Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018
680469
I n v e s t i g a t i o n a n d T u n i n g of t h e
Exhaust S y s t e m of Small
Two-Stroke Cycle Engines
IN ORDER TO IMPROVE performance of large 4 stroke cycle
combustion engines, a general way is found making useful
a part of the energy remaining in the charge of the cylinder
after the expansion stroke is completed. Exhaust super­
chargers use a part of this energy, converting it into m e ­
chanical work by means of a turbine, which itself drives a
charger to supercharge the engine toward the end of the
intake stroke. For large 2 stroke engines, a similar way is
found to increase the charge. But this method is limited
to large engines, since it is not yet possible to build the
superchargers in the small dimensions needed for small en­
gines.
This paper deals with the possibility of supercharging
small 2 stroke cycle engines, without additional moving
accessories and only by means of tuning the exhaust system.
THEORY OF CHARGE CHANGING IN SMALL
CRANKCASE SCAVENGED ENGINES
WITHOUT EXHAUST SYSTEM - Assuming that the en­
gine works without an exhaust system (that is, the exhaust
system consists only of the exhaust port), the upper edge of
the piston during the downstroke passes the upper edge of
the exhaust port (EO). From this point of time up to the
moment the upper edge of the piston passes the upper edge
ABSTRACT
Oscilloscopic investigation of the pressure phenomena in
an exhaust system of a small 2 stroke cycle internal com­
bustion engine shows that a low pressure at the exhaust port
during the middle of the scavenging period and a high pres­
sure toward the end of the charge changing period is ad-
1825
Wilhelm A. Huelsse
Dipl. Ing., Germany
of the scavenging ports (SO), the charge of the cylinder,
which still has a certain pressure, expands into the ambient
air. Pressure in the cylinder declines rapidly. This period,
the beginning of the charge changing process, is called the
"blowdown" period. Since crankshaft angle α corresponds
1
toE O . α to SO (See Fig. 1 ) , the angle area of the blowdown
2
W is given by
BD
where A is a function of α and means the momentarily open
area of the exhaust port, corresponding to every α. W is BD
merely a geometric function of the port width, the ports
height (exhaust and scavenging), and the connecting rod
ratio X = r/1, where "r" means the crankshaft radius and
"1" is the length of the connecting rod. For a tabulation
of this integral, see Ref. 1.
Involving time "t" (sec) and engine speed "n" (rpm) by
means of the equation
vantageous. The low pressure can be created by means of
an exhaust diffuser and the high pressure by means of an
orifice installed at a suitable distance from the exhaust port.
Both phenomena produce a desired increase in engine per­
formance. The development of a diffuser exhaust system
is described.
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018
1826
the time area of the blowdown F BD is given by
Assuming a constant gas velocity during the blowdown period,
the integral of Eq. 3 expresses a volume of gas flowing
into ambient air through the exhaust port during the blow -
down period.
With a given time area of the blowdown F BD , the pres­
sure drop in the cylinder depends on the total volume of the
trapped gas, that is, on the piston displacement V .
The specific time area F* BD is given by the ratio F
which is merely a number characterizing the pressure d e ­
crease in the cylinder until SO.
According to this formula, assuming a constant W
that may be already the largest possible in view of port
width and height, increasing speed "n" means decreas­
ing F* . On reaching a certain point where F* be-
BD
comes too small, the pressure in the cylinder will stay high
until SO, and consequently exhaust gas is blown into the
crankcase or at least fills the scavenging passages. When
scavenging begins, the burned gas has to be blown out first,
later, the fresh charge follows. This loss in efficiency of
the scavenging process means a loss in the mep. It is seen
that the decrease of F* with increasing engine speed d e ­
BD
W. A. HUELSSE
creases the mep. This reflection shows the importance of
having enough specific time area during the blowdown period
at high engine speeds.
Considering engines with different linear dimensions,
that is, of different size, the increase of the linear dimen­
sions makes it possible to incorporate larger angle areas
