Jerome Hélie

Numerical simulation of the postformation evolution of a laminar vortex ring

Direct numerical simulations are used to study the postformation evolution of a laminar vortex ring. The vortex structure is described by calculating the embedded boundaries of the vortex inner core, vortex core, and vortex bubble. The topology of the vortex ring is found to be self-similar during the entire postformation phase. We also show that extracting the vortex inner core provides an objective method in setting the upper value for the cutoff vorticity level separating the vortex from its tail. The computed power laws describing the decay of the translation velocity and integrals of motion (circulation, impulse, and energy) are shown to be consistent with both studies of Dabiri and Gharib [J. Fluid Mech. 511, 311 (2004)] and Maxworthy [J. Fluid Mech. 51, 15 (1972)]. We prove that the apparently different scaling laws reported in these two studies collapse if a virtual time origin is properly defined. Finally, the computationally generated vortex rings are matched to the classical Norbury–Fraenkel mo...

Un-throttling a direct injection gasoline homogeneous mixture engine with variable valve actuation

Abstract Two direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engines with identical combustion chamber geometries and fuel injection systems were used to investigate fuel economy, exhaust emissions, the in-cylinder flow field, the fuel spray behaviour and combustion characteristics with early inlet valve closure (EIVC) strategies aimed at reducing parasitic induction work owing to throttling. One engine had extensive optical access through a transparent piston crown and transparent cylinder liner, while the other all-metal engine allowed continuous running. Engine running focused at low and intermediate engine loads (∼ 3 and ∼ 6 bar indicated mean effective pressure) and two engine speeds (2000 and 3500 r/min). The results show that the indicated specific fuel consumption (ISFC) could be reduced by almost 6 per cent without significant deterioration in gaseous exhaust pollutant emissions. The results also show that the in-cylinder bulk flow and turbulence and the thermodynamic conditions during combustion are affected significantly by EIVC operation.

Large eddy simulation of a turbulent spray jet generated by high-pressure injection: impact of the in-nozzle flow

ABSTRACT The turbulence properties of a gas spray jet generated through the injection of a high-pressure atomising spray were studied in the context of the Euler–Lagrange formulation using a large eddy simulation (LES) approach. The studys main aim was to investigate nozzle flow effects on flow and turbulence statistics for a two-phase jet flow in the near and far fields of the spray. The study investigated the injection of an existing in-nozzle flow at the spray inlet. Simulation results were compared with measurements obtained for non-evaporating sprays under quasi-steady conditions, which, in practice, correspond to a long-duration injection. Both simulated high-injection pressure cases showed a good agreement with experimental data. A two-stage evolution of the spray was observed. The flow of the gas jet first developed along the spray cone, followed by the appearance of highly vortical structures around and within the spray. Cavitation in the nozzle flow resulted in an observed asymmetry of the generated gas spray jet: on the gas spray jet side of the nozzle (relative to the cavitation side), stronger jet spreading occurred, and droplets were smaller and slower. The spray jet typically exhibited an ellipsoidal cross-sectional shape. The paper provides a characterisation of the asymmetry that persisted for the duration of the spray evolution (at least for the distances considered here).

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Dispersed and Continuous Liquid Film under Boiling conditions

In this work, both experimental and numerical investigations have been carried out in order to improve the modelling of the vaporization of wall liquid-deposits in internal combustion engines. A comprehensive model is suggested for the vaporization of liquid films in the different boiling regimes, including nucleate boiling regime, the Leidenfrost boiling regime, as well as the transition boiling regime occurring between the two latter. This work extends the validity of the Liquid Film Boiling model (Habchi, Oil & Gas Science and Technology – Rev. IFP, Vol. 65, No. 2, 2010) for dispersed liquid films that may be formed when a dilute spray impinges a wall. A sub-grid liquid film is indeed considered when the wetted-area is smaller than the wall cell-face area. A sessile droplet model is used to estimate the wall area wetted by the liquid film and whether it is resolved by the grid or located in the sub-grid scale (SGS). In addition, a novel Leidenfrost vaporization model is proposed for spray droplets located near a hot wall. The above vaporisation/boiling models has been implemented in the Large-Eddy simulation (LES) AVBP code. The validation has been carried out using two different experiments. First, the experimental lifetime curve of a sessile droplet (Stanglmaier et al., SAE paper 2002-01-0838) has been used for a quantitative validation in the different boiling regimes. Second, the wall impingement of a heptane spray from a typical gasoline injector from Continental Automotive, has been simulated. The numerical results obtained under boiling conditions, are compared to the liquid film footprints and lifetime provided by the Refractive Index Matching (RIM) experiment which is described in this article.