Variations of swirl center according to evaluation position in steady flow bench of SI engine

Abstract

In this study, the variations of swirl center according to evaluating position have been investigated in a steady flow bench of SI engine. For the experiments, two engine heads with different intake valve angles (11°and 26°) were tested in the flow bench by varying the evaluating position (1.75~6.0B) and valve lift (2~10 mm). Particle image velocimetry was used to measure the velocity field inside the engine cylinder. The swirl center position is found with a critical point theory and the intensity of turbulence is calculated from PIV velocity data. The results show that the center of swirl is located closer to the center of cylinder and turbulence intensity is lower, when the intake valve angle is the smaller. It is conventional to evaluate the swirl ratio at 1.75B position in the steady flow bench of SI engine. At this position, however, the distance of swirl center from the cylinder center scatters significantly for the variation of valve lift, and the turbulence intensity is much stronger regardless of the valve angle. Thus, to estimate the flow at the end of compression stroke in a real engine from the data in the steady flow experiments, the evaluation position should be moved further downstream more than 4.5B.