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Transient behavior of the engine is one of the most crucial factors for motorcycle features. Characterization of the fuel film with port fuel injection (PFI) is necessary to enhance this feature with keeping others, such as high output, low emissions and good fuel consumption. In order to resolve the complicated phenomena in real engine condition into simple physical issues, a simulated intake port was used in our research with Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) technique to allow accurate measurement of the fuel film thickness, complemented by visualization of the film development and spray behavior using high-speed video imaging. Useful results have been conducted from the parametric studies with various sets of conditions, such as injection quantity, air velocity and port backpressure.

The performance of multi-hole injectors designed for use in second-generation direct-injection gasoline engines has been characterised in a constant-volume chamber. Two types of multi-hole injector have been used: the first has 11 holes, with one hole on the axis of the injector and the rest around the axis at 30 degrees apart, and the second has 6 asymmetric holes located around the nozzle axis. Measurements of droplet axial and radial velocity components and their diameter were obtained using a 2-D phase Doppler anemometer (PDA) at injection pressures up to 120 bar, chamber pressures from atmospheric to 8 bar, and ambient temperatures. Complementary spray visualisation made use of a pulsed light and a CCD camera synchronised with the injection process.

A transparent enlarged model of a six-hole injector used in the development of emerging gasoline direct-injection engines was manufactured with full optical access. The working fluid was water circulating through the injector nozzle under steady-state flow conditions at different flow rates, pressures and needle positions. Simultaneous matching of the Reynolds and cavitation numbers has allowed direct comparison between the cavitation regimes present in real-size and enlarged nozzles. The experimental results from the model injector, as part of a research programme into second-generation direct-injection spark-ignition engines, are presented and discussed. The main objective of this investigation was to characterise the cavitation process in the sac volume and nozzle holes under different operating conditions. This has been achieved by visualizing the nozzle cavitation structures in two planes simultaneously using two synchronised high-speed cameras.

The near nozzle exit flow and spray structure generated by an enlarged model of a second generation pintle type outwards opening injector have been investigated under steady flow conditions as a function of flow-rate and needle lift. A high resolution CCD camera and high-speed video camera have been employed in this study to obtain high-magnification images of the internal nozzle exit flow in order to identify the origin of string ligaments/droplets formation at the nozzle exit. The images of the flow around the nozzle seat area showed clearly that air was entrained from outside into the nozzle seat area under certain flow operating conditions (low cavitation number, CN); the formed air pockets inside the annular nozzle proved to be the main cause of the breaking of the fuel liquid film into strings as it emerged from the nozzle with a structure consisting of alternating thin and thick liquid filaments.

The health threat from sub-100 nm particulates, emitted in significant numbers from gasoline vehicles, and anticipated changes in legislation to address this, have prompted investigation of techniques capable of trapping and oxidizing particulates from gasoline engines. Numerical studies have indicated that cooling to encourage particle capture by thermophoresis is less effective than use of electrostatic fields. A laboratory wire-cylinder electrostatic trap is under development, showing promising initial results. As an alternative trapping technique, the effectiveness of a cordierite wall-flow filter has been demonstrated, in simulation experiments and on a GDI-engined vehicle. Catalysts have been identified for particulate oxidation at typical exhaust temperatures, using water vapour and carbon dioxide as the oxygen source and retaining activity after short-term high-temperature aging.

An investigation into the spray structure generated by two swirl pressure atomisers under various operating conditions in a constant-volume chamber and the in-cylinder flow pattern in an optical research direct-injection gasoline engine has been performed using CCD camera and laser Doppler velocimetry, respectively. The results provided detailed information about the effect of back pressure on the spray structure generated by the two injectors and the in-cylinder flow field which the sprays encounter following fuel injection into the cylinder during the induction and compression strokes.

The numerical methodology used to predict the flow inside pressure-swirl atomizers used with gasoline direct injection engines and the subsequent spray development is presented. Validation of the two-phase CFD models used takes place against film thickness measurements obtained from high resolution CCD-based images taken inside the discharge hole of a pressure swirl atomizer modified to incorporate a transparent hole extension. The transient evolution of the film thickness and its mean axial and swirl velocity components as it emerges from the nozzle hole is then used as input to a spray CFD model predicting the development of both non-evaporating and evaporating sprays under a variety of back pressure and temperature conditions. Model predictions are compared with phase Doppler anemometry measurements of the temporal and spatial variation of the droplet size and velocity as well as CCD spray images.

