Asian Journal

Asian Research Consortium of Research in

Social Sciences
and
Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities
Vol. 7, No. 3, March 2017, pp. 650-670. Humanities
ISSN 2249-7315 www.aijsh.com
A Journal Indexed in Indian Citation Index
DOI NUMBER:10.5958/2249-7315.2017.00196.4
Category:Science and Technology

Investigation of Fluid Flow, Turbulence and Combustion

for various Piston Configurations in a Compression
Ignition Engine using CFD Modelling

P. Manikalithas*; Dr. R. Venkatachalam**;

Dr. M. Kalil Rahiman***; M.Bharathiraja****

*Research Scholar,
Department of Automobile Engineering,
Institute of Road and Transport Technology,
Erode, Tamil Nadu, India.
phdkalithas@gmail.com
**Associate Professor,
Department of Automobile Engineering,
Institute of Road and Transport Technology,
Erode, Tamil Nadu, India.
rvirtt@yahoo.co.in
***Assistant Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Bannari Amman Institute of Technology,
Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu, India.
mkalilrahiman@gmail.com
****Assistant Professor,
Kongu Engineering College,
Erode, Tamilnadu, India.
bharathi.te@gmail.com

Abstract
This study focuses on the effects of compression ignition engine piston crown configurations on the
turbulence with combustion and emission characteristics. The shape of the piston crown is mainly
responsible for increase in squish, swirl and turbulence. It has direct impact on tumble ratio,

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Vol. 7, No.3, pp. 650-670.

turbulent kinetic energy and intensity of turbulence which decide the effective air–fuel mixing. This
leads to optimal combustion with high heat transfer, thermal efficiency, power and less pollution.
Computational analysis using ANSYS-Fluent is executed to predict the inherent insight of
combustion with various piston crowns namely bowl, dished, domed and trunked type. The results
prove that the piston crown with bowl configuration produces effective results. For validation of the
computational results, an experimental trial is carried out for the bowl piston configuration. The
corresponding emissions have been acquired from the CFD simulation and the experimental results
were found to be in good agreement.

Keywords: Fluid Flow, Turbulence, Combustion, Piston Configurations, Compression Ignition

Engine.

I. Introduction
The automotive industry is a key element and a global driver for growth, income, employment and
innovation. The automobile enables a degree of flexibility and mobility that was undreamed of a
century ago. With the demand of high speed, power, fuel efficiency and less emission, researchers
devote time and money to enhance the design of every individual component. Engine is the very
essential part of automobile which produces the required thrust to the vehicle. Piston is the heart of
the engine and turbulence is based on the piston profile. A change in piston profile can alter
turbulence kinetic energy, turbulence intensity, length as well as time scale of turbulence and
tumble ratio to a greater extent. An increase in all the above mentioned quantities leads to an
effective mixing of air-fuel.

This increases the peak pressure on the piston during combustion and delivers more power
without consuming more fuel. In general, this effective mixing reduces the formation of un-burnt
fuel in turn minimises the formation of soot emission. However, CFD is found to be an excellent
alternate for proto based experimental validation. Relying on fundamental laws which govern fluid
and thermal behavior of fluid has become an integral part of modern research and development. It
has greater advantages such as insight, foresight and it aids a researcher to reduce time as well as
money involved in proto based experimental techniques. The in-cylinder combustion analysis helps
to visualize the real underlying physics such as air fuel interaction, flow and thermal pattern inside
the chamber at every time step, understanding the impact of turbulence on the flow and many more.
Current research is going in the world using CFD analysis with and without combustion chamber
modifications. Exhaustive literature surveys are also recommending the CFD analysis method of
research. Sucharitha et al [1] have studied the different shapes of the pistons by using CFD and
confirmed that the piston geometry had made significant influence on the air flow characteristics
during compression stroke. Antony RajGnanaSagaya Raj et al [2] have studied the air motion inside
the cylinder and concluded that the flat piston was found to be the best in tumble ratio, turbulent
kinetic energy and turbulent intensity may help to increase the energy efficiency of the engine.
Harshavardhan et al [3] have analyzed the different combustion chamber geometry of in-cylinder
flow and air-fuel interaction. The flat piston turned out with better combustion in terms of TKE and
high tumble ratio. Payri et al [4] have studied the flow characteristics of different piston
configurations and it was found that the effect of bowl piston plays a significant role to control

