Effects of injection timing on performance and droplet characteristics of a sixteen-valve four cylinder engine

Abstract

 The performance and droplet characteristics of a sixteen-valve, four cylinder engine operating with combustion in one cylinder have been measured with part load, a speed of 1200 rpm and a stoichiometric mixture of gasoline and air. The indicated mean-effective cylinder pressure was found to be constant with initiation of injection from 150° to 630° of crank angle after top-dead-centre of intake and with a 10% reduction between 30° and 60° which coincided with maxima in the covariance in pressure and in the emissions of unburned hydrocarbon. There was also a tendency for performance to decline with injection after 660°.

Measurements with laser- and phase-Doppler velocimeters showed that the number of droplets entering the cylinder was much reduced with injection at crank angles corresponding to closed inlet valves due to evaporation, and that the few large droplets which emerged did not survive until top-dead-centre of compression. In contrast, some of the many droplets associated with injection with the valves open survived to the crank angle of ignition and it is likely that these led to an inhomogeneous charge with poorer flame-front propagation responsible for reduction in performance.