &
WALLACE, S. 'Optimisation of combustion chamber
design' IMechE C382/030 1989
5. HILJEMARK, S.L., KNIGHT, K & SHILLINGTON
S.A.C. 'The development of an innovative newpowertrain for the next generation of Rover cars'
IMechE C399/25 Autotech 89
6. STONE, R.D. & CRABB, D 'The design and
development of an all new Rover Group engine'IMechE C399/25 Autotech 89
7. ANGOY, C.H. & TUNNAH R.J. 'The use of f ini teelement techniques in the structural assessment of a
radically new small engine' IMechE C399/25Autotech 89
8. HOLLINGWORTH, P. ' The design of an engine
cooling circuit using computer simulation'
IMechE C399/25 Autotech 89
9. RICHARDSON, R., BARBET, D., & BUTLER, K. J. 'Durabil ity and reliability testing of Rover Groups allnew engine' IMechE C399/25 Autotech 89
10. PARKER, P. H. ' The variable valve timing
mechanism for the Rover K16 engine' parts 1&2-
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers vol 214 partD pages 197 - 215here are of course a significant number of un-
named design and development engineers who
put in valiant effort to make the engine thesuccess it is - and just a few of these are
mentioned in the references opposite. Nor should we forget the management who enabled it
all to happen either. Following the troubled last decade of Austin Rover, Rover Group and
finally MG Rover, the teams responsible for this remarkable engine have, sadly, been widely
dispersed - to the extent that now the whole Automotive industry is littered with people who
cut their teeth on K series - and a number of engines from former competitors now contain
features pioneered on the incredible K-series. The K series is indeed one special engine -
and its legacy will surely endure the sad demise of MG Rover Group in 2005.
The Future?
The IMechE website can be found @ www.imeche.org.uk
The demise of MG Rover has lead to a number of "what if MGR survived?" scenarios that
many enthusiasts have loved to speculate upon - myself included. Interestingly, the future ofthe K series was actively being researched and developed at the time of the group's
collapse in April, 2005 - it appeared that despite the mounting financial problems, the
management were confident enough of a positive outcome for negotiations with the Chinese
Motor company, SAIC, to plough on forging the future of the K series. The most immediate
hurdle for the K-series was the new European emissions regulations - widely referred to as
EU4 (or EUIV) - that was due to be enforced by October 1st, 2005 ...
The EUIV hurdle
Work on the new EUIV compliant engines were, by all accounts, well advanced by the time
of the company's collapse in April 2005 - with many engines already compliant (and only
http://www.mgf.uitimatemg.com/group2/engines/development_history_of_the_K.htm 12110/2011
5/13/2018 Development History of the K - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/development-history-of-the-k 6/10
History of the K-series Page 6 of 10
requiring some minor calibration to be completed) - including both the 1.8 litre K series
engines employed in the MG TF, in both MPi and we guise. In the most part, all the K
series required to get through the EUIV hurdle was some new engine management software
and some additional electronic hardware - but the non-We 1.8 litre engines were to employ
some interesting inlet system modifications. According to sources cited by austin-
rover.co.uk, a "dual cam phasing system" was being developed - with operation similar in
principle to BMW's Bi-Vanos system, with a mechanism not too far removed from that
employed on the we. This new system was to be fitted to the MPi versions of 1.8 K series,increasing power from 120 to 140PS - a very useful improvement over the base engine, if
not quite matching the impressive 160PS we. However, the new cam system would be
somewhat simpler than the we, with obvious benefits in terms of cost, ease of production
and reliability.
Interestingly, it was not just emissions and performance that the chaps at Powertrain wereinterested in - they were also developing a new head gasket system that could have gone a
long way towards banishing the spectre of head gasket failure ... Introducing the multilayer
steel head gasket and up-rated oil rail!
The other
interesting
feature ofthe new
gasket set is the so-called 'sixth layer or shim.
The shim, as shown opposite (left), is inserted
between the MLS gasket and the cylinder
head, black surface uppermost. The shim iscoated on both sides: on the upper side (the
head-facing side) with a dry sealant (it has the
same black, glossy appearance to the gasket
face opposite) and the lower side is coated
with an inert matt-grey treatment - and it is this
side of the shim that comes into contact withthe upper surface of the MLS gasket.
Multilayered Steel (MLS) Gasket
An interesting development was the new MLS gasket -
seen here, pictured to the right. The new gasket set
consists of a steel gasket consisting of 5 layers. In thecentre is a steel shim with swaged on fire rings - which
appears to be very similar to the original gasket designs.