The in-cylinder flow, mixture distribution, combustion and exhaust emissions in a research, five-valve purpose-built gasoline engine are discussed on the basis of measurements obtained using laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV), fast spark-plug hydrocarbon sampling, flame imaging and NOx/HC emissions using fast chemiluminescent and flame ionisation detectors/analysers. These measurements have been complemented by steady flow testing of various cylinder head configurations, involving single- and three-valve operation, in terms of flow capacity and in-cylinder tumble strength.

Motivated by the possibility of future emission regulations based on particle number as well as mass, after-treatment of ultrafine particles by a cordierite wallflow filter has been investigated. In a laboratory simulation, synthetic carbon particles of known size and concentration in air were captured with number-based efficiency exceeding 70% in the 20–100 nm size range. Effects of temperature, up to 400°C, filter loading time and ambient-temperature sample dilution have been quantified. Steady-speed and European drive cycle results for the same filter fitted to a passenger car with gasoline direct-injection engine have shown promising reductions in emissions, except at the highest speed of the cycle.

An optical single-cylinder four-valve high speed DI Diesel engine equipped with a high-pressure electronic fuel injection system has been used to obtain information about the spray development, combustion and exhaust emissions (NOx and smoke levels) for a range of operating conditions corresponding to engine speeds between 600 and 1800 rpm, injection pressures up to 1200 bars and fuel injection quantities from idle to full load. Two six-hole vertical mini-sac type injection nozzles with different hole sizes have been employed in order to investigate the effect of nozzle hole diameter on spray formation, combustion and exhaust emissions. Parallel to the experimental programme, a computational investigation of the fuel flow distribution inside the injection system and of the subsequent spray characteristics has been performed in order to assist in the interpretation of the results.

A new simulation approach to the modeling of the whole fuel injection process within a common-rail fuel injection system for direct-injection gasoline engines, including the pressure-swirl atomizer and the conical hollow-cone spray formed at the nozzle exit, is presented. The flow development in the common-rail fuel injection system is simulated using an 1-D model which accounts for the wave dynamics within the system and predicts the actual injection pressure and injection rate throughout the nozzle. The details of the flow inside its various flow passages and the discharge hole of the pressure-swirl atomizer are investigated using a two-phase CFD model which calculates the location of the liquid-gas interface using the VOF method and estimates the transient formation of the liquid film developing on the walls of the discharge hole due to the centrifugal forces acting on the swirling fluid.

A laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) system has been developed to obtain measurements of the instantaneous lubricant film thickness in the piston-cylinder assembly of a firing single-cylinder, direct-injection diesel engine. Measurements were made at top-dead-centre (TDC), mid-stroke and bottom-dead-centre (BDC) position by means of three fibre optic probes inserted into the cylinder liner and mounted flush with its surface. Following extensive repeatability tests, the cycle-averaged lubricant film thickness was estimated for different multi-grade oils as a function of engine speed, load and temperature. The results quantified the dependence of the film thickness ahead, under and behind the piston rings on oil chemistry and viscometric properties, thus confirming the important role of the LIF technique in the development and formulation of new engine oils.

Laser induced fluorescence (LIF) was used in the cylinder liner of a firing single-cylinder direct-injection diesel engine to characterise the development of the lubricant film during the first 200 engine cycles under cold-start conditions. The results have provided information on the rate of oil film development which has proved to be a highly unsteady process due to the complicated oil transport processes through the ring-pack.

Direct flame imaging and pressure analysis were applied to the combustion of gasoline and compressed natural gas (CNG) in a single-cylinder, four-valve spark-ignition engine equipped with optical access via quartz windows in the cylinder liner and piston crown. Tests were performed at three engine speed/load conditions and at equivalence ratios of 1.0, 0.9 and 0.8. The four-valve head incorporated two different port geometries, with and without metal sleeves to deflect the intake air flow, in order to investigate the effect of tumble strength on combustion and engine-out emissions of unburned hydrocarbons and NOx. The results showed that sleeving of the intake ports produced a significant increase in IMEP and a reduction in CoV IMEP for both CNG and gasoline, due to the greatly reduced bum duration.