because angle area increases with the second power of the
linear dimensions. But the piston displacement increases
with the third power of the linear dimensions. Their ratio,
the specific angle area, therefore decreases in inverse pro­
portion to the increasing linear dimensions.
Therefore, a way to increase the specific time area of
the blowdown is to decrease the linear dimensions of the
single cylinder. This is frequently done by dividing the
total displacement of the engine and building multicylinder
engines.
In analogy to the blowdown period, the equation
gives the "specific time area of the scavenging process,"
where B is a function of a and means the momentarily open
area of the scavenging ports corresponding to every αW
SC
is a mere function of the given constructive data of the en­
gine. For tabulation of W see Ref. 1.SC
,
Assuming a constant gas velocity through the scavenging
ports, this formula gives the ratio of the volume of gas flow­
ing through the scavenging ports during scavenging period
to V , the total volume to be scavenged.
S
BD /V : One way to increase the efficiency of the scavenging
S
process is to increase the specific time area of the scaveng­
ing process according to Eq. 5. But at higher speeds, this
way is limited by the constructional restrictions on the width
and height of the ports. A certain W cannot be exceeded.
SC
The second way to increase the scavenging efficiency
without increasing W is to increase the pressure differential
SC
between scavenging pressure in the crankcase and pressure
BD at the exhaust port.
If F (Eq. 5) is large, scavenging may be already fin-
SC
ished at bdc. Then the piston, on its way up to SC, sucks
BD
back parts of the fresh charge from the cylinder, and presses
out a certain part through the exhaust port.
If F is suitable, the total fresh charge out of the crank-
SC
case may have reached the cylinder volume and may have
blown all, and only burned gases, out of the cylinder volume,
assuming that a good scavenging system is used, such as the
Schnürle system (loop system). The latter is widely accepted,
since it gives some cooling effect to the crown of the piston.
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018
EXHAUST SYSTEM OF 2-STROKE CYCLE ENGINES
As the piston goes further up from SC to EC, the piston
blows out fresh charge through the yet open exhaust port.
Assuming no fluctuations anywhere else, only ambient pres­
sure remains in the cylinder at EC.
WITH A PIPE WITH AN OPEN END (Fig. 3(a)) - It is
assumed that no fluctuation at all exists in the straight pipe
when the charge changing process begins. During the blow-
down period, the charge of the cylinder now expands into
the pipe. The inert gas in the pipe, at its beginning at the
cylinder, is compressed by the expansion. The compression
builds up a strong shock wave which, according to the laws
of wave motion, propagates to the open end of the pipe.
This wave contains nearly the total energy of the charge of
the cylinder remaining at EO. That is, the energy is equal
to the area of the expansion nonused in the PV diagram
shown in Fig. 2 .
The energy of the wave while propagating through the
pipe suffers severs losses by friction and damping. When the
remaining pressure wave reaches the open end of the pipe
and leaves it, a suction wave is reflected, which propagates
against the streaming gas back to the port. The moment
it arrives at the port depends on the speed and the way in
which the pressure wave and the reflected suction wave have
to pass (twice the length of the pipe). If the suction wave
arrives during the scavenging period, it creates a low pres­
sure at the port, but of short duration, since there exists
only a single point to cause the reflection, that is, the open
end of the pipe. During the short time increment that the
low pressure remains at the port, it helps scavenging by
creating a large pressure differential from the crankcase to
the port.
But the efficiency of the reflection at the open end is
very bad. Assuming a shock wave containing a pressure
=
energy of p / p
0 3, it never can send back a suction wave
that has the same negative amplitude, since only the range
from atmospheric pressure to absolute zero is available.
A great part of the energy is lost by the sudden expansion
into the ambient air.
WITH PIPE AND DIFFUSER - In Fig. 3(b) a diffuser is
1827
connected with the exhaustportby means of a short cylindric
pipe. This arrangement gives better efficiency in regaining
