International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 6:2 2010

Effect of Intake Manifold Inclination on Intake Valve Flow Characteristics of a Single Cylinder Engine using Particle Image Velocimetry
B. Murali Krishna, A. Bijucherian, and J. M. Mallikarjuna
Then the kinetic energy of the fluid resulting in turbulence causes rapid mixing of fuel and air, if the fuel is injected directly into the cylinder. In-cylinder fluid motion governs the flame propagation in spark-ignition engines, and controls the fuel-air mixing and premixed burning in diesel engines. Therefore, it is very much essential to understand the in-cylinder fluid motion thoroughly in order to optimize the combustion chambers for the modern I.C engines like gasoline direct injection (GDI), homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines etc. Previously, Heywood (1998) has stated that generating a significant swirl and/or tumble motion inside the engine cylinder during the intake process was one of the promising ways to obtain high in-cylinder turbulent intensity. Prasad (2000) reviewed the PIV studies and had reported the basic components of PIV algorithms, optical considerations, tracer particles, illuminating lasers, recording hardware, typical errors associated and vector processing, etc. Hatschbach et al (2004) have described their experiences with in-cylinder measurement using PIV, mainly with air seeding and multiple reflections on the glass liner. It reported that the PIV measurement was useful tool for evaluating incylinder flows especially when combined with numerical simulation. Valentino et al (1993), Reeves et al (1999), Li et al (2001), Yasar et al (2006) and Stansfield et al (2007) have conducted PIV measurements on various engines and reported that the flow structure changes substantially along the cylinder length due to the geometry of the intake valve port and the tumble motion was generated during induction process. Also, reported that the increase in the air flow rate at higher engine speed causes the vortex center to move right-upwards compared to the lower engine speeds. Lee et al (1993) and Justham et al (2006) have investigated the instantaneous 2D velocity fields around the intake valve of an I.C engine under static and dynamic conditions by means of PIV. They have observed that for the given intake valve lift and pressure drop across the intake valve, the static analysis showed higher jet velocity than the dynamic analysis. Chung et al (1998) have studied AbstractIn-cylinder flow field structure in an internal
combustion (I.C) engine has a major influence on the combustion, emission and performance characteristics. Fluid enters the combustion chamber of an I.C engine through the intake manifold with high velocity. Then the kinetic energy of the fluid resulting in turbulence causes rapid mixing of fuel and air, if the fuel is injected directly into the cylinder. With optimal turbulence, better mixing of fuel and air is possible which leads to effective combustion. A good knowledge of the flow field inside the cylinder of an I.C engine is very much essential for optimization of the design of the combustion chamber for better performance especially in modern I.C engines like gasoline direct injection (GDI), homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines.The main objective of this work is to study the incylinder fluid flow field characteristics of a single-cylinder engine to see the effect of intake manifold inclination at equivalent rated engine speed using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) under various static intake valve lift conditions. To facilitate the PIV experiments, the metal cylinder of the engine was replaced by a transparent one. For every operating test condition, 50 image pairs were captured and processed using DAVIS software. From the results, it is seen that the in-cylinder flow structure is greatly influenced by the intake manifold inclinations irrespective of intake valve lift. Maximum Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) was highest at full intake valve lift irrespective of the inclination. Also, the maximum TKE was the highest for 60 0 intake manifold inclination compared to other inclinations irrespective of the intake valve lift at equivalent rated engine speed. Finally, it is concluding that the analysis carried in this work is useful in predicting the flow and inturn optimizing combustion chamber of modern I.C engines.

KeywordsIn-cylinder flow field, Manifold inclination, PIV,

Velocity.

HE fluid motion in an internal combustion engine is induced during the induction process and later modified during the compression process. Intake charge enters the combustion chamber through the intake manifold.
Autors are with Internal Combustion Engine Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, 600 036, India (phone: 044-2257-4698; fax: 044-2257-4652; e-mail: murali2kindia@gmail.com, bcamace@gmail.com, jmmallik@iitm.ac.in).

