Investigation of Air Flow Characteristics in Air Intake Hoses using CFD and Experimental Analysis based on Deformation of Rubber Hose Geometry

Abstract

In this study, the pressure loss value of air intake hose of FIAT 1.3 E6D type engine, located between intercooler and inlet manifold of the engine, was examined using computational fluid dynamics, considering geometrical deformation in a rubber material. The rubber material modelling was performed by the verification of the data - obtained through the experimental method- with ANSYS software using Mooney-Rivlin method. The rubber material modelling was performed with the aim of correctly determination of the increase in the hose diameter when subjected to pressure, since the material has the feature of elasticity. In this study, ANSYS Fluent v.18.0 software and a static pressure machine were used. The air intake into the hose took place at the pressure of 123,5 kPa and flow rate of 0,087 kg/s. A solution, independent of the number of element, was obtained in the analysis. The turbulence model used in the study is standard k-epsilon type. As a result, the deformation-oriented pressure loss in the last geometry was found 1,85 kPa. The analyses were repeated for non-deformed geometry, and a pressure loss of 2,04 kPa was determined. At the result of the test, the geometry was seen to become actually deformed, and the pressure loss was found 1,9 kPa. The lowness of pressure loss in the deformed geometry was seen as the removal of the sharp bends that would cause local losses with the effect of pressure forces. In this study, it was determined that geometrical deformation changes the geometrical features that causes pressure loss, and leads to less pressure loss.