An Investigation of Flame Expansion Speed With a Strong Swirl Motion Using High-Speed Visualization

Abstract

In this study, a simple linear supposition method is proposed to separate the flame expansion speed and swirl motion of a flame propagating in an engine cylinder. Two series of images of flames propagating in the cylinder with/without swirl motion were taken by a high frame rate digital video camera. A small tube (4 mm ID) was installed inside the intake port to deliver the fuel/air mixture with strong swirl motion into the cylinder. An LDV was employed to measure the swirl motion during the compression stroke. Under the assumption that flame propagates spherically from the each point of the flame front, a diameter of small spherical flames can be calculated from the two consecutive images of the flame without swirl motion in the cylinder. Using the normalized swirl motion of the mixture during the compression stroke and the spherical flame diameters, the flame expansion speed and swirl ratio of combustion propagation in the engine cylinder can be obtained. This simple linear superposition method for separating the flame expansion speed and swirl motion can be utilized to understand the flow characteristics, such as swirl and turbulence, during the combustion process.