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A swirl injector for GDI application was used to inject an iso-octane spray in a quiescent chamber, to study the effect of the air density on the spray behavior. Stroboscopic images are recorded at different delays from the injection trigger to study the spray shape and structure. The temporal evolution of different spray parameters, length, width, angle, volume, instantaneous global air-fuel ratio, is calculated from the images. The effect of the increasing air density is to shorten the time and length scale of the spray evolution.

A PC-programmable electronic control unit (PECU), able to manage both conventional and future electronic injection systems to make a fixed number of consecutive injections (1 to 5 or more) controlling the injection pressure and the injection pulses duration as well as the separation time or dwell in between was used to study the behaviour of a Bosch common rail injection system both on dynamic spray bench and on engine test bench. The PECU allowed a reduction in the dwell time between consecutive injection pulses from the current value of 1800 μs to 500 μs. Photographic sequences of a five holes mini-sac nozzle making five consecutive injections at 400 - 800 and 1200 bar respectively were taken at ambient pressure and temperature. They showed that both spray penetration and cone angle at all operative conditions are very uniform and stable.

ELEVATE (European Low Emission V4 Automotive Two-stroke Engine) was a research project part funded by the European Commission to design and develop a compact and efficient gasoline two-stroke automotive engine. Five partners were involved in the project, IFP (Institut Français Du Pétrole) who were the project leaders, Lotus, Opcon (Autorotor and SEM), Politecnico di Milano and Queen's University Belfast. The general project targets were to achieve Euro 3 emissions compliance without DeNOx catalisation, and a power output of 120 kW at 5000 rev/min with maximum torque of 250 Nm at 2000 rev/min. Specific targets were a 15% reduction in fuel consumption compared to its four-stroke counterpart and a size and weight advantage over the four-stroke diesel with significant reduction in particulate and NOx emissions. This paper describes the design philosophy of the engine as well as the application of the various partner technologies used.

A chemical and physical characterization of particulate emitted in undiluted exhaust of single cylinder direct injection (D.I.) diesel engine was made by an optical technique. On-line scattering and extinction measurements in the spectral range from 200 to 500nm were carried out in the exhaust ofthe engine operating under steady-state conditions. These measurements provided a useful tool for the comprehension of chemical and physical structure of the particulate. They allowed the evaluation in real time of the size, the concentration and also the optical properties. Preliminary results of size and mass concentration of particulate are presented. A good agreement was observed comparing the results with those obtained by gravimetric measurements, TEM and X-ray diffraction. HIGH EFFICENCY OF DIESEL ENGINES and their ability to burn heavy fuels make them ofgreat interest in the transportation field.

The fluid-mechanic behaviour of straight-sided and re-entrant chamber geometries has been studied using laser doppler anemometry (LDA) technique. Measurements have been carried out during the compression stroke in a direct injection diesel engine, representative of medium size family, operating at 1000 rpm under motored conditions. The mean motion and turbulence intensity have been computed using a filtering procedure on the LDA data. Using the second version of KIVA code, the air flow field evolution during the same crank angle period has been also computed. To perform proper comparisons between measured and computed values of mean velocity and turbulence intensity, a careful choice of the initial conditions for computations has been performed. Reasonable agreement has been found between computed and measured mean swirl velocities for both combustion chamber geometries tested. On the contrary, the computed turbulence intensities underestimate those measured.

Many new combustion concepts are currently being investigated to further improve engines in terms of both efficiency and emissions. Examples include homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI), lean stratified premixed combustion, stratified charge compression ignition (SCCI), and high levels of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in diesel engines, known as low temperature combustion (LTC). All of these combustion concepts have in common that the temperatures are lower than in traditional spark ignition or diesel engines. To further improve and develop combustion concepts for clean and highly efficient engines, it is necessary to develop new computational tools that can be used to describe and optimize processes in nonstandard conditions, such as low temperature combustion.

Objective of this work is the incorporation of the flame stretch effects in an Eulerian-Lagrangian model for premixed SI combustion in order to describe ignition and flame propagation under highly inhomogeneous flow conditions. To this end, effects of energy transfer from electrical circuit and turbulent flame propagation were fully decoupled. The first ones are taken into account by Lagrangian particles whose main purpose is to generate an initial burned field in the computational domain. Turbulent flame development is instead considered only in the Eulerian gas phase for a better description of the local flow effects. To improve the model predictive capabilities, flame stretch effects were introduced in the turbulent combustion model by using formulations coming from the asymptotic theory and recently verified by means of DNS studies. Experiments carried out at Michigan Tech University in a pressurized, constant-volume vessel were used to validate the proposed approach.

