Search Results

The unsteady gas dynamic phenomena in engine intake systems of the type found in racecars have been examined. In particular, the resonant tuning effects, including cylinder-to-cylinder power variations, which can occur as a result of the interaction between an engine and its airbox have been considered. Frequency analysis of the output from a Virtual 4-Stroke 1D engine simulation was used to characterise the forcing function applied by an engine to an airbox. A separate computational frequency sweeping technique, which employed the CFD package FLUENT, was used to determine the natural frequencies of virtual airboxes in isolation from an engine. Using this technique, an airbox with a natural frequency at 75 Hz was designed for a Yamaha R6 4-cylinder motorcycle engine. The existence of an airbox natural frequency at 75 Hz was subsequently confirmed by an experimental frequency sweeping technique carried out on the engine test bed.

Engine cycle simulation is an essential tool in the development of modern internal combustion engines. As engines evolve to meet tougher environmental and consumer demands, so must the analysis tools that the engineer employs. This paper reviews the application of such a tool, VIRTUAL 4-STROKE [1], in the modelling of a benchmark 1.9 Litre TDI engine. In an earlier paper presented to the Society [2] the authors presented results of a validation study on the same engine under full load operation. This paper expands on that work with validation of the simulation model against measured data over a full range of part load operation.

Recent environmental legislation to reduce emissions and improve efficiency means that there is a real need for improved thermodynamic performance models for the simulation of direct-injection, turbocharged diesel engines, which are becoming increasingly popular in the automotive sector. An accurate engine performance simulation software package (VIRTUAL 4-STROKE) is employed to model a benchmark automotive 1.9-litre Turbocharged Direct Injection (TDI) diesel engine. The accuracy of this model is scrutinised against actual test results from the engine. This validation includes comparisons of engine performance characteristics and also instantaneous gas dynamic and thermodynamic behaviour in the engine cylinders, turbocharger and ducting. It is seen that there is excellent agreement in all of these areas.

The paper discusses the application of maps of measured discharge coefficients for poppet valves, cylinder ports, and in-pipe throttles within a theoretical simulation of the unsteady gas flow through an internal combustion engine. The maps provided cover both inflow and outflow at the discontinuity being discussed and are displayed as contour maps of the discharge coefficient as some function of the geometrical flow area of that discontinuity and of the pressure ratio across it up to a maximum value of 2.0. An engine simulation package is used for both a four-stroke and a two-stroke engine to determine the typical pressure ratio and area ratio characteristics which pertain at all such discontinuities at representative engine speed and load conditions.

Stratified scavenging has been applied to two-stroke engines to improve fuel consumption and reduce exhaust emissions. To evaluation how this is achieved a stratified scavenging process was simulated using a three-gas single-cycle scavenging apparatus. The experiment simulated the fuel stream entering the rear transfer port of a five port cylinder and air streams entering the remaining ports. The scavenging efficiency and fuel trapping are calculated after the cycle by examining the cylinder contents. The design of the apparatus is particularly suited to investigating cylinder design changes during the prototype stage of engine development. A simulation of the stratified scavenging experiment using the Computational Fluid dynamics (CFD) code VECTIS, showed good correlation with measured results. The simulation provides a real insight into the cylinder flow behaviour of the separate fuel and air streams entering the cylinder.

An experimental and theoretical investigation to minimise the hydrocarbon emissions from a 25 cm3 two-stroke engine with finger transfer ports is described. Finger ports have the side of each passage closest to the cylinder axis open to the cylinder bore making it possible to produce high-pressure die castings with the simplest of dies. Cylinders utilising this type of porting are believed to have inferior scavenging characteristics compared to those using closed or cup-handle porting. The effects of cylinder scavenging characteristics and port optimisation on engine performance were examined using a computer simulation. It is concluded that there is potential for a 70% reduction in exhaust hydrocarbon emissions through scavenging efficiency improvements and port optimisation, provided the cylinder scavenging can be developed to match that of the best existing unconventional crossflow scavenged designs.

A CFD simulation of the flow within a motored two-port loop-scavenged two-stroke engine is described. The simulation is carried out using the STAR-CD CFD code and employs a multi-block approach to simulate the flow within the transfer duct, cylinder, and exhaust duct. A moving mesh with cell layer activation-deactivation is used to represent the reciprocating piston motion. Predictions of the flow within the cylinder and at the transfer port are presented over the open cycle and are compared to an existing measured velocity field for an engine speed of 600 rpm and a delivery ratio of unity. The results show the in-cylinder flow to have a highly complex structure dominated by recirculating flow features. The in-cylinder flow is considerably affected by reverse flow through the exhaust port at exhaust port opening, and is not seen to fully establish until after bottom dead centre.

