Theoretical and Practical Analysis

of the in-Cylinder Tumble Motion

Dan Moldovanu and Adela Ioana Borzan

Abstract The present paper presents a comparative analysis of the in-cylinder tumble
motion of the fluid (and because it is a SIE, the fluid is actually air mixed with
gasoline) using an existing design from a Volkswagen Polo engine (type AWY), and
introducing it to a CFD simulation software (AVL FIRE). The objective of the paper is
first of all to compare the practical testbench measurements to the simulation results
and see the differences. Then, modify the standard test-bench by mounting a tumble
flaps and also modify the intake port angle (larger with 5 and smaller with 5) to see
the in-cylinder tumble movement and alignment. The existent controlled motions
inside the cylinder were presented, like tumble, swirl and squish, along with the
methods and ways to analyze all these motions. There are more methods of analyzing
the motion of the air inside the cylinder, like using a cross-correlation digital Particle
Image Velocimetry (PIV) (non-intrusive, but most expensive), or by using a paddle
wheel mounted inside the cylinder (highly intrusive, low cost), or by mounting an
anemometer inside the cylinder (moderately intrusive but the influence is the same for
all measurementssystematic error, low cost), and the most equilibrated from the
indication precision/cost point of view, a point-like built anemometer (low
intrusiveness and low cost).

Keywords Tumble

Practical testbench Theoretical comparison

AVL FIRE

Introduction
There are many papers that studied the effects of in-cylinder motion of the air/mixture,
like (Badami et al. 2004; He et al. 2013; Langrish et al. 2004), but many use CFD,
because in a prototyping phase, CFD offers many advantages, such as low simulation
time in comparison to measurements, lower costs, and the opportunity to better
optimization (Gaikwad et al. 2009; Mariasiu 2013; Turrell et al. 2004).
D. Moldovanu (&) A.I. Borzan
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
e-mail: dan.moldovanu@auto.utelj.ro
Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
C. Andreescu and A. Clenci (eds.), Proceedings of the European Automotive
Congress EAEC-ESFA 2015, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-27276-4_55

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D. Moldovanu and A.I. Borzan

By default, the precision of the CFD simulation relies on the input data
provided, therefore, another simulation is recommended, in software like AVL
BOOST, for some early input data, or real measurements on the simulated engine.
This paper was focused on the tumble motion, and its influencing factors.
Firstly, measurements had to be made to analyze the tumble motion, and then the
CFD simulation was made using AVL FIRE v 2009.

Objectives
The analysis of the tumble motion is important because, as seen in (Heywood
1988; Iclodean et al. 2013; zener et al. 2013), the air-fuel mixture has an
important role on the pollutant emissions, on both spark ignited engines and
compression ignited engines.

Metodology
The tumble testbench was made from the components of an AWY Volkswagen
engine (Figs. 1 and 2), and then, as an input the air flow was calculated by using
the diameter of the pipe and the measured velocity, using an anemometer for the
working engine (at idle speed, at torque speed and at power speed), in order to
know the airflow that must be ensured for the testbench.
The anemometer that was used to measure the air velocity is a YK 2004AH
anemometer, but inside the cylinder, a pointlike anemometer was needed, so by
using a Wheatstone bridge, and a 9 V battery, with a sensible wolfram pointlike
resistor, the airflow measuring device was calibrated. The calibration graph is
presented in Fig. 3.
To know the exact position of the measurements, the cylinder liner was made
out of Perspex. After knowing the necessary airflow, it must be ensured using an
air compressor. For the intake valve open at max opening and max opening, the
speed of the air was measured in the cylinder (open cylinder, no piston mounted)
in 12 points on four planes perpendicular to the cylinder axis (Fig. 4 and Table 1).
The measurements were made for an opening of the intake valve of 3.5 and 7
mm, and the results compared in Fig. 5.
After knowing the tumble motion, a further analysis presumes the CFD simulation validated by these measurements. To do that, the intake pipe, the intake
valve and the cylinder liner were built in CATIA and exported as .stl files that are
recognized by AVL FIRE (Figs. 6 and 7).
Theoretical and Practical Analysis of the in-Cylinder Tumble
Fig. 1 Testbench made from
AWY engine components

Fig. 2 Valve opening

adjustment mechanism

After importing the surface in AVL FIRE, the edge mesh was built, and the
dimensions for the cells were chosen, so that the final mesh is as fine as possible but
with minimum build time (if the build time is small, the simulation time is also

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Fig. 3 Air speed measuring device calibration table

Fig. 4 Sections where measurements were made

small, due to the complexity of the model). Intake and Outlet boundaries were
created, and the input data for intake was the measured airflow and for the outlet,
atmospheric pressure was set (Fig. 8).
The simulations were made for standard intake port, smaller angle of the intake
port and bigger angle of the intake port.
The results were compared and if the intake airflow is introduced correctly, the
measurements on the real testbench indicate lower values (5 % smaller) for the
tumble coefficient than the simulation, but that is explained by the air friction with
the walls of the intake pipe. By introducing a tumble flaps, the tumble coefficient
is slightly bigger (7 %) (Fig. 9).
Theoretical and Practical Analysis of the in-Cylinder Tumble
Table 1 Measurements of the air velocity at all the sections and all points

Section

I
II
III
IV
I
II
III
IV
I
II
III
IV
I
II
III
IV

Fig. 5 Tumble motion comparison for different valve openings. a Valve opening at 3.5 mm. b
Valve opening at 7 mm

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D. Moldovanu and A.I. Borzan

Fig. 6 The intake pipe comparison. a Real intake pipe. b Virtual intake pipe
Fig. 7 Intake model (1
cylinder liner, 2 cylinder
head part of the intake, 3
intake pipe)
Theoretical and Practical Analysis of the in-Cylinder Tumble

Fig. 8 The mesh and edge mesh of the model. a Mesh. b Edge mesh

Fig. 9 Standard intake port ( = 35) and comparison versions at = 40 and 45

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D. Moldovanu and A.I. Borzan

Fig. 10 Tumble analysis for the three versions of the intake pipe

Results and Discussions

The results of the simulation are presented in Fig. 10. The representations show the
influence of the angle of the intake pipe on the tumble motion inside the cylinder.

Conclusions
From the simulations, when modifying the angle of the intake port the center of
the in-cylinder tumble motion changes, if the angle is smaller with 5, the center
moves away from the center of the cylinder, where the spark plug is mounted, and
if the angle is with 5 bigger, the center moves more towards the center of the
cylinder but still away from the spark plug.
In conclusion, the tumble coefficient can be modified by mounting a tumble
flaps, and the position of the center of the in-cylinder tumble motion can be controlled by modifying the angle of the intake pipe or (a method that was not tested)
by having a profiled piston, towards the spark plug.
This paper shows the tight bond between simulation and real measurements
made on a testbench.
The authors, previously studied swirl motion inside a CIE, with the paper:
Computational fluid dynamics simulation of a single cylinder research engine
working with biodiesel, published at Thermal Science.

Theoretical and Practical Analysis of the in-Cylinder Tumble

Acknowledgments This paper was possible with the unconditioned help of Eng. Balea Bogdan
Aurel and Eng. Bordas Lorant-Tibor.

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