Friction is still one of the main sources of losses. The FVT has been researching for years the precise measurement of friction on the fired engine and is increasingly supplementing its extensive expertise with accompanying simulations.

Due to the tightening of the CO₂ emission limits in the coming years, it is necessary to promote efficiency increases of internal combustion engines. In addition to a large number of measures, friction reduction plays an important role. To optimizes the development process ist is necessary to assess the measures experimentally in a correct way.

In principle, standard measuring methods are used for the measurement of the engine friction, namely the torque measurement and the cylinder pressure indication, which are supplemented by a temperature conditioning of the engine. The big challenge, however, is the required accuracy beyond standard requirements. Above all, the so-called indicating method requires special care. The meaningful allocation of friction and friction measures depends on a very accurate measurement. The main sources of friction are the piston, the crank mechanism, the valvetrain and the ancillaries. 

In recent years, the accurate measurement of engine friction, especially in passenger cars, has become one of the greatest competencies in FVT. The know-how built up is more than with other topics in the measurement procedure, starting with the calibration of the indicating system to the construction of particularly accurate conditioning systems for the engine temperature. From our point of view, the correct measurement of the friction is only possible in warm fired engine operation, which however represents an additional complication. In order to increase the informative value of such measurements, a special measuring method was developed, the so-called friction measuring module.

Even with great effort on the testbed, not all friction components can be determined experimentally. Therefore, increasingly simulations are used, which are able to close such gaps. The FVT uses the EHD simulation as standard.