Design and Manufacturing of a Constant Volume Test Combustion Chamber for Jet and Flame Visualization of CNG Direct Injection

Constant volume transparent test combustion chambers are extensively used for investigating injection and fuel burning properties of various combustion engines. Their configuration depends on the engine type and the research purpose. Material of components, shape and dimensions of the chamber and its parts, ease of use, accessibility, sealing and safety of the assembly are the parameters needed to be considered in designing the test cell. This paper explains, structural design of a test combustion chamber and its optical windows using finite element analysis of ANSYS 12.0 software for bearing high pressure variations and thermal shocks of combustion. It was designed for conducting CNG direct injection study on direct injection SI CNG engines for maximum design pressure of 100 bars. Optical diagnostic methods and high speed photography through quartz windows are used for the jet and flame developments. Satisfactory test results of the fabricated system proved that the finite element method can successfully be employed for design of such a system.