Gasoline direct injection (GDI) nozzles are manufactured to meet geometric specifications with length scales onthe order of a few hundred microns. The machining tolerances of these nominal dimensions are not always knowndue to the difficulty in accurately measuring such small length scales in a nonintrusive fashion. To gain insight intothe variability of the machined dimensions as well as any effects that this variability may have on the fuel spraybehavior, a series of measurements of the internal geometry and fuel mass distribution were performed on a set ofeight nominally duplicate GDI “Spray G” nozzles provided by the Engine Combustion Network. The key dimensionsof each of the eight nozzle holes were measured with micron resolution using full spectrum x-ray tomographicimaging at the 7-BM beamline of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. Fuel densitydistributions at 2 mm downstream of the nozzle tips were obtained by performing x-ray radiography measurementsfor many lines of sight. The density measurements reveal nozzle-to-nozzle as well as hole-to-hole density variations.The combination of high-resolution geometry and fuel distribution datasets allows spray phenomena to be linked tospecific geometric characteristics of the nozzle, such as variability in the hole lengths and counterbore diameters,and the hole inlet corner radii. This analysis provides important insight into which geometrical characteristics ofthe nozzles may have the greatest importance in the development of the injected sprays, and to what degreethese geometric variations might account for the total spray variability. The goal of this work is then to further theunderstanding of the relationship between internal nozzle geometry and fuel injection, provide input to improvecomputational models, and ultimately aid in optimizing injector design for higher fuel efficiency and lower emissionsengines.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/ILASS2017.2017.4766
Study of mass and momentum transfer in diesel sprays based on X-ray mass distribution measurements and on a theoretical derivation