1

Intake, Exhaust, and

In-cylinder Flow

Section 4
2
Valve Flow
At WOT the most significant gas flow restriction in an IC engine is the flow
through the intake and exhaust valves
9 . 1
2
1
1

|
.
|

\
|
+
=
k
k
v
o
k
P
P
Flow chokes when

) 1 ( 2
1
) 1 ( 2
1
1
2
1
2

+

+
|
.
|

\
|
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
.
|

\
|
+
=
k
k
o
o
v f
k
k
o v o f cr
k T
P
R
k
A c
k
c A c m
, mass flow rate independent of P
v
2
1
1 2
1
2
(
(
(

|
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|

|
|
.
|

\
|

=
+
k
k
o
v
k
o
v
o v o f
P
P
P
P
k
c A c m
P
o
= upstream stagnation pressure, P
v
= valve static (for subsonic =P
cyl
)

o
= stagnation density, c
o
= kRT
o
stagnation speed of sound,
A
v
= valve area, c
f
= flow coefficient
o o
P m , ,
P
v
P
cyl
The mass flow rate through the valve is given by:
3
Minimum areas:
low lift - A
v
= A
1
= dl

high lift - A
v
= A
2
= d
2
/4
) (A area valve actual
) (A area flow effective
) (c t coefficien discharge
) (A area valve actual
) (A area flow effective
) (c t coefficien flow
1
2
v
f
d
v
f
f
=
=
Valve Flow
d

A
2
A
1
d

l

Low lift High lift
4
Flow Coefficient Measurement
Set: A
v

Measure: m
i
, T
i
, P
i


Calculate: c
f
F
l
o
w

c
o
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t

(
c
f
)

Nondimensional valve lift (l/d)
2
1
1 2
1
2

+
(
(
(

|
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|

|
|
.
|

\
|

=
k
k
o
v
k
o
v
o v o
f
P
P
P
P
k c A
m
c

5
Valve Sizing
In order to avoid choked flow the intake valves are sized based on:
( )
i
p
v
c
U
b A
max
2
3 . 1
where is the average valve area, b is the cylinder bore, is average
piston velocity at max engine speed, c
i
speed of sound of gas in intake port.
v
A
p
U
Since there is only so much room available for valves it is common to
have multiple intake and exhaust valves per cylinder. This increases
valve area to piston area ratio permitting higher engine speeds.
Exhaust valves can be smaller since the speed of sound of the exhaust
gas expelled is significantly larger.
6
Heads are often wedge-shaped or domed, this permits A
v
/A
p
up to 0.5.
Valve Sizing
Permits more than two valves
per cylinder
Limited to two valves per cylinder
7
Double overhead cams per cylinder bank are used to accommodate
multiple valves, one cam for each pair of intake and exhaust valves

Valve Sizing
8
Valve Opening and Closing
In thermo cycles it is assumed the valves open and close instantaneously
CA
V
a
l
v
e

d
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
l
)

Valve starts
to open
Valve completely
closed
Duration
BC
TC
EVO
IVO
IVC
EVC
180
o
In reality a cam is used to progressively open and close the valves, the
lobes are contoured so that the valve lands gently on the seat.
9
Valve Overlap
In real engines in order to ensure that the valve is fully open during a stroke,
for high volumetric efficiency, the valves are open for longer than 180
o
.
TC BC BC
CA
i
e
BC
TC
IVO
IVC
EVO
EVC
180
o
1
4
5
The exhaust valve opens before BC and closes after TC
At TC there is a period of time called valve overlap where both the intake
and exhaust valves are open.
The intake valve opens before TC and closes after BC.
10
When the intake valve opens bTC the cylinder pressure is at roughly P
e


