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Enhanced methods of energy conversion present a viable solution for addressing energy load challenges. This study introduces a vibrating combustion engine designed to enhance energy conversion efficiency by harnessing flexible dynamics and variable asymmetric motion. However, the consideration of its unique dynamic effects has emerged as a pivotal challenge in fuel-air mixing and combustion research. This study introduces a fuel spray and mixing simulation method that facilitates the reciprocal exchange of coupling parameters between the combustion and dynamics models. It iterates the simulation outcomes of motion and combustion to predict mixture formation. Subsequently, the method is employed to explore the impact of injection position on fuel spray and mixture formation. Results show that there is an optimum injection position for the operation frequency, and retarding or advancing leads to slow compression and weak gas motion for fuel spray and mixing, although retarded injection provides high in-cylinder gas pressure and temperature. The early injection generally causes long penetration, small droplet diameter, slight impingement, and fast evaporation, unless it is too early. The results further indicate that when IAP = 6 mm, a more uniform mixture can be attained at the beginning of combustion, leading to a thermal efficiency of up to 42.9% for the engine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The free piston linear engine system (FPLE) is considered as a promising powerplant, which has the advantages such as compact structure, short transfer path and variable compression ratio (CR) because the crank connecting rod is removed. However, the absence of crank-connecting rod inevitably produces uncertainty to the stable operation of the FPLE. A control system of the piston motion regulating for the FPLE is necessary. In this paper, the nonlinear dynamic model simulating the piston motion in a dual-piston FPLE is derived based on energy and force balance. The feasibility of the dynamic model is verified by experiment and simulation results. Based on instability mechanism analysis, a magnetoelectric load controller with motion stroke feedback is designed to maintain the piston position in a predefined CR by regulating the magnetoelectric force. The proposed magnetoelectric load controller is shown to have good control performance for the FPLE. The piston is always stabilized at the predefined position after a short adjustment time. The time of eliminating disturbance for the operation process is less than the start process. Furthermore, the increase in disturbance will result in the increase of time for adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]