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The single shot apparatus creates a pressure wave (compression or rarefaction) by releasing a pressure or vacuum from a blowdown cylinder. The wave is contrived to be representative of cylinder blowdown or the suction wave that emanates from an engine intake valve during induction. Generated waves may be fired into a quiescent pipe or system of pipes that represent the ducts found on an engine. The most significant features that distinguish the new apparatus from any previous are that it uses a poppet valve to release the wave and that the apparatus is largely automatic, enabling the generation of a new wave every 15 seconds or so. The particular version of the apparatus described here has been conceived to allow a low speed background flow to be maintained in the pipe system between waves. The purpose of this is to allow microscopic particles to be kept in suspension in the air to facilitate flow studies using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) or Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA).

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.

The unsteady gas dynamic phenomena in a racecar airbox have been examined, and resonant tuning effects have been considered. A coupled 1D/3D analysis, using the engine simulation package Virtual 4-Stroke and the CFD package FLUENT, was used to model the engine and airbox. The models were experimentally validated. An airbox was designed with a natural frequency in the region of 75 Hz. A coupled 1D/3D analysis of the airbox and a Yamaha R6 4-cylinder engine predicted resonance at the single-cylinder induction frequency; 75 Hz at an engine speed of 9000 rpm. The amplitude of the pressure fluctuation was found to be influenced by the separation between the intake pipes in the airbox. For an n-cylinder even-firing engine, if the intakes are coincident in the airbox, then the fundamental and all harmonics of the forcing function, apart from the (n-1)th, (2n-1)th, etc. will cancel. That is, only the multi-cylinder induction frequency and its multiples will not cancel.

This paper describes the flow characteristics in the near throat region of a poppet valve under steady flow conditions. An experimental and theoretical procedure was undertaken to determine the total pressure at the assumed throat region of the valve, and also at a downstream location. Experiments of this type can be used to accurately determine the flow performance of a particular induction system. The static pressure recovery was calculated from the near throat region of the valve to the downstream location and was shown to be dependent on valve lift. Total pressure profiles suggest that for this particular induction system, the majority of pressure loss occurs downstream of the valve for lift/diameter ratios up to 0.1, and upstream of the valve for lift/diameter ratios greater than 0.1.

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.

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.

One-dimensional (1-D) unsteady gas dynamic models of a number of common muffler (or silencer) elements have been incorporated into a1-D simulation code to predict the impact of the muffler on the gas dynamics within the overall system and the radiated Sound Pressure Level (SPL) noise spectrum in free-space. Correlation with measured data has been achieved using a Single-Pulse rig for detailed unsteady gas dynamic analysis and a Rotary-Valve rig in conjunction with an anechoic chamber for noise spectra analysis. The results obtained show good agreement both gas dynamically and acoustically. The incorporation of these models into a full 1-D engine simulation code should facilitate the rapid assessment of various muffler designs prior to prototype manufacture and testing.