ments are the carbon -aluminum pistons and the magnesium crankcase.■Designed by IVM Automotive with the assistance of Laukötter, the Dessau-based die- casting specialist, and Diesel-Air, the crank- case consists of a magnesium alloy. Its manu- facture by a die-casting process, and applying special design guidelines for magnesium, results in extremely low weight and low costs compared with aluminum die-casts. At pres- ent, Laukötter is producing the tools required to build the crankcase.
■The carbon-aluminum piston developed by Diesel-Air also features a very low specific weight. Its biggest advantage, however, is its tremendously long service life even at ex- treme temperatures of over 1,000 degrees Celsius. Moreover, with the carbon piston the HCCI combustion principle – currently a sub- ject of much discussion in the engineering world – can be implemented in the opposed- piston engine: owing to homogeneous blend- ing and subsequent simultaneous ignition of the air/fuel mixture, it promises even higher overall efficiency. Initial operational tests with the prototypes have corroborated the the- oretically computed figures.
■IVM Automotive and Diesel-Air oppose the injection pressures presently used in diesel engines, which reach 2,000 bar and more, with a low-pressure, 120 to 200 bar injection
system. The interaction of an early injection point, extremely hot piston sur-face, long overall stroke, and piston synchronization attop dead center allows the GKM 1200 to achieve high efficiency combined with low pollutant emissions.
MANY OPTIONS
By now the two-cylinder engine has been almost completely integrated into a virtual lightweight vehicle (LWP) designed by IVM Automotive and Hamburg Technical College (illustration). Still, the development partners are far from satisfied: the engine should also be a multi-fuel unit capable of running on vegetable oils or gasoline, with compressor, oil-free and in water-cooled and air-cooled variants. This would make it well-suited for a great many applications: as a generator
set engine to produce electric power and heat (promising contactswith an electricity producer have already been forged), as an aircraft engine for lightweight planes, as an outboard motor for boats, and last but not least as an engine
for small cars and commercial vehicles – particularly for the booming Asian market. The first contacts have been established with China. If they result in series production, Junkers will in the end have flown
| farther than his planes. | Tom Sauerzapf |
YOUTH RESEARCH
The GKM 1200 (above), largely designed by work study students and postgraduates, is with its target weight of 72 kg and a torque of 250 Nm perfectly suited to power a lightweight vehicle such as the one designed by IVM Automotive and Hamburg Technical College (below).