For vibration and acoustics vehicle development, one of the main challenges is the identification and the analysis of the noise sources, which is required in order to increase the driving comfort and to meet the stringent legislative requirements for the vehicle noise emission. Transfer Path Analysis (TPA) is a fairly well established technique for estimating and ranking individual low-frequency noise or vibration contributions via the different transmission paths. This technique is commonly applied on test measurements, based on prototypes, at the end of the design process. In order to apply such methodology already within the design process, a contribution analysis method based on dynamic substructuring of a multibody system is proposed with the aim of improving the quality of the design process for vehicle NVH assessment and to shorten development time and cost.

Partially premixed combustion (PPC) can be applied to decrease emissions and increase fuel efficiency in direct injection, compression ignition (DICI) combustion engines. PPC is strongly influenced by the mixing of fuel and oxidizer, which for a given fuel is controlled mainly by (a) the fuel injection, (b) the in-cylinder flow, and (c) the geometry and dynamics of the engine. As the injection timings can vary over a wide range in PPC combustion, detailed knowledge of the in-cylinder flow over the whole intake and compression strokes can improve our understanding of PPC combustion. In computational fluid dynamics (CFD) the in-cylinder flow is sometimes simplified and modeled as a solid-body rotation profile at some time prior to injection to produce a realistic flow field at the moment of injection. In real engines, the in-cylinder flow motion is governed by the intake manifold, the valve motion, and the engine geometry.

The scope of the work presented in this paper was to apply the latest open source CFD achievements to design a state of the art, direct-injection (DI), heavy-duty, natural gas-fueled engine. Within this context, an initial steady-state analysis of the in-cylinder flow was performed by simulating three different intake ducts geometries, each one with seven different valve lift values, chosen according to an estabilished methodology proposed by AVL. The discharge coefficient (Cd) and the Tumble Ratio (TR) were calculated in each case, and an optimal intake ports geometry configuration was assessed in terms of a compromise between the desired intensity of tumble in the chamber and the satisfaction of an adequate value of Cd. Subsequently, full-cycle, cold-flow simulations were performed for three different engine operating points, in order to evaluate the in-cylinder development of TR and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) under transient conditions.

Computational fluid dynamics represents a useful tool to support the design and development of Heavy Duty Engines, making possible to test the effects of injection strategies and combustion chamber design for a wide range of operating conditions. Predictive models are required to ensure accurate estimations of heat release and the main pollutant emissions within a limited amount of time. For this reason, both detailed chemistry and turbulence chemistry interaction need to be included. In this work, the authors intend to apply combustion models based on tabulated kinetics for the prediction of Diesel combustion in Heavy Duty Engines. Four different approaches were considered: well-mixed model, presumed PDF, representative interactive flamelets and flamelet progress variable. Tabulated kinetics was also used for the estimation of NOx emissions.

The present work details a study of the heat flux through the walls of an internal combustion engine. The determination of this heat flux is an important aspect in engine optimization, as it influences the power, efficiency and the emissions of the engine. Therefore, a set of simulation tools in the OpenFOAM® software has been developed, that allows the calculation of the heat transfer through engine walls for ICEs. Normal practice in these types of engine simulations is to apply a wall function model to calculate the heat flux, rather than resolving the complete thermo-viscous boundary layer, and perform simulations of the closed engine cycle. When dealing with a complex engine, this methodology will reduce the overall computational cost. It however increases the need to rely on assumptions on both the initial flow field and the behavior in the near-wall region.

Apollo is the name of a solar prototype vehicle of Politecnico di Milano (Technical University of Milan) that has been conceived and employed for the Shell Eco-marathon® Europe competition (SEM). The paper introduces the concept design, the detailed design, the construction, the indoor tests, the successful employment at SEM and the end-of-life of the prototype. Apollo is a three-wheeler with a single driving and steering wheel at the rear. A wing with solar cells provides part of the electric energy required for running. The conceptual design started from the accommodation of the driver inside the vehicle. A number of iterations focusing on CFD (computation fluid dynamics) and wind-tunnel tests allowed to refine the total drag to less than 2N at 35 km/h. The tyre characteristic was measured on a drum. The camber of front wheels was set to 4 deg which provided the least rolling resistance.