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Vol. 7, No.3, pp. 650-670.

ensemble-averaged mean and turbulence velocity fields. Prasad et al [5] have conducted an
experiment on high swirl inducing piston bowls in small diesel engines for emission reduction. The
injection timing of 8.6 CA degrees before TDC was found to be optimum in the reduction of
emissions compared to the base configuration. YasinVarol et al [6] have conducted a numerical
work to analyse the heat transfer and fluid flow in pent-roof type combustion chamber. However, it
was found that the inclined surface of pent-roof type of combustion chamber reduced the swirl
effect. Channappagoudra et al [7] have conducted an experiment in kirlosker engine by using honge
biodiesel. In this experimental study the piston crown was modified by cutting number of grooves
such as 3-grooves, 6grooves and 9-grooves to increase the air-fuel mixing rate. The test result
revealed that 6-groove configuration had given greater in BTE, lower SFC, CO, UBHC, and
compare to the other configurations. Nan Li et al [8] have studied the effects of intake backflow on
in-cylinder and the results of hot zone with high temperature and relatively residual gas fraction
increased due to the intake backflow. Kouremenos et al [9] have used a multi-zone thermodynamic
model to study a direct injection diesel engine at different engine loads and speeds. The results had
shown that the fuel consumption increases with an increase in engine load for all operating engine
speeds. Rakopoulos et al [10] have developed a 3D multi-zone thermodynamic model and achieved
a good agreement between simulations and experimental measurements for in-cylinder pressure,
heat release rate and emission data. Hountalas et al [11] have carried out a multi-zone
thermodynamic model to investigate the characteristics of a diesel engine under full and partial
loads. The higher injection pressure significantly increased NO emission especially at low speed
and partial load, whereas positive effect was resulted on soot reduction. MagaliBesson et al [12]
have optimized diesel engine combustion chamber geometry under engine full load condition using
KIVA II-Renault code and concluded that the widest bowl geometry at full load provides the
highest gross mean effective pressure and lowest soot emission. ArjanHelmantel et al[13] have
used 3D-CFD with chemical kinetics to simulate triple injection strategy to reduce soot and NO x
emission levels in a single cylinder direct injection diesel engine at the medium load. Whereas, the
split injection could reduce NOx emission, soot levels and also reduce the combustion chamber
temperature. Banaeizadehet al [14] have studied the large eddy simulations of turbulent spray
combustion using Eulerian-Lagrangian methodology. The results indicated that the fuel mass
fraction and temperature data obtained by the LES and FMDF were in good agreement with each
other in spite of complexities of the grid, spray, evaporation and combustion in the diesel engine.
Shijin Shuai et al [15] have used KIVA-3V coupled with chemical kinetics to simulate injection
rate-shape effect on engine performance and emission under low load operating condition. The
early injection timing gave lower soot, UHC and CO emissions but higher NO x emissions
compared to the late injection timing. Krishna Kaushik et al [16] have carried out in cylinder flow
and air fuel interaction simulated on four different piston bowls (Hemispherical bowl, Mexican hat,
Double spherical combustion chamber bowl and Toroidal chamber bowl) of diesel engine. The
result showed that toroidal chamber bowl was the best as it has minimum area with red spot and the
turbulent intensity in this chamber.

In this work, combustion analysis for various piston configurations such as bowl, dished,
domed and trunked types are attempted using CFD to identify the best configuration. To validate
the CFD combustion model, experiments were performed on diesel engines during steady state
conditions. Keeping the bowl type piston crown configuration and injection parameter, the
subsequent computational modeling of the engine is also presented, with the modeled and actual

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Vol. 7, No.3, pp. 650-670.

results. The predicted in-cylinder pressure traces and pollutant formation emission models were
also experimentally verified.

II. Experimental Setup and Procedure

The important chemical and physical properties of diesel were determined by standard methods and
the results are given in Table 1. The overall view of the experimental set up of the engine is shown
in Figure1. In this investigation, pure diesel was used and the engine features are given in Table 2.
Kirloskar diesel engine of SV1 model (four stroke, direct injection, bowl type piston crown,
naturally aspirated, water cooled), AVL gas analyzer and smoke meter were used for this
investigation. The technical specifications of the gas analyzer and smoke meter range, resolution
and accuracy details are given in Table 3. The diesel engine was coupled with an eddy current
dynamometer. The exhaust gas temperature and cooling water outlet temperature were measured by
using the K-type iron constant thermocouple with a digital type fluke monitor.

