Frequency Analysis Technique for Intake and Exhaust Manifold Design

The configuration of intake and exhaust manifolds has a strong impact on the gas exchange process of reciprocating engines. To make the designer assess a large number of manifold configurations quickly, a frequency analysis technique is developed, which is based on one-dimensional wave action equations. The frequency spectra of gas pressure pulsation in manifolds with different cylinder number, different manifold layouts and different manifold parameters are calculated, and the effects of various parameters on the spectrum characteristics are studied. The relationship between predicted frequency spectrum and measured volumetric efficiency is investigated for engines with different cylinder number.

The experimental results for engines with different cylinder number show that this technique can be used to select the manifold parameters required in the initial stage of design and can save much CPU time compared to a siumlation program based on the method of characteristics.