Part throttle (P
i
< P
e
): residual gas flows into the intake port. During intake
stroke the residual gas is first returned to the cylinder then fresh gas is
introduced. Residual gas reduces part load performance.
Valve overlap
P
i
Throttled
P
i
<P
e
P
e
P
i
Supercharged
P
i
>P
e
P
e
WOT (P
i
= P
e
): some fresh gas can flow out the exhaust valve scavenging
residual (increases power but reduces fuel efficiency and increases emissions)

Supercharged (P
i
> P
e
): fresh gas can flow out the exhaust valve
11
Engine Operating Conditions
Conventional engines operate at low rpms, with idle and part load fuel
economy being most important.
Engine speed:
Idle - 1000 rpm
Economy - 2500 rpm
Performance - 4000 rpm
WOT bmep
sfc

E
n
g
i
n
e

l
o
a
d

High performance engines operate at high rpms, with WOT torque (i.e.,
volumetric efficiency) being most important.
12
@1000 rpm intake duration: 230
o
= 38.4 ms
@2500 rpm 230
o
= 15.4 ms
@5000 rpm 230
o
= 7.7 ms, 285
o
= 9.5 ms
Valve Timing
i
e
BC TC
EVO
IVO
IVC
EVC
180
o
Conventional
i
e
BC TC
EVO
IVO
IVC
EVC
180
o
Performance
13
Valve Overlap
Overlap
15
o
65
o
At high engine speeds less time available for fresh gas intake so need more
crank angles to get high volumetric efficiency large valve overlap
Variable Valve Timing (VVT) used to obtain optimum performance over
a wide range of engine speeds and load
At low engine speed and part throttle valve overlap is minimized by reducing
the number of CA the intake valve stays open.
Variable valve lift: high speed want high lift to increase air mass flow rate,
low speed want to minimize overlap effects
14
Honda Variable valve Timing and lift Electronic Control (VTEC)
SOHC intake valve pair has three cam lobes, two that operate the valves at
low-rpm, and a third that takes over at high rpm (4500 rpm).
First introduced in N.A. 1991 Honda NSX model.
- Low-rpm operation, the two rocker arms riding the low-rpm lobes push
directly on the top of the valves.
Camshaft
Follower
Rocker
- High rpm a pin locks the three rocker arms and the valves follow the larger
center cam lobe.
15
VTEC Intake Valve Operation
High rpm lobe has longer duration and higher lift raises max to 8000 rpm
giving higher peak power (good for racing) no benefit below 4500 rpm
16
Latest VTEC systems
i-VTEC (2001): VTEC + continuously variable camshaft phasing for
benefit even at lower speeds
Stage 1 (low speed): left valve left rocker arm driven by the low-lift left
cam. Right valve right rocker arm driven by the medium-lift right cam
Stage 2 (medium speed): left and right valve right rocker arm driven by
the medium-lift right cam
Stage 3 (high speed): left and right valve middle rocker arm driven by the
high-lift right cam
med-lift
med-lift high-lift
low-lift
high-cam
med-cam
no pin pin 1
pin 2
17
Honda DOHC 3VTEC
18
VVT - Cam Phasing
Shifts the phase angles of the camshaft, does not change the valve open
duration.
Most systems provide inlet, two-stage discrete phasing (0
o
and 30
o
), others
like Toyota VVT-i provide inlet, continuous phasing (0
o
- 30
o
)

At low speed 0
o
phasing so as to minimize valve overlap (good idle
performance), at high speeds max phasing so as to increase valve overlap
and increase volumetric efficiency
19
BMW Double VANOS and Valvetronic
Cap moves towards or away from the cam based on engine speed and gas
pedal position by varying hydraulic pressure in the two chambers
Double VANOS system provides continuous phasing for both the intake
(max range 40
o
) and exhaust valves (max range 25
o
)
Valvetronic also permits continuously variable intake valve lift, from ~0 to
10 mm, on the intake camshaft. This eliminates the need for a throttle valve
reducing pumping losses (10% improvement in power and fuel economy).
20
Toyotas VVTL
VVTL uses cam phasing and two cam profiles for duration
At low rpm: long duration cam not engaged, short duration cam runs on
Roller follower to reduce friction
At high rpm: long duration cam engaged by sliding pin and locking
follower height also increases the lift (for Honda VTEC, both the
duration and lift are implemented by the cam lobes)
21
Solenoid Activated Valves
Needs a large alternator to supply high current, also gently seating the
valve is difficult, needs sophisticated electronics
22
Intake and Exhaust Processes in 4-Stroke Cycle
p
o
L
v, exh
L
v, int
P = cylinder pressure
L
v
= valve displacement
P
o
P, L
v
P

