Search Results

In this work an integration between a 1D code (Gasdyn) with a CFD code (OpenFOAM®) has been applied to improve the performance of a Moto3 engine. The four-stroke, single cylinder S.I. engine was modeled, in order to predict the wave motion in the intake and exhaust systems and to study how it affects the cylinder gas exchange process. The engine considered was characterized by having an air induction system with integrated filter cartridge, air-box and intake runner, including two fuel injectors, resulting in a complex air-path from the intake mouth to the intake valves, which presents critical aspects when a 1D modeling is addressed. The exhaust and intake systems have been optimized form the point of view of the wave action. However, due to the high revolution speed reached by this type of engine, the interaction between the gas stream and the fuel spray becomes a key aspect to be addressed in order to achieve the best performance at the desired operating condition.

Modeling plume interaction and collapse for direct-injection gasoline sprays is important because of its impact on fuel-air mixing and engine performance. Nevertheless, the aerodynamic interaction between plumes and the complicated two-phase coupling of the evaporating spray has shown to be notoriously difficult to predict. With the availability of high-speed (100 kHz) Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) experimental data, we compare velocity field predictions between plumes to observe the full temporal evolution leading up to plume merging and complete spray collapse. The target “Spray G” operating conditions of the Engine Combustion Network (ECN) is the focus of the work, including parametric variations in ambient gas temperature. We apply both LES and RANS spray models in different CFD platforms, outlining features of the spray that are most critical to model in order to predict the correct aerodynamics and fuel-air mixing.

This work presents a comprehensive numerical model for ice accretion and Ice Protection System (IPS) simulation over a 2D component, such as an airfoil. The model is based on the Myers model for ice accretion and extended to include the possibility of a heated substratum. Six different icing conditions that can occur during in-flight ice accretion with an Electro-Thermal Ice Protection System (ETIPS) activated are identified. Each condition presents one or more layers with a different water phase. Depending on the heat fluxes, there could be only liquid water, ice, or a combination of both on the substratum. The possible layers are the ice layer on the substratum, the running liquid film over ice or substratum, and the static liquid film between ice and substratum caused by ice melting. The last layer, which is always present, is the substratum. The physical model that describes the evolution of these layers is based on the Stefan problem. For each layer, one heat equation is solved.

The paper illustrates and validates a novel predictive combustion model for the estimation of performances and pollutant production in CI engines. The numerical methodology was developed by the authors for near real-time applications, while aiming at an accurate description of the air mixing process by means of a multi-zone approach of the air-fuel mass. Charge stratification is estimated via a 2D representation of the fuel spray distribution that is numerically derived by an axial one-dimensional control-volume description of the direct injection. The radial coordinate of each control volume is reconstructed a posteriori by means of a local distribution function. Fuel mass clustered in each zone is further split in ‘liquid’, ‘unburnt’ and ‘burnt’ sub-zones, given the local properties of the fuel spray control volumes with respect to space-time location of modelled ignition delay, liquid length, and flame lift-off.

The dynamics and evolution of turbulent structures inside an engine-like geometry are investigated by means of Large Eddy Simulation. A simplified configuration consisting of a flat-top cylinder head with a fixed, axis-centered valve and low-speed piston has been simulated by the finite volume CFD code OpenFOAM®; the standard version of the software has been extended to include the compressible WALE subgrid-scale model, models for the generation of synthetic turbulence, some improvements to the mesh motion strategy and algorithms for LES data post-processing. In order to study both the initial transient and the quasi- steady operating conditions, ten complete engine cycles have been simulated. Phase and spatial averages have been performed over cycles three to ten in order to extract first and second moment of velocity; these quantities have then been used to validate the numerical procedure by comparison against experimental data.

The 4th Workshop of the Engine Combustion Network (ECN) was held September 5-6, 2015 in Kyoto, Japan. This manuscript presents a summary of the progress in experiments and modeling among ECN contributors leading to a better understanding of soot formation under the ECN “Spray A” configuration and some parametric variants. Relevant published and unpublished work from prior ECN workshops is reviewed. Experiments measuring soot particle size and morphology, soot volume fraction (fv), and transient soot mass have been conducted at various international institutions providing target data for improvements to computational models. Multiple modeling contributions using both the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) Equations approach and the Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) approach have been submitted. Among these, various chemical mechanisms, soot models, and turbulence-chemistry interaction (TCI) methodologies have been considered.

