Honda Power Unit Hardware & Software

[henry]

Four FIA TD were introduced. One of them it was extra monitoring on ERS system (CE).

I believe the requirements of TD in relation to the ERS are now encapsulated in the 2022 tech regs.

a. OnesensormustbeconnectedtotheESnegativeDCpoletomeasureallelectrical energy into and out of the energy store.
The voltage sense wire must be connected to the dedicated measurement point on the ES positive DC pole sensor.
The sensor data will be made available to the Competitor.
b. OnesensormustbeconnectedtotheESpositiveDCpole.
The voltage sense wire must be connected to the dedicated measurement point on the ES negative DC pole sensor.
The sensor data will be available to the FIA only.
c. One sensor must be connected to the CU-K positive DC pole to measure all electrical energy into and out of the MGU-K
The voltage sense wire must be connected to the dedicated measurement point on the CU-K negative DC pole sensor.
The sensor data will be made available to the Competitor.
d. OnesensormustbeconnectedtotheCU-KnegativeDCpole.
The voltage sense wire must be connected to the dedicated measurement point on the CU-K positive DC pole sensor.
The sensor data will be available to the FIA only.
e. ForCU-KdesignswithmorethantwoDCpoles,sensorsmustbeconnectedtoeach additional DC pole.
The voltage sense wire must be connected to a dedicated measurement point on the CU-K positive or negative DC pole sensor.
The sensors data will be available to the FIA only.
f. One sensor must be connected to the CU-H negative DC pole to measure all electrical energy into and out of the MGU-H.
The sensor data will be made available to the Competitor.
g. OnesensormustbeconnectedtotheDC-DCconverterpositiveDCpoletomeasureall electrical energy consumed by the DC-DC converter.
The sensor data will be made available to the Competitor.
Electrical energy may not flow between consumers without being directly measured by one or more of the sensors previously listed. This must be guaranteed by design and verifiable by inspection.

I’m not sure how these change “extra harvest” or any anti lag “trick”, but they are much more prescriptive than the original 2 sensor requirement which I believe could be gamed by phasing the ES and CU-K flows.

[Tommy Cookers]

'The high-speed combustion concept is a combustion concept that utilizes self-ignition' .....
real actual self-ignition ?
suggested by some posters years ago (easy - that bit)

The self-ignition is explained by Honda engineers (Takahashi and Tagishi) in the article in this book.
Honda RA618H & RA619H: HONDA Racing Addict Vol.3 2018〜2019
The writer's comment is here. (Kota Sera: He is one of the most reliable motorsports technical writer in Japan.)
The same image as in the article can be found here.
https://webcg.ismcdn.jp/mwimgs/1/3/1460 ... 155428.jpg
Upper: Pre-chamber Jet Combustion [RA617H〜RA618H Spec.2]
Lower: Rapid Combustion (pre-chamber jet ignition + partial self-ignition) [RA618H Spec.3〜]
Translation:
- 副室ジェット燃焼 = Pre-chamber Jet Combustion
- 高速燃焼 = Rapid Combustion (with self-ignition triggered by flame from pre-chamber, Honda engineer says in the article)
- 点火プラグ・副室 = Spark plug & Pre-chamber
- 噴孔 = Orifice
- ピストン = Piston
- 火炎の向き = Flame direction
- 着火前 = Before ignition
- 燃焼開始 = Start combustion
- 燃え広がり = Flame propagation

well I thank you for this clarification - (the arrows showing combustion from within the gas independent of the jets)

do we think this effect is what was in some other engine designs called spark-assisted compression-ignition SACI ?
this might suggest a very high airmass/AFR - helping ICE efficiency and power by reducing energy dumped to coolant..
the effect on MGU-H energy recovery (& Honda's wording) has been debated - more gas means cooler gas

[henry]

We owe a great deal to Honda for advancing our knowledge of these PUs. Other manufacturers have, at best, provided simple generalisations about how things work. I for one will miss Honda’s contributions which have helped confirm, or not, many of the suppositions made by contributors to this forum.

I’d also like to say thank you to those Japanese speaking contributors who have so often helped by reporting and translating information available in the Japanese press

[kevpasca]

A beautiful Saturday afternoon. I want to say thank you to those who offered words of kindness during some difficult times and also words of encouragement as we continued our F1 journey. Whether Max or Lewis had won the WDC this year, I am very proud of what Honda and our “skunkworks” team has accomplished over the past seven years. I knew this day would come when we started this latest F1 project as it was estimated to be no more than an 8 to 10 year project.

