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The development trends of advanced automobile engines towards high power-to-volume and power-to-mass ratios are partially in contradiction with the requirements regarding drastically reduced fuel consumption and pollutant emission. The development way of the engine between customer acceptance and limitations by law is mainly determined by the optimization of scavenging, mixture formation and combustion characteristics, as functional base for the engine design. The paper presents a new direct injection concept and its optimization correlated with the scavenging process. The process simulation - as a base for the engine development - was carried out using concomitantly two CFD codes - FIRE and VECTIS. The main optimization parameters were the combustion chamber design, the injector location, the spray characteristics, the spark location, the injection timing and duration.

The paper presents a GDI concept applied to a four-stroke four-valve single cylinder engine in base of the original “crevice-like” combustion chamber of the basic engine with external mixture formation. For such application both, an adapted shape of injection rate as well as a good correlation of location and timing between injection and spark is requested. The shape of injection rate is adapted in base of a pressure pulse injection system. The paper presents the special features of the system conceived for this aim, as well as the results for different locations of injector and spark plug. The best results in terms of bmep, bsfc and pollutant emissions are obtained with a twin spark configuration. The mixture formation and combustion particularities of this concept are analyzed going from the experimental results at the engine test bench for full and part-load in condition of widely unthrottled operation.

The spray characteristics are determining factors for the quality of mixture formation respectively for the combustion, when applying GDI. Their variation with load and speed is a basic criterion for the adaptability of an injection system type to an engine with known requirements. CFD models of the fluid flow dynamics, mixture formation and combustion are a determining condition for such adaptation. The paper presents the development results of a GDI four-stroke, four-valve, single cylinder engine. The pressure pulse injection system involved in this application is analyzed and presented from the fluid-dynamic behavior up to the obtained injection spray characteristics. The mixture formation and combustion processes are simulated for different load and speed values, respectively for favorable combinations of parameters, such as the injection system configuration, the opening pressure of the applied mechanical injector and the injection duration.

The paper presents the results of a down-sizing concept implicating gasoline direct injection, which is applied to a four-stroke four-valve SI engine with a displacement of 500 ccm per cylinder. The typical features of a down sized engine such as a high level of engine speed, high power density at low fuel consumption and a low level of pollutant emission form the main targets of this study. Numerical models of the process stages have been developed in 1D and 3D CFD codes. The accurateness of the models has been proved using experimental results. The main work consisted on the application of a direct injection system to the engine. The compact engine design and the high compression ratio have been maintained resulting in a combustion chamber design without any cavities or bowls. To obtain accurate results, the simulation work has been carried out using two different CFD-codes (FIRE and VECTIS); the results have been analyzed and compared.

The potential of fuel direct injection regarding the performances of a SI engine is transformable in significant advantages only by an accurate control of the internal air/fuel mixture formation. A main control element is the adaptability of the injection law, respectively of the spray characteristics to the thermodynamic conditions within the combustion chamber for different load and speed. This paper presents a method for the effective implementation of GDI techniques to SI engines, which is exemplified by a system with injection law modulation by pressure. The method is based of the interactive optimization of the processes within the combustion chamber respectively within the injection system, by a feed-back strategy between separate numerical simulations of both systems. For both modules the calibration is ensured by appropriate experimental analysis.

The future development of two-stroke engines will be conditioned by the drastic reduction of pollutant emission, especially of hydrocarbon. This goal is not achievable only by scavenging improvement, rather a new quality of mixture formation using direct injection is imposed. However, the internal mixture formation in a large range of speed and load, considering the scavenge flow particularities of two-stroke engines as well, appears as an extremely complex process. Thereby a numerical simulation is in this case very effective for the adaptation of a direct injection method at the engine. The paper presents a concept for modeling and optimization of the mixture formation process within a high-speed two-stroke engine with liquid fuel injection system. The injection system generates a pressure pulse which is not dependent on the engine speed.

The extremely advantageous power-to-weight, respectively power-to-bulk ratio of two-stroke engines in comparison with four-stroke engines are determining arguments for their further application in light powered two-wheelers. On the other hand, the disadvantages of actual two-stroke engines regarding high pollutant emission, respectively high bsfc - in conditions of the drastic limitation of the pollutant level in the next years - will hinder such applications, if a new quality of the two-stroke process cannot be achieved. As demonstrates in numerous research works, the scavenging improvement of a two-stroke engine can lead to a restricted amelioration of these values, but not to another level. The gasoline direct injection is considered to have the highest potential for such development.

Going from the example of the urban traffic in Europe, where the car use in town areas generally do not exceed 50 km/day, a series hybrid vehicle with light and compact thermal engine as an auxiliary power unit (APU) is demonstrated to be a promising concept. The paper describes such a configuration in base of a developed two-stroke engine with electronically controlled gasoline direct injection. The injection system is characterized by a high-pressure modulation obtained in base of the water hammer effect, which can be accurately adapted for a wide load and speed range of the engine. In this assembly the engine has extremely small dimensions and a dry weight of 8 kg, requiring a place which do not disturb the functions of the basic electric vehicle. The performances are convicting, the CO2 emission being reduced 3 times in comparison with a series four-stroke engine for the same car type, with an autonomy of 340 km and with a maximum speed of 100 km/h.

The paper presents a concept for modeling and optimization of the mixture formation process during gasoline direct injection, using a high-pressure single fluid injection system which allows the modulation of the injection rate independently on the engine speed. Going from this favorable premise for the adaptation of the mixture formation to various load and speed conditions, the aim of modeling is to find the optimum combination between the adaptable elements as follows: form of the fuel pressure wave, injection timing, spray form, injector location, form of the combustion chamber. Moreover, the interaction between fuel and air flow within the cylinder during the mixture formation is considered as a determining factor for the combustion process, and forms thereby an important part of the modeling.

The internal mixture formation within SI engines using fuel direct injection has a significant potential regarding the reduction of bsfc and pollutant emission. However the short time available for injection and spray distribution, as well as the complexity of the fluid dynamic conditions, amplified in a wide load and speed range, form a different base for the combustion process than using external mixture formation. The intend of the present study is to develop a method for modeling and optimization of mixture formation and combustion using a general approach for the fuel direct injection, which consist in the modulation of the injection rate, independently on the engine speed. In the first stage of modeling, the optimum combination between mixture formation elements as fuel pressure history, injection timing, spray characteristics, injector location or combustion chamber design is of great importance, forming the conditions for the subsequent combustion process.