This paper provides a review on state-of-art modern cooling systems employed for thermal cooling of electric motors for vehicle applications. In recent years, the pursue of a more sustainable and ecofriendly mobility has pushed the research towards the development of electric vehicle powertrain systems. Besides the evident advantages of the adoption of electric traction systems in terms of pollution and efficiency, the need of an effective cooling system for the electric machine components gained more and more importance in order to maintain high efficiency and ensure high durability. In fact, it is known that high temperatures can be harmful for the electric motor: besides the evident damages for mechanical parts, the influence on the permanent magnet properties is not negligible [1] [2]. In this fast-evolving environment, different solutions for the thermal problem have been researched and adopted, each one with its own pros and cons.

Modeling the combustion process of a diesel-biodiesel fuel spray in a 3-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) domain remains challenging and time-consuming despite the recent advancement in computing technologies. Accurate representation of the in-cylinder processes is essential for CFD studies to provide invaluable insights into these events, which are typically limited when using conventional experimental measurement techniques. This is especially true for emerging new fuels such as biodiesels since fundamental understanding of these fuels under combusting environment is still largely unknown. The reported work here is dedicated to evaluating the Adaptive Local Mesh Refinement (ALMR) approach in OpenFOAM® for improved simulation of reacting biodiesel fuel spray. An in-house model for thermo-physical and transport properties is integrated to the code, along with a chemical mechanism comprising 113 species and 399 reactions.

The increasing diffusion of gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines requires a more detailed and reliable description of the phenomena occurring during the fuel injection process. As well known the thermal and fluid-dynamic conditions present in the combustion chamber greatly influence the air-fuel mixture process deriving from GDI injectors. GDI fuel sprays typically evolve in wide range of ambient pressure and temperatures depending on the engine load. In some particular injection conditions, when in-cylinder pressure is relatively low, flash evaporation might occur significantly affecting the fuel-air mixing process. In some other particular injection conditions spray impingement on the piston wall might occur, causing high unburned hydrocarbons and soot emissions, so currently representing one of the main drawbacks of GDI engines.

The thorough understanding of the effects due to the fuel direct injection process in modern gasoline direct injection engines has become a mandatory task to meet the most demanding regulations in terms of pollutant emissions. Within this context, computational fluid dynamics proves to be a powerful tool to investigate how the in-cylinder spray evolution influences the mixture distribution, the soot formation and the wall impingement. In this work, the authors proposed a comprehensive methodology to simulate the air-fuel mixture formation into a gasoline direct injection engine under multiple operating conditions. At first, a suitable set of spray sub-models, implemented into an open-source code, was tested on the Engine Combustion Network Spray G injector operating into a static vessel chamber. Such configuration was chosen as it represents a typical gasoline multi-hole injector, extensively used in modern gasoline direct injection engines.

The employment of hydrogen as energy carrier for transportation sector represents a significant challenge for powertrains. Spark-ignition (SI) engines are feasible and low-cost devices to convert the hydrogen chemical energy into mechanical work. However, significant efforts are needed to successfully retrofit the available configurations. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling represents a useful tool to support experiments, clarifying the impact of the engine characteristics on both the mixture preparation and the combustion development. In this work, a CFD investigation is carried out on typical light-duty SI engine configurations, exploring the two main strategies of hydrogen addition: port fuel injection (PFI) and direct injection (DI). The purpose is to assess the behaviour of widely-used numerical models and methodologies when hydrogen is employed instead of traditional carbon-based fuels.

A detailed understanding of Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) techniques applied to spark-ignition (SI) engines is necessary as they allow for many technical advantages such as increased power output, higher fuel efficiency and better cold start performances. Within this context, the extensive validation of multi-dimensional models against experimental data is a fundamental task in order to achieve an accurate reproduction of the physical phenomena characterizing the injected fuel spray. In this work, simulations of different Engine Combustion Network (ECN) Spray G conditions were performed with the Lib-ICE code, which is based on the open source OpenFOAM technology, by using a RANS Eulerian-Lagrangian approach to model the ambient gas-fuel spray interaction.

Direct-injection represents a consolidated technology to increase performance and efficiency in spark-ignition engines. It reduces the knock tendency and makes engine downsizing possible through the use of turbocharging. Better control of CO and HC emissions at cold-start is also ensured since there is no wall-impingement in the intake port. However, to take advantages of all the theoretical benefits derived from GDI technology, detailed investigations of both fuel-air mixing and combustion processes are necessary to extend the stratified charge operations in the engine map and to reduce soot emissions, that are now severely regulated by emission standards. In this work, the authors developed a CFD methodology to investigate and optimize the fuel-air mixing process in direct-injection, spark-ignition engines. The Eulerian-Lagrangian approach is used to model the evolution of the fuel spray emerging from a multi-hole injector.

