Using spray momentum flux measurements to understand the influence of diesel nozzle geometry on spray characteristics

Nowadays Diesel nozzle geometry is a major issue in order to fulfil new emission regulations due to the influence on internal flow, cavitation phenomenon, spray characteristics and therefore atomization behavior, which are very important for engines performance and pollutant formation. The aim of this article is to study the effect of cavitation on Diesel spray behavior. For this purpose, two bi-orifices nozzle geometries, a cylindrical nozzle and a convergent one, are characterized by means of two fundamental spray parameters: mass flux and momentum flux. Five injection pressure values and five discharge pressure levels have been measured in order to change the cavitation regime inside the nozzle flow. It is known from the literature that cavitation brings about a mass flux choke, but there are few studies that investigate its effects on momentum and outlet velocity in real geometries. The key point of this study is the measurement of spray momentum in order to explain the effects of nozzle geometry on spray behavior. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.