energy out of the shock wave, since it avoids the sudden
expansion of its high amplitude into the ambient air.
Assuming the same shock wave, the wave resulting from
the blowdown period reaches the small beginning of the
diffuser and passes it. On every step of its way it reduces
its amplitude by sending back small suction waves, since
the area of the cross section of the diffuser increases from
step to step. The suction waves sent off by the small b e ­
ginning of the diffuser reach the port soon, since pressure
wave and reflected suction wave have to pass only twice
along the pipe. The suction waves sent off by the big end
of the diffuser reach the port later, since pressure wave and
reflected suction wave have to pass twice through the pipe
and twice through the diffuser.
Between these two points of time, "soon" and "later," a
long lasting valley of low pressure, far below ambient pres­
sure, is created out of the energy of the shock wave. The
diffuser provides an infinite number of points of reflections
within the range "small beginning" and "large end." If
the system is tuned properly, the valley of low pressure lasts
during the whole scavenging process. It improves the scav­
enging process by the way mentioned above, that is, by
creating a bigger pressure differential from the crankcase
to the exhaust port.
Since there is available only a crankcase pressure at SO
of p / p = 1.3 (see Ref. 2), it means that there is a double
0
amount of pressure differential if pressure at the exhaust port
reaches only p/p = 0.7. This can be easily obtained, es­
0
pecially during the middle of the scavenging process, at
bdc when the ports are fully opened.
The long lasting, low pressure valley increases the amount
of scavenging gas or air. Finally, parts of fresh charge are
sucked into the exhaust pipe. The increase in delivery ratio
can be easily measured by methods given in Ref. 2. The
amplitude of the pressure wave is reduced as it passes the
diffuser.
If the amplitude reaches an amount of p/p < 2, and leaves
0
the large open end of the diffuser, an equivalent suction
wave can be sent back into the diffuser. It may reach the
exhaust port and help scavenging. The severe loss of energy
by the sudden expansion of the high amplitude of the pres­
sure wave into the ambient air (as found at the open end
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018
1828
of the simple pipe) is avoided, since the amplitude has d e ­
creased during its way through the diffuser.
Although the amount of scavenging air or gas is increased
by the exhaust system described, it does not necessarily mean
an increase in engine performance, since an increase in
performance means an increase of charge in the cylinder
at EC. The air charge could be low, if low pressure at the
exhaust port still persists toward the end of the charge chang­
ing process and allows the piston to blow out fresh charge
into the pipe from point SC to EC.
WITH PIPE AND DIFFUSER WITH ORIFICE - As shown
in Fig. 3(c), to increase performance it is necessary to use
another constructional element, that is, an orifice to shut
the open end of the diffuser. As far as the already reduced
shock wave (resulting from the blowdown period) reaches
the large end of the diffuser, this exhaust system works as
well as the open diffuser described above. But now the r e ­
maining pressure wave cannot expand into the ambient air;
W. A. HUELSSE
it is partly reflected as a back propagating pressure wave
by the wall of the orifice. Since on its way back to the
port, the area of the cross section of the diffuser diminishes,
the back propagating pressure wave is forced to increase its
amplitude again.
With a relatively high amplitude and (if all is tuned well)
with a steep front, the wave reaches the pipe, propagates
through the pipe in the direction toward the port, and reaches
the fresh charge sucked into the pipe previously by the suc­
tion waves. Since pressure in the pipe is now higher than
that in the cylinder, and all phenomena occur simultaneously,
parts of the fresh charge in the pipe are pressed back into
the cylinder through the yet open exhaust port between points
of time SC and EC. The angle area of the blowdown is used
a second time, now to supercharge the simple small 2 stroke
engine. Pressure in the cylinder at EC now becomes much
higher than ambient pressure.
This method of supercharging the small 2 stroke engine
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018

