Turbulent Flow Produced by Piston Motion in a Spark-ignition Engine

Turbulence produced by the piston motion in spark-ignition engines is studied by 2D axisymmetric numerical simulations in the cylindrical geometry as in the theoretical and experimental work by Breuer et al. (Flow Turbul Combust 74:145, 2005). The simulations are based on the Navier–Stokes gas-dynamic equations including viscosity, thermal conduction and non-slip at the walls. Piston motion is taken into account as a boundary condition. The turbulent flow is investigated for a wide range of the engine speed, 1,000–4,000 rpm, assuming both zero and non-zero initial turbulence. The turbulent rms-velocity and the integral length scale are investigated in axial and radial directions. The rms-turbulent velocity is typically an order-of-magnitude smaller than the piston speed. In the case of zero initial turbulence, the flow at the top-dead-center may be described as a combination of two large-scale vortex rings of a size determined by the engine geometry. When initial turbulence is strong, then the integral turbulent length demonstrates self-similar properties in a large range of crank angles. The results obtained agree with the experimental observations of Breuer et al. (Flow Turbul Combust 74:145, 2005).