Simulation of Flow in the Intake Pipe of an Internal Combustion Engine

Numerical Simulations are done to study the flow characteristics associated with the curved intake manifold of a typical internal combustion engine at turbulent range of Reynolds Number. In Internal Combustion engines, turbulence is an essential quantity for good mixing of air and fuel and uniform distribution of air-fuel mixture in both the manifold and the cylinder. In present analysis, simulations are limited to study of spreading of fluid in the intake manifold of internal combustion engine. The main focus is to identify the effects of velocity profile (or turbulence generation) on the spreading of fluid in the intake manifold of internal combustion engine. Fluid spreading in intake manifold plays a critical role in combustion at later stage. For simulations, k-omega turbulence model is used. Three Reynolds Number i.e. 16000, 33000, 50000 are selected and the results for uniform velocity profile are compared with the parabolic profile. Iso-surfaces of vorticity and velocity showed that the spreading of fluid is augmented by the fluid Reynolds Number. Furthermore, for each Reynolds Number adding parabolic profile to the fluid inlet enables more uniform distribution of fluid.