Assessment of the Influence of Intake Duct Geometrical Parameters on the Tumble Motion Generation in a Small Gasoline Engine

During the last years the deep re-examination of the engine design for lowering engine emissions involved two-wheel vehicles too. The IC-engine overall efficiency plays a fundamental role in determining final raw emissions. From this point of view, the optimization of the in-cylinder flow organization is mandatory. In detail, in SI-engines the generation of a coherent tumble vortex having dimensions comparable to the engine stroke could be of primary importance to extend the engines’ ignition limits toward the field of the dilute/lean mixtures. For motorbike and motor scooter applications, the optimization of the tumble generation is considered an effective way to improve the combustion system efficiency and to lower emissions, considering also that the two-wheels layout represents an obstacle in adopting the advanced post-treatment concepts designed for automotive applications. The aim of the paper is to use the 3D-CFD simulation tool to assess the intake duct geometry influence on the tumble motion generation during both the intake and the compression strokes. All the CFD simulations presented in the paper were performed on a SI 4 valve engine characterized by an unit displacement of 250 cm3. The tumble structure was changed during the analysis by changing the angle set defining the intake port shape. The stroke-to-bore engine ratio was kept constant to 0.7. The effects of the tumble variations were evaluated on the in-cylinder vortex characteristic length and vorticity, and on the cylinder mean flow structure at IVC. 3D-CFD simulations were performed by AVL-FIRE v.2010 CFD code.