EXHAUST SYSTEM OF 2-STROKE CYCLE ENGINES 1829

by means of back flowing pressure waves that press fresh PRACTICAL INVESTIGATIONS
charge, previously sucked into the exhaust pipe back into
the cylinder through the exhaust port is the only one possi­ TEST ENGINE - Test engine specifications are given in
ble. Its great advantage is the lack of any additional mov­ Table 1. For a technical description of a serial engine, see
ing accessories. Ref. 4.
Fig. 4 is an attempt to show the phenomena by a pictorial In 1954, when changing the combustion system from the
presentation. These pictures, though they are designed sche­ former medium pressure engine (LT 85) to a pure diesel
matically, are based on the real measurements. On the engine with a higher compression ratio (LT 85 D), it was
left side of Fig. 4, the moving engine is seen with nine po­ learned that the air charge of the cylinder was insufficient
sitions of the crankshaft and piston during the charge chang­ to secure smokeless combustion at full load. Since the spe­
ing process. At the lower right, the line shows the pressure cific time areas of the blowdown and scavenging period
at ten different points of the exhaust manifold, above it. were already the largest possible, in view of the large dis­
The points are connected to one curve. Naturally, as the placement and the high engine speed (both of which mean
wave moves through the exhaust manifold in the manner small specific time area available, as mentioned above),
described, the shape of this curve at the next time increment and considering that no changes of the cylinder design could
is different from step to step. be made, it was possible to compensate for these small spe­
At time increment (a), the piston is in the position of cific time areas only by utilizing the exhaust phenomena
half the blowdown period. Pressure in the connecting e x ­ described above.
haust pipe, near the port, begins to rise. At all other points Some fundamental theories about the necessary shape of
of the exhaust manifold, no effect of the beginning expan­ the pressure fluctuation at the exhaust port were found in
sion is yet seen, only the rest of a fluctuation as a result of Ref. 3.
the preceding cycle. TESTING EQUIPMENT - The testing equipment consisted
At time increment (b), pressure in the connecting pipe only of a large screen oscilloscope with cathodic beams
has risen further. and a pickup, which was able to measure small fluctuations
At time increment (c), the shock wave is seen to have of low pressure. The whole electrical measuring was managed
just passed the pipe and about to enter the diffuser. by a small but well-equipped electronics laboratory.*
At time increment (d), the shock wave has passed the TESTING METHOD - The pickup was fixed at the exhaust
two-third length of the diffuser. Its amplitude has been pipe, the closest point possible to the exhaust port (3.74 in.
considerably reduced, and pressure at the exhaust port is from the port because of constructional restrictions). The
already diminished according to the suction waves. A valley small electric tension induced in the pickup by the piezo­
of low pressure is seen at the small diffuser entrance. electric effect deflects (after being amplified) one cathodic
At time increment (e), at bdc, the low pressure valley beam of the oscilloscope in a vertical direction. The hori­
has reached the exhaust port. The shock wave has reached zontal deflection was generated by means of a trigger circuit,
the orifice. The relative high pressure at this point results the frequency of which was synchronized with the engine
from the fact that the amplitudes of the arriving wave and speed. In this way, static pictures are seen on the screen
the partly reflected wave are superimposed. The resulting of the oscilloscope, since the fluctuations differ only slightly
pressure may be high at the orifice at the moment of the from cycle to cycle. The pictures show the pressurefluctua-
reflection. tions in the pipe at the point where the pickup is fixed in
dependency of time.
At time increment (f), low pressure is prevailing at the
exhaust port. The reflected wave, on its way back, has The time, given by the four points EO, SO, SC, EC, is
reached the large end of the diffuser. coordinated to the picture on the screen by four little marks
At time increment (g), the reflected pressure wave has on the second beam of the oscilloscope. A magnetic in­
reached the small end of the diffuser. Note the increase of duction pickup is triggered by sharp edges on a disk rotating
its amplitude. Pressure at the exhaust port begins to rise. with engine speed, thus giving these four marks. The picture
At time increment (h), the upper edge of the piston reaches finally seen on the screen is schematically shown in Fig.
the upper edges of the scavenging ports. The period of 4 (a). For a record of these static pictures, they generally
scavenging has ended and supercharging begins. Pressure were photographed, but at first only a sheet of transparent
at the exhaust port has nearly reached an amplitude of half paper was put on the screen and the lines were traced with
the previous shock wave. a pencil.
At time increment (i), pressure at the exhaust port is still DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEST EXHAUST MANIFOLD -
high, and parts of the pressure wave have been reflected from The exhaust system formerly used in the medium pressure
the skirt of the piston. engine and its pressure fluctuation is shown in Fig. 5. This
It is assumed that during the following nearly two-thirds system consisted of a cylindric muffler of the interference
of one revolution of the engine until the next point EO, the type (diameter 5.12 in.) connected to the exhaust port by
proper fluctuations in the exhaust system are damped to such a conventional cylindric pipe (diameter 1.85 in.). The
a small amount that they do not essentially disturb the next
process. *Dipl. Ing. Rudolf Kreyser, 6901 Wilhelmsfeld, Germany.
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018

1830 W. A. HUELSSE

junction of the pipe with the muffler was rectangular.

