Search Results

This paper describes simultaneous attainment in improving fuel consumption, output power and reducing HC emissions with a direct injection S.I. engine newly developed in Nissan. Straight intake port is adopted to increase discharge coefficient under WOT operation and horizontal swirl flow is generated by a swirl control valve to provide stable stratified charge combustion under part load conditions. As a result, fuel consumption is reduced by more than 20% and power output is improved by approximately 10%. Moreover, unburned HC is reduced by equivalently 30% in engine cold start condition. An application of diagnostic and numerical simulation tools to investigate and optimize various factors are also introduced.

A well-known auto-ignition model for gasoline, which was proposed by Halstead et al, is automatically optimized on computers by using a simple artificial brain including genetic algorithm as learning theory and an intuition model. Arbitrary constants inside the mathematical equations of highly-nonlinear chemical reaction processes can be fitted by using the experimental time-evolutions of several components. Thus, ignition delay, the interval from compression start to ignition occurrence, can be accurately calculated for different types of fuel, production regions, and engine test benches. The intuition model clarifies whether the arbitrary constants are optimized or not. The present approach will be important for building up several types of virtual engines, which are based on zero-dimensional thermodynamic models, ensemble-averaged flow simulators, and large eddy simulation (LES).

Turbulent flows in a model engine having a square piston were analyzed in detail by using a numerical simulation method with higher-order accuracy to perform simulations on an orthogonal homogeneous grid without grid motions. Calculations were performed during several continuous engine cycles. A better understanding of the cycle-by-cycle differences, i.e., cyclic variations, in flow fields may lead to more effective ways of stabilizing combustion.

Large Eddy Simulation of the turbulent premixed-flame in engine is performed in a wide range of the operating conditions such as engine speed, air-fuel ratio, and ignition timing. Firstly, a mathematical formulation suitable for Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of the compressible turbulence and combusting flows is derived, which is the Multi-Level formulation. And a numerical algorithm based on the formulation is developed in order to calculate precisely the supergrid fluctuations of the physical quantities. As the determinations of the subgrid-turbulence and flame wrinkling, the Yakhot-Orszag turbulence model based on the Renormalization Group theory(RNG theory) and a flame-sheet model are combined with the numerical code. Computations are performed for a real engine with dual intakeport and valves. Obtained computational data agrees well with the experimental data on turbulence-intensity and pressure history.

A single lightweight engine capable of operating over a wide range of Mach numbers from startup to the hypersonic regime is proposed for automobiles and airplanes. Traditional piston engines, turbojet engines, and scram jet engines operate only under a narrower range of conditions. A compression system of colliding super multijets is proposed instead of a traditional turbofan. This ultimate engine system can be extended with a special piston system to achieve an improved fuel consumption rate, while maintaining a low noise level.

A theoretical model based on a nonlinear ordinary differential equation was developed, which can estimate the atomization process of fuel droplets after the wall impingement. The phase-space trajectory of the equation for droplet deformation and oscillation varies from oval to parabola with increasing impact velocity. Four different regimes for droplet diameter distribution are derived from this complex feature of the equation. The amount of liquid film remaining on the wall and the number of droplets are estimated from the related mass and energy conservation laws. The model is called the Oval-Parabola Trajectories (OPT) model in the present report. Comparisons made with some fundamental experimetal data confirm that this mathematical model is effective in a velocity range from 2m/s to 40m/s and in a diameter range below 300 micrometers.

Fluid-dynamic principle for obtaining relatively stable combustion is found by performing cycle-resolved computations of turbulent flows in engines. Cycle-resolved computations are performed by using the implicit large eddy simulation (ILES) code, which we have proposed earlier. Calculations over continuous cycles show us the existence of “silent domain” in the engine cylinder, having weak cyclic-variations of flow. Time-dependent velocities averaged over six cycles, mean velocities, are also small in the silent domain. Moreover, we examine further on why cyclic variations of flow is weaker in the silent domain. This brings us a way for controlling cyclic variations for several engines.

Instability of the Initial flame propagation is examined after computing the flows during three continuous cycles of an engine. Cycle-resolved large eddy simulation (CLES) is employed for these computations. First, we calculated the compressible turbulent flows during three continuous cycles in a model engine having square piston. Then, the initial flame propagation processes are calculated by using G-equation at the flow condition of TDC. Grid system of 1,000,000 points is employed. Relation between cyclic-resolved turbulence and initial flame is qualitatively examined by the computational results.

Large eddy simulation based on the multi-level formulation and quasi-gridless approach is applied for engines. The numbers of grid points are between 1,000,000 and 5,000,000. First, we will compute cyclic variations during six continuous cycles in a model engine. Then, the present numerical code, which can resolve cyclic variations, is applied for analyzing the flow in the first cycle of an actual 4-valve engine with pentroof head.

In our previous reports based on computational experiments and fluid dynamic theory, we proposed a new compressive combustion principle for an inexpensive, lightweight, and relatively quiet engine reactor that has the potential to achieve incredible thermal efficiency over 60% even for small combustion chambers having less than 100 cc. This level of efficiency can be achieved with colliding supermulti-jets that create complete air insulation to encase burned gas around the chamber center, thereby avoiding contact with the chamber walls, including the piston. We originally developed an actual prototype engine system for gasoline. The engine has a strongly-asymmetric double piston and the supermulti-jets colliding with pulse, although there are no poppet valves. The number of jets pulsed for intake and exhaust is eight, while both of bore and stroke are about 40mm.

Supercomputer simulations substantiate a high potential of the new compressive combustion principle based on supermulti-jets colliding with pulse, which was previously proposed by us and can maintain high compression ratio for various air-fuel ratios. An original governing equation extended from the stochastic Navier-Stokes equation lying between the Boltzmann and Langevin equations is proposed and the numerical methodology based on the multi-level formulation proposed previously by us is included. For capturing instability phenomena, this approach is better than direct numerical simulation (DNS) and large eddy simulation (LES). A simple two-step chemical reaction model modified for gasoline is used. A small engine having a semispherical distribution of seventeen jets pulsed is examined here. Pulse can be generated by a rotary plate valve, while a piston of a short stroke of about 65mm is also included.

We have proposed a new compressive combustion principle leading to the auto-ignition of fuel by focusing compression due to the collision of the pulsed supermulti-jets. This principle has the potential of nearly-complete air insulation due to encasing burned gas around the center of the combustion chamber and a high compression ratio around the chamber center while suppressing vibration and noise levels. We have developed the first prototype engine having a very small combustion chamber of a diameter of 18 mm and also 14 side passages for the supermulti-jets colliding at the chamber center. Combustion experimental results indicating air insulation effect and high thrust over 100 N were obtained as basic data for various types of applications, including automobiles and aerospace usage such as for rockets. However, it was found that higher compression due to more jets is necessary to get stabler combustion.