Yu Nishio

Unravelling tumble and swirl in a unique water-analogue engine model

The in-cylinder flow prior to combustion is considered to be one of the most important aspects controlling the combustion process in an engine. More specifically, the large-scale structures present in the cylinder, so-called tumble and swirl, before compression are believed to play a major role into the mixing and combustion processes. Their development during the intake stroke and their final strength depend mainly (but not only) on the inlet port design. In the present study, the turbulent large-scale structures during the intake stroke are investigated in a unique water-analogue engine where inlet ports and valve timings can easily be configured and tested. The flow field in the cylinder volume is reconstructed through multi-planar stereoscopic particle image velocimetry measurements which reveal a wealth of vortical structures during the stroke’s various phases. The aim of the present paper is to present and show results from a unique setup which can serve as a test bench for optimisation of inlet port designs to obtain a desired vortical pattern in the cylinder after the intake stroke is finished. This setup can simulate the intake stroke in a much more realistic way as compared to a through-flow setup with a fixed valve lift.Graphical Abstract

Effects of location of excitation on the spiral vortices in the transitional region of a rotating-disk flow

The laminar-turbulent transition of a rotating-disk flow dominated by global instability is studied by solving the full Navier-Stokes equations in direct numerical simulations. A flow field in the 2π/32 region is computed using a periodic boundary condition. The flow field is disturbed in two ways. In the first case, a disturbance is introduced at the Reynolds number, Re≈ 600, while in the second case, a disturbance is introduced at Re≈ 650. In both cases, wall-normal short-duration suction and blowing are used to disturb the flow field. When a disturbance is added upstream at Re≈ 600, the wavenumber 64 component becomes dominant when the flow reaches a steady state, whereas when a disturbance is added downstream at Re≈ 650, the wavenumber 96 component becomes prominent. The transition points are different between the two cases. In addition, in both cases, the distances between neighboring spiral vortices are quite the same when measured at the locations where the turbulence begins.