Developing Hydraulically Controlled Variable Valve Actuation

The challenge

Variable valve actuation (VVA) is a controls and hydraulics challenge as much as a mechanism problem. The valve event needs to be controllable with precision, the hydraulic system needs to respond fast enough to be useful across the engine speed range, and the calibration needs to be stable across operating conditions. Rig-based development is essential, but only if the rig is configured well enough to generate data that transfers to the real engine environment.

PTL’s role

PTL’s work has spanned the invention and development of hydraulically controlled VVA systems and fast-acting valvetrains, dynamic valvetrain modelling, rig specification and build, data acquisition and calibration against model data. In support of these activities, procurement of vital components such as pumps, lifters and high-speed solenoid valves is required. Selecting the correct specification hardware from trusted suppliers directly determines the quality of the overall system and the ability to achieve the targeted performance of the system.

Why it mattered

The design of hydraulic VVA systems requires key choices around actuation architecture, hydraulic circuit topology and solenoid valve specification that determine what the system can and cannot do before calibration begins. Correct selection requires dynamic modelling, calibrated against rig data rather than based on theoretical response alone. PTL’s involvement across design, modelling, rig build and calibration means those decisions are informed by measured behaviour at each stage. This is how PTL ensures the system behaves correctly in simulation and can be calibrated to run consistently in the engine.