Hanyang Zhuang

Investigation of Swirl Ratio Impact on In-Cylinder Flow in an SIDI Optical Engine

Advanced powertrain technologies have improved engine performance with higher power output, lower exhaust emission, and better controllability. Chief among them is the development of spark-ignition direct-injection (SIDI) engines in which the in-cylinder processes control the air flow motion, fuel-air mixture formation, combustion, and soot formation. Specifically, intake air with strong swirl motion is usually introduced to form a directional in-cylinder flow field. This approach improves the mixing process of air and fuel as well as the propagation of flame. In this study, the effect of intake air swirl on in-cylinder flow characteristics was experimentally investigated. High speed particle image velocimetry (PIV) was conducted in an optical SIDI engine to record the flow field on a swirl plane. The intake air swirl motion was achieved by adjusting the opening of a swirl ratio control valve which was installed in one of the two intake ports in the optical engine. Ten opening angles of the swirl ratio control valve were adjusted to produce an intake swirl ratio from 0.55 to 5.68. The flow structures at the same crank angle degree, but under different swirl ratio, were compared and analyzed using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). The flow dominant structures and variation structures were interpreted by different POD modes. The first POD mode captured the most dominant flow field structure characteristics; the corresponding mode coefficients showed good linearity with the measured swirl ratio at the compression stroke when the flow was swirling and steady. During the intake stroke, strong intake air motion took place, and the structures and coefficients of the first modes varied along different swirl ratio. These modes captured the flow properties affected by the intake swirl motion. Meanwhile, the second and higher modes captured the variation feature of the flow at various crank angle degrees. In summary, this paper demonstrated a promising approach of using POD to interpret the effectiveness of swirl control valve on in-cylinder swirl flow characteristics, providing better understanding for engine intake system design and optimization.Copyright

Study of Time-Resolved Vortex Structure of In-Cylinder Engine Flow Fields Using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition Technique

The structure of in-cylinder flow field makes significant impacts on the processes of spray injection, air-fuel interactions, and flame development in internal combustion engines. In this study, the implementation of time-resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) in an optical engine is presented. Images at different crank angles have been taken using a high-speed double-pulsed laser and a high-speed camera with seeding particles mixed with the intake air. This study is focused on measuring the flow fields along the swirl plane at 30 mm below the injector tip under different intake air swirl ratios. A simple algorithm is presented to identify the vortex structure and to track the location and motion of vortex center at different crank angles. Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) has been used to extract the ensemble and variation information of the vortex structure. Experimental results reveal that strong cycle-to-cycle variations exist in almost all test conditions. The vortex center is difficult to identify since multiple, but small scale, vortices exist during the early stage of the intake stroke. However, during the compression stroke when only one vortex center exists in most cycles, the motion of vortex center is found to be quite similar at different intake swirl ratios and engine speeds. This is due to the dominant driving force exerted by the piston’s upward motion on the in-cylinder air.© 2014 ASME

Investigation of Swirl Ratio Impact on In-Cylinder Flow in a SIDI Optical Engine

Advanced powertrain technologies have improved engine performance with higher power output, lower exhaust emission, and better controllability. Chief among them is the development of spark-ignition direct-injection (SIDI) engines in which the in-cylinder processes control the air flow motion, fuel-air mixture formation, combustion, and soot formation. Specifically, intake air with strong swirl motion is usually introduced to form a directional in-cylinder flow field. This approach improves the mixing process of air and fuel as well as the propagation of flame. In this study, the effect of intake air swirl on in-cylinder flow characteristics was experimentally investigated. High speed particle image velocimetry (PIV) was conducted in an optical SIDI engine to record the flow field on a swirl plane. The intake air swirl motion was achieved by adjusting the opening of a swirl ratio control valve which was installed in one of the two intake ports in the optical engine. Ten opening angles of the swirl ratio control valve were adjusted to produce an intake swirl ratio from 0.55 to 5.68. The flow structures at the same crank angle degree, but under different swirl ratio, were compared and analyzed using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). The flow dominant structures and variation structures were interpreted by different POD modes. The first POD mode captured the most dominant flow field structure characteristics; the corresponding mode coefficients showed good linearity with the measured swirl ratio at the compression stroke when the flow was swirling and steady. During the intake stroke, strong intake air motion took place, and the structures and coefficients of the first modes varied along different swirl ratio. These modes captured the flow properties affected by the intake swirl motion. Meanwhile, the second and higher modes captured the variation feature of the flow at various crank angle degrees. In summary, this paper demonstrated a promising approach of using POD to interpret the effectiveness of swirl control valve on in-cylinder swirl flow characteristics, providing better understanding for engine intake system design and optimization.Copyright