This, like the original gasket is encased by two steel
layers - rather like a sandwich. However, in contrast to
the older gasket design, rather than using bonded-on
'elastomeric' butyl rings to contain the coolant jacket andoil drain spaces, the gasket has an additional two steel
layers on either side of the gasket with swaged / raisedareas to provide the coolant/oil void sealing (the gloss-
black layer just visible in the image opposite). These
layers are there to help prevent any coolant leakage
failures - which, on the older gasket design, was
frequently due to peel-away of the butyl rings.
~~ ... Sh,;m
.... N.LS
glJ',s.k,et
The shim appears to provide two main roles.
http://www.mgf.uitimatemg.com/group2/engines/development_history_of_the_K.htmI211 0/20 11
5/13/2018 Development History of the K - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/development-history-of-the-k 7/10
History of the K-series Page 7 of 10
Firstly it prevents the fire rings on the gasket
digging into the cylinder head. When the head is torqued down, the fire rings are crushed
between the liners and the cylinder head. The shim prevents the ring from digging into the
head, and enables the 'ring to rollover the gasket layer in the manner in which it was
designed.
Secondly, and the potential advantage of this system over the original gasket design, it acts
as a protective layer to the cylinder head, a layer that comes into its own if the condition of
the head is less than perfect. Examples of this is where the cylinder head has gone soft, or
where the casting has an imperfection close to the combustion chamber; the shim will help
prevent the liners hammering into the head in the fashion demonstrated here (although it
has to be said that when the head becomes as damaged as the example shown, the shim
will merely delay failure, not prevent it) or aid in sealing the fire walls.
New bottom end oil ladder
As part of the MLS gasket kit, there was anotherintriguing development - a new lower oil rail (this
can be compared to the original oil ladder in the
picture opposite, right - the new oil rail is pictured
top, the old, below - picture credit to Dr Dave on
mg-rover.org ).
Made of 356 alloy rather than LM25 as in the
original, the new oil ladder's alloy material has
marginally better mechanical properties whencompared to the original's LM25 - although,
arguably, the practical difference between the
two is minimal. Perhaps more significant, isway the way that two ladders are designed. In the image above, the two ladders are pictured
in the same orientation - what you see is effectively the same surfaces as you'd see if you
removed the engine's sump and viewed the ladder in situ from below. As can be seen, the
new ladder (top) is boxed over, whereas the older ladder (bottom) has its strengthening
webbing with its face abutting the base of the crank bearing ladder. Moreover, consider the
width of the diagonal webbing - it is significantly thicker than that seen on the original oil
ladder. Therefore, it would appear to suggest that the new ladder is designed to be far stiffer
than the original design. That the new oil ladder also weighs 20% more than the original(figure provided by Roger Parker) lends further weight (excuse the pun) to the argument that
the new ladder is indeed designed with torsional stiffness in mind.
·~Oil Rail
The
oil
ladder is located underneath the crank
bearing ladder at the base of the engine -
effectively representing the 'base plate' of theengine, and thus plays a significant role in the
stiffness of the assembled engine 'sandwich'
as a whole. The engine through-bolts (a.k.a.
long or 'stretch' bolts) thread into the oil ladder
- which as can be seen on the figure opposite
(left) can be viewed if the engine's sump is
removed.
http://www.mgf.uitimatemg.com/group2/engines/development_history_of_the_K.htmI211 0/20 11
5/13/2018 Development History of the K - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/development-history-of-the-k 8/10
History of the K-series Page 8 of 10
According to the Land Rover service bulletin that covers the new MLS gasket, the new oil
rail MUST be fitted at the same time as the replacement gasket - so it seems likely that the
EU IV compliant K-series, had the engine made it to this stage, would have come similarly
configured. You'll notice mention of Land Rover. This is significant as these two components
are now available to buy - so in the event of a head gasket failure on your K-series engined
car, you can fit these components as a direct replacement to the existing items in your
engine.
Conclusion
Effectively, the EUIV hurdle would have been little problem for the Powertrain engineers;everything would have met the October 1st cut-off point for the change from EUIII to IV
legislation. Some calibration work would have carried on after that date, but K series was
ready to go and meet the challenge in 2005/2006 .
...and beyond: going camless!
Perhaps the most surprising development that was
announced barely days after the MG Rover Group entering
administration (press releases dated on April 12th) was the
incredible camless valve actuation system, termed
Intelligent Valve Actuation (IVA) developed jointly by
Powertrain and Camcon (read more about CamconTechnology here). All production car engines use cam shafts
to open and close the inlet and exhaust valves but the
limitation of this is the fixed mechanical nature of a solid lump
of metal: it forces a compromise in terms of valve opening
and duration that has to work over a wide range of enginespeeds. Wouldn't it be nice if the valve opening and closing
could be optimised for ALL operating speeds? To an extent,
this is where variable cam systems have come in - but evenadvanced systems such as MG Rover's own WC has
limitations. The optimum would be to operate each valve independently - and this is where
the IVA system really scores. IVA posseses the potential to significantly improve engine
combustion efficiency, enhancing engine performance and fuel economy, allowing each
valve of the engine to be independently controlled.