During the blowdown period, from point EO to SO, pressure
increases fast, reaching maximum at point SO. Then it
decreases, but the pressure during the scavenging period
stays high, compared with the amplitude of the blowdown
wave.
The constructional data of all diffuser exhaust manifolds
investigated are shown in Fig. 5a.
In order to avoid exhaust noise, it was necessary to con­
tinue using the muffler, but it was connected to the other
parts of the manifold at its front side (diameter 5.12 in.;
130 m m ) . All diffusers used had the same diameter at their
small end, that is, 1.85 in. (47 mm), which is the diameter
of the pipe to which they are connected.
The length of the first two diffuser exhaust manifolds,
A^ and A^, from the exhaust port to the orifice was chosen

according to the following theory: It already was known

from Fig. 5 that the shock wave resulting from the blowdown
period reaches maximum pressure at point SO. This should
be the same with every other exhaust manifold, since this
phenomenon depends only on the blowdown period, which
is finished at SO. A further increase of pressure in the ex­
haust pipe near the exhaust port is not possible, since the
remaining pressure in the cylinder may expand into the
scavenging ports, too, which just begin to open.
For the wave to be back at point SC where scavenging
terminates would require a certain time for the wave to
pass the pipe and the diffuser twice on its way forth and
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018

EXHAUST SYSTEM OF 2-STROKE CYCLE ENGINES 1831

back after its reflection at the orifice of the muffler. The

length needed can be easily calculated from the cylinder
wall to the orifice in the exhaust manifold, assuming a
certain constant speed of the wave. Since scavenging ports
open 115 deg and the engine speed amounts to 3000 rpm,
the time available until the wave has to reach the pickup
on its way back is calculated from

According to Ref. 3, an average wave speed of about 400 the engine speed was measured precisely to be 3000 rpm.
m / s e c (1313 fps) was assumed, and the lengths were calcu­ Since the scavenging ports opening period of 115 deg is
lated. In Fig. 6, concerning A , a little lower pressure during
7
represented by 56 mm, then the distance between maximum
pressure near SO and the middle of the reflected steep front
the scavenging period was found. However, when it was com­ (that is, 36 mm) is 73.9 deg. The time needed amounts to
pared with Fig. 5, a clear picture of the reflected wave
could not be recognized. In Fig. 7, concerning A , the d e ­
sired low pressure could be recognized, but the valley of
low pressure soon ended, owing to a wave with a very steep
front. Pressure instantly increased a certain amount. This Since the length of the exhaust manifold from the point of
was very unexpected. It was impossible that this steep and the pickup to the orifice is measured very exactly to 1240
sudden rise of pressure could belong to a soft sound wave. mm, the average speed of the wave comes to
It was decided that the phenomenon in the exhaust system
is a supersonic one.
At the time we believed we had made a real scientific
discovery. The average speed of propagation of the super­ To get a later arrival of the reflected wave, since it should
sonic wave could be calculated as shown in Fig. 7, since arrive at SC, it was necessary to increase the length of the
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018
1832
manifold. Since time ratios are represented by length ratios,
according to Fig. 7, the necessary new length comes to the
old length multiplied by the ratio 56/39; that is,
which indicates that the new length be 540 mm (21.25 in.)
longer than the old one.
The simplest way to install the new length seemed to be
to elongate the pipe between the exhaust port and the small
end of the diffuser. It also was possible to gain 100 mm by
moving the reflecting orifice in the direction of the gas
flow, toward the end of the muffler. All further investiga­
tions were conducted with this modified muffler. The pipe
was extended to 440 mm (17.3 in.).
The pressure fluctuation of this exhaust manifold B is
shown in Fig. 8.
The reflected wave now returns later, close to point SC.
If the measurement had been carried out exactly at 3000
rpm as before and not at the lower speed of 2885 rpm, the
wave would have come back 1.5 mm later, which means
exactly at SC, as calculated. It can be seen that the as­
sumptions agreed with the actual occurrences.
But the pressure fluctuation during the scavenging period
was adversely affected. The pressure stayed high too long,
as shown by the fact that the first suction waves, reflected
at the small beginning of the diffuser, arrived too late at
the pickup, since pressure waves and reflected suction waves
have to pass twice through the long pipe of 820 mm (32.3
in.).
W. A. HUELSSE
Retaining the total length calculated, but improving the
pressure decrease during scavenging period required removal
of the diffuser to its old place at manifold A . To do this,
2
we had to install a cylindrical prologation between the large
end of the diffuser and the muffler, of the same diameter.
From my point of view, this cylindrical prolongation serves
only to assure the necessary length.
While retaining the total length to the orifice at the next
exhaust manifold C, a slight change was made in the length
of the pipe and the diffuser in order to get a little variation
to A (see Fig. 5a), thus getting another cone angle of 4.8
2
deg. The remaining length of the cylindrical prolongation
(diameter 130 mm or 5.12 in.) was 420 mm, or 16.53 in.
The pressure fluctuation of this exhaust manifold is shown
in Fig. 9.
By means of simple calculation and only three tests, the
desired pressure fluctuation at the exhaust port was obtained.
This gave a long lasting, low pressure valley during the scav­
enging period and a reflected pressure wave with a steep
front, which arrives at SC on t i m e .
Figs. 10-14 show the shape of the pressure fluctuation
at other engine speeds and loads. With a decrease in engine
speed, the reflected wave arrives sooner and sooner at the
pickup. Even if the low pressure valley is realized in all
cases, an early arrival of the reflected wave may disturb
the scavenging process. Fortunately, the amplitude also
decreases (see Figs. 11 and 12).
An interesting observation can be made by comparing
Figs. 13 and 14. Since the engine runs exactly at the same
speed of 2900 rpm, the low load in Fig. 13 is only half of
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018