TC BC
Exhaust
Intake
P
o
3
2
4
i
e
1
BC
TC
WOT
Part throttle
1
st
crank shaft rev: 1 - 3 2
2
nd
crank shaft rev: 4
EVO
1
23
The valve spring normally keeps the top of the valve stem in contact with
the cam lobe

At very high engine speeds, and thus high camshaft speeds, it is difficult to
maintain contact between the cam lobe and the top of the valve stem as a
result the valves stay open longer than desired and slam into valve seat.
Valve Float
Spring
24
Muffler
Air cleaner
Intake and Exhaust System for Single Cylinder Engine
Cylinder
P
P
o
, T
o
P
o
25
Intake and Exhaust Manifold
The intake manifold is a system designed to deliver air to the engine from
a plenum to multiple cylinders through pipes called runners.
Exhaust manifold used to duct the exhaust gases from each cylinder to
a point of expulsion such as the tail pipe.
Velocity magnitude (m/s)
26
Manifold Pressure
3000 rpm
6000 rpm
27
Volumetric Efficiency
Recall volumetric efficiency is defined as: |
.
|

\
|
= = =
d
a d
o
o
cyl
cyl
d o a
a d cyl a
d o a
a
v
V
V
T
P
T
P
V
V
V
m
,
,
, ,
,

Volumetric efficiency is affected by :

i) Fuel evaporation
ii) Mixture temperature
iii) Pressure drop in the intake system
iv) Gasdynamic effects
v) Valve timing
or engine speed
Note: mean piston speed proportional
to air flow velocity
p
U S N = ) 2 / (
28
Factors affecting
v
Fuel evaporation:

In naturally aspirated engines (no supercharging) the volumetric efficiency
will always be less than 100% because fuel is added and the fuel vapour
will displace incoming air.
The earlier the fuel is added in the intake system the lower the volumetric
efficiency because more of the fuel evaporates before entering the cylinder.
In Diesels and GDIs the fuel is added directly into the cylinder after the
intake stroke so get higher volumetric efficiency.
29
Factors affecting
v
Heat transfer:

All intake systems are hotter than ambient air, e.g., injection system and
throttle bodies are purposely heated to enhance fuel evaporation.
a
m
P
cyl
f
m
Therefore, the density of the air entering the cylinder is lower than
ambient air density.
Greatest problem at lower engine speeds more time for air to be heated.
Use cold air intake
30
Factors affecting
v
Fluid friction:

The air flows through a duct fitted with an air filter, throttle and intake valve

Air moving through any flow passage or past a flow restriction undergoes a
pressure drop

The pressure at the cylinder is thus lower than atmospheric pressure

Greatest problem at higher engine speeds when the air flow velocity is high


31
Muffler
WOT

Part throttle
P
o
= atmospheric pressure

P
air
= pressure losses in air cleaner

P
u
= intake losses upstream of throttle

P
thr
= loss across throttle

P
valve
= loss across intake valve
Air cleaner
Pressure losses over the length of the intake system
Cylinder
P
P
o
P
air
P
u
P
valve
P
throttle
Extreme case of flow restriction is when the flow chokes at the intake valve
as engine speed increases flow velocity remains the same have less fill time.
32
Factors affecting
v
1 i
e
4
BC
TC
Residual gas:

Residual gas takes up cylinder volume that would otherwise contain air

Recall the residual fraction given by

As (P
e
/P
4
~P
e
/P
i
) increases, or r decreases the fraction of cylinder volume
occupied by residual gas increases and thus volumetric efficiency
decreases.

k
e
P P
r
f
/ 1
4
) / (
1
=
33

Opening intake valve before TC (valve overlap):

The longer the valve overlap, more exhaust gases rush into the
intake port.