Table 1.Physical and Chemical Properties of Diesel

Calorific value : 42000 kJ/kg Flash point : 47oC

Cetane number : 46 Fire point : 58oC
Density gravity : 0.837gm/cc Cloud Point : 7oC
Stoichiometric Viscosity : 3.067cSt
Air/Fuel ratio : 15:1

Table 2.Specification of Diesel Engine

Engine make / Model : Kirloskar / SV1

Number of cylinder
Type of injection
Type of cooling
Displacement volume
Bore / Stroke length
Fuel injection pressure
Injection timing
Rated power
Speed
: Single cylinder
: Direct injection
: Water cooled
: 0.661 liters
: 87.5mm / 110mm
: 200 bar
: 23o BTDC
: 5.9 kW / 8 BHP
: 1800 rpm

Table 3.Technical Specification of Exhaust Gas Analyzer and Its Accuracy

Exhaust gas analyzer – Make / Model : AVL / 4000

Parameter Range of measurement Resolution Accuracy

CO2 0 – 20% Vol. 0.1% Vol. ± 1% CO2

HC 0 – 20,000 ppm Vol. 1 ppm ± 30 ppm HC
NOx 0 – 5,000 ppm Vol. 1 ppm ± 10 ppm NOx

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The warm-up period ends and steady state is reached when cooling water outlet
temperature and exhaust gas temperature get stabilized. The specific fuel consumption, exhaust gas
temperature, engine cooling water outlet temperature and emission values were recorded. A digital
data acquisition system was used to measure and store the cylinder pressures at each crank angle. It
consists of a piezoelectric pressure sensor, optical sensor, magnetic pickup shaft encoder and
charge amplifier. The cylinder pressure inside the engine was translated and stored continuously in
the data acquisition system.

Figure 1. Overall View of Experimental Set Up

Figure 2. Experimental Result Vs CFD Result

The pressure-crank angle diagram as shown in Figure 2 for bowl piston type witnessed the
qualitative information on the progress of engine operating cycle and showed the deviation of
pressure curve obtained from CFD simulation.

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III. Material and Methods of Analysis

A. Numerical Methodology

Figure 3 illustrates the various steps involved in computational modeling and with the optimum
numerical procedure, a comparative analysis of various pistons configuration such as bowl, dish,
dome and trunk are executed to identify the enhanced pattern.

Figure 3. Flow Diagram of CFD Procedure

B. Generation of CAD Model

The internal parts of the diesel engine such as piston, valve, manifold and combustion chamber
were developed using the CAD tool called CATIA. The constructed points were converted into
lines, surfaces and finally translated in to 3D model. Due to the very high complex nature of the
internal profiles, reverse engineering was employed to obtain the cloud points for this model. The
results from the intake analysis were then transferred into the compression and expansion analyses
for the continuity of the simulation. The modelings of the in-cylinder and piston arrangement are
shown in the Figures 4(a) and 6(b).

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Figure 4. Extracted CFD Domain (a) Valve Head with Manifold

Arrangement (b) Valve Head with Bowl Piston Arrangement

C. CFD Methodology

The 3 dimensional CFD is a very complex, computationally expensive and also consumes high
amount of time. Hence, this study is limited to only 2 dimensional approaches only. Meshing the
model is carried out using ANSYS, one of the familiar tools till date. Quads near the valves were
generated using MAPPING algorithm and single layer of prismatic cells were created in T-GRID.
In the analysis of in-cylinder combustion, use of dynamic meshing strategies is very necessary and
the presence of moving parts like piston and valves increases the complexity of meshing strategy.
The mesh elements that are associated with these moving parts have to be quad elements, enabling
them to use a strategy called “LAYERING”. The mesh in the auxiliary regions is trias where
additional two algorithms such as re-meshing and smoothening ispossible to define a representative
smoothness profile for the engine which is shown in the Figure 5(a). Smoothing methodology has a
spring based algorithm and hence the displacement at the boundaries is known by the following
equation which is used to update the position of interior nodes using a Jacobi sweep

xin+1 = xin + Δxim (1)

