Application and Evaluation of the Eulerian-Lagrangian Spray Atomization (ELSA) Model on CFD Diesel Spray Simulations 2011-37-0029

During the last fifteen years, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has become one of the most important tools to both understand and improve the diesel spray development in Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). Most of the approaches and models used pure Eulerian or Lagrangian descriptions to simulate the spray behavior. However, each one of them has both advantages and disadvantages in different regions of the spray, it can be the dense zone or the downstream dilute zone. One of the most promising techniques, which has been in development since ten years ago, is the Eulerian-Lagrangian Spray Atomization (ELSA) model. This is an integrated model for capturing the whole spray evolution, including primary break-up and secondary atomization.

In this paper, the ELSA numerical modeling of diesel sprays implementation in Star-CD (2010) is studied, and simulated in comparison with the diesel spray which has been experimentally studied in our institute, CMT-Motores Térmicos. Since many of the most important characteristics of the spray development, as the penetration or the axial velocity, can be captured using 2D simulations, in this preliminary validation of ELSA model only two-dimensional simulations have been performed. Moreover, the main objective of the paper is to: firstly, obtain mesh independency for further analysis and secondly, improve the classic k-ε RANS model for ELSA model. Apart from this, several characteristics of the spray as can be the droplet formation of the liquid penetration are also showed.