EXHAUST SYSTEM OF 2-STROKE CYCLE ENGINES 1833

the high load in Fig. 14. The pressure fluctuations are quite
different. Since the wave of the blowdown is small, the
pressure valley is not so deep, and the reflected wave is
also small. Since the wave of the blowdown has a high
amplitude, it creates a far lower pressure valley and a higher
reflected wave, which arrives sooner.
To these figures, Fig. 9 may be added, since the differ­
ence in engine speed of 10 rpm is very small. It may be
recognized when comparing these three figures that the
higher the load, the earlier the arrival of the reflected wave.
The higher the load, the higher the average gas temperature
in the exhaust manifold, and this is evident from the higher
amount of energy expanding into the exhaust manifold dur­
ing the blowdown period. Consequently, the average speed
of the wave is higher.
It may be recognized that the sharper the shock wave
caused by the blowdown period, the better the operation of
che exhaust manifold. If mep is high, a strong blowdown
shock wave means sufficient time area of the blowdown
2
period. In our case, a bmep of 92.4 psi (p = 6.5 kg/cm )
e

was reached at an engine speed of 2900 rpm; that means

3
41.9 PS in liter-horsepower (0.696 hp/in. ). This is a great
achievement for a 2 stroke engine with a large displacement
and high engine speed working as a diesel engine. It was
made possible only by using the exhaust manifold described.
Figs. 15-18 show the first photographs of the pressure
fluctuations.
As already stated above, since the load increases from
Fig. 15 to Fig. 16, the blowdown shock wave is higher. Con­
sequently, the front of the reflected wave grows steeper, and
it arrives sooner. This may be partly due to the smaller en­
gine speed (2875-2825 rpm). In Fig. 17, the blowdown i m ­
pulse is a maximum due to the highest mep of 58.8 psi