The influence of spray-wall interaction on air entrainment in an unsteady non-evaporating diesel spray was studied using laser Doppler anemometry. The spray was injected into confined quiescent air at ambient pressure and temperature and made to impact on a flat wall. The air velocity component normal to a cylindrical surface surrounding the spray was measured during the entire injection period, allowing to evaluate the time history of the entrained air mass flow rate. The influence of wall distance and spray impingement angle on air entrainment characteristics has been investigated and the results indicate that the presence of a wall increases the entrained mass flow rate in the region close to the surface, during the main injection period. Normal impingement appears to produce stronger effects than oblique incidence at 30 and 45 deg. A qualitative explanation of the results is also proposed, based on the drop-gas momentum exchange mechanism.

A swirl injector for GDI application was used to inject an iso-octane spray in a quiescent chamber, to study the effect of the air density on the spray behavior. Stroboscopic images are recorded at different delays from the injection trigger to study the spray shape and structure. The temporal evolution of different spray parameters, length, width, angle, volume, instantaneous global air-fuel ratio, is calculated from the images. The effect of the increasing air density is to shorten the time and length scale of the spray evolution.

The OpenFOAM® CFD methodology is nowadays employed for simulation in internal combustion engines and a lot of work has been done for an appropriate description of all complex phenomena. At the moment in the RANS turbulence models available in the OpenFOAM® toolbox the turbulence modulation is not yet included, and the present work analyzes the predictive capabilities of the code in simulating high injection pressure fuel sprays after modeling the influence of the dispersed phase on the turbulence structure. Different experiments were employed for the validation. At first, non-evaporating diesel spray was considered in a constant volume and quiescent vessel. The validation was performed via the available experimental spray evolution in terms of penetrations and spatial/temporal fuel distributions. Then the Sandia combustion chamber was chosen for diesel spray simulation in non-reacting conditions.

The ride comfort of three Alfa Romeo cars, namely Giulietta (1955), Alfetta (1972) and 159 (2005) has been assessed both objectively and subjectively. The three cars belong to the same market segment. The aim is to let young engineers or graduate students understand how technology has evolved and eventually learn a lesson from the assessed trend. A number of cleats have been fixed at the ground and the three cars have traversed such uneven surface. The objective assessment of the ride comfort has been performed by means of accelerometers fixed at the seat rails, additionally a special dummy developed at Politecnico di Milano has been employed. The subjective assessment has been performed by a panel of passengers. The match between objective and subjective ratings is very good. Simple mathematical models have been employed to establish a (successful) comparison between experimental and computational results. The ride comfort differs substantially among the cars.

Today, Direct-Injection systems are widely used on Spark-Ignition engines in combination with turbo-charging to reduce the fuel-consumption and the knock risks. In particular, the spread of Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) systems is mainly related to the use of new generations of multi-hole, high-pressure injectors whose characteristics are quite different with respect to the hollow-cone, low-pressure injectors adopted in the last decade. This paper presents the results of an experimental campaign conducted on the spray produced by a GDI six-holes injector into a constant volume vessel with optical access. The vessel was filled with air at atmospheric pressure. Different operating conditions were considered for an injection pressure ranging from 3 to 20 MPa. For each operating condition, spray images were acquired by a CCD camera and then post processed to evaluate the spray penetration and cone angles.

The modeling of fuel sprays under well-characterized conditions relevant for heavy-duty Diesel engine applications, allows for detailed analyses of individual phenomena aimed at improving emission formation and fuel consumption. However, the complexity of a reacting fuel spray under heavy-duty conditions currently prohibits direct simulation. Using a systematic approach, we extrapolate available spray models to the desired conditions without inclusion of chemical reactions. For validation, experimental techniques are utilized to characterize inert sprays of n-dodecane in a high-pressure, high-temperature (900 K) constant volume vessel with full optical access. The liquid fuel spray is studied using high-speed diffused back-illumination for conditions with different densities (22.8 and 40 kg/m3) and injection pressures (150, 80 and 160 MPa), using a 0.205-mm orifice diameter nozzle.

One of the most important phases in the development of direct-injected diesel engines is the optimization of the fuel spray evolution within the combustion chamber, since it strongly influences both the engine performance and the pollutant emissions. Aim of the present paper is to provide information about mixture formation within the combustion chamber of a heavy-duty direct injection (HDDI) diesel engine for marine applications. Spray evolution, in terms of tip penetration, is at first investigated under quiescent conditions, both experimentally and numerically, injecting the fuel in a vessel under ambient temperature and controlled gas back-pressure. Results of penetration and images of the spray from the optically accessible high-pressure vessel are used to investigate the capabilities of some state-of-the-art spray models within the STAR-CD software in correctly capturing spray shape and propagation.