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This paper presents a numerical study on air-fuel mixing in a two-stroke direct injection spark ignition engine under homogeneous operation. The simulated engine is loop scavenged and uses an outwardly opening swirl injector. A generic mesh-snapping algorithm is developed to enable the moving piston to snap through transfer ports with complicated geometry. A spray model based on Linear Instability Sheet Atomization is used to describe the primary breakup of fuel sprays, and the initial rotational velocity of the conical sheet is determined from a CFD simulation of the nozzle internal flow. A wall film model accounting for the effect of contacting area is also developed to avoid the severe grid-dependence of the original film model in KIVA. Comparisons between simulations and experiments were made for sprays in quiescent ambient conditions, and a good agreement of the spray characteristics was obtained. The simulations were performed for four different injection timings.

This paper presents a study on multi-dimensional CFD modeling of scavenging and plugging in a twin-cylinder two-stroke engine. A general-purpose CFD code, KIVA, was extended to track an arbitrary number of moving pistons. The code was also modified to allow piston snapping through complicated transfer ports. Thus, a multi-cylinder simulation together with a full exhaust manifold to fully account for the interaction between scavenging and plugging becomes possible. The developed code is intended to be a numerical tool for exhaust-manifold design and optimization. The studied engine is a five-port loop scavenged twin-cylinder engine with a cylinder displacement of 432 cc. The computed exhaust pressure was compared with measured data, and reasonably good agreement was obtained. The results were also compared with those from a one-dimensional gas dynamics model, which over-predicts the plugging intensity while under-predicting the pressure loss in the exhaust manifold.

This paper describes important aspects of the development process for meeting CARB's “Ultra-Low” 3-Star emissions with engines using the new E-TEC™ direct injection system. In-house research and analysis of data from other state-of the-art engines were used to determine achievable emission levels and to set the development targets. A detailed mode-point-specific analysis of the emissions potential of the FICHT® direct injection system revealed excellent system capability in homogeneous operation and limited potential for stratified operation. Based on these results, the development work was focused on the reduction of stratified hydrocarbon emissions. Wall impingement of the fuel spray onto the piston surface was identified as a major source of hydrocarbon emissions during stratified operation. A zero-dimensional simulation of various parameters affecting wall impingement indicates that droplet size, in-cylinder temperature, and penetration velocity are the three major factors.

Recently, outboard engine technology has advanced significantly. With these new technologies comes a substantial improvement in emissions compared to traditional carbureted two-stroke engines. Some two-stroke gasoline direct injection (GDI) marine outboard engines are now capable of meeting California Air Resources Board 2008 Ultra-Low emissions standards. With improvement of gaseous emissions, studies are now being conducted to assess particulate matter (PM) emissions from all new technology marine outboard engines which include both four-stroke and two-stroke designs. Methods are currently being developed to determine the best way to measure PM from outboard engines. This study assesses gaseous and PM emissions, mutagenic activity of PM and oil consumption of two different technologies over the useful life of the engines.

In recent years, it has been demonstrated that E-TEC direct injected two-stroke engines are capable of meeting the toughest emissions standards for marine outboard engines. Proper in-cylinder mixture distribution and preparation are essential for achieving low emissions, high performance, and good run-quality. The mixture distribution is driven largely by the momentum exchange between the fuel spray and the scavenging flow. It has been found that different engines can exhibit significantly different behaviors with similar fuel sprays. This difference is attributed to the difference in scavenging flow patterns and its effect on the momentum balance between the fuel spray and the air flow. In order to investigate this phenomenon, a test fixture was designed and built to evaluate fuel sprays into air-counter-flows with velocities of up to 40m/s by recording spray images and measuring spray penetration. Two different sprays were tested in the fixture and in a variety of engines.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) has become a pressing issue for the recreational marine industry. An increasing number of boating incidents have been linked to CO poisoning caused by emissions from gasoline-powered marine engines. Measurements by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the U.S. Coast Guard have confirmed potentially hazardous CO concentrations near many of these engines. The measurements have also shown much lower CO concentrations for Evinrude® two-stroke direct-injected engines. This paper reviews national and international CO emission regulations for marine engines and discusses CO formation and reduction mechanisms. The differences between homogeneous- and stratified-charge combustion systems on CO formation, resulting from design and calibration criteria, are analyzed.

One-dimensional unsteady gas dynamics dominate the prediction and optimization of two-stroke engine performance. Its application in engines with complicated geometry is, however, limited because the flow through the engine is three dimensional in nature. Multidimensional CFD has the capacity to capture the effect of complicated flow fields. However, most existing CFD studies include either only one cylinder with a partial exhaust system or just a separate exhaust manifold, and boundary conditions need to be fed from experimental data. It is found in this study that such simplifications may yield misleading results. In a previous study, the authors extended a multidimensional CFD code, KIVA to simulate a multi-cylinder engine together with a full exhaust manifold. The need for exhaust pressure boundary conditions was thus eliminated. In continuation of this study, a crankcase model was first developed to dynamically predict the crankcase pressure.