• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.197-205
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• 1996

The flow characteristics of five different 4-valve cylinder heads were investigated in a steady flow rig using laser-Doppler velocimetry. The tumble flow of each head with pentroof combustion chamber was quantified by nondimensional tumble number using a tumble adaptor. The formation of tumbling vortex was examined in an optical single-cylinder engine which has windows for in-cylinder LDV measurements. Tumble vortex ratio was estimated from the tumble flow measurement. The four-valve cylinder heads with pent-roof combustion chamber showed the tumble vortex from the intake process, which was investigated in the steady flow test. The tumble adaptor which converts the tumble into swirl flow was found to be feasible in predicting the tumble flow in the real engine. The tumble strength in the steady flow test coincides with that in the real engine experiment within 15%. It was found that the steady flow test on the four-valve cylinder heads provides the tip for a better design of cylinder head.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.96-104
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• 2000

It is well known that combustion stability under idle and part-load conditions directly affect fuel economy and exhaust emission. In practice, there have been a lot of studies so that a significant improvement in combustion stability has been achieved in this research field. However, applying published results to the development process of mass production engine, there are still many problems which are solved previously. In this study, initial flame behavior and flame propagation characteristic were investigated statistically in order to optimize combustion chamber shapes in the development stage of mass production S.I. engine. To the purpose, the authors applied the flame image capturing system to single cylinder optical engine. The captured flame images were effectively analyzed by using the image processing program which was developed by the authors and adopted new threshold algorithm instead of conventional histogram analysis. In addition, the cylinder pressure was also measured simultaneously to compare evaluated flame results with cylinder pressure data in terms of the combustion characteristics, combustion stability, and cycle-to-cycle combustion variability.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.18-26
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• 2001

This paper is the third of 3 companion papers which investigate axial stratification process. In-cylinder fuel behavior has been investigated in the port injected SI engine by visualizing for the purpose of understanding stratification. Planar laser light sheet from an Nd:YAG laser has been illuminated through the transparent quartz cylinder of the single cylinder optical engine and the Mie scattered light has been captured through the quartz window in the piston head with an ICCD camera. Fuel has been replaced with an air-ethanol mixture to utilize atomized fuel spray for the visualization purposes. This results have been compared with steady flow concentration measurement. In high swirl port, the most fuel remains at combustion chamber and upper cylinder region without being affected by injection timing. The macro-distributed state is not changed but the difference of the amount of fuel around the spark plug varies according to injection timing, which determines LML.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.19-27
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• 2001

This paper is the first of 3 companion papers which investigate axial stratification process. In-cylinder fuel behavior has been investigated in the port injected SI engine by visualization for the purpose of understanding stratification. Planar laser light sheet from an Nd:YAG laser has been illuminated through the transparent quartz cylinder of the single cylinder optical engine and the Mie scattered light has been replaced with an air-ethanol mixture to utilize atomized fuel spray for the visualization purposes. This results have been compared with steady flow concentration measurement. For no swirl port, the axial penetration depends on the fuel injection timing. The fuel tends to remain in the upper region of the cylinder far from the spark plug and the distribution is not affected by the injection timing except 90 ATDC.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.23-32
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• 2002

Combustion and flame propagation characteristics of the liquid phase LPG injection (LPLI) engine were investigated in a single cylinder optical engine. Lean bum operation is needed to reduce thermal stress of exhaust manifold and engine knock in a heavy duty LPG engine. An LPLI system has advantages on lean operation. Optimized engine design parameters such as swirl, injection timing and piston geometry can improve lean bum performance with LPLI system. In this study, the effects of piston geometry along with injection timing and swirl ratio on flame propagation characteristics were investigated. A series of bottom-view flame images were taken from direct visualization using an W intensified high-speed CCD camera. Concepts of flame area speed, In addition to flame propagation patterns and thermodynamic heat release analysis, was introduced to analyze the flame propagation characteristics. The results show the correlation between the flame propagation characteristics, which is related to engine performance of lean region, and engine design parameters such as swirl ratio, piston geometry and injection timing. Stronger swirl resulted in foster flame propagation under open valve injection. The flame speed was significantly affected by injection timing under open valve injection conditions; supposedly due to the charge stratification. Piston geometry affected flame propagation through squish effects.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.45-51
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• 2004

