Pre- and post-injection flow characterization in a heavy-duty diesel engine using high-speed PIV

High-speed particle image velocimetry (HS-PIV) using hollow microspheres has been applied to characterize the flow in a heavy-duty diesel engine during and after fuel injection. The injection timings were varied in the range representing those used in premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) regimes, and multiple injections have been applied to investigate their influence on the flow inside the combustion chamber. By injecting into pure nitrogen, combustion is avoided and the flow can be studied long after injection. The results show a sudden change of air motion at the start of injection as a result of the air entrainment at the core of the spray. Furthermore, as expected, spray injection causes a considerable increase in the cycle-to-cycle fluctuations of the flow pattern, the more so for longer injection durations.