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The suggestions for upcoming Euro 2000 clean air act puts an increasing legislative pressure for lower specific fuel consumption in order to reduce the emission of CO2 and thereby decrease the impact of the “green house” effect. One of the possible suggestions to meet these requirements for SI-engines is the gasoline direct injected (GDI) power unit. One of the key points of the success of a layout of a GDI system is the optimization of the fuel injector and combustion chamber charge formation parameters. A brief description of the basic GDI-system used during the study is given. Hereafter are outlined the computational and experimental optimization tools which have been used to produce, on a reasonable industrial time scale, the main indications to optimize the design of a given injector/chamber configuration. The paper discusses in detail the results produced by the latest enhancements introduced into the 3D multi-phase computational approach, NCF-3D.

The paper presents the main reasons for the increasing market share of vehicles with the capacity to run on random bio fuel blends. It describes the philosophy and basic layout of current integral flex mixture preparation systems. The paper demonstrates the necessity to introduce a series of new high-performance analysis tools for further improvement of the mixture preparation system and in particular the fuel injector performance. The paper continues with a discussion of the basic structure of the interactive Virtual Engine Model approach applied to fuel injector atomizer optimization. Test results obtained by application of the new tools to two different series production flex engines are presented. The impact of the improved spray formation capability of the optimized fuel injector atomizers is explained and experimental vehicle FTP-cycle data are reported and discussed.

The success obtained by use of Virtual Engine Modeling (VEM) in the design and development areas of fuel injectors generated a lot of interest from production and quality engineers to dispose of a similar tool related to spray vessel measurements. To respond to stringent PL6/EURO5 requirements it was decided to develop a Virtual Spray Vessel (VSV) tool capable of predicting spray patters and perform droplet diameter analysis comparable to Phase Doppler Analysis (PDA) results. The paper describes the analogies between VEM and VSV modeling, the specific new numerical approaches to obtain spatial spray data comparable to conventional mechanical measurement techniques and to perform droplet diameter analysis comparable to PDA data. The paper concludes with a series of comparisons of simulated and experimental data.

The first part of the paper gives an overview of the current results obtained with the first-generation of GDI-powered vehicles launched on the European market. In view of the rather limited success in fuel consumption gain the second-generation of very lean stratified layouts has begun, but this process requires the development and application of new high-level analysis tools. A possible high performance approach is the multi-purpose use of 3-D numerical simulation both in the development and the engine control strategy calibration phases. The development of a small 1.6 liter lean stratified engine project was chosen to demonstrate the dual application capability of the NCF-3D simulation tool. The paper continues with a description of the engine application frame, the basic features of the NCF-3D simulation tool and the latest enhancements made to combustion and fuel composition models within the software frame.

The present paper describes a study, which can enable a small displacement (1.3 liter) turbocharged European CR-diesel engine to tolerate an important increase in EGR-level. The analysis is performed by use of a 3D virtual numerical engine model, which isolates the main parameters that must be optimized within the perimeter of the combustion chamber. The paper gives a short introduction to the physical background for NOx and soot-formation as well as a recall of the main issues related to the simulation models used in the virtual engine simulation. The analysis is performed in a 9 points load/speed test matrix. Several EGR-rates are studied as well as the impact of a precise temperature control of the exhaust gas re-introduced in the intake manifold. The paper concludes by an analysis of the cumulated impact on the EGR-level tolerated by the engine after the introduction of the suggested optimization measures.

In order to improve the atomization capability of a standard port fuel injector, an optimized suggestion for an air shrouded injector is presented. The fluid dynamic part of the retained solution is composed of a special flat seat design for the fuel metering function combined with a post atomization adapter enabling both mono- and multi-spray modes. The concept works equally well in natural manifold gradient mode and with an external pressure pump. The realized concept is tested in both free jet experiments and on two different 2 litre engines, one operated in stoechiometric conditions the other in lean-burn conditions. The experimental work confirms a potential of the concept to increase torque stability and thereby lean-burn limits, decrease required spark advance and enable open inlet valve injection and consequently decrease wall wetting phenomena.

The paper describes the optimization to match the Brazilian market requirements for a Flex-Vehicle of the intake system and in particular the fuel injectors of a small displacement (1.6 l) 8 valves passenger car engine. The imposed target was to find a compromise for the hardware components related to the mixture preparation process, which optimize their performance with respect to a gasoline with a random content (from 0 to 100 %) of ethanol. The analytical optimization process is performed by use of a 3-D numerical virtual engine in which can be studied the physical phenomena of spray atomization, vaporization and momentum fluctuations from different injector atomizer layouts. The different atomizer layouts as well as several vaporization enhancement approaches are rated with respect to a baseline configuration on the virtual engine. The paper presents the results obtained by highest rated solutions, which were manufactured as prototypes and tested on the real engine.

The paper describes the setup of a 4-cylinder 1.4-liter prototype Spark Ignited (SI)-engine, which is highly boosted, extremely downsized and port fuel injected. During experimental data gathering with the engine it was discovered that the originally mounted fuel injectors were non-optimized an unable to produce an expected low fuel consumption performance at low speed, low load engine working conditions. To solve this problem by finding an optimized alternative solution for the mixture preparation process it was decided to use a high-performance numerical simulation tool. The paper presents the overall layout of the prototype engine as well as the structure of the 3-D dynamic optimization tool used to address the mixture preparation problem. The paper continues with a detailed description of the different steps used to reach the complete optimization of the mixture preparation system (both the fuel injectors and the intake manifold).

The first part of the paper gives an overview of the environmental conditions with which a future two stroke powered vehicle must comply and explains the reasons for which a direct gasoline injection into the combustion chamber offers a potential solution. The paper continues with a description of the fuel/air mixture injection used in the F.A.S.T. concept and gives a detailed overview of the layout of the 125 cc engine to which it is applied. The structure of its electronic engine management system, mandatory for the necessary control precision, is presented. Hereafter is made a short introduction to the visualization and numerical computation tools used for the engine design optimization. The paper concludes with a detailed presentation and discussion of the experimental results obtained with the engine operated, either in steady state and transient conditions on an engine test rig, and mounted in a classic small dimension two-wheel vehicle submitted to road tests.

The first part of the paper gives an overview of the current development status of the GDI system layout for the middle displacement engine, typically 2 liter, using the stoichiometric or weak lean concept. Hereafter are discussed the particular requirements for the transition to a small displacement/small bore engine working in stratified lean conditions. The paper continues with a description of the application of the different steps of the optimization methodology for a 1.2 liter, small bore 4 cylinder engine from its original base line MPI version towards the lean stratified operation mode. The latest changes in the combustion model, used in the numerical simulation software applied to the combustion chamber design, are discussed and comparison made with the previous model. The redesign of the combustion chamber geometry, the proper choice of injector atomizer type and location and the use of two-stage injection and multi-spark strategies are discussed in detail.