Induction System Effects on Small-Scale Turbulence in a High-Speed Diesel Engine

The influence of the induction system on small-scale turbulence in a high-speed, automotive diesel engine was investigated under variable swirl conditions. The induction system was made up of two equiverse swirl tangential ducts, and valves of the same size and lift. Variable swirl conditions were obtained by keeping one of the inlet valves either closed or functioning, and by changing engine speed. The investigation was carried out for two induction system configurations: with both ducts operating and with only one of them operating. Two different engine speeds were considered, one relatively low (1600 rpm) and the other quite high (3000 rpm), the latter being the highest speed at which engine turbulence has been measured up to now. Cycle-resolved hot-wire anemometry measurements of air velocity were performed throughout the induction and compression strokes, under motored conditions, along a radial direction at an axial level that was virtually in the middle of the combustion chamber at top dead center. The velocity data were analyzed using the nonstationary time-averaging procedure previously developed by the authors. Correlation and spectral analysis of the small-scale turbulence so determined was also performed. The turbulence intensity and its degree of nonhomogeneity and anisotropy were sensibly influenced by the variable swirl conditions, depending on both the intake system configuration and engine speed; they generally showed an increase with increasing swirl intensity, at the end of the compression stroke. A similar trend was observed in the cyclic fluctuation of both the mean velocity and turbulence intensity. The micro time scale of turbulence was found to be almost uniform during induction and compression, showing a slight dependence on the measurement point and on the intake system configuration, but a more sensible dependence on the engine speed. No effect of the cylinder wall on turbulence was apparent.