Experimental and Numerical Study of the Effect of Pulsating Flow on the Turbocharger Turbine Performance Parameters

The pulsating flow in the exhaust gas of a SI engine causes an unsteady flow at the inlet to the turbocharger turbine. In a four cylinder four stroke engine, the pulse frequency varies between 20 and 200 Hz. Three dimensional pulsating flows in a vane-less turbocharger turbine of a 1.7 liters SI engine are simulated numerically and validated experimentally. Simulations are done for 720 degree engine cycle at three engine speeds.

The results are shown the inlet pulsating flow has significant effects on several turbine parameters especially the inlet total pressure, the reduced mass flow rate and the efficiency. The results show a very good agreement between the three-dimensional unsteady simulation and experimental values. Even the mean values of the turbocharger turbine performance parameters for unsteady flow are closer to experimental values than those of steady flow.