In the intact, the boundary displacement is found to be large compared to the local cell size. During
the combustion process, the more promising ways to obtain the mesh is updated with new cells
called re-meshing. The various types of elements and meshing strategies leads to complexity of
interfacing between the quads and trias. In order to accomplish the stability criterion, the analysis is
completed with very minimal time step. With respect to the dynamic meshes, integral form of the
conservation equation for any scalar  , on an arbitrary control volume V, is given by,

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Figure 5. (a) Various Meshing Algorithms for Bowl Piston, Valve and
Combustion Chamber (b) 2D CFD Domain of Bowl Piston Engine

2D CFD domain of bowl piston engine is shown in Figure 5(b).

D. Solver Setup

The combustion process is modeled by the application of ANSYS–14.0 and the relative position of
in-cylinder geometry is applied to model the dynamic surfaces. Fluid is assumed to be 2
dimensional, turbulent, and transient in nature.

1. Multispecies model is used to model continuum fluid, as air.

2. Eddy dissipation model is used to model chemical kinetics

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3. DPM is used to model the fuel droplet

4. Pressure based segregated solver is used.

E. Boundary Condition

5. Inlet - Pressure inlet with zero total pressure

6. Outlet- Pressure outlet with zero static pressure

7. Fuel inlet- Velocity inlet with 20 m/sec

8. Walls- Moving /Stationary wall Boundary condition and adiabatic

9. Piston head - Movement is governed by piston full UDF

10. Exhaust valve - Movement is governed by exhaust valve profile

11. Intake valve - Movement is governed by intake valve profile

F. Modeling Continuum Phase and Combustion

The basic governing equations that govern the fluid flow is described along with the appropriate
turbulence model and combustion model equations which predict the behavior inside the
combustion chamber.

Stoichiometric equation for diesel:

C 10H 22 + 15.5 O2 = 10 CO2 + 11 H 2O (3)

Conservation of mass:

∂ρ
Mass: + div ρu = 0 (4)
∂t

Conservation of x momentum:

∂(ρu) ∂(p)
X-momentum: + div ρu𝐮 = − + div µgradu +SMx (5)
∂t ∂x

Conservation of y momentum:

∂(ρv) ∂(p)
Y-momentum: + div ρv𝐮 = − + div µgradv +SMy (6)
∂t ∂y

Conservation of energy:

∂(ρi)
Internalenergy: + div ρi𝐮 = −pdiv𝐮 + div kgradT + Φ + Si (7)
∂t

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G. Turbulent Model Study

From the physical consideration, turbulence is inherently three dimensional and time dependent.
Turbulence is characterized by the presence of eddies which have larger length and time scale with
over all spatial co-ordinates for every flow property. These eddies increase convective diffusion
and thereby increase homogeneity. TKE and intensity are the parameters which govern the
effective mixing of fuel and air. In general, the foremost equation with time-dependent and three-
dimensional NS is needed to describe the given physics in to turbulent flow. The time averaged
quantities are required for modeling the turbulence flow and no turbulence model is universal in
nature which is highly physics dependent. Basically zero, one, two equation, RSM, LES models
were performed. A turbulence model is considered to find the optimum turbulence model in order
to enhance the in-cylinder combustion. The transport equation model for k-ε is found reliable and
optimum.

The transport equation for k and ε:

    t k 
( k )  ( kui )  (   )   Gk  Gb    YM  Sk
t xi xj  k xj  (8)

∂ ∂ ∂ μ ∂ε ε ε2
(ρε) + (ρεui ) = [(µ + t ) ] + C1ε (GK +C3ε Gb ) - C2 ερ + Sε (9)
∂t ∂x i ∂x j σε ∂x j K K

H. Combustion Model

The chemical combustion between air and diesel is modeled by species transport and reaction using
ANSYS FLUENT. There are three models to incorporate the reaction rate to source term by means
of species transport equation.

  
( Yi )  .( v Yi )  .Ji  Ri  Si (10)
t
(11)
t  T
Ji  Di, m  Yi  DT , i
Sct  T
The following models enable chemical kinetics and they are laminar finite – rate model, EDM and
EDC. Though the EDC model is computationally expensive, this incorporates the detailed organic
chemical kinetics in turbulent flames. However, EDC is utilized to model with an accurate
combustion for prompt response of the swirl mechanism.

