Investigating the Origins of Cyclic Variability in Internal Combustion Engines Using Wall-Resolved Large Eddy Simulations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sicong Wu ◽  
Saumil S. Patel ◽  
Muhsin M. Ameen

Abstract Modern internal combustion engines (ICE) operate at the ragged edge of stable operation characterized by high cycle-to-cycle variations (CCV). A key scientific challenge for ICE is the understanding, modeling, and control of CCV in engine performance, which can contribute to partial burns, misfire, and knock. The objective of the current study is to use high-fidelity numerical simulations to improve the understanding of the causes of CCV. Nek5000, a leading high-order spectral element, open source code, is used to simulate the turbulent flow in the engine combustion chamber. Multi-cycle, wall-resolved large-eddy simulations (LES) are performed for the General Motors (GM), Transparent Combustion Chamber (TCC-III) optical engine under motored operating conditions. The mean and root-mean-square (r.m.s.) of the in-cylinder flow fields at various piston positions are validated using PIV measurements during the intake and compression strokes. The large-scale flow structures, including the swirl and tumble flow patterns, are analyzed in detail and the causes for cyclic variabilities in these flow features are explained. The energy distribution across the different scales of the flow are quantified using one-dimensional energy spectra, and the effect of the tumble breakdown process on the energy distribution is examined. The insights from the current study can help us develop improved engine designs with reduced cyclic variabilities in the in-cylinder flow leading to enhanced engine performance.

Author(s):  
Randy P. Hessel ◽  
Ettore Musu ◽  
Salvador M. Aceves ◽  
Daniel L. Flowers

A computational mesh is required when performing CFD-combustion modeling of internal combustion engines. For combustion chambers with moving pistons and valves, like those in typical cars and trucks, the combustion chamber shape changes continually in response to piston and valve motion. The combustion chamber mesh must then also change at each time step to reflect that change in geometry. The method of changing the mesh from one computational time step to the next is called rezoning. This paper introduces a new method of mesh rezoning for the KIVA3V CFD-combustion program. The standard KIVA3V code from Los Alamos National Laboratory comes with standard rezoners that very nicely handle mesh motion for combustion chambers whose mesh does not include valves and for those with flat heads employing vertical valves. For pent-roof and wedge-roof designs KIVA3V offers three rezoners to choose from, the choice depending on how similar a combustion chamber is to the sample combustion chambers that come with KIVA3V. Often, the rezoners must be modified for meshes of new combustion chamber geometries to allow the mesh to successfully capture change in geometry during the full engine cycle without errors. There is no formal way to approach these modifications; typically this requires a long trial and error process to get a mesh to work for a full engine cycle. The benefit of the new rezoner is that it replaces the three existing rezoners for canted valve configurations with a single rezoner and has much greater stability, so the need for ad hoc modifications of the rezoner is greatly reduced. This paper explains how the new rezoner works and gives examples of its use.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-121
Author(s):  
Oleksandr Khrulev ◽  
◽  
Olexii Saraiev ◽  
Iryna Saraieva ◽  
◽  
...  

The analysis of the crankshaft bearing condition of the automotive internal combustion engines in the case of insufficiency and breakage of oil supply to them is carried out. It is noted that this fault is one of the most common causes of damage to rubbing pairs in operation. At the same time, the different groups of bearings are often damaged, which cannot be explained within the framework of existing models of plain bearing lubrication. The objective of the work is to develop a mathematical model of oil supply to connecting rod bearings in emergency mode, taking into account the characteristic features of the bearing design. The model also, depending on the nature of the damage, should help to determine and explain the causes of bearing failures if they occur in different modes when operating conditions are broken. A computational model has been developed that makes it possible to assess the effect of design differences in the features of oil supply and the action of the centrifugal forces during crankshaft rotation on the oil column in the lubrication hole where oil is supplied to the conrod bearing. Calculations of the change in time of the oil supply pressure to the connecting rod bearings for the various designs of the crankshaft lubrication holes have been performed. It is shown that, depending on the operating mode of the engine and its design, the oil pressure in front of the connecting rod bearings does not disappear immediately after oil supply failure to crankshaft. Moreover, the lower the crankshaft speed is, the longer the lubrication of the conrod bearings will continue. The calculation results are confirmed by the data of the expert studies of the engine technical condition, in which the crankshaft was wedged in the damaged main bearings was found in the absence of serious damage to the connecting rod ones. It has been found that such features of the damage correspond to an rapid breakage of the oil supply to the crankshaft in the case of such operational damage as the oil pump and pressure reducing valve failure, the oil filter seal and oil pan destruction, etc. The developed model explains the difference in lubrication conditions and in the damage feature to the main and connecting rod bearings in the emergency cases of the oil supply breakage, which are observed during operation, and helps to clarify the failure causes. This makes it possible to use the model and the obtained data when providing auto technical expert studies of the failure causes of automobile internal combustion engines This makes it possible to use the model and the obtained data when providing auto technical expert studies of the failure causes of automobile internal combustion engines when the operating conditions are broken.


