Comparative study of the internal flow in diesel injection nozzles at cavitating conditions at different needle lifts with steady and transient simulations approaches

The motion of the needle during the injection process of a diesel injector has a marked influence on the internal flow, the fuel characteristics at the nozzle exit, the spray pattern and the fuel-air mixing process. The current paper is focused on the computational study of the internal flow and cavitation phenomena during the injection process, with inclusion of the opening where the needle is working at partial lifts. This study has been performed with a homogeneous equilibrium model (OpenFOAM) customized by the authors to simulate the real motion of the needle. The first part of the study covers the analysis of the whole injection process with a moving mesh using the boundary conditions provided by a one-dimensional (1D) model of the injector created in AMESim. This 1D model has offered the possibility of reproducing the movement of the needle with real lift law and real injection pressure evolution during the injection. Thus, it has been possible to compare the injection rate profiles provided by OpenFOAM against those obtained both in AMESim and experimentally. The second part compares the differences in mass flow, momentum flux, effective velocity and cavitation appearance between steady (fixed lifts) and transient (moving mesh) simulations. The aim of this comparison is to establish the differences between these two approaches. On the one hand is a more realistic approach in its use of transient simulations of the injection process and where the needle movement is taken into account. On the other hand, is the use of steady simulations at partial needle lifts. This analysis could be of interest to researchers devoted to the study of the diesel injection process since it could help to delimit the uncertainties involved in using the second approach which is more easily carried out, versus the first which is supposed to provide more realistic results.