I. Modeling Fuel Injection with Discrete Phase Modeling

Models were developed to explore the performance using diesel injection by DPM whereby it
describes the interaction between air and diesel. Perhaps, air is assumed to be continuum and diesel
as discrete for the intended application. The following sub models are usedunder DPM.

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1. Spray Break Up Model- which is used to model the break up physics of the spray

2. Droplet Collision Model- which is used to model collision and tracking of droplets.

3. Wall – film model is used to define spray-wall interaction.

J. Spray Break Up Model

The combustion model was combined with species transport and simplified chemistry reactions to
simulate the overall combustion process in a diesel engine. The combustion model exercises with
ANSYS which provides four spray break up models. They are TAB, Wave, KHRT and SDM
models. TAB model is recommended for low Webber number injections and well suited for low
speed sprays into a standard atmosphere. Wave and KHRT models are found to be good in
combustion modeling as they consider the computing effects of aerodynamic break up and
instabilities due to droplet acceleration. Stochastic SDM is used in very high Webber number cases.
For this analysis the Wave model is taken.

K. Droplet-collision Model

In a DI diesel engine, fuel is injected directly into the combustion chamber, where the spray can
impinge ahead of the piston. This model predicts the possibility and impact of collision between
fuel droplet particles and its effect. The algorithm of O‟Rourke solved at second order accuracy
estimates the chance of collision. The concept of packets together with the algorithm of O‟Rourke
makes the calculation of collision possible for problems caused due to particle spray. However,
these droplets collide with each other and determine the collision type whereby the coalescence and
bouncing outcomes are considered. The probability of each outcome is calculated from the collision
Webber number.

(12)
 U rel
2
D
We  s


L. Wall Film Model

Spray wall interaction is an important part of the mixture formation process in port fuel injection
engines. A fuel spray impinges on a surface, usually at the intake port near the intake valve, as well
as at the intake valve itself, where it splashes and subsequently evaporates. The wall film model in
ANSYS FLUENT allows a single component liquid drop to impinge upon a boundary surface and
form a film. This model does the following interactions, during the initial impact with a wall
boundary, such as subsequent tracking on surfaces, calculation of film variables and coupling gas
phase.

M. Grid Independent Study

Computational procedure in discretization of the fluid domain deals with grid generation, size,
shape, mesh count and quality which are the variables that govern the accuracy of the
computational results.

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According to Taylor‟s approximation,

∂f(x) ∆x ∂ 2 f(x) (∆x)2 ∂ 3 f(x) (∆x)3

f (x + ∆x) = f (x) + + + + ……….. (13)
∂x 1! ∂x 2 2! ∂x 3 3!

Δx→0 accuracy in prediction of f(x+Δx) is increased.

Fine meshes produce accurate results, but it requires more computational cost and time. However,
the increase in mesh count increases the accuracy of CFD results and further increase in mesh count
may not result in accuracy. In addition, the CFD results develop independent mesh/grid size. Figure
6 shows the optimum mesh count obtained from the grid study for various types of piston
configurations. From the investigation, the optimized total mesh count of 5,741, 5568, 5486 and
5774 for bowl, dished, dome and trunk type piston configuration were found.

Figure 6.Various Types of Piston Configuration and Its Mesh Count

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

A. Engine Performance Characteristics

From the CFD analysis, the insight of various parameters like contours of pressure, temperature,
velocity and different species were obtained. Moreover, the velocity vector represents the tumble
nature inside the chamber for different configurations. Figure 7(a) shows higher tangential velocity
in almost all the regions due to the bowl configuration and the same has induced large and lengthy
scale eddies. Vortex stretching breaks-up these eddies with high mixing and momentum transfer is
initiated. Figure 7(b) confirms that dished type has comparably higher tangential velocity in the

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center regions. As a result, mixing and momentum transfer is restricted compared to bowl
configuration. From the Figure 7(c), the turbulence eddies are found to be lengthy but small scale in
dome type. Therefore, they dissipate turbulent kinetic energy quickly and limit in the mixing of air
and fuel. Figure 7(d) shows that trunk type piston has created a higher tangential velocity in the left
region. Hence, mixing and momentum transfer are limited in this model when evaluated with bowl
configuration. Figure 12 shows the contour plots of maximum pressure and temperature generated
during the power stroke for the entire four piston configuration. Eventually the bowl piston is a
good choice of having proper mixing and better combustion. Thus it can provide higher efficiency
when compared with other piston types.