I. INTRODUCTION

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the intake-generated, in-cylinder flow and subsequent combustion characteristics in a four-valve, sparkignition engine under a steady flow condition for intake ports with three different entry angles; 15, 20 and 25 using PIV. They have reported that the intake ports with lesser entry angles generate higher tumble strength than at higher entry angles. They have observed that the strong tumble motion resulted in 15% decrease in combustion duration. Nadarajah et al (1998) and Auriemma et al (2001) have carried out experimental investigations using the Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) technique to study the engine in-cylinder flow characteristics. Their results showed that the flow structure during the intake was very much affected by the intake valve lifts with the formation of up and down flows and a strong flow reversal below the intake valve generated during the intake closure period. Also, the addition of swirl into the engine was altering the flow structure, particularly below the intake valve. From the previous studies, it is clearly showing that experimental investigations are very much essential to study the effect of intake manifold inclinations on the in-cylinder flow field characteristics of an engine. This work is aimed to study the in-cylinder flow field characteristics in a single-cylinder engine using PIV technique with different intake manifold inclinations at equivalent rated engine speed. II. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND PROCEDURE Figs. 1and 2 show the line diagram and pictorial view of the PIV experimental setup respectively. The test engine cylinder was made of glass with the dimensions of 87.5 mm bore and 110mm length. The glass cylinder was mounted between two metal flat plates as shown in the Fig. 1. A hole was made in the top plate corresponding to the size and position of the intake port of the actual engine. Around this hole, a clamping arrangement was made to fix the inlet manifold at different inclinations according to the requirement. The bottom plate was provided with an opening corresponding to the engine bore to discharge the air to the atmosphere. Four intake manifolds with inclinations of 0, 30, 60 and 90 0 with respect to horizontal plane were fabricated as shown in Fig.3. Then the intake valve was fitted on to the intake manifold. A screw arrangement was made to vary the intake valve lift. Intake manifold was connected to an air blower with a variable speed controller through a flexible hose. An orifice flow meter was used to measure the rate of flow of supplied air to the cylinder.

Fig. 1 Schematic of experimental setup

The air supply was estimated corresponding to the rated engine speed of 1500 rpm by assuming 90% volumetric efficiency. From this onwards it will be called as equivalent rated engine speed Air flow rate and corresponding image separation time (dt) are 0.0085 kg/s and 18.51 s respectively. Throughout the experiments, the exhaust valve was kept closed. To minimize the light reflections from the other metal surfaces, all the metal surfaces were painted with black color. All the other exposed metal surfaces other than at the field of view were covered with black sheets. Calibration was done to determine the image size with respect to the object size. The flow analysis was made on a vertical plane passing through the center of the intake valve. The maximum intake valve lift considered was 7.6 mm and is of axi-symmetric poppet type. The intake valve lift was adjusted manually by using adjustable screw arrangement and lift was measured with the help of dial gauge. The valve lifts considered for this study were 50, 75 and 100% of maximum valve lift for all the cases of intake manifold inclinations. During PIV experiments, the laser sheet was allowed to pass through the test section so that the flow field images can be captured by a CCD camera. The photograph and a schematic diagram of the experimental setup are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 respectively. The camera was positioned in front of the cylinder at the field of view (FOV) perpendicular to the laser sheet. The FOV considered was 87.5x110 mm. Within this, the region of interest (ROI) was selected for the flow analysis later. The camera and laser triggering were controlled by DAVIS software through a PC. The seeding particles of about one micron mean diameter were generated by a particle generator and were mixed with the intake supply air. The flow field analysis was made to evaluate the average velocity field, streamline patterns and maximum turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) at different conditions.

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Fig. 2 PIV experimental setup

Fig. 3 Transparent cylinder model with different manifold inclinations

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The typical raw image acquired by the CCD camera at full intake lift condition is shown in Fig. 4 and the region of interest (ROI) is shown by a white lined rectangle. Figs. 5 to 8 show the average velocity vector fields with superimposed streamline patterns for different intake manifold inclinations at different intake valve lifts at the air flow rate corresponding to 1500 rpm of engine speed. In all the above cases, the flow analysis is mainly done around the intake valve. The multiple reflections of laser light from glass cylinder were the major problem that was observed throughout the experiments. Therefore, the reflected zones within the FOV were not considered for the flow analysis. A. In-cylinder Flow Fields Figs. 5 to 8 show the average velocity vector fields with superimposed streamline patterns which were evaluated from instantaneous velocity fields for 0, 30, 60 and 900 of intake manifold inclinations respectively at three intake valve lifts at rated engine speed of 1500 rpm. Air flows into the cylinder

through the intake port via intake manifold in the form of a jet with maximum velocity at the exit of the intake valve.

Fig. 4 Typical raw image captured at full intake valve lift

Later, it is interacted and mixes with surrounding air and diffuses into it. Further, it moves downwards with deterioration of velocity. Also, in most of the cases, it is seen that the jet of air after leaving the intake port impinges onto

