A comprehensive investigation on the internal flow and outflow characteristics of GDI elliptical divergent nozzles

Abstract

The substantial demand for enhanced combustion efficiency and achieving near-zero emissions in GDI engines has spurred the introduction of a novel approach employing elliptical divergent nozzle spray technology. This innovative method, which marries the elliptical shape with a divergent nozzle, not only elevates downstream atomization quality but also mitigates nozzle tip wetting. Nevertheless, there exists a dearth of documented research regarding the internal flow and outflow characteristics related to the atomization potential of elliptical divergent nozzles. Numerical investigations have been carried out to scrutinize alterations in the three-dimensional cavitation morphology, the dispersion of turbulent vortex structures, and the nozzle exit flow parameters across a range of cavitation number conditions for both circular and elliptical divergent nozzles. The research findings demonstrate that the cavitation intensity of the elliptical divergent nozzle consistently surpasses that of the circular divergent nozzle. Also, the elliptical divergent nozzle consistently exhibits a greater number of turbulent vortex structures compared to the circular divergent nozzle across all cavitation number conditions. Additionally, as the cavitation number decreases, the difference in turbulence vorticity magnitude between the exits of the circular and elliptical divergent nozzles gradually increases. Furthermore, the elliptical diverging orifices are more susceptible to cavitation compared to their circular counterparts. The elliptical divergent nozzle outperforms the circular nozzle with a substantial 24.6% increase in exit velocity, especially at a cavitation number of 1.016.