Greatest problem at idle (part throttle and lower engine speeds) low
intake pressure and more time for exhaust gases to back up.
Factors affecting
v
IO
EC
IC
i
e
EO
BC
TC
34
Factors affecting
v
Closing the intake valve after BC (backflow):

When piston reaches BC still have P across the
intake valve, mixture continues to flow into cylinder,
close the intake valve after BC.
p
o
L
v, exh
L
v, int
P, L
v
P

As the piston changes direction the mixture is compressed, when the
pressure equals the intake manifold pressure the flow into the cylinder stops.

Best time to close the intake valve is when the manifold and cylinder
pressures are equal, close the valve too early and dont get full charge, too
late and air flows back into the intake port.
At high engine speeds larger P across intake valve because of higher
flow velocity, so ideally want to close valve later after BC (60
o
aBC).

At low engine speeds smaller P across the intake valve so ideally want
to close the intake valve earlier after BC (40
o
aBC).
35

RAM Effect:

As the intake valve closes at higher engine speeds, the inertia of the air in
the intake system increases the pressure in the intake port,
allowing more air to be injected

This effect becomes progressively more important at higher engine speeds.

To take advantage of ram effect close intake valve after BC.
Factors affecting
v
const u P = +
2

36
Intake tuning:

When the intake valve opens the air suddenly rushes into the cylinder and an
expansion wave propagates back to the intake manifold at the local speed of
sound relative to the flow velocity.
Factors affecting
v
If the timing is appropriate the compression wave arrives at the inlet at the
end of the intake process raising the pressure above the nominal inlet
pressure allowing more air to be injected.
For fixed runner length the intake is tuned for one engine speed.
N
c
L
N
t
c
L
t
valve wave
6

3 / 1

2
= =
When the expansion wave reaches the manifold it reflects back towards to
intake valve as a compression wave. The time it takes for the round trip
depends on the length of the runner (L) and the flow velocity.
37
Since L~1/N : high engine speed use short runners,
low engine speeds use long runners
Audi V6
Similarly the exhaust system can be tuned to get a lower pressure at
the exhaust valve increasing the exhaust flow velocity.
Adjustable runner length
38
Factors affecting
v
as a function of engine speeds
Fuel vapour pressure
39
In-Cylinder Fluid flow
Three parameters are used to characterize large-scale in-cylinder fluid
motion: swirl, squish, and tumble.

Swirl is the rotational flow about the cylinder axis.



Swirl is used to:
i) promote rapid combustion in SI engines
ii) rapidly mix fuel and air in gasoline direct injection engines
iii) rapidly mix fuel and air in CI engines

The swirl is generated during air induction into the cylinder by either:
i) tangentially directing the flow into the cylinder, or
ii) pre-swirling the incoming flow by the use of helical ports.
40
Helical port
Tangential injection
Swirl motion
Contoured valve
Cylinder Swirl and its Generation
41
Swirl Theory
Swirl can be simply modelled as solid body rotation, i.e., cylinder of gas
rotating at angular velocity, .

Tangential flow velocity is v = r
where N is the engine speed (revolutions per second)
is the air solid-body angular velocity (rad/s)
N
R
s

2
=
The swirl ratio, R
s
, is defined as the ratio of the gas angular velocity and
the crank shaft angular velocity, i.e.,
Most production engines have R
s
in the range of 0.5 -1.0
42
During the cycle some swirl decays due to friction, but most of it persists
through the compression, combustion and expansion processes.

