A Visualization Study of Airflow and Air-Fuel Mixing Inside a Rotary Engine.

This experimental visualization study focuses on the air-fuel mixture formation inside LDISC (low-pressure direct injection statified charge) rotary engines with the side-port intake system. Nonlubrication rotary engines newly designed with transparent side housings have made optical visualization methods applicable. The flow fields and the fuel vapor distributions are visualized with the laser light sheet method and the Schlieren method, respectively. Motion pictures show that the vortices which give major features to the flow fields play a key role in the air-fuel mixture formation process. Given the experimental data, this paper concludes that what are significant to the air-fuel mixing process are intake pressure conditions and rotor geometries.