This paper reports on the experimental evaluation of certain aspects concerning the mathematical modelling of pressure wave propagation in engine ducting. A particular aspect is the coefficient of discharge of the various ports, valves or apertures of the ducting connected to the cylinder of an engine or to the atmosphere. The traditional method for the deduction of the coefficients of discharge employs steady flow experimentation. While the traditional experimental method may well be totally adequate, it is postulated in this paper that the traditional theoretical approach to the deduction of the discharge coefficient from the measured data leads to serious inaccuracies if incorporated within an engine simulation by computer. An accurate theoretical method for the calculation of the discharge coefficient from measured data is proposed.

This paper reports on the first phase of an experimental evaluation of four different methods for the mathematical modelling of unsteady gas flow in a pipe system containing an area discontinuity. The four methods under investigation are the non-homentropic method of characteristics, the two-step Lax-Wendroff method with flux corrected transport, the Harten-Lax-Leer upstream difference method and the GPB finite system method. The experimentation is conducted using the QUB SP (single-pulse) pressure wave generator consisting of a cylinder, connected via a sliding valve to a long duct. The pressure waves it creates closely mimic those to be found in i.c. engines. The initial cylinder pressure may be set to simulate either an induction or an exhaust process. Various ducts are attached to the pressure wave generator to simulate both sudden and gradual area changes. Each duct is sufficiently long as to permit pressure wave observation without superposition effects.

This paper reports on the experimental evaluation of certain aspects of the mathematical modelling by the GPB method of pressure wave propagation through finite systems, of unsteady gas flow in engine ducting. The aspects under examination are the propagation of pressure waves through a pipe which contains gases of dissimilar properties. In this case the gases are carbon dioxide and air. The experimentation is conducted using the QUB SP (single pulse) pressure wave generator consisting of a cylinder, connected via a sliding valve to a long duct. The pressure waves it creates closely mimic those to be found in i.e. engines. The initial cylinder pressure may be set to simulate either an induction or an exhaust process, but the experiments reported here are of compression waves only. The duct attached to the pressure wave generator is a straight pipe. The cylinder and part of the pipe are filled with carbon dioxide and air.

This paper reports on the use of mathematical modelling by the GPB method of pressure wave propagation through finite systems, for the design of prototype exhaust systems and silencers for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The motorcycle engine is the classic 1340 cm3 45° V-twin power unit. The design objectives were to gain mid-range power and torque without loss of performance at either end of the speed range and to design silencers which would enhance the performance and the noise image of the machine. The Queen's University of Belfast (QUB) (3)* employed their unsteady gas flow modelling techniques to the design of the system and its silencers to complement a new camshaft design from Crane Cams. The results of the use of these computer based design techniques are reported as performance characteristics of power and torque for the new design by comparison with the stock system.

This paper reports on the first phase of an experimental evaluation of five different methods for the mathematical modelling of unsteady gas flow in engine ducting. The five methods under investigation are the homentropic method of characteristics, the non-homentropic method of characteristics, the two-step Lax-Wendroff method with flux corrected transport, the Harten-Lax-Leer upstream difference method and the Blair method of pressure wave propagation through finite spaces. A single cycle pressure wave generator consisting of a cylinder, connected via a sliding valve to a long duct, has been designed and built. The pressure waves it creates closely mimic those to be found in i.e. engines. The cylinder and the ducts of the device can be filled with any gas and at elevated temperatures. A perfect seal exists between the cylinder and the valve thus enabling mass- flow correlation. The initial cylinder pressure may be set to simulate an induction or an exhaust process.

LDV is used to measure steady flow in a two port loop scavenged model two-stroke engine cylinder. The model cylinder, machined from acrylic for maximum optical access, is geometrically identical to that used in a previous dynamic study of transfer port efflux vectors. The measured flow field is compared with a CFD prediction which employs experimentally measured velocity, mass flow rate, and turbulence intensity as the inlet boundary condition at the transfer port. The finite volume prediction, using the PHOENICS general purpose code recreates the global flow pattern well, but shows some local discrepancies in flow direction and magnitude. Levels of turbulent kinetic energy were poorly recreated using a k-ϵ model of turbulence, especially around impingement of the incoming jets where local errors of up to 60% were seen.

