Smoothed particle hydrodynamics modeling of fuel drop impact on a heated surface at atmospheric and elevated pressures.

Abstract

The outcomes of fuel drop impact on heated walls will affect the fuel-air mixture distribution and the subsequent combustion and emissions in internal combustion engines. Existing numerical models for drop-wall interactions are mainly validated for conditions at atmospheric pressures. In this work, a numerical method, based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics, was developed to simulate the drop impact on a heated wall at high pressures. The effects of high temperature and high pressure on the evaporation of the drop were considered. The impact regimes under various wall temperatures and ambient pressures were identified, including deposit, contact splash, film splash, and rebound. Numerical predictions were validated by experimental observations. The present method predicted the increase in the critical temperature above which the drop would rebound as the ambient pressure increased. For example, for n-heptane drop impact on a 200 °C wall at We=50, the drop rebounds at 1 bar but deposits at 20 bars ambient pressure. The present method is able to capture the shift in the Leidenfrost point with the change in ambient pressure. The ability to predict such effects of the ambient pressure on drop-wall interactions is important in simulating spray impingement at realistic engine conditions.