Abstract
The work described in this paper aimed to establish the feasibility of achieving savings in fuel consumption by developing and implementing direct-injection divided charge strategies in 1,8l engines. Four-valve engine geometries with flat pistons were studied and investigated thoroughly, using a concurrent engineering approach, to establish whether concepts akin to those applied successfully in other engines can be employed to achieve fuel consumption reductions. The work provided a much needed contribution to the existing body of knowledge by utilising state of the art diagnostic tools - unobtrusive optical techniques in optical engines and engine performance analysis methods - and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methodology, to allow the determination of the velocity, turbulence and air/fuel distribution for a range of promising stratification strategies and the formulation of optimisation guidelines for generic engine designs.