Extensive prior art within the Engine Combustion Network (ECN) using a Bosch single axial-hole injector called ‘Spray A’ in constant-volume vessels has provided a solid foundation from which to evaluate modeling tools relevant to spray combustion. In this paper, a new experiment using a Bosch three-hole nozzle called ‘Spray B’ mounted in a 2.34 L heavy-duty optical engine is compared to sector-mesh engine simulations. Two different approaches are employed to model combustion: the ‘well-mixed model’ considers every cell as a homogeneous reactor and employs multi-zone chemistry to reduce the computational time. The ‘flamelet’ approach represents combustion by an ensemble of laminar diffusion flames evolving in the mixture fraction space and can resolve the influence of mixing, or ‘turbulence-chemistry interactions,’ through the influence of the scalar dissipation rate on combustion.

The primary objective of the research discussed here was to compare the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, CONVERGE, and a prevalent open-source code, OpenFOAM, with regard to their ability to predict spray and combustion characteristics. The high-fidelity data were obtained from the Engine Combustion Network (ECN) at Sandia National Laboratory in a constant-volume combustion vessel under well-defined, controlled conditions. The experiments and simulations were performed by using two diesel surrogate fuels (i.e., n-heptane and n-dodecane) under both non-reacting and reacting conditions. Specifically, ECN data on spray penetration, liquid length, vapor penetration, mixture fraction, ignition delay, and flame lift-off length (LOL) were used to validate both codes. Results indicate that both codes can predict the above experimental characteristics very well.

This paper reports results of an experimental investigation performed on a commercial diesel engine supplied with fuel blends having low cetane number to attain a simultaneous reduction in NOx and smoke emissions. Blends of 20% and 40% of n-butanol in conventional diesel fuel have been tested, comparing engine performance and emissions to diesel ones. Taking advantage of the fuel blend higher resistance to auto ignition, it was possible to extend the range in which a premixed combustion is achieved. This allowed to match the goal of a significant reduction in emissions without important penalties in fuel consumption. The experimental activity was carried on a turbocharged, water cooled, 4 cylinder common rail DI diesel engine. The engine equipment included an exhaust gas recirculation system controlled by an external driver, a piezo-quartz pressure transducer to detect the in-cylinder pressure signal and a current probe to acquire the energizing current to the injector.

The OpenFOAM® CFD methodology is nowadays employed for simulation in internal combustion engines and a lot of work has been done for an appropriate description of all complex phenomena. At the moment in the RANS turbulence models available in the OpenFOAM® toolbox the turbulence modulation is not yet included, and the present work analyzes the predictive capabilities of the code in simulating high injection pressure fuel sprays after modeling the influence of the dispersed phase on the turbulence structure. Different experiments were employed for the validation. At first, non-evaporating diesel spray was considered in a constant volume and quiescent vessel. The validation was performed via the available experimental spray evolution in terms of penetrations and spatial/temporal fuel distributions. Then the Sandia combustion chamber was chosen for diesel spray simulation in non-reacting conditions.

The paper presents results of an experimental investigation of the fluid dynamic processes during the air/fuel mixture formation period between an evaporating diesel spray and swirl air flow under realistic engine conditions. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) experiments have been carried out using an optically accessible prototype 2-stroke diesel engine equipped with a swirled combustion chamber. The flow within the chamber assumes a well structured swirl motion, similar to that developing in a real diesel engine, operating at high swirl ratio. The engine has been equipped with a common rail injection system and a solenoid-controlled injector, in use on automotive engines for the European market, able to manage multiple injection strategies. Two injector nozzles have been tested: a micro-sac 5-hole nozzle, 0.13 mm diameter, 150° spray angle and a 7-hole, 0.141 mm diameter, 148° spray angle.

The acoustic simulation of internal combustion engine exhaust systems is an important aspect to meet customer expectations and legislation targets. One dimensional gas dynamic simulation tools are used for the calculation of the exhaust orifice noise in the early stages of the engine development process. This includes the prediction of the acoustic performance of individual components in the exhaust line. One common element used in exhaust systems to increase the acoustic damping is the plug flow muffler. This study looks at the prediction of acoustic performance of various plug mufflers at different flow velocities. These include a single plug muffler, a double plug muffler and an eccentric plug muffler with different porosities for the perforated sections. To this purpose a generic 3D cell approach was developed and applied.

Premixed combustion modes in compression ignition engines are studied as a promising solution to meet fuel economy and increasingly stringent emissions regulations. Nevertheless, PCCI combustion systems are not yet consolidated enough for practical applications. The high complexity of such combustion systems in terms of both air-fuel charge preparation and combustion process control requires the employment of robust and reliable numerical tools to provide adequate comprehension of the phenomena. Object of this work is the development and validation of suitable models to evaluate the effects of charge premixing levels in diesel combustion. This activity was performed using the Lib-ICE code, which is a set of applications and libraries for IC engine simulations developed using the OpenFOAM® technology.