Initial flame development and propagation were visualized under different fuel injection timings to relate the initial flame development to the engine stability in a port injection SI engine. Experiments were performed in an optical single cylinder engine modified from a production engine and images were captured through the quartz window mounted in the piston by an intensified CCD camera. Stratification state was controlled by varying injection timing. Under each injection condition, the flame images were captured at the pre-set crank angles. These were averaged and processed to characterize the flame. The flame stability was estimated by the weighted average of flame area, luminosity, and standard deviation of flame area. Results show that stratification state according to injection timing did not affect on the direction of flame propagation. The flame development and the initial flame stability are strongly dependent on the stratified conditions and the initial flame stability governs the engine stability and lean misfire limit.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.57-64
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• 1999

Initial flame development and propagation were visualized under the new ignition system developed to estimate the effects of ignition characteristics on the engine performance in a port injection SI engine. Effects of intake air flow characteristics were also investigated by three different kinds of the swirl control valve. Experiments were performed in an optical single cylinder engine modified form a commercial engine. Flame images were captured through the quartz window mounted in the piston by the high speed video camera and analyzed to compare initial flame development. Results show that IMEP tends to rise slightly as the ignition duration gets longer. The direction of flame propagation is decisively governed by the in-cylinder flow motion. Every flame grows toward the exhaust valve forming a kind of turbulent flame. Initial flame propaagation characteristics are very similar to ones analyzed form pressure data.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.289-294
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• 2006

Better fundamental understanding of the interactions between the in-cylinder flows and combustion process is an important requirement for further improvement in the fuel economy and emissions of internal combustion(IC) engines. Flow near a spark plug at the time of ignition plays an important role for early flame kernel development(EFKD). Velocity data measurements in this study were made with a two-component laser Doppler velocimetry(LDV) near a spark plug in a single cylinder optical spark ignition(SI) engine with a heart-shaped combustion chamber. LDV velocity data were collected on an individual cycle basis under wide-open motored conditions with an engine speed of 1,000rpm. This study examines and compares the flow fields as interpreted through ensemble, cyclic and discrete wavelet transformation(DWT) analysis. The energy distributions in the non-stationary engine flows are also investigated over crank angle phase and frequency through continuous wavelet transformation(CWT) for a position near a spark plug. Wavelet analysis is appropriate for analyzing the flow fields in engines because it gives information about the transient events in a time and frequency plane. The results of CWT analysis are provided and compared with the mean flows of DWT first decomposition level for all cycles at a position. Low frequency high energy found with CWT corresponds well with the peak locations of the mean velocity. The high frequency flows caused by the intake jet gradually decay as the piston approaches the bottom dead center(BDC).

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.519-526
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• 2006

For investigating the effect of fuel stratification on flame propagation, initial flame development and propagation were visualized under different axially stratified states in a port injection SI engine. Stratification was controlled by the combination of the port swirl ratio and injection timing. Experiments were performed in an optical single cylinder engine modified from a production engine and images were captured through the quartz window mounted in the piston by an intensified CCD camera. Firstly in this paper, the characteristics under no port-generated swirl condition, i.e. normal conventional case was studied. Under various stratified conditions, flame images were captured at the pre-set crank angles. These were averaged and processed to characterize the flames propagation. The flame stability was estimated by the weighted average of flame area and luminosity. The stability was also evaluated through the standard deviation of flame area and propagation distance, and mean absolute deviation of propagating direction. Results show that stratification state according to injection timing do not affect on the direction of flame propagation. The flame development and the initial flame stability are strongly dependent on the stratified conditions and the initial flame stability is closely related to the engine stability and lean misfire limit.