International Multidimensional Engine Modelling Users Group Meeting at the SAE Congress April 10, 2005, Detroit, MI

Flame Propagation and Knock Onset Analysis For Full Load SIEngine Combustion Optimisation Using AVL FIRE
R. Tatschl, M. Bogensperger, G. Kotnik, P. Priesching, M. Gouda* AVL List GmbH Advanced Simulation Technologies Graz, AUSTRIA
*

AVL Powertrain Engineering, Inc. Advanced Simulation Technologies Plymouth, MI

1 Introduction Full load performance and hence fuel economy of gasoline engines is mainly limited by the onset of knocking combustion. Spark timing has to be considerably retarded in order to ensure knock-free combustion under all relevant full load operating conditions, inevitably resulting in reduced engine performance and poor fuel economy. However, it is well known that an optimisation of the intake port / combustion chamber arrangement, shape and location of squish areas or spark location can considerably extend the knocking combustion limits. In this context, CFD supports the design engineer in the very early concept phase in systematically analysing and optimising intake port and combustion chamber details with respect to maximised knock resistance. Hence, the test-bed based development phase can start with an already pre-optimised combustion chamber configuration. Final optimisation and validation of the combustion performance is then achieved via conventional development techniques, such as pressure indication, as well as via application of optical diagnostic techniques. 2 CFD Modelling In the present case of SI-engine combustion the premixed flame propagation in FIRE is modelled on the basis of the Extended Coherent Flame Model ECFM [1-4]. The ECFM is based upon solving a transport equation for the flame surface density with source terms accounting for flame surface density production due to wrinkling and stretching of the flame by mean flow and turbulence effects and for flame surface density annihilation due to chemical reaction. In contrast to other most widely used simpler models, the present version of the ECFM fully accounts for

local equivalence ratio and residual gas inhomogeneities on the flame propagation characteristics. Flame initiation is modelled based upon a spark-ignition model accounting for the local thermochemistry, velocity and turbulence conditions at the spark location. The pre-reactions in the end gas finally leading to the onset of knock are modelled in FIRE according to a reduced kinetic approach [5, 6]. The hydrocarbon auto-ignition mechanism essentially based upon the well known SHELL model and suitably extended and adapted for the present applications - consists of a chain propagation process, including degenerate branching with two reaction paths leading to the formation of a branching agent. Chemical species exhibiting similar behaviour during the oxidation process are lumped together to generic molecular species. This leads to a significant reduction in the number of reaction steps and in the number of species participating in the reactions and thus enables efficient application of the model within the framework of a multidimensional computational method. Although only comprising of a few reactions, the adopted reaction scheme is capable of reflecting the complex processes during hydrocarbon auto-ignition, such as the appearance of cool flames and the negative temperature dependence of the ignition delay in a certain temperature range. Optimised sets of reaction rate parameters are available for primary and toluene reference fuels of different octane number. In the practical applications, the concentration of the intermediate reaction product Q is taken as an indicator for the local onset of auto-ignition in the end-gas of SI-engines.

Figure 1: Calculated vs. measured ignition delay adopting a reduced chemical kinetics based hydrocarbon auto-ignition model A simulation of the complete intake and compression strokes provides the required initial and boundary conditions for the subsequent combustion and knock onset calculation. At the start of the calculation the gas side initial and boundary conditions at the intake and exhaust sides are

taken from 1D cycle simulation results. For specification of the fuel side initial and boundary conditions different methodologies are applied depending on the engine type under consideration. Port fuel injected engines are usually modelled by assuming already fully evaporated fuel entering the cylinder, in gasoline direct injection engines the liquid fuel spray requires to be accounted for in order to adequately describe the air/fuel/residual gas mixing and homogenisation processes [3]. 3 Flame Propagation and Knock Onset

The flame propagation characteristics in terms of turbulent flame speed is governed by the local thermodynamic conditions and mixture composition as well as the local turbulence intensity. The spatial evolution of the flame, however, is a result of the superimposed effects of turbulent flame propagation, the volumetric expansion of the hot combustion products behind the flame front and the convective effects of the in-cylinder flow field. In addition, the in-cylinder flow field during combustion is altered by the combustion process itself, but also by its interaction with the combustion chamber and piston bowl geometry. Squish regions, spark plug location and details of the piston crown geometry exhibit a significant impact on the flame shape and its evolution characteristics.