Figure 7. Velocity Vector Plots of various Piston Configurations at the end of

Compression Stroke (A) Bowl Piston (B) Dished Piston (C) Dome Piston
(D) Trunk Piston

B. Influence of Turbulent Kinetic Energy

The effect of turbulent nature inside the combustion chamber for various piston shapes resulted in
increased cylinder pressure and temperature. Figure 8(a) shows the bowl piston configuration of
337 degree crank angle in which the TKE is uniformly distributed throughout the combustion
chamber eventually prior to the fuel injection. Furthermore, the maximum TKE is located near to
the center of the combustion

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Figure 8.Contour Plots of TKE at the End of Compression Stroke

(a) Bowl Piston (b) Dished Piston (c) Dome Piston (d) Trunk Piston
chamber. Figures 8(b) and 8(c) shows the dished and dome piston type which indicates the
maximum TKE appears slightly away from the fuel injection area. The concentration of TKE is
high near the exhaust valve that results in non-homogenous mixing of air-fuel. Figure 9(d) shows
the maximum TKE which takes place in the left side of the combustion chamber near the intake
valve for the trunk piston type. The combustion chamber has very low TKE and results in non-
homogenous mixing of air-fuel. From these analyses it is evident that the piston geometry with
bowl type performs superior in many aspects and the depicted results provide a qualitative view of
the major processes with the spray induced flow motion as well as its interactions in governing
diesel combustion.

C. Engine Emission Characteristics

Diesel emissions have adverse health and/or environmental effects and most of these pollutants
originate from incomplete combustion, reactions between mixture components under high
temperature and pressure. These combustion models were simulated with the numerical procedure
and the combustion pressure and temperature by contour plots are presented in Figure 9. The
experimental results show a peak pressure of 50.11 bar and a combustion temperature of 1549 K
operated with a bowl type piston. The CFD results for bowl, dish, dome, trunk type pistons resulted
with a peak pressure of 50.08 bar, 50.01 bar, 49.30 bar and 49.80 bar and the combustion
temperature as 1521 K, 1530 K, 1526 K and 1532 K respectively. It can be concluded from the
Table 4, that there is substantial reduction of HC emissions compared with experimental and CFD
results compared with bowl piston configuration. In addition, NOx, and CO 2 were also evaluated

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Vol. 7, No.3, pp. 650-670.

for the bowl piston configuration which shows a significant effect on flow field and the injection.
The bowl shaped profile has less NOx, HC, and CO2 production by providing a controlled
temperature even at high pressure and significantly reduces the magnitude of the combustion peak
pressure and temperature. The NOx, CO2 and HC emission results are shown in Table 4 and
Figure 10.

Figure 9. Contour Plots of Pressure and Temperature

The cause for the lower emissions resulted in relatively better fuel atomization and air–fuel mixing.
In addition, more complete combustion feature takes place by faster evaporation and vaporization
of fuel spray droplets. The corresponding emissions acquired from the CFD simulation and the
experimental results are found to be within the range of 5% deviation.

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Vol. 7, No.3, pp. 650-670.

Figure 10. Contour Plots for NOx, HC, and CO2 Particles during Exhaust
Stroke

Table 4.Comparison of Emission Contents

NOx (ppm) HC (ppm) CO2 (% vol)

Type of piston
Experimental CFD Experimental CFD Experimental CFD
Bowl piston 649 652 71 70.2 11.8 12.2
Dished piston - 654 76.5 - 12.6
Dome piston - 652 74.2 - 12.9
Trunk piston - 653 75.4 - 12.5

