Cycle-to-cycle variation analysis of early flame propagation in engine cylinder using proper orthogonal decomposition

• Cross-correlation of flame pattern is developed to compute the velocity fields.
• Weak spiral flow pattern within the flame was only found in higher POD modes.
• Flame speed and POD coefficients are well correlated with pressure-derived results.

Experimental investigations on the cycle-to-cycle variations of early flame propagation were conducted at two intake air swirl ratio of 0.55 and 5.68 in a single-cylinder spark-ignition direct-injection (SIDI) optical engine. Both the crank-angle resolved flame images through the quartz insert in the piston and the in-cylinder pressure were simultaneously recorded for 250 consecutive cycles. An algorithm based on the cross-correlation of flame pattern was implemented to compute the two-dimensional velocity fields representing an early flame propagation. Afterwards, the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) was performed to access the cycle-to-cycle variations of flame propagation. During early flame formation, the uncertainty of velocity was evaluated to be less than 5%. The velocity fields of early flame propagation were significantly affected by in-cylinder air flow. Increasing the swirl ratio from 0.55 to 5.68 augmented the average early flame propagation speed from 2.1 m/s to 3.2 m/s, and the COV of flame speed was reduced from 49.7% to 25.1%. Good correlations were identified between early flame speed and the pressure-derived results. Similar magnitude of reduction in COV (coefficient of variation) of IMEP (indicated mean efficient pressure) & PP was also found. The coefficients of POD mode 1 were found to represent the flame speed, and the remaining higher POD modes were related to the fluctuation in kinetic energy. The POD coefficients showed good correlations with the pressure-derived results such as CA05 (5% of total heat release) & PP (peak pressure). The weak spiral flow pattern, observed within the flame, was only found in higher POD modes. In summary, using the coefficients and modes of POD, the average and fluctuating parts of early flame propagation can be resolved, thereby providing more quantitative information of the cycle-to-cycle variation during the early combustion process in an engine cylinder.