Dynamic Modelling and Analysis of a new Design Variable Inertia Flywheel for Diesel Engine using Bond Graph Technique

Variable inertia flywheel

Abstract

The work proposed a new methodology to obtain variable inertia that reduces the speed fluctuations of the diesel engine during sudden load variations in terms of a variable inertia flywheel (VI_F). In the proposed VI_F, the inertia variation technique is based on the slider mass movement supported by the springs. The sliders of the VI_F travel outward or inward according to the speed increase or decrease of the diesel engine, and hence, it produces variable inertia. It helps to reduce sudden speed fluctuations by adjusting the inertia before adjusting the fuel supply to the diesel engine. A dynamic model of the VI_F with a diesel engine is developed using the bond graph technique and simulated in SYMBOLS SHAKTI software. Moreover, the simulation responses of the VI_F with a diesel engine are compared with the same diesel engine when a fixed inertia flywheel (FI_F) is attached to it. The simulation results show that the inertia of the flywheel can be varied from 0.48 kg/m⁴ to 0.57 kg/m², and speed fluctuations of the diesel engine can be reduced when a VI_F is attached to it instead of a FI_F. Moreover, it is found that the viscous friction resistance (C_F) and spring stiffness of the VI_F (k_s) effect the system performance significantly and another parameter i.e. sliding friction resistance (R_sfrtn) does not effect the system performance.