I am really ready to retire now as well everyone on our unofficial team. I lost a dear friend of mine last year whose idea it was to form this team and help HRD with the F1 program after the terrible start in 2015. I am grateful to Toro Rosso, Red Bull and McLaren for allowing Honda to put their PU behind their drivers. It was my friend who convinced me to “get my head out of the clouds and put it to good use” and join this team. He had been with Honda since 1973 and was my mentor when I first joined Honda about forty years ago. I will never forget when we walked into HRD in Sakura the first day this last go-around and realized that we were on average over 30 years older than the rest of the engineers and staff there. I have seen “Old guys rule” T-shirts and bumper stickers in the U.S. and I think I know what I will buy my fellow team members for Christmas.

There were many internal obstacles and external influences that had to be overcome to get the 621 PU built the way we wanted it and to get it on the track this season knowing that this would be Honda’s last official year in F1. Fortunately we had some key proponents and an open-minded president willing to take on one on one meetings with people like myself to hear our side of the story. There were some key people against some or all of our ideas. The camshaft relocation and piston redesign were big changes that met opposition. Other challenges were changing the firing order to try and minimize exhaust pulses going into the turbine and convincing some people to get the Honda/GE jet engine people involved in development of the turbo. I think I have mentioned it here also that the blade/vane design of the turbine and compressor in the turbo are more important than the physical size itself. Luckily an old college mate of mine at Nagoya University was a key contributor to the “Kumamoto plating” process that was implemented to increase reliability of the cylinders and rings. This process is not a secret as some seem to think as it is patented and well published but it was his suggestion to use it on the F1 PU. Lastly redesigning the block so that the cylinder #1 is on the right hand side was also met with opposition because “You know, the #1 cylinder should be on the left hand side”….So needless to say, it has been quite the journey. We knew Mercedes was the bar. They build wonderful, beautiful pieces of machinery. The W12 is an excellent car. The 16B was also a big improvement over last year’s car but we knew we had to at least match the Mercedes PU with regards to power and reliability to give the 16B a fighting chance to compete and I think we accomplished that this year. Red Bull never gave up as they constantly brought upgrades this season. Not all of them worked as planned but they never quit nor did we. Also a big thanks to Mobil. The fuel and lubricants they developed for us was a significant factor to our progress.

One thing I want to mention is that sometimes we take for granted what is around us for inspiration. Since I grew up near Mishima city in Shizuoka-ken, my family would take many day trips to Hakone and since I was a baby, I must have seen Mt. Fuji from Hakone literally thousands and thousands of times. The view from Hakone and Lake Kawaguchi are my favorite. I could stare at Fuji-san and never get tired of her profile. Fuji-san was the inspiration for the piston crown. The slope, the crater, etc. nature’s gift to machinery. Funny and mysterious the way things work.

Next year Red Bull will be fine. I have spent a lot of time in Milton Keynes the first half of this year and the investment Red Bull has put into their PU division is impressive. The facility they built is first class and they have hired key Honda staff for this transition. Although Honda’s name will not be on the PU, it is a Honda. It will still be manufactured and assembled by Honda for at least another year. So I am not worried about next year. Again thank you again for all your support and congratulations to everyone at Red Bull and Max for the fine job. I would like people to remember that the WCC and WDC are not determined by one race but an accumulation of points won over 22 races determines the winner. In my opinion both Red Bull and Mercedes were both lucky and unlucky throughout the season. I will not miss the ugly politics of F1 and a big part of me is relieved that I am no longer at part of this circus. I wish everyone a Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. Be safe and good to yourself and fellow human.

Thank you, thank you for everything that you and your team have done for the past seven years. I literally cried when reading your speech and imagining how difficult the struggles that you have been through were.
As a fan of Honda myself, there's nothing I can do other than be grateful that Honda has engineers with a winning mentality as you.
So congratulations on all your hard work Wazari-sama, close your book of hard work with victory.

[henry]

Is it possible this partial self ignition approach will give more consistent combustion? Thanks In normal or jet ignition the flame front has to have a consistent distribution of mixture through which to progress. Auto ignition makes the gas ignite however it’s distributed.

[Zynerji]

Is it possible this partial self ignition approach will give more consistent combustion? Thanks In normal or jet ignition the flame front has to have a consistent distribution of mixture through which to progress. Auto ignition makes the gas ignite however it’s distributed.

How is the auto ignition "Shockwave" initiated?

Also, if the jets were made to form contra-rotating vortices, laid on their side (so they are stacked instead of side-by-side), then with 6 of the jets arranged around the nozzle, wouldn't that form a circular current around the piston crown, thus drawing the "pie slices" of AFR mixture between the jets into the mouth of the contra-rotating vortices?

It seems that it would power swirl and be of similar ignition time.

[Hoffman900]

Based on the illustration, I’m not sure how Honda’s system is any different than the other’s TJI other than name.

[henry]

Based on the illustration, I’m not sure how Honda’s system is any different than the other’s TJI other than name.

I think the difference shown is that in a “conventional” TJI there a a set of flame fronts initiating from the jets and in this implementation there are additional flame fronts initiated by spontaneous combustion away from the jets. The red arrows in the lower sequence show these additional sources.