The diesel engine is the most efficient user of fossil fuels for vehicle propulsion and seems to best fulfill the requirements of the future. It is for this reason that Volkswagen has initiated a very broad research programme for diesels. The purpose of this paper is to build a bridge between fundamental research and technical developments which could allow evaluation of the prospects of direct- injection diesels as powerplants of choice for passenger cars in the turn of the century. The current knowledge on mixture formation, combustion and pollutant formation in diesel engines is presented and discussed with special emphasis given to the concept of the direct-injection diesel engine.

A diesel spray model has been developed and validated against experimental data obtained for different injection and surrounding gas conditions to allow investigation of the relative importance of the different physical processes occurring during the spray development. The model is based on the Eulerian-Lagrangian approximation and the Navier-Stokes equations, simulating the gas motion, are numerically solved on a collocated non-uniform curvilinear non-orthogonal grid, while the spray equation is solved numerically using a Lagrangian particle tracking method. The injection conditions are determined by another recently developed model calculating the flow in the fuel injection system, the sac volume and injection holes area which accounts for the details of the injection velocity, the fuel injection rate per injection hole and occurrence of hole cavitation. Thus, differences between the sprays from inclined multihole injectors can be simulated and analysed.

The spray development, combustion and emissions in a 1.9L optical, four-cylinder, direct-injection diesel engine were investigated by means of pressure analysis, high-speed cinematography, the two-colour method and exhaust gas analysis for various levels of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), three EGR temperatures (uncontrolled, hot and cold) and three fuels (diesel, n-heptane and a two-component fuel 7D3N). Engine operating conditions included 1000 rpm/idle and 2000 rpm/2bar with EGR-rates ranging from 0 to 70%. Independent of rate, EGR was found to have a very small effect on spray angle and spray tip penetration but the auto-ignition sites seemed to increase in size and number at higher EGR-rates with associated reduction in the flame luminosity and flame temperature, by, say, 100K at 50% EGR.

A computer model solving the 1-D flow in a typical fuel injection system for direct-injection diesel engines is presented. A Bosch distributor - type VE pump connected to four Stanadyne pencil - type nozzles has been used to validate the computer model over a wide range of operating conditions. Validation of the developed computer code has been performed for eight representative test cases. The predicted values which were compared with the experimental ones include the pumping chamber pressure, the line pressure, the needle lift and the injection rate. Results using as input the measured pumping chamber pressure are also presented in order to identify the error in the injection rate signal attributed to the difference between the simulated and the experimental pumping chamber pressure. In addition, the total fuel injection quantity for pump speeds between 500 and 2000 rpm and lever positions between 20% to 100% was calculated and compared with measurements.

The effect of various levels of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on the combustion characteristics has been investigated in the four-cylinder 1.9L direct-injection optical VW diesel engine in terms of the cylinder pressure, flame development, temperature and KL-factor distributions. Images of the developing flame under twelve engine operating conditions including 1000rpm/idle, 2000rpm/2 bar bmep and 2000rpm/10 bar bmep at 0%, 30% and 50% EGR-rates were obtained by means of two CCD cameras, in the absence of external illumination, with and without interference filters in the optical path. Analysis of these images has revealed that increased EGR rates lead to increased cyclic pressure variations during the warm-up period of the engine, reduced and more fragmented high-temperature regions, reduced flame core temperatures, generally reduced soot oxidation rates but similar ignition delay times.

A constant-volume combustion chamber was used to examine injection of a small quantity of slightly rich fuel/air mixture towards the spark plug around the time of ignition, in an overall very lean mixture rotating at velocities representative of modern spark-ignition engines. The results show that it is possible to achieve 100% ignitability with overall air-fuel ratios in excess of 50 and much faster burn rates than those with initially homogenous mixtures of the same equivalence ratio with high swirl and turbulence. The advantages of this method of local charge stratification have been demonstrated in terms of both pressure measurements and shadowgraphs of the early flame development while the transient characteristics of the injected rich mixture at the spark plug gap were monitored by a fast flame ionization detector.