Macroscopic characteristics for direct-injection multi-hole sprays using dimensionless analysis

The macroscopic spray characteristics were quantified using dimensionless analysis by examining the role of the dominating forces associated with liquid-jet breakup. The Weber number, Reynolds number, and air-to-liquid density ratio dimensionless numbers were used to capture the primary forces including the inertia, viscous, surface tension, and aerodynamic drag forces. Planar Mie-scattering technique was applied to generate spray images over a broad range of conditions found in today’s spark-ignition-direct-injection (SIDI) engines, providing a relatively large range of dimensionless numbers. The effect of fuel properties were examined using gasoline, methanol and ethanol fluids. Six regions described on a Weber number versus Reynolds number domain were selected to identify the relative importance of the inertia force, surface tension force, and viscous force on macroscopic spray structure. The effect of aerodynamic drag was individually determined by characterizing the spray over a range of ambient air-to-liquid density ratios. As a result, for the non-flash-boiling multi-hole sprays in this study, the Weber number and air-to-liquid density ratio have much more profound effect on the spray penetration and spray–plume angle compared to the Reynolds number contribution. The inertia force and air drag force are more important factors compared to the viscous force and surface tension force. This analysis yielded dimensionless correlations for spray penetration and spray–plume angle that provided important insight into the spray breakup and atomization processes.