J2715_200703 Gasoline Fuel Injector Spray Measurement and Characterization

The rationale for this document is that fuel spray measurement and characterization continues to become increasingly critical to the automotive industry; whereas no comprehensive, industry-wide set of measurement and reporting procedures has been available. This has led to a situation in which many spray parameters and test procedures have, of necessity, been created and utilized within individual original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies, and even among third-party testing laboratories and universities. This non-uniformity regarding test and reporting procedures has resulted in a lack of repeatability and traceability for many claimed spray parameters. It has also made it very difficult for any laboratory to check the values of spray-characterization parameters that are reported by another laboratory. The lack of standardization has also resulted in considerable confusion and obfuscation regarding the names and definitions of spray parameters as they apply to port fuel injection and gasoline-direct injection. The current situation regarding the term “cone angle” for these two classes of injectors is a prime example.

The use of the uniform and well-defined procedures for test configuration, testing, data reduction and reporting that are contained in this document should significantly enhance the ability of one spray-test laboratory to accurately repeat and verify the results of another. The very detailed procedures and test specifications for all of the spray parameters should also serve to reduce the variation of spray parameter values that are reported, even for the same injector model. This should, in turn, reduce the overall time and overhead for obtaining a proven fuel system for an engine, as OEMs could ultimately conduct one set of spray tests per J2715 as opposed to a separate set of tests for each customer. This document should also supply the industry with a neutral, unbiased test for each defined spray parameter.