The emissions produced from a simple carburetted crankcase scavenged two-stroke cycle engine primarily arise due to losses of fresh charge from the exhaust port during the scavenging process. These losses lead to inferior fuel consumption and a negative impact on the environment. Pressure on exhaust emissions and fuel consumption has reduced the number of applications of the two-stroke cycle engine over the years, however the attributes of simplicity, high power density and potential low manufacturing costs have ensured its continuing use for mopeds and motorcycles, small outboard engines and small utility engines. Even these last bastions of the simple two-stroke engine are being challenged by the four stroke alternative as emissions legislation becomes tighter and is newly formulated for many categories of engines. A simple solution is described which reduces short circuit and scavenge losses in a cost effective way.

In two previous papers to this Society (1, 2)* an ‘alternative’ method was presented for the prediction of the unsteady gas flow behaviour through a reciprocating internal combustion engine. The computational procedures led further to the prediction of the overall performance characteristics of the power unit, be it operating on a two- or a four-stroke cycle. Correlation with measurements was given to illustrate its effectiveness and accuracy. In the ducts of such engines there are inevitably sectional changes of area which are either gradual or sudden. A tapered pipe is typical of a gradual area change whereas a throttle or a turbocharger nozzle represents a sudden area change. In those previous papers it was indicated that a fuller explanation, of the theoretical procedures required to predict accurately the unsteady gas flow in such duct sections would be given in a later paper to this Society; this is that necessary publication.

This paper presents confirmation of the accuracy of prediction of an engine simulation model. The experimental data used to compare with the output of the simulation model are from a single cylinder four-stroke cycle engine and from a single-cylinder two-stroke cycle engine; both engines are naturally aspirated and use spark- ignition. In addition, for the two-stroke cycle engine, the experimental data includes two cylinders with different scavenging characteristics which induce variations of performance characteristics of up to 20%. The fundamentals of the theoretical approach have been presented before to SAE (1)* and this paper extends that theory by providing a detailed discussion on the inclusion of measured scavenging characteristics to enable the simulation model to predict the mechanism of the in-cylinder gas exchange process.

The application of in-cylinder multi-dimensional modelling to the scavenging process within the cylinder of a two-stroke cycle engine requires a prior knowledge of the flow entering that cylinder. Without this information, assumptions must be made which limit the accuracy of the theoretical simulation. This paper describes laser doppler anemometry measurements of transfer port efflux flow for a two-port loop scavenged test cylinder motored at 200 rev/min. The cylinder was externally blown to ensure scavenge flow into the cylinder over the entire transfer port open period. The test results indicate that the flow does not enter the cylinder in the port design direction, but varies as a function of port height during both port opening and closing. Comparison of motoring results with those obtained under steady flow testing of the same cylinder, shows adequate correlation, thereby justifying the use of steady flow information for dynamic simulation.

A three cylinder two-stroke cycle diesel engine is proposed for automotive use. The engine is of the simple loop or cross-scavenging type with a crosshead seal and under piston scavenging pump. This paper records the initial investigations of this concept using a purpose built single cylinder engine. Results from different combustion systems are presented together with tests with the same engine when using an external air supply. Measurements from a parallel investigation using a laser doppler anemometer to measure air swirl motion within one of the chambers are also presented.

In a previous paper (6)* SAE 850178, the authors pointed out that the single-cycle gas simulation rig which they had developed would prove to be an invaluable experimental tool for the development of two-stroke cycle engine cylinders to attain better scavenging and trapping efficiency of the fresh charge. This paper reports on the use of that now proven experimental technique to examine one of the longest running, and hitherto unresolved, discussions in the field of small two-stroke cycle engines: is loop-scavenging really superior to cross-scavenging? All of the cross-scavenging tests in the paper are compared to tests conducted on loop-scavenged cylinders of the same basic geometry and which were reported previously to SAE. The main conclusion from the experimental investigation is that cross-scavenging is superior to loop-scavenging at low or modest scavenge ratios but is inferior at high scavenge ratios.

A three dimensional computational fluid dynamics program is used to simulate theoretically the scavenging process in the loop-scavenged two-stroke cycle engine. The theoretical calculation uses the k - ε turbulence model and all calculations are confined to the in-cylinder region. The calculation geometry is oriented towards five actual engine cylinders which have been tested under firing conditions for the normal performance characteristics of power, torque, and specific fuel consumption. The same five engine cylinders have also been experimentally tested on a single-cycle gas testing rig for their scavenging efficiency - scavenge ratio characteristics. The ranking of the cylinders in order of merit in terms of scavenging efficiency by both the rig and the theoretical calculations is shown to be in good agreement with the evidence provided by the actual firing engine test results.