In the present work, measurements of the velocity profiles in the valve curtain area of an internal combustion engine were made using hot-wire anemometry. The three components of velocity were measured under a variety of engine speeds, valve lifts, and inlet pipe configurations.
From an analysis of the results, it was found that during the intake stroke, a region spanning about 60 crank angle degrees and centered at the middle of the intake stroke could be identified where transient effects had little effect on the intake velocity profiles. In this region, the velocity profiles were fairly insensitive to engine speed and to the type of inlet pipe used, but were sensitive to the valve lift. Surrounding this region, in the early and late parts of the intake stroke, the profiles were found to be influenced by transient effects and were sensitive to engine speed, type of inlet pipe, and valve lift.
The profiles from earlier steady-flow measurements were found to have the same general shape as the profiles in the region insensitive to transient effects, but there were some quantitative differences which are attributed to differences in the flow field downstream of the valve.