Of course, whether IVA could or would be applied to the K-series engine is not clear; it is
likely that this technology was/is still 5 or more years from reaching production - but theadvantages of precise control over combustion would be a key consideration in design and
development of the next generation of internal combustion engines, potentially offering
significant gains in efficiency and performance (the lower engine speeds of diesels would
makes diesel engines ideal candidates for this technology, although Powertrain were very
interested in this technology for petrol-burning engines too).
IVA apparently offered a number of attractive advantages over other attempts at this "HolyGrail" of cam less valve operation, in that it provides a compact, low cost, low power
consumption mechanism providing full control over valve actuation. The system is pictured
above left (click on image to down load animated movie (mpg format) showing the
mechanism in operation). IVA is what has been termed "Bina Actuati Technwhich uses a "bi-stable" operating principle,
utilising:
"
http://www.mgf.uitimatemg.com/group2/engines/development_history_of_the_K.htmI211 0/20 11
5/13/2018 Development History of the K - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/development-history-of-the-k 9/10
History of the K-series Page 9 of 10
• a Rotary Electromagnetic
"Device" (functioning rather like a stepper motor)
• a mechanism for Translating Rotary into Linear Motion (a cam gear operating on a
lever); an electro-mechanical system designed for maximum efficiency.
This system, as demonstrated at the SAE conference, was shown to have a number of
advantages:
• The system possesses wide ranging control of valve lift and timing
• Overcomes previous generation deficiencies
• Demonstrable feasibility for use in conjunction with 12V Vehicle electrical systems
• Industrialisation appears perfectly possible, and indeed was in progress
Powertrain Ltd presented this camless engine technology at the Detroit 100th SAE Congresson the 12th April, 2005, the culmination of the 18-month joint research and development
programme with Camcon Technology, the UK inventor and developer of binary actuation
technology; the presentation of a technical paper demonstrated the progress that had been
made to develop a camless engine prototype. Interestingly, since October 2004 PowertrainLtd has had an exclusive licence agreement with Camcon to develop the technology in the
automotive sector - although since the company entered administration, it is unclear as to
the current status of this licence agreement.
In press releases at the time, Alan Warburton
(pictured sitting, above left, with Camcon's
Wladyslaw Wygnanski), Powertrain Ltd's then
Engineering Director is quoted saying, "IVA
technology enables us to have precise control
over combustion by allowing each valve of the engine to be independently controlled. Key
achievements include providing a number of stable valve lift positions and high energyefficiency whilst also supporting improved durability and noise levels. We believe that we
have provided an innovative system to overcome the critical objections to electromagnetic
valve operation; namely, 12V system compatibility, low power consumption and variable lift
control. We can now offer to OEM's significantly improved engine combustion efficiency with
enhanced engine performance and fuel economy, whilst at the same time reducing engine
emissions".
A copy of the SAE Technical paper is available
from www.sae.org/congress/
Book Number SP - 1968,ISBN Number 0-7680-161-4.
It therefore appears that MG Rover got tantalisingly close to a real break-through engine
technology that would have given the company a considerable march over many of its much
larger competitors. With MG Rover and Powertrain now under the ownership of Nanjing
Automotive Corporation of China, it is unclear whether this route of research anddevelopment will be pursued, or left on the scrap heap of "what might have been" ...
About Camcon Technology Ltd.
Based in Cambridge, UK, Camcon Technology is a small, fast-growing engineering technology company
focused on the research and development of the Camcon binary actuator. Camcon binary actuating
technology has been 15 years in development and is the invention of Camcon founder Wladyslaw
Wygnanski (pictured with Alan Warburton above, left).
The high-speed, low energy consumption, low heat dissipation and long life characteristics of the Camcon
binary actuator mean that it has applications in a whole new range of areas, as well as being a replacementfor existing actuator and valve technologies.
Camcon Technology licenses its technology to customers, typically on a field-of-use basis. The company
develops pre-production prototypes for customers on a consultancy basis and then hands over designs
http://www.mgf.uitimatemg.com/group2/engines/development_history_of_the_K.htmI211 0/20 11
5/13/2018 Development History of the K - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/development-history-of-the-k 10/10
History of the K-series
either to its customers to manufacture in volume, or to a manufacturing partner.
For further information please visit: www.camcontec.com.
Page 10 of 10
Camcon is funded by ACUS Management Partners, an active management venture capitalist that
specialises in funding early stage technology companies. For further information: www.acus.co.uk
top related