[Hoffman900]

Do we know this to be not true for the others?

I’ve always admired Honda’s transparency (I go through their R&D library regularly), but it’s one of those just because one shows it, doesn’t mean the others don’t have it either. Publicly released illustrations can be purposefully misleading, or simplified to the point they are.

Certainly, I’m curious to know more.

[f1motta]

It's much more than just TJI. HSC (high speed combustion) it's completely new level. They are using TJI flames to "create" self-ignition close to the piston crown (rapid & big bang). It's so tricky process they need to calibrate each individual ICE.

[henry]

Do we know this to be not true for the others?

I’ve always admired Honda’s transparency (I go through their R&D library regularly), but it’s one of those just because one shows it, doesn’t mean the others don’t have it either. Publicly released illustrations can be purposefully misleading, or simplified to the point they are.

Certainly, I’m curious to know more.

Maybe they’re all doing it. As far as I know only Honda have said anything. And maybe it is misleading. I think we’ll wait a long time to hear from any of the others. I too would love to learn more but I’m not holding my breath. We might get some insights in 2026 after the new PUs come in.

[Hoffman900]

I believe it was reported before that Ferrari had a new piston crown and cylinder head concept for this past year. That sounds like something similar to me.

Also:

Combining super-fast ignition with ways of making the intake mixture more turbulent – and therefore explosive – and getting the flame to quickly spread to the edges of the combustion chamber are the absolutely keys to improving combustion and maximising the 500-bar fuel pressure allowed under the current regulations.

Mercedes is usually the most tight lipped about these things.

Obviously, they're all striving for the same thing.

[saviour stivala]

'Obviously they're all striving for the same thing

At around March 2021 it was reported that the FERRARI group of engine technicians headed by Wolf Zimmermann who deals with advanced solutions, has studied and developed a combustion version that has been defined as ‘superfast’ because it will adopt a combustion chamber capable of ensuring a phase of explosion with very fast ignition times, getting closer and closer to the principles known in diesel engines without arriving at HCCI solution that could easily do without the spark plug to ignite the compressed charge.

This ‘superfast’ combustion improves combustion thanks to turbulent motions that can positively influence the speed of the flame propagation, giving more homogeneity to the air/petrol mixture and the combustion phase. Enerico Gultieri, head of engine dept decided to keep the new developed fast combustion system under more development, but to use other parts in 2022 developed in parallel, these involves the turbo and airbox.

[ispano6]

Four FIA TD were introduced. One of them it was extra monitoring on ERS system (CE).

I’m not sure how these change “extra harvest” or any anti lag “trick”, but they are much more prescriptive than the original 2 sensor requirement which I believe could be gamed by phasing the ES and CU-K flows.

In the Autosport article it is mentioned the extra harvest and anti-lag are part of the energy recover control management. The paragraph below the diagram describes how more than 2MJ (~4MJ max) can be harvested from the MGU-K through brake regeneration and partial regeneration, but only 2MJ can be sent to the battery. The remaining ~1-2MJ is instead sent to the MGU-H and is converted to electrical energy that alternates between providing power(e-boost assisting the compressor) and regeneration in an alternating sequence multiple times per second. It is deemed within regulation because the MGU-H is generating the energy.

Is it possible this partial self ignition approach will give more consistent combustion? Thanks In normal or jet ignition the flame front has to have a consistent distribution of mixture through which to progress. Auto ignition makes the gas ignite however it’s distributed.

The diagram below from the Autosport article depicts high speed combustion to have greater spread than pre-chamber jet ignition alone.


Later in the article, Tetsushi Kakuda explains how what he terms "rapid combustion" came about by chance or accident. It's induced by jet injection combustion and after many different variations and tests did they start to see in the data that they were achieving the power numbers and reduction in knock. But they had not set out to solve this initially. Their initial reaction was "yes! alright!" but in truth their feeling was "what's going on here?" What came about by accident was the largest power gain they had ever seen in their development with an increase of 1-2% in power. The first Honda PU to use rapid combustion was RA618H Spec3 introduced in Rd.16 Russian GP. In 2019 and 2020 they focused on getting any ounce of extra power to the track as soon as they could. They also realized that with the increase in power that there was a reliability risk to the piston rings and cylinders, but that it was solved with their application of "kumasei mekki" plating. With the introduction of the plating it basically eliminated the notion of power degradation due to mileage. Heading into 2021 they acknowledged that their MGU-H was still deficient at regeneration so they introduced a new device that would bring it up to par with the other manufacturers. It's performance was confirmed in Rd.1 of 2021.

[NL_Fer]

Impressive to see the developments after they understood where the gains can be made on track. Even the 2016 unit was impressive, what they could extract from a flawed 2015 base. Than they started the buildup from 2017 onwards.

Honestly I was anxious when they said the wanted to fast tack the 2022 powerunit to this year already. But it worked and performed marvellous.