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Flowthroughvalves
1.Timing
Figure612showsthemaingeometricparametersofapoppetvalveheadandseat.

Figure612:

Figure613showstheproportionsoftypicalinletandexhaustvalvesandports,relativetothevalveinnerseat
diameterD.Theinletportisgenerallycircular,ornearlyso,andthecrosssectionalareaisnolargerthanis
requiredtoachievethedesiredpoweroutput.Fortheexhaustport,theimportanceofgoodvalveseatandguide
cooling,withtheshortenlengthofexposedvalvestem,leadstoadifferentdesign.Althoughacircularcrosssection
isstilldesirable,arectangularorovalshapeisoftenessentialaroundtheguidebossarea.Typicalvalvehead
sizesfordifferentshapedcombustionchambersintermsofcylinderboreBaregiveninTable6.1.Eachofthese
chambershapesallowhighermaximumairflowsforagivencylinderdisplacement.

Figure613:

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Typicalvalvetiming,valveliftprofiles,andvalveopenareasforafourstrokecyclesparkignitionengineare
showninFig.614.Thereisnouniversallyacceptedcriterionfordefiningvalvetimingpoints.Somearebased
uponaspecificliftcriterion.Forexample,SAEdefinesvalvetimingeventsbasedonreferencevalveliftpoints:

1. Hydrauliclifters.Openingandclosingpositionsarethe0.15mm(0.006in)valveliftpoints.
2. Mechanicallifters.Valveopeningandclosingpositionsarethe0.15mm(0.006in)valveliftpointsplusthe
specifiedlash.

Table61:
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Alternatively,valveeventscanbedefinedbasedonangularcriteriaalongtheliftcurve.Whatisimportantiswhen
significantgasflowthroughthevalveopenareaeitherstartsorceases.
Theinstantaneousvalveflowareadependsonvalveliftandthegeometricdetailsofthevalvehead,seat,and
steam.Therearethreeseparatestagestothedetailsoftheflowareadevelopmentasvalveliftincreases,as
showninFig.614b.
Forlowvalvelifts,theminimumflowareacorrespondstoafrustrumofarightcircularconewheretheconical
facebetweenthevalveandtheseat,whichisperpendiculartotheseat,definestheflowarea.Forthisstage:

Formula67:

whereBisthevalveseatangle,Lvisthevcalvelift,Dvisthevalveheaddiameterandwistheseatwidth.

Forthesecondstage,theminimumareaisstilltheslantsurfaceofafrustrumofarightcircularcone,butthis
surfaceisnolongerperpendiculartothevalveseat.Thebaseangleoftheconeincreasesfrom(90B)toward
thatofacylinder,90.Forthisstage:

Formula68:

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whereDpistheportdiameter,DsisthevalvestemdiameterandDmisthemeanseatdiameter(Dvw).

Figure614:

(a)Typicalvalvetimingforhighspeed2.2dm3fourcylindersparkignitionengine.
(b)Schematicshowingthreestagesofvalvelift.
(c) Valvelift curve and corresponding minimum intake and exhaust valve open areas as a function of camshaft
angle.Inletandexhaustvalvediametersare3.6and3.1cm,respectively.

Finally,whenthevalveliftissufficientlylarge,theminimumflowareaisnolongerbetweenthevalveheadand
seatitistheportflowareaminusthesectionalareaofthevalvestem.

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Thusfor

Formula69

Intakeandexhaustvalveopenareascorrespondingtoatypicalvalveliftprofileareplottedversuscamshaftangle
inFig.614c.Thesethreedifferentflowregimesareindicated.Themaximumvalveliftisnormallyabout12
percentofthecylinderbore.
Inletvalveopening(IVO)typicallyoccurs10to25BTDC.Engineperformanceisrelativlyinsensitivetothis
timingpoint.ItshouldoccursufficientlybeforeTDCsothatcylinderpressuredoesnotdipearlyintheintake
stroke.
Inletvalveclosing(IVC)usuallyfallsintherange40to60afterBDC,toprovidemoretimeforcylinderfilling
underconditionswherecylinderpressureisbelowtheintakemanifolspressureatBTC.IVCisoneoftheprincipal
factorsthatdetermineshighspeedvolumetricefficiency(VE)italsoaffectslowspeedVEduetobackflowinto
theintake.
ExhaustValveOpening(EVO)occurs50to60beforeBDC,wellbeforetheendoftheexpansionstroke,sothat
blowdowncanassistinexpellingtheexhaustgases.Thegoalhereistoreducecylinderpressuretoclosetothe
exhaustmanifoldpressureassoonaspossibleafterBDCoverthefullenginespeedrange.Notethatthetimingof
EVOaffectsthecycleefficiencysinceitdeterminestheeffectiveexpansionratio.
Exhaustvalveclosing(EVC)endstheexhaustprocessanddeterminesthedurationofthevalveoverlapperiod.
EVCtypicallyfallsintherange8to20afterTDC.Atidleandlightload,insparkignitionengines(whichare
throttled),itthereforeregulatesthequantityofexhaustgasesthatflowbackintothecombustionchamberthrough
theexhaustvalveundertheinfluenceofintakemanifoldvaccum.Athighenginespeedsandloads,itregulates
howmuchofthecylinderburnedgasesareexhausted.EVCtimingshouldoccursufficientlyfarafterTDCsothat
thecylinderpressuredoesnotriseneartheendoftheexhauststroke.LateEVCfavorshighpowerattheexpense
oflowspeedtorqueandidlecombustionquality.Notefromthetimingdiagram(Fig.614a)thatthepointsof
maximumvalveliftandmaximumpistonvelocitydonotcoincide.
Theeffectofvalvegeometryandtimingonairflowcanbeillustratedconceptuallybydividingtherateofchangeof
cylindervolumebytheinstantaneousminimumvalveflowareatoobtainapseudoflowvelocityforeachvalve:

Formula610:

whereVisthecylindervolume,Bisthecylinderbore,
sisthedistancebetweenthewristpinandcrankaxis
andAmisthevalveareagivenbyEqs(6.7),(6.8)or(6.9).

Instantaneouspseudoflowvelocityprofilesfortheexhaustandintakestrokesofafourstrokefourcylinderengine
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areshowninFig.615.

Figure615:

Notetheappearanceoftwopeaksinthepseudoflowvelocityforboththeexhaustandtheintakestrokes.The
broadpeaksoccuringatmaximumpistonvelocityreflectthefactthatvalveflowareaisconstantatthispoint.The
peaksclosetoTDCresultfromtheexhaustvalveclosingandintakevalveopeningprofiles.Thepeakattheendof
theexhauststrokeisimportantsinceitindicatesagighpressuredropacrossthevalveatthispoint,whichwill
resultinhighertrappedresidualmass.Themagnitudeofthisexhauststrokepseudovelocitypeakdepends
stronglyonthetimingofexhaustvalveclosing.
Thepseudovelocitypeakatthestartoftheintakestrokeinmuchlessimportant.
Thatthepseudovelocitiesearlyintheexhauststrokeandlateintheintakestrokearelowindicatesthat
phenomenaotherthanquasisteadyflowgovernetheflowrate.Thesearetheperiodswhenexhaustblowdown
andramandtuningeffectsintheintakearemostimportant.

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