Velocity measurement inside a motored internal combustion engine using three-component laser Doppler anemometry

A three-component laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) system has been employed to investigate the structure of the flow inside the cylinder of a motored internal combustion engine. This model engine was reasonably representative of a typical, single cylinder, spark ignition engine although it did not permit firing. It was equipped with overhead valve gear and optical access was provided in the top and side walls of the cylinder. A principal objective was to study the influence of the inlet port design on the flow within the cylinder during the induction and compression strokes of the engine. Here, it can be noted that results obtained in an unfired engine are believed to be representative of the flow behaviour before combustion occurs in a fired engine (see P.O. Witze, Measurements of the spatial distribution and engine speed dependence of turbulent air motion in an i.c. engine, SAE Paper No. 770220, 1977; Witze, Sandia Laboratory Energy Report, SAND 79-8685, Sandia Laboratories, USA, 1979). Experimental data presented for an inclined inlet port configuration reveal the complex three-dimensional nature of the flow inside the model engine cylinder. Not surprisingly, the results also show that the inclined inlet port created flow conditions more favourable to mixing in the cylinder. Specifically, the inclined inlet flow was found to generate a region with a relatively high shear and strong recirculation zones in the cylinder. Inclining the inlet port also produced a more nearly homogeneous flow structure at top dead centre during the compression stroke. The paper identifies the special difficulties encountered in making the LDA measurements. The experimental findings are examined and the problems that arise in presenting time-varying three-dimensional data of this type are discussed. Finally, the future potential of this experimental approach is explored.