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the cylinder wall and diverts back causing the formation of small and large-scale vortices within the cylinder. With 0 0 Intake Manifold Inclination: From Fig. 5, it is observed that there is a jet flow at the exit of the intake valve, vortex formation and flow reversals below the valve. The jet formation is due to the restricted passage like nozzle during valve opening. The reversal and vortex formation may be due to that cylinder wall hitting of the air jet. The maximum air jet velocity is 8.5, 5.5 and 4.5 m/s at full, 3/4 th and of the intake valve lift respectively under rated speed air supply condition. The air jet velocity is maximum under full lift condition may be due to minimal frictional losses compared to the other lifts. With 30 0 Intake Manifold Inclination: From Fig. 6, it is observed that, there is a jet flow at the exit of the valve, vortex formation, and flow reversal near the intake valve like in 0 0 manifold inclination under all considered lift cases. Also, it was observed that, the vortex center has moved downwards away from the intake valve face. This may be due to that the jet emerging from this manifold inclination impinging position on the cylinder wall is moving down from lower to higher lifts under this manifold arrangement. The maximum jet velocity is about 7.5, 5 and 4.5 m/s at full, 3/4 th and of the intake valve lift respectively under rated speed air supply condition. This may due to the friction influence. With 60 0 Intake Manifold Inclination: From Fig. 7, it is observed that, there is a jet flow at the exit of the valve, vortex formation, and flow reversal near the intake valve like in previous manifold inclinations under all considered lift cases. The maximum jet velocity is about 6, 5.5 and 4 m/s at full, 3/4 th and of the intake valve lift respectively under rated speed air supply condition. This may be due to the friction influence. From Fig.7, it is also observed that the flow pattern is irregular at full intake valve lift it may due to that impinging of jet to the cylinder wall is far from the valve exit i.e. towards the open end of the cylinder causing disturbance of the flow with in the cylinder. The radius of vortex formation is more compared to other manifold inclinations at 3/4 th intake valve lift may be due to jet impingement to the wall moderately at the centre of it in turn getting more space to spread within the cylinder. With 90 Intake Manifold Inclination: Fig. 8, it is observed that, at full intake valve lift, there is an irregular flow pattern and it may be due that jet moving away from the valve. The maximum jet velocity is about 5, 4.5 and 4 m/s. at full, 3/4 th and of
0

maximum intake valve lift respectively. It is observed that jet and vortex formation as well as flow reversal are occurring with 3/4 th and intake valve lifts.

Fig. 5 Average velocity fields with streamlines at 0 0 intake manifold inclination at various lifts

B. Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) The turbulence controls the rate of flow dissipation, heat transfer and the rate of flame propagation and it is quantified

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by maximum TKE within the cylinder. Here, TKE was calculated for various intake valve lifts at various airflow rates from RMS (Root Mean Square) velocity fields at the mid plane of intake valve as per Reuss et al (1995).

TKE =

1 1 2 2 2 Vrms = ( urms + vrms ) 2 2

(2)

Fig. 7 Average velocity fields with streamlines at 60 0 intake manifold inclination at various lifts Fig. 6 Average velocity fields with streamlines at 30 0 intake manifold inclination at various lifts

TKE =

1 1 2 2 2 2 Vrms = ( urms + vrms + wrms ) 2 2

(1)

Where, u, v and w are the rms velocity components in the x, y and z directions respectively. The component w is neglected here due to non-availability of it in PIV data. Also, density was assumed as 1 kg/m3 for air. The maximum turbulent kinetic energies (TKE) were calculated from the average

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velocity fields for the all the manifold inclinations at all intake valve lifts. Fig. 9 shows the maximum TKE at various intake valve lift conditions for different manifold inclinations at rated speed.

velocity at intake valve exit in the cylinder at higher intake valve lifts. Also, it was observed that, 60 0 manifold inclination giving highest TKE at almost all the intake valve lifts compared to other manifold inclinations.
1.2E+02 1.0E+02 0 deg 30 deg 60 deg 8.0E+01 90 deg

TKE, (m/s)^2

6.0E+01 4.0E+01 2.0E+01 0.0E+00 25 50 75 100 125

Intake valve lift, (% )

Fig. 9 TKE at different manifolds with various intake valve lifts at equivalent rated engine speed It may due to the wall impingement of the air jet is minimal due to its inclination position. From Fig.9, it is also observed that, 300manifold inclination gives highest TKE compared to the other manifold inclinations at lower intake valve lift. This may be because at this manifold inclination, the flow diversion angle is more. Therefore, at low manifold inclinations, air flow takes place with minimal friction loss and thereby may be leading to higher TKE. IV. CONCLUSION Based on the PIV investigations carried out on the single-cylinder engine with different manifold inclination at various intake valve lift conditions at equivalent rated speed the following conclusions are drawn: The in-cylinder flow structure is greatly influenced by the intake manifold inclination. It is found that there is a flow reversal below the intake valve with all the manifold inclinations at all intake valve lifts considered. For all the intake valve lifts with 0 0 intake manifold inclination, air flow is in the form of jet near the intake valve exit, whereas for other manifold inclinations, jet formation is not common for all the lifts. It is found that at 30 0 intake manifold inclination, large scale vortex below the intake valve at all intake valve lifts. It is found that at all the intake valve lifts with 60 0 manifold inclination, the maximum TKE is highest compared to all other manifold inclinations. Finally, it is concluded that the information obtained in this investigation is very much useful in optimization of the geometry and orientation of intake manifold of the modern I.C engines.

Fig. 8 Average velocity fields with streamlines at 90 0 intake manifold inclination at various lifts

From Fig. 9, it is observed that the maximum TKE is higher at higher intake valve lifts than at lower lifts irrespective of the intake manifold inclinations. It may be due to high air

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