Voltage rise anemometry in turbulent flows applied to internal combustion engines

Abstract

In an experimental procedure, a voltage rise anemometry is developed as a measurement technique for turbulent flows. Initially, fundamental investigations on a specific wind tunnel were performed for basic understanding and calibration purpose. Thus, a mathematical correlation is derived for calculating flow from measured secondary voltage of an ignition system under different thermodynamic conditions. Subsequently, the derived method was applied on a spark-ignited engine to measure in-cylinder flow. Therefore, no changes on combustion chamber were necessary avoiding any interferences of the examined flow field. Comparing four different engine configurations, a study of mean flow and turbulence was performed. Moreover, the results show a clear correlation between measured turbulence and analysed combustion parameters.