Alejandro H. Plazas

Analysis of the influence of diesel nozzle geometry in the injection rate characteristic

An experimental research study was carried out to analyze the influence of different orifice geometries (conical and cylindrical) on the injection rate behavior of a Common-Rail fuel injection system. For that purpose, injection tests in two different injection test rigs were conducted. This behavior of the injection rate in the different nozzles was characterized by using the non-dimensional parameters of cavitation number (K), discharge coefficient (Cd) and Reynolds number (Re). First, some relevant physical properties of the injected fuel were accurately characterized (density, kinematic viscosity and sound speed in the fluid) in a specific test rig as a function of the operating conditions (pressure and temperature). The behavior of both nozzles was analyzed at maximum injector needle lift under steady flow conditions in a cavitation test rig. Injection pressure and pressure at the nozzle discharge were controlled in order to modify the flow conditions. In addition, the nozzles were characterized in real unsteady flow conditions in an injection-rate test rig. From the raw results, the values of the relevant parameters were computed, and the occurrence of cavitation was clearly identified

Study of the influence of nozzle seat type on injection rate and spray behaviour

A deep analysis of the injection rate characteristics and spray behaviour of the most used nozzle types in diesel engines [microSAC and valve covered orifice (VCO)] has been carried out. In order to compare the injection characteristics and the spray behaviour of both nozzle types, several experimental installations were used, such as the steady flow test rig, injection rate test rig, spray momentum test rig, and nitrogen test rig, to obtain a full hydrodynamic and spray characterization. The study of the flow in both nozzles was analysed under steady flow conditions in the steady flow test rig and in real unsteady flow conditions in the injection rate test rig and the spray momentum test rig. The macroscopic properties of the spray (tip penetration and spray cone angle) were characterized using a high-pressure test rig. From the point of view of the internal flow behaviour, the results showed interesting differences in the permeability of both nozzle geometries, with a higher discharge coefficient in the microSAC nozzle. However, from the point of view of air entrainment, the results showed a better quality of fuel-air mixing in the VCO nozzle. Besides the evidence from the experimental results, a theoretical analysis was carried out in order to identify the most important parameters that determine the spray behaviour and thus justify the different macroscopic behaviour of both nozzles.

Complete modelling of a piezo actuator last-generation injector for diesel injection systems:

An experimental and computational study of an increasingly used third-generation common-rail injection system with a piezo actuator has been carried out. A complete characterization of the different elements of the system, both geometrically and hydraulically, has been performed in order to describe its behaviour. The information obtained through the characterization has been used to create a one-dimensional model that has been implemented in the commercial software AMESim and extensively validated against experimental data. The results of the validation demonstrate the model ability to predict the injection rate of the injector with a high level of accuracy, therefore, constituting a powerful tool in order to carry out further studies of this type of injection system.

Using one-dimensional modelling codes to analyse the influence of diesel nozzle geometry on injection rate characteristics

A combined experimental and computational investigation was performed in order to evaluate the influence of nozzle geometry on fuel injection rate and the injector dynamic of a Common-Rail fuel injection system for DI Diesel engines. The method for modelling the most critical parts of the injector have been explained in previous publications and the results confirm that the model is capable of predicting injector hydrodynamic behaviour. A series of parametric studies were performed to evaluate the influence of the nozzle seat type (VCO and microSAC) and the nozzle orifice geometry (cylindrical and conical). Experimental results of the fuel injection rate were included to validate the models. Furthermore, two commercial one-dimensional modelling codes have been used to carry out the study, obtaining excellent results using both codes.

Determination of critical operating and geometrical parameters in diesel injectors through one dimensional modelling, design of experiments and an analysis of variance

In this paper, a design of experiments and a statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) are performed to determine the parameters that have more influence on the mass flow rate profile in diesel injectors. The study has been carried out using a one dimensional model previously implemented by the authors. The investigation is split into two different parts. First, the analysis is focused on functional parameters such as the injection and discharge pressures, the energizing time and the fuel temperature. In the second part, the influence of 37 geometrical parameters, such as the diameters of hydraulic lines, calibrated orifices and internal volumes, among others, are analysed. The objective of the study is to quantify the impact of small variations in the nominal value of these parameters on the injection rate profile for a given injector operating condition. In the case of the functional parameters, these small variations may be attributed to possible undesired fluctuations in the conditions that the injector is submitted to. As far as the geometrical and flow parameters are concerned, the small variations studied are representative of manufacturing tolerances that could influence the injected mass flow rate. As a result, it has been noticed that the configuration of the inlet and outlet orifices of the control volume, together with the discharge coefficient of the inlet orifice, among a few others, play a remarkable role in the injector performance. The reason resides in the fact that they are in charge of controlling the behaviour of the pressure in the control volume, which importantly influences injector dynamics and therefore the injection process. Variations of only 5% in the diameter of these orifices strongly modify the shape of the rate of injection curve, influencing both the injection delay and the duration of the injection process, consequently changing the total mass delivered.