The Analysis of Intake Manifold Air Stream Velocity on Different Material Roughness

Abstract

Intake manifold is a crucial part in an engine that acts as a medium for air flow to mix with the fuel before entering the combustion chamber. For years, cast iron and aluminium were the primary materials chosen for fabrication of an intake manifold before plastic based material was introduced to the field. However, there is lack of research involving the usage of plastic as the intake manifold material. In this paper, the effects of internal surface roughness variations (Cast iron, aluminium and plastic) inside the intake manifold were studied. Three dimensional, intake manifold model was developed to simulate the airflow. The study emphasized on the airflow velocity inside the intake manifold. The study showed that the surface roughness influenced the air flow velocity near the intake manifold outlet. The plastic based intake manifold exhibited the highest air stream velocity (near the intake manifold outlet) at 477.770 m/s. This value is 0.60% and 0.40% higher than those produced by the cast iron and aluminium intake manifold, respectively.