Tumble Motion Generation in Small Gasoline Engines: A New Methodological Approach for the Analysis of the Influence of the Intake Duct Geometrical Parameters

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 the emissions, considering also that the two-wheels layout represents an obstacle in adopting the advanced post-treatment concepts designed for the automotive applications. During the last years the deep re-examination of the engine design for lowering the engine emissions involved the two-wheel vehicles too. The IC-engine overall efficiency plays a fundamental role in determining the 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. The aim of the paper is to introduce a new analysis approach for a deep insight of the 3D-CFD results performed 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 by the AVL-FIRE v. 2010 CFD code 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 in terms of the tumble ratio, the turbulent kinetic energy and the vortex characterization at IVC. © 2013 The Authors.