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Historically, the intake manifold for the automotive engine application has evolved from a crude cast iron machined component to the highly engineered and precision manufactured component of today. In the high-volume (Original Equipment Manufacturer) OEM market, injection molded composite intake manifolds have been growing steadily in application for the past 20+ years. Now, with the continued experience and manufacturing developments, even the relatively low-volume applications of the performance aftermarket intake manifold can benefit from the described advantages that injection molded composite materials offer. An engineering process that is very similar to that which would be used for an OEM product is applied to this low-volume niche-market product. This process utilizes a clear understanding of the outlined program's requirements that leads into an innovative prototype stage to prove the design and manufacturability.

Coolant flow absorbs heat generated from engine combustion, and continued efficient heat transfer is crucial in high performance racing engines to provide maximum engine power and durability. Any potentially stagnant flow may cause an overheated zone in the coolant jacket resulting in structural damage. Critical areas can include the cylinder head around exhaust ports. Due to complexity of the geometries, flow patterns around those areas are not well understood. In this report, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis, combined with testing, is utilized to study a typical racing engine coolant jacket. The results include coolant flow assessment in critical zones as it is affected by cooling flow inlet, head gasket design, and flow outlet geometries.

The process and the tools that are used for engineering an optimum engine air-flow subsystem are critical for the successful execution of an engine program. From the perspective of the Air-Flow Subsystem Engineer, the requirements and concept subsystem of components, component subsystem, engine subsystem, and vehicle system engineering processes are described. Additionally, applicable tools such as benchmarking, engine cycle simulation, vehicle simulation, computational fluid dynamics, steady air-flow bench, engine dynamometer, and vehicle testing are explained. As an example, this paper illustrates the process by which a modern, high-performance, high-volume production-intent engine air-flow subsystem, in particular, the intake manifold component, is engineered and how these tools are applied.

Data from steady air-flow bench tests are made more useful during engine design and development when they are normalized for critical geometric parameters. The procedure is illustrated in the study described here. Using prescribed test and data reduction methods, steady air-flow data were collected from a broad spectrum of high performance race engines. The resulting database then offered a benchmark against which a new engine was evaluated, and directions for future development were made clear.