Neglecting friction, angular momentum I is conserved,
I decreases increases
Swirl Theory
8
cylinder a for
2
MB
I rdm I I

= = =
where M is the total gas mass
B is the cylinder bore
The angular momentum, , and moment of inertia, I, of a rotating
volume of gas is:
43
During the compression process as the piston approaches TC more of the
air enters the cavity and the air cylinder moment of inertia decreases and
the angular velocity (and thus the swirl) increases.
Many engines have a wedge shape cylinder head cavity or a bowl in the
piston where the gas ends up at TC.

Engine Swirl
44
Squish and Tumble
Squish is the radial flow occurring at the end of the compression stroke in
which the compressed gases flow into the piston or cylinder head cavity.
As the piston reaches TC the squish motion generates a secondary flow
called tumble, where rotation occurs about a circumferential axis near the
outer edge of the cavity.
45
Intake Flow
The intake process governs many important aspects of the flow within the
cylinder. The gas issues from the valve opening as a conical jet with radial
and axial velocities that are about ten times the mean piston velocity.
Large vortices become unstable
and eventually break down into
turbulent motion
Shear layers

The jet separates from the valve producing shear layers with large velocity
gradients which generate turbulence.

The jet is deflected by the cylinder wall down towards the piston and up
towards the cylinder head producing recirculation zones.

Additional turbulence is generated by the velocity gradient at the wall
in the boundary layer.
46
Turbulent Flow
Turbulent flow is characterized by its transient and random nature that is
superimposed on a steady mean flow.
Steady flow
Turbulent flows are always dissipative, viscous shear stresses result in an
increase in the internal energy at the expense of its kinetic energy.
So energy is required to generate turbulence, if no energy is supplied
turbulence decays.

A common source of energy for turbulent velocity fluctuations is shear in
the mean flow, e.g., jets and boundary layers.
47
Turbulence
The fluid velocity measured at a point in a specific direction:
component g fluctuatin the is
ity mean veloc
1
where
) ( ' ) (
2
1
u'
U(t)dt
t
U
t u U t U
t
t

=
+ =
t
1
U
x
(t
1
)
U
x
mean velocity (steady)
t

U
x
(t)
Reynolds decomposition for statistically steady flow:
u(t
2
)
t
2
It is common practice to define the turbulent fluctuation intensity, u
t
, in
terms of the root-mean-square of the fluctuations:
( )

= = =
2
1
2 2 2
) ( '
1
' where ' '
t
t
rms t
dt t u
t
u u u u
48
Turbulence Measurements in Engines
In engines the flow is statistically periodic (the flow pattern changes with
crank angle) not steady.
Cycle i
CA
The following shows the velocity measurement at a point in the cylinder
over time for a two-stroke engine (cycle has 360 CA)
+
Instantaneous
Individual cycle mean
Measurement
point
BC TC
BC
TC BC
BC
TC
) , ( ' ) ( ) , ( i u U i U + =
The instantaneous velocity measured at a specific crank angle in a
particular cycle i is:
49

=
n
i
EA
i U
n
U ) , (
1
) (
where n is the number of cycles averaged.
Flows that are statistically periodic are treated using ensemble average:
Turbulence Measurements in Engines
There are both cycle-by-cycle variations in the mean flow at any point in the
cycle as well as turbulent fluctuations about that specific cycles mean flow.
Instantaneous
Individual cycle
mean
Ensemble average
U
EA
u
U

CA
50
Turbulence Measurements in Engines
The difference between the mean velocity in a particular cycle and the
ensemble average is defined as the cycle-by-cycle variation in mean velocity:
) ( ) , ( ) , (

EA
U i U i U =
If the cycle-by-cycle variations are small then the cycle mean is equal to
the ensemble average.
Thus, the instantaneous velocity can be split into three components:
) , ( ' ) , (

) ( ) , ( i u i U U i U
EA
+ + =
2
1
1
2
) , ( '
1
) (
(

=
=
n
i
t
i u
n
u
The turbulent intensity is determined by ensemble averaging:
51
Turbulence Measurements in Engines
At the end of compression when the piston is at TC, the turbulence
fluctuating intensity is about one-half the mean piston speed:
The two data sets shown with red
lines are for individual cycle
turbulence intensity.

