Fluid-structure interaction analysis on the performance of the high-pressure fuel pump for diesel engines

In this paper, a 3-D fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis on the performance of the high-pressure fuel pump for diesel engines is presented. The fluid and structure are two-way coupled and several complex factors are taken into accounts in the FSI model. For instance, the fluid model includes not only the high-pressure fuel pump but also the rail and pressurecontrol valve which are used to maintain a stable delivery pressure of the pump; Gap boundary condition is adopted to simulate the opening and closing of the valve; The flow is assumed to be nonisothermal and the physical properties of the fuel such as dynamic viscosity and density are functions of pressure and temperature. While in the structure model, the spring force on the valve and the contacts between the valve and the valve seat as well as the top block are considered. The calculated volumetric efficiency losses agree well with the experiments, which indicates that the FSI model established in this study could well predict the physical phenomenon taking place in the high-pressure fuel pump. Several new conclusions can be drawn from the discussions on the results such as the suction efficiency loss due to the delay closing of the inlet valve is extremely small while the suction loss due to the expansion of the high-pressure fuel entrapped in the dead volume is very large.