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V. Conclusion
A comprehensive experimental study was carried out for base CI engine with bowl piston crown
arrangement. The experimental pressure and crank angle curve were compared with numerical
results, which resulted in less than 5% deviation. In finding the optimal procedure of CFD, grid
independence study was done by considering various mesh counts starting from 3524, 4251, 5741,
and 6892 respectively. Finally it was found that a mesh count of 5741 had highly reliable and good
agreement with the experimental results. Turbulence model study was executed with various
turbulence models and their sub models. The potential result showed that K-Epsilon is found
reliable to be an optimum model in predicting the combustion physics and implemented to confine
in-cylinder turbulence. The different types of piston crowns such as bowl piston crown, dished
piston crown, trunk piston crown and dome piston crown were designed and the results were
computed. It was absorbed that the bowl piston crown had given better turbulence parameters such
as turbulence intensity, turbulence kinetic energy and tumble behavior. Among various profiles, the
maximum pressure with minimum heat of reaction during injection reduces NO x, HC and CO2.
This involves a better mixing inside the combustion chamber and increases the efficiency of
combustion, peak pressure and power. In view of the above characteristics, the bowl piston crown
is considered to be the optimum profile which can be used for analyzing various blends of fuel.

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Symbols
ρ Fluid density (kg/m3)

Г Diffusion coefficient (m2/s)

ρS Density of the spray (Kg/m3 )

σ Surface tension (N/m)

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∂V Represent the boundary of the control volume V (m3)

Dynamic viscosity (Ns/m2)

µt Eddy viscosity or turbulent viscosity (Ns/m2)

ε Turbulence energy dissipation (m2/s2 )

∂ ∂ ∂
i
∂x
+j +k
∂y ∂z
divergence (div) or 
∂(p)
Change of Pressure force in X-direction
∂x

∂(p)
Change of Pressure force in Y-direction
∂y

∂(p)
Change of Pressure force in Z-direction
∂z

∂f(x)
Slope
∂x

∂ 2 f(x)
Curvature
∂x 2

∂ 3 f(x)
Curvature of curvature
∂x 3

SMx Source term of momentum in X-direction (kg/m2s2)

SMy Source term of momentum in Y-direction (kg/m2s2)

f (x) Any function at Xth node

f (x + ∆x) Any function at (X+1)th node

k Turbulent kinetic energy (m2/s2 )

T Temperature (oC)

K Thermal conductivity (kJ/mK)

u velocity in x-direction (m/s)

v velocity in y-direction (m/s)

p Intensity of pressure (Pascal)

ū Flow velocity vector (m/s)

ūg Mesh velocity of the moving mesh (m/s)

S Source term of 
We Webber number

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 Manikalithas et al. (2017). Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities,
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Urel Relative velocity between two parcels (m/s)

Arithmetic mean diameter of the two parcels (m)

D
Xi n Position of node at the current step (mm)

Xin+1 Position of node at the next step (mm)

∆Xim Distance moved by the node for the mesh convergence (mm)

∆x Distance between two nodes (mm)

Gk Represents the generation of turbulence kinetic energy due to the mean velocity
gradients (kg/m2s2)

Gb Represents the generation of turbulence kinetic energy due to buoyancy (kg/m2s2)

Ym Represents the contribution of the fluctuating dilatation in compressible turbulence

to the overall dissipation rate (kg/m2s2)

C1ε , C2ε , C3ε Constants

σk , σε Turbulent Prandtl numbers for k and epsilon respectively.

Sk , Sε User-defined source terms for k and epsilon respectively (kg/m2s2)

Yi Local mass fraction of ithspecies

Ji Diffusion flux of ithspecies (kg/m2s)

Ri Net rate of production of ithspecies(kg/m s)

Si Rate of creation of addition from dispersed phase (kg/m s)

Sct Turbulent Schmidt number

Di,m Mass diffusion coefficient for species i in the mixture

DT,i Thermal diffusion coefficient.

D Arithmetic mean diameter of the two parcels

C10 Carbon

H22 Hydrogen

O2 Oxygen

CO2 Carbon di-oxide

H2O Water

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 Manikalithas et al. (2017). Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities,
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Abbreviations
CI Compression ignition

CFD Computational fluid dynamics

TKE Turbulent kinetic energy

TR Tumble ratio

CA Crank angle

TDC Top dead centre

NOx Nitrogen Oxide

LES Large eddy simulation

FMDF Filtered mass density function

UHC Unburnt hydro carbon

CO Carbon monoxide

CAD Computer aided design

UDF User define function

NS Naiver strokes

RSM Reynolds stress model

LES Large eddy simulation

EDM Large dissipation model

EDC Eddy dissipation concept

TAB Analogy breakup

KHRT Kelvin-Helmholtz / Rayleigh –Taylor

SDM Secondary droplet model

DI Direct Injection

DPM Discrete phase modelling

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