Large eddy simulations of the influence of piston position on the swirling flow in a model two-stroke diesel engine

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of piston position on the in-cylinder swirling flow in a simplified model of a large two-stroke marine diesel engine. Design/methodology/approach – Large eddy simulations with four different models for the turbulent flow are used: a one-equation model, a dynamic one-equation model, a localized dynamic one-equation model and a mixed-scale model. Simulations are carried out for two different geometries corresponding to 100 and 50 percent open scavenge ports. Findings – It is found that the mean tangential profile inside the cylinder changes qualitatively with port closure from a Lamb-Oseen vortex profile to a solid body rotation, while the axial velocity changes from a wake-like profile to a jet-like profile. The numerical results are compared with particle image velocimetry measurements, and in general, the authors find a good agreement. Research limitations/implications – Considering the complexity of the real engine, the authors designed the engi...