Application of a hybrid breakup model for the spray simulation of a multi-hole injector used for a DISI gasoline engine

A hybrid atomization and breakup model was developed for the simulation of the fuel injection processes of multi-hole injectors for direct injection spark ignition (DISI) gasoline engines. In modeling primary breakup, a competition between the Huh–Gosman and Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) breakup mechanisms was adopted. In addition to the two breakup mechanisms above, the Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) model was selected as a third competing mechanism in simulating secondary breakup. The hybrid model was implemented in the Star-CD software to simulate the effect of the background and injection pressures on the breakup processes of gasoline jets in a constant volume vessel, and on the mixture stratification of a wall-guided DISI gasoline engine with a newly-designed cavity in the piston. Results indicate that a higher background pressure intensifies the aerodynamically induced breakup along the tip of spray although it tends to reduce the overall breakup of spray. The spray atomization enhanced by increasing injection pressures is more pronounced at elevated background pressures. With the retard of fuel injection timing, the inhomogeneity of mixture increases in the DISI gasoline engine. Double injection with elevated second injection pressure can reduce the overall inhomogeneity of the mixture and effectively direct the mixture towards the spark plug. - Highlights: •A hybrid breakup model was developed to simulate injection process in a DISI engine. •Higher fuel injection pressure enhances breakup and evaporation at the spray tip. •Single fuel injection leads to a narrow spark timing range. •Two-stage fuel injection improves the homogeneity of the mixture. •The second injection with higher fuel pressure decreases over-rich mixture