The rest of the points are for
ensemble averaged, which means
they include cycle-by-cycle
variations in the mean velocity,
making it larger by up to 2 times.
P t
U u
2
1
=
52
Turbulence Length-Scales
Turbulent flow is comprised of unsteady eddies (vortices) with a multitude
of length-scales and time-scales (turnover time).

The largest eddies in the flow are limited in size by the enclosure with
characteristic length-scale of L (e.g., large eddy associated with swirl).

The integral scale l represents the largest turbulent eddy, determined
by the fluctuating velocity frequency.
Most of the turbulent KE is contained in the large eddies that breakdown
into smaller size eddies via inviscid mechanisms.

The turbulent KE cascades from the larger structures to the smaller
structures where it is converted to thermal energy via viscous effects.

What scale eddy is required to dissipate energy?

53
e unit volum per force viscous
e unit volum per force inertia
'
'
'
Re
3
3
2 2
= =
L
L u
L
L u
L u

The Reynolds number (Re) is the ratio of inertia to viscous forces

Length-Scales of Turbulence
The Re of an eddy with circulation velocity u' and size L is:
Viscous forces are only important in the smallest scale where the Re 1

The eddy size at which the flow KE is dissipated by viscous effects is
known as the Kolmogorov scale, and the eddy dimension is .
There is one more length-scale between the integral and Kolmogorov scales
known as the Taylor microscale which represents the distance over which
viscous effects can be felt, or the mean spacing between dissipative eddies.
54
Length-Scales of Turbulence
The scales are: Integral (l), Taylor micro (l), Kolmogorov ()
l


l


Gas flow through
intake valve
55
The Length-Scales of Turbulence
Dimensional analysis leads to the following relationships between the scales:
( )
4 3
4 1
2 1
2 1
1
Re
Re
15

=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
=
t
t
C
l
C l
L C l

where C
1
, C

, and C

are numbers unique to the flow.

If the integral scale can be determined, so can all the other scales.

As the engine speed increases the Re increases, so the smaller scales
of turbulence decrease in size.

l u
t
t
= Re
The turbulent Reynolds number is based on the integral scale and the
turbulent fluctuation intensity
56
PROD
AIR
Two-Stroke Engine In-Cylinder Flow
Most common two-stroke engines are crankcase-scavanged

Another class of two-stroke engine uses a separate compressor to deliver
air into the cylinder to scavange the combustion products, fuel is
injected directly into the cylinder.
AIR
57
Scavanging Performance
Delivery ratio, D
r

If the cylinder volume is completely filled with air the delivery ratio is

given by:
1
1
>

= =

=
r
r
V
V
V
V
D
d
bc
d a
bc a
r

density ambient volume displaced

cycle per air delivered of mass

=
r
D
charge cylinder trapped of mass
retained air delivered of mass
air delivered of mass
retained air delivered of mass
=
=
s
e
Trapping efficiency,

Scavenging efficiency, e
s

58
A. Perfect scavanging no mixing, air displaces the products out the exhaust
if extra air is delivered (D
r
> r/(r-1) ) it is not retained
Scavenging Models
S
c
a
v
e
n
g
i
n
g

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y




Delivery ratio
T
r
a
p
p
i
n
g

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y




Delivery ratio
B. Short circuiting the air initially displaces all the products within the path
of the short circuit and then flows into and out of the cylinder
C. Perfect mixing the first air to enter the cylinder mixes instantaneously
with the products and the gas leaving is almost all residual
(for larger delivery ratio most of gas leaving is air)