2018 ◽  
Vol 182 ◽  
pp. 01027
Author(s):  
Jan Monieta

The intensity of infrared radiation emitted by objects depends mainly on their temperature. One of the diagnostic signals may be the temperature field. In infrared thermography, this quantity is used as an indicator of the technical condition of marine objects. The article presents an overview of the use of infrared thermography for the diagnosis mainly of marine piston floating objects and various types of reciprocating internal combustion engines as well as examples of own research results. A general introduction to infrared thermography and common procedures for temperature measurement and non-destructive testing are presented. Experimental research was carried out both in laboratory conditions and in the operating conditions of sea-going vessels. Experimental studies consisted of the presentation of photographs of the same objects made in visible light and the use of infrared thermography. The same objects were also compared, but for different cylinders of the tested internal combustion engines as well as for the up state and fault state. The characteristics of the temperature values at selected points were taken depending on the engine load along with the approximation mathematical models of these dependencies.


1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 694-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiang Lu ◽  
Ashwani K. Gupta ◽  
Eugene L. Keating

Numerical simulation of flow, combustion, heat release rate, and pollutants emission characteristics have been obtained using a single cylinder internal combustion engine operating with propane as the fuel. The data show that for good agreement with experimental results on the peak pressure and the rate of pressure rise as a function of crank angle, spark ignition energy and local cylinder pressure must be properly modeled. The results obtained for NO and CO showed features which are qualitatively in good agreement and are similar to those reported in the literature for the chosen combustion chamber geometry. The results have shown that both the combustion chamber geometry and engine operating parameters affects the flame growth within the combustion chamber which subsequently affects the pollutants emission levels. The code employed the time marching procedure and solves the governing partial differential equations of multicomponent chemically reacting fluid flow by finite difference method. The numerical results provide a cost effective means of developing advanced internal combustion engine chamber geometry design that provides high efficiency and low pollution levels. It is expected that increased computational tools will be used in the future for enhancing our understanding of the detailed combustion process in internal combustion engines and all other energy conversion systems. Such detailed information is critical for the development of advanced methods for energy conservation and environmental pollution control.


Author(s):  
Lucas Konstantinoff ◽  
Lukas Möltner ◽  
Martin Pillei ◽  
Thomas Steiner ◽  
Thomas Dornauer ◽  
...  

In this study, the influence of the charge motion on the internal combustion in a spark ignition sewage gas-driven engine (150 kW) for combined heat and power units was investigated. For this purpose, the geometry of the combustion chamber in the immediate vicinity to the inlet valve seats was modified. The geometrical modification measures were conducted iteratively by integrative determination of the swirl motion on a flow bench, by laser-optical methods and consecutively by combustion analysis on a test engine. Two different versions of cylinder heads were characterized by dimensionless flow and swirl numbers prior to testing their on-engine performance. Combustion analysis was conducted with a cylinder pressure indication system for partial and full load, meeting the mandatory NOx limit of 500 mg m−3. Subsuming the flow bench results, the new valve seat design has a significant enhancing impact on the swirl motion but it also leads to disadvantages concerning the volumetric efficiency. A comparative consideration of the combustion rate delivers that the increased swirl motion results in a faster combustion, hence in a higher efficiency. In summary, the geometrical modifications close to the valve seat result in increased turbulence intensity. It was proven that this intensification raises the ratio of efficiency by 1.6%.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Galindo ◽  
Roberto Navarro ◽  
Luis Miguel García-Cuevas ◽  
Daniel Tarí ◽  
Hadi Tartoussi ◽  
...  

Zero-dimensional/one-dimensional computational fluid dynamics codes are used to simulate the performance of complete internal combustion engines. In such codes, the operation of a turbocharger compressor is usually addressed employing its performance map. However, simulation of engine transients may drive the compressor to work at operating conditions outside the region provided by the manufacturer map. Therefore, a method is required to extrapolate the performance map to extended off-design conditions. This work examines several extrapolating methods at the different off-design regions, namely, low-pressure ratio zone, low-speed zone and high-speed zone. The accuracy of the methods is assessed with the aid of compressor extreme off-design measurements. In this way, the best method is selected for each region and the manufacturer map is used in design conditions, resulting in a zonal extrapolating approach aiming to preserve accuracy. The transitions between extrapolated zones are corrected, avoiding discontinuities and instabilities.


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