Cold Flow Simulation in Internal Combustion Engines Using

Dynamic Mesh

K.Mukund*, M.Arun, N.Bharath Srinivas, A.S.Appushame, R.Rudramoorthy

Department of Production Engineering, PSG College of Technology
Peelamedu, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India-641004
* Corresponding Author Email Address: kumarmukund@hotmail.com

Abstract: Improving engine performance is one of the highest priorities of major automotive
manufacturers due to stringent emission norms and need for fuel economy. The overall vehicle
performance is affected by the efficiency of the Internal Combustion Engine. Simulation of IC
Engines remains one of the most challenging applications of CFD modeling. Dynamic mesh
model has to be used to simulate the performance of the IC engine. The objective of this study
reported in this paper is to predict and analyze the flow around poppet valves in IC Engine using
dynamic mesh and hence find its volumetric efficiency. The flow field is solved using the
commercially available software FLUENT. These cold flow simulations for IC engines can
provide valuable design information to the engineers.

Keywords: Moving Mesh, IC engine, Poppet Valve, Volumetric Efficiency, CFD

1. Introduction

The most significant airflow restriction in an internal combustion engine is the flow through the
inlet and the exhaust poppet valves. Typically the minimum cross sectional area in the intake and
exhaust system occurs at the valve. Only considerable success has been realized by modeling the
gas flow through the valves as one-dimensional quasi-steady compressible flow. The equations of
fluid mechanics, which were known over for a century, are solvable for a limited number of flows.
The known solutions are extremely useful in helping to understand fluid flow but rarely can they
be used directly in engineering analysis and design. The engineer has traditionally been forced to
use other approaches. In the most common approach, simplifications of equations are used. Flow
around valves is very difficult to solve analytically because of the complex geometries involved.
Therefore, use of CFD greatly improves our level of understanding the flow around the valves
and helps us in design optimization [1]. The objective of this study reported in this paper is to
predict and analyze the flow around poppet valves in IC Engine using dynamic mesh and hence
find its volumetric efficiency. The flow field is solved using the commercially available software
FLUENT. These cold flow simulations for IC engines can provide valuable design information to
the engineers.

2. Governing equations and solution procedure

The governing equations of fluid flow represent mathematical statements of the

conservation laws of physics. The governing equations for the flow around valves are the
unsteady mass, momentum and energy conservation equations.
The flow field can be predicted by solving continuity and momentum equations in the given
domain of interest. It is well known that velocity components are governed by momentum
equations. However, the real difficulty in the calculation of the velocity field lies in the unknown
pressure field. The pressure gradient forms a part of the source term for momentum equation. The
difficulty associated with the determination of pressure has led to several methods in solving
pressure from the governing equation. One such procedure, which is widely adopted, is SIMPLE
(semi-implicit method for pressure-linked equations).
The first stage is the preprocessing stage, which consists of
1. Definition of geometry.
2. Grid generation.
3. Selection of the physical and chemical phenomena that need to be modeled.
4. Definition of fluid properties.
5. Specifications of the boundary conditions.

The numerical solution techniques [2] that form the basis of the solution procedure involves:
1. Approximation of the unknown flow variables by means of simple functions.
2. Discretisation by substitution of the approximations into the governing flow equations and
the subsequent mathematical manipulations.
3. Solution of algebraic equations.

The standard k- model is a semi-empirical model based on model transport equations for the
turbulence kinetic energy (k) and its dissipation rate ( ) and is used to model turbulence in this
problem.
The dynamic mesh model can be used to model flows where the shape of the domain is
changing with time due to motion on the domain boundaries. The update of the volume mesh is
handled automatically at each time step based on the new positions of the boundaries. To use the
dynamic mesh model, you need to provide a starting volume mesh and the description of the
motion of any moving zones in the model. The motion can be described by using either boundary
profiles or user-defined functions (UDFs). Three mesh motion methods are available in the
commercial software to update the volume mesh in the deforming regions subject to the motion
defined at the boundaries:
1. Spring-based smoothing
2. Dynamic layering
3. Local Remeshing

In the spring-based smoothing method, the edges between any two-mesh nodes are idealized as a
network of interconnected springs. The initial spacing of the edges before any boundary motion
constitutes the equilibrium state of the mesh. A displacement at a given boundary node will
generate a force proportional to the displacement along all the springs connected to the node. In
prismatic (hexahedral and/or wedge) mesh zones, you can use dynamic layering to add or remove
layers of cells adjacent to a moving boundary, based on the height of the layer adjacent to the
moving surface. On zones with a triangular or tetrahedral mesh, the spring-based smoothing
method is normally used. When the boundary displacement is large compared to the local cell
sizes, the cell quality can deteriorate or the cells can become degenerate. This will invalidate the
mesh (e.g., result in negative cell volumes) and consequently, will lead to convergence problems
when the solution is updated to the next time step.

