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In-cylinder tumble flows and performance of a motorcycle engine with circular and elliptic intake ports

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Abstract

The temporal and spatial evolution processes of the flows in the cylinder of a four-valve, four-stroke, single cylinder, reciprocating motorcycle engine installed with the elliptic and circular intake ports were experimentally studied by using the particle image velocimetry (PIV). The engine was modified to fit the requirements of PIV measurement. The velocity fields measured by the PIV were analyzed and quantitatively presented as the tumble ratio and turbulence intensity. In the symmetry plane, both the circular and elliptic intake ports could initiate a vortex around the central region during the intake stroke. During the compression stroke, the central vortex created in the cylinder of the engine with the circular intake port disappeared, while that in the engine cylinder with the elliptic intake port further developed into the tumble motion. In the offset plane, weak vortical structures were initiated by the bluff-body effect of the intake valves during the intake stroke. The vortical structures induced by the elliptic intake port were more coherent than those generated by the circular intake port; besides, this feature extends to the compression stroke. The cycle-averaged tumble ratio and the turbulence intensity of the engine with the elliptic intake port were dramatically larger than those of the engine with the circular intake port. The measured engine performance was improved a lot by installing the elliptic intake port. The correlation between the flow features and the enhancement of the engine performance were argued and discussed.

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Abbreviations

A/F:

air/fuel ratio

BSFC:

break specific fuel consumption (=fuel consumption rate divided by output power of engine) (g/PS h)

CA:

crank angle (°)

C HC :

concentration of hydrocarbon emission (ppm)

I :

turbulence intensity at each grid point at a certain crank angle (=root-mean-square values of fluctuation velocities divided by average engine speed)

I CA :

plane-averaged turbulence intensity at a certain crank angle (=arithmetic average of I)

\( \overline{I} \) :

cycle-averaged turbulence intensity (=arithmetic average of I CA over intake and compression strokes)

L :

lift of valve (mm)

N :

engine speed (rpm)

n :

number of grid points

T :

torque of engine output (kg m)

T v, CA :

plane-averaged tumble ratio of in-cylinder flow defined by Eq. 1

\( \overline{{T_{v} }} \) :

cycle-averaged tumble ratio (=arithmetic average of T v, CA over intake and compression strokes)

P :

power of engine output (PS)

R :

radius of engine cylinder bore (=26.2 mm)

X :

horizontal coordinate originated at left cylinder wall

Y :

vertical coordinate originated at lower-left corner of cylinder when piston at bottom dead center

α :

throttle valve opening (proportion of opening out of full opening)

υ :

kinematic viscosity of air (m2/s)

ω :

crank shaft angular speed (radians per second)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 10672, Taiwan, ROC

    R. F. Huang & K. H. Lin

  2. R & D Center, Sangyang Industry Co., Hsin Fong Shiang, Hsinchu County, Taiwan, ROC

    C.-N. Yeh

  3. Department of Power Vehicle and Systems Engineering, National Defense University, Tai-His, Tao-Yuan, 33509, Taiwan, ROC

    J. Lan

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  1. R. F. Huang
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  2. K. H. Lin
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  3. C.-N. Yeh
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  4. J. Lan
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Correspondence to R. F. Huang.

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Huang, R.F., Lin, K.H., Yeh, CN. et al. In-cylinder tumble flows and performance of a motorcycle engine with circular and elliptic intake ports. Exp Fluids 46, 165–179 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-008-0551-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-008-0551-z

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