Experimental and Computational Investigation of Subcritical Near-Nozzle Spray Structure and Primary Atomization in the Engine Combustion Network Spray D

In order to improve understanding of the primary atomization process for diesel-like sprays, a collaborative experimental and computational study was focused on the near-nozzle spray structure for the Engine Combustion Network (ECN) Spray D single-hole injector. These results were presented at the 5th Workshop of the ECN in Detroit, Michigan. Application of x-ray diagnostics to the Spray D standard cold condition enabled quantification of distributions of mass, phase interfacial area, and droplet size in the near-nozzle region from 0.1 to 14 mm from the nozzle exit. Using these data, several modeling frameworks, from Lagrangian-Eulerian to Eulerian-Eulerian and from Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) to Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS), were assessed in their ability to capture and explain experimentally observed spray details. Due to its computational efficiency, the Lagrangian-Eulerian approach was able to provide spray predictions across a broad range of conditions. In general, this “engineering-level” simulation was able to reproduce the details of the droplet size distribution throughout the spray after calibration of the spray breakup model constants against the experimental data. Complementary to this approach, higher-fidelity modeling techniques were able to provide detailed insight into the experimental trends. For example, interface-capturing multiphase simulations were able to capture the experimentally observed bimodal behavior in the transverse interfacial area distributions in the near-nozzle region. Further analysis of the spray predictions suggests that peaks in the interfacial area distribution may coincide with regions of finely atomized droplets, whereas local minima may coincide with regions of continuous liquid structures. The results from this study highlight the potential of x-ray diagnostics to reveal salient details of the near-nozzle spray structure and to guide improvements to existing primary atomization modeling approaches.