3. Details of geometry and mesh generation

The two dimensional model of the IC engine was created using commercially available
software. The mesh was generated using GAMBIT software and primarily consisted of triangular
and quadrilateral elements. The model after meshing is as shown below in Fig.1.
 Fig.1 Mesh Generation

The parameters used for the analysis are given below. These parameters were measured from a
real working engine.

1. Crank Shaft speed – 1500 rpm.

2. Starting crank angle-360 deg.
3. Crank period-720 deg.
4. Crank angle step size-0.25 deg.
5. Piston stroke-0.13 m.
6. Connecting rod length-0.34 m.
7. Minimum valve lift – 0.0005 m
8. Valve lift for both inlet and exhaust valve (m) vs. crank angle was plotted as shown
below and given as input to the software as profiles [3] (Fig.2). The total crank period is
720 degrees ((1080-360)-in figure))
 Fig.2. Valve lift vs crank angle

4. Results and Discussion

The following diagrams show the velocity profiles at various crank angles.

Fig.3 Velocity profile at crank angle = 545 degrees

Fig.4 Velocity profile at crank angle Fig.5 Velocity at crank angle = 657.50 degrees
= 597.50 degrees

Fig.6 Velocity profile at crank angle = 710 degrees

Three parameters that are used to characterize the large-scale fluid motion in the
cylinder are swirl, squish and tumble. This type is called large-scale mixing since the
characteristic length of the fluid motion is about the combustion chamber diameter, whereas the
small-scale vortices due to turbulence are much smaller. Tumble is the vortex motion induced by
the inlet valve [4, 5].
 The tumble downstream of the intake valve is indicated by the vortex motion. As the valve
opens (Fig.3 & 4) some amount of air enters the center of the combustion chamber and some air
sticks on to the wall and then gets separated from the wall (Fig.5 and 6) as the distance from the
valves keeps on increasing.

In general, the downstream behavior of the jet is the greatest interest as far as cylinder
mixing is concerned. Still, the flow structures in and near the wall must be carefully examined
since they impact directly the nature of the downstream jet.

Volumetric efficiency of the engine can be found out by approximating the 2d inlet into 3d
inlet by multiplying by the surface area of the inlet. From the mass flow history of inlet valve,

Total volume of the air injected into the cylinder

= Area under the mass flow history graph X area of inlet manifold

= Mass flow rate X time of flow X area of the inlet manifold

= 2.5(approx) X 0.02/1000X3.14/4X3X3X106 = 353.25 cm2

Volume of the cylinder = 3.14/4X13X112 = 1234.805 cm2

Hence volumetric efficiency = 353.25/1234.805X100 = 28.6 %

5.0 CONCLUSIONS

The flow around the poppet valve is analyzed using the FLUENT package. The
simulation results give clear idea about the flow around the poppet valve. The simulation of IC
engine using dynamic mesh closely approximates real life engine motion without which realistic
simulation of flow inside the combustion chamber is not possible. Piston redesigning, Valve
positioning are some of the design changes that can be incorporated and simulated to get a real
picture of how these design changes affect flow behavior. It also helps to assess the effect of
design changes on volumetric efficiency. The volumetric efficiency obtained was very low in this
case (28 %). The performance of the engine can be improved by optimizing the design parameters.

6.0 REFERENCES

1. H.K.Versteg and W.Malasekara, An introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics – the

Finite Volume Method, Longman Group Limited, 1995.
2. J.H.Ferizer and M.Peric, Computational Methods for Fluid Dynamics, Springer, 1996.
3. Fluent 6.1 Manuals.
4. J.B.Heywood, Internal Combustion Engine Fundamentals, McGraw Hill International,
1988.
5. Colin R. Ferguson and Allan T.Kirkpatrick, Internal Combustion Engines, John Wiley &
Sons, 2001.