Introduction of Virtual Spray Vessel (VSV) simulation approach to improve the optimization level of mass-produced 3 ^rd generation fuel injectors for SFS-Flex fuel systems.

The success obtained by use of Virtual Engine Modeling (VEM) in the design and development areas of fuel injectors generated a lot of interest from production and quality engineers to dispose of a similar tool related to spray vessel measurements.

To respond to stringent PL6/EURO5 requirements it was decided to develop a Virtual Spray Vessel (VSV) tool capable of predicting spray patters and perform droplet diameter analysis comparable to Phase Doppler Analysis (PDA) results.

The paper describes the analogies between VEM and VSV modeling, the specific new numerical approaches to obtain spatial spray data comparable to conventional mechanical measurement techniques and to perform droplet diameter analysis comparable to PDA data. The paper concludes with a series of comparisons of simulated and experimental data.