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Figure 2: Calculated flame front locations at a) -15, b) -10, c) -5 degree crank-angle after TDC vs. d) experimental flame front contours for a comparable crank-angle interval Figure 2 shows the premixed flame propagation process in a gasoline DI engine under full load operating conditions in the cylinder head gasket plane. It is clearly visible how the flame starts from the spark location with nearly spherical shape. As the flame kernel growths and develops into a fully established self sustaining turbulent flame it gets more and more affected by the mean in-cylinder flow field and starts to interact with the piston crown (indicated as bright region). The outer tip at the right side of the piston crown acts as a flame holder with the local acceleration of the flame mainly caused by the mean flow directed in the main propagation direction of the flame front. The flame contour plot each contour representing the flame front position at a certain crank-angle - obtained by Visiotomo [7, 8] clearly reveals the same effect of the piston geometry on the flame shape.

The timing and location of the onset of knocking combustion in gasoline engines under full load engine operating conditions are mainly governed by the temporal evolution of the thermodynamic conditions in the end-gas and the time required for the propagating flame front to consume the end-gas areas, i.e. the competing processes of auto-ignition chemistry and flame propagation. The thermodynamic properties in the end-gas of SI-engines under full load conditions are the result of the simultaneous action of the piston compression effects as well as the compression effects exerted by the combustion heat release, i.e. the volumetric expansion effects of the hot combustion products. Hence, the compression ratio, thermodynamic conditions at the time of inlet valve closure as well as mixture composition and heat losses to the cylinder walls govern besides the spark timing the temporal evolution of the end gas thermodynamic properties and hence auto-ignition chemistry reaction rates.

Figure 3: Calculated temporal evolution of the intermediate product Q concentration for a variation of spark advance Higher levels of in-cylinder gas temperature inevitably result in higher rates of the prereactions in the end-gas that finally lead to thermal self-acceleration of the auto-ignition reactions. Due to the highly non-linear nature of the chemical reaction rates with temperature the effect of increased temperature on the knock onset timing is significant, as can be seen in Figure 3. As an indicator for the knock onset timing the maximum concentration of the intermediate Q of the auto-ignition chemistry is used. Figure 3 clearly shows the non-linear dependence of the auto-ignition onset timing in the end-gas as a function of the spark advance, i.e. a ten degree shift of spark timing leads to a nearly 20 degree earlier onset of auto-ignition. An indication of the knock intensity can be obtained by monitoring of the amount of unburned fuel in the end-gas at the time of knock onset or by graphically displaying the intermediate Q iso-surfaces at auto-ignition. Figure 4 shows the intermediate Q iso-surfaces for two different spark timings clearly indicating the difference in the size and distribution of the auto-ignition sites, and hence largely different knock intensity levels that can be expected in the two cases.

Figure 4: Calculated distribution of chemical intermediate Q concentration iso-surface for spark timing 16 degree crank-angle (left) and 26 degree crank-angle (right) before top dead centre) The results clearly show that earlier spark timing inevitably results in higher knock intensities. In addition it can be seen that auto-ignition does not necessarily occur homogeneously distributed in the end-gas but may also start at different distinct ignition sites. This can be attributed to small inhomogeneities in the temperature and mixture composition distribution remaining from the intake and compression strokes.

Figure 5: Calculated distribution of chemical intermediate Q concentration (left) vs. experimentally obtained knock probability distribution (right) in the cylinder head gasket plane, indicating knock onset locations Clear evidence of the degree of accuracy that can be expected from the CFD calculations is provided in Figure 5, comparing the predicted location of the onset of auto-ignition with the experimentally obtained knock probabilities. The experimental data represent the statistical evaluation of a large number of consecutive knocking engine cycles, with the dark areas indicating regions with largest number of knock events observed during the relevant engine running period. The calculated results also represent an averaged, mean engine cycle with the area of high concentration of the chemical intermediate Q indicating the most probable location of auto-ignition in the end-gas.

Combustion System Analysis

The flow conditions at the time of spark advance and during the turbulent flame propagation process are the result of the flow evolution during the induction and compression phases which are themselves strongly determined by the details of the intake port / combustion chamber arrangement. Valve angle, port inclination, the details of the port design strongly influence the flow structure during intake leading to significant differences in the mean flow pattern and the local turbulence intensity distribution at the time of spark advance. To ensure optimised flow conditions in the combustion chamber prior to combustion and especially in the vicinity of the spark plug over the entire engine speed range is of predominant importance in order to achieve highest possible engine performance. Hence, it is to be ensured that global intake generated swirling/tumbling flow motion is largely dissipated into small scale turbulent structures ensuring fast early flame kernel growth, symmetric flame propagation characteristics and avoiding areas of delayed combustion.

Figure 6: Calculated temporal evolution of the intermediate product Q concentration for a variation of the intake generated flow structure In contrast to a moderate impact on the burn rate both the changes in swirl/tumble motion structure and intensity exhibit a pronounced influence on the timing of knock-onset. Figure 6 presents the calculated temporal evolution of the maximum concentration of chemical intermediate Q taken as an indicator for the knock onset timing. The results show differences in the knock onset timing of about 12 to 14 degrees crank-angle for the swirl/tumble variations indicating considerable potential for full load combustion performance optimisation.

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Figure 7: Measured (top) vs. calculated (bottom) flame contours (left) and knock onset locations (right) for a) flat and b) deep spark electrode positioning The flame contours in Figure 7 show how the spark location influences the flame propagation characteristics. In the case of a flat spark positioning close to the cylinder head knock onset primarily occurs beneath the intake valves, in the case of deep spark positioning auto-ignition occurs in the area around the outlet valves. The explanation is found in the flame propagation characteristics. In the case of a deep spark position delayed combustion of the charge in the area of the outlet valves results in onset of knocking reactions in that area. For the flat electrode positioning case the remaining tumble motion still present at the time of spark advance first convects the early flame kernel towards the outlet valves, followed by combustion of the mixture beneath the intake valves. Acceleration of the combustion here is additionally caused by the reverse squish flow generated by the downward movement of the piston. It can also be seen that at the periphery of the squish area the flame propagation is slightly retarded, mainly due to secondary flow motion counteracting the flame propagation direction. Exactly at that locations the knock centres can be detected. 5 Summary

Based on selected examples the application of the CFD code FIRE to the analysis of SIengine flame propagation and knock-onset was presented. The results provide clear evidence of the applicability of CFD for providing a detailed insight into the complex in-cylinder processes determining premixed flame propagation and the onset of auto-ignition in the end gas of gasoline engines under full load operating conditions. The results presented in this study clearly provide evidence that CFD analysis can be successfully used in the early concept phase to provide

detailed information on the cause-and-effect-mechanisms of individual engine design and operating parameters and the flame propagation and knock onset characteristics. Acknowledgements Parts of the work presented in this paper were funded by the EC within the Fifth Framework Program under the contract ENK6-CT-2002-00643. References [1] Meneveau, C., Poinsot, T.: Stretching and Quenching of Flamelets in Premixed Turbulent Combustion, Combustion and Flame, 86:311-332, 1991 [2] Duclos, J.M., Bruneaux, G., Baritaud, T.A.: 3D Modelling of Combustion and Pollutants in a 4-Valve SI Engine; Effect of Fuel and Residual Distribution and Spark Location, SAE 961964, 1996 [3] Tatschl, R., v. Berg, E., Bogensperger, M., v. Knsberg Sarre, CH., Priesching, P.: "CFD in IC-Engine Spray and Combustion Simulation Current Status and Future Development", Proceedings of 5th World Congress on Computational Mechanics (WCCM V), Vienna, Austria, July 7-12, 2002 [4] Patel, S.N.D.H., Bogenperger, M., Tatschl, R., Ibrahim, S.S., Hargrave, G.K.: Coherent Flame Modeling of Turbulent Combustion A Validation Study, Proceedings of 2nd M.I.T. Conference on Computational Fluid and Solid Mechanics, Boston MA June 17-20, 2003 [5] Halstead, M.P., Kirsch, L.J., Prothero, A. and Quinn, C.P.: A Mathematical Model for Hydrocarbon Autoignition at High Pressures, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A., 364, pp.515-538, 1975 [6] Basevich, V.Y., Belyaev, A.A., Brandsttter, W., Frolov, S.M., Neigauz, M.G., Tatschl, R.: Reaction Mechanisms of iso-Octane and n-Heptane Autoignition under Conditions Relevant to Spark-Ignition Engines, Combustion, Detonation, Shock Waves, Proceedings of the Zeldovich Memorial, International Conference on Combustion, Volume 2, pp. 5 - 11, Moscow, 1994 [7] Philipp, H., Plimon, A., Fernitz, G., Hirsch, A., Fraidl, G., Winklhofer, E.: "A Tomographic Camera System for Combustion Diagnostics in SI Engines", SAE-Paper 950681, 1995 [8] Philipp, H., Hirsch, A., Baumgartner, M., Fernitz, G., Beidl, Ch., Piock, W., Winklhofer, E.: Localisation of Knock Events in Direct Injection Gasoline Engines, SAE 2001-01-1199, 2001