2
(p = 4.13 k g / c m ) and the greater time area of the blow-
e

down due to the lower engine speed. A wave with a very

steep front is reflected. It reaches nearly the steepness of
a compression push.
Whether this wave arrives too soon, in view of the charge
changing process, can be determined only after careful
dynamometer testing and measuring of bmep and specific
fuel consumption. This applies also to Fig. 18. Assuming
that this early wave does not disturb the scavenging process
(it may already have ended, owing to the larger time area
available at lower engine speed), then it can be said that
the exhaust manifold is useful from 3000 rpm down to 2000
rpm, or within one-third of the total engine speed.
INVESTIGATION OF THE CONE ANGLE OF THE DIF­
FUSER - To investigate the efficiency of the cone angle of
the diffuser at exhaust manifold D, the diameter of the c y l ­
indrical prologation of the end of the diffuser (length 420
mm, or 16.53 in.) was increased from 130 mm (5.12 in.)
to 290 mm (11.42 in.). The purpose was to see how the
step in the cross section at the end of the diffuser influences
the pressure fluctuation.
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018
1834
The suction waves of high amplitude seen in Figs. 19-
21 are similar to those sent back by the open end of a cyl­
indrical pipe. This means that the shock wave reaching the
end of the diffuser (though its amplitude has already d e ­
creased by passing the diffuser) has sufficient energy left to
create a steep suction wave. At lower speed (see Fig. 21)
W. A. HUELSSE
this sharp and steep suction wave arrives in the middle of
the scavenging period, at BDC.
It was desirable to determine the average speed of the
wave composed of the speed of the blowdown shock wave
propagating from the port to the open end of the diffuser,
and the returning suction wave reflected at the open end.
To this average speed, the shock wave contributes its rela­
tively high speed near 600 m/sec (1970 fps), and the suction
wave contributes a far lower speed due to the small pressure
existing in it. For further details, see Ref. 5.
Knowing the exact length from the pickup to the point
of reflection where the cross section suddenly increases to
1320 m m (52 in.) and the exact engine speed, this average
wave speed was determined by the method described above
(calculation is given in the Appendix). These average wave
speeds are lower, but they rise according to the higher load
from measurement to measurement. See Table 2.
To avoid this sudden expansion at the step in the cross
section, it would be better to utilize the energy yet contained
in the pressure wave that reaches the open end of the dif­
fuser, by decreasing its amplitude during its way through
the diffuser. This could be done by increasing the cone
angle of the diffuser. The result would be an increase of
the suction waves and a deeper and longer lasting pressure
valley at the port.
The cone angle of the diffuser was increased from 4.8
deg to 8 deg, which means that without changing any other
data, the large end of the diffuser had a diameter of 190
m m (7.48 in.) at exhaust manifold E.
Figs. 22 and 23 show a deep and wide valley of low pres­
sure created at the exhaust port.
The next step, technically, would have been to enlarge
the cone angle a second time, perhaps to 12 deg, but it was
impossible to accommodate this manifold. The next step,
therefore, was to decrease the diameter, especially the
diameter of the cylindrical prolongation, to a reasonable
value.
Since the diffuser (cone angle, 8 deg) worked well and
the length of the whole manifold could not be changed, it
was only possible to decrease the diameter of the cylindrical
prolongation from 290 m m (11.42 in.) to 190 mm, (7.48
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018
EXHAUST SYSTEM OF 2-STROKE CYCLE ENGINES
in.), on the assumption that there would be no great change
in efficiency at exhaust manifold F.
The resulting pressure fluctuations (Figs. 24 and 25) show
ideal shapes, a deep pressure valley, and a high reflected
pressure wave. This reflected pressure wave returns a little
too late for this engine speed. The exhaust manifold will
work better at lower speed, say, at 2600 rpm.
INVESTIGATION CONFIRMING THEORY - Up to this
point of our work, the pickup was located near the exhaust
port, 95 mm (3.74 in.) away from it. It was of scientific
interest to see the shape of the waves as they pass the full
length of the exhaust manifold, in order to confirm our theo­
retical philosophy.
Fig. 26 shows the exhaust manifold with the additional
1835
nine locations, where bosses were provided and the openings
plugged. With the engine operating, one plug at a time
was removed and the pickup inserted and held by hand for
recording of the pressure trace. In this way, the shape of
the waves was photographed at all ten points. The time
needed to complete the entire operation was about 20 minutes,
during which time the engine was held at a constant bmep
2
of 58 psi (4.08 kg/cm ) at 2610 rpm.
The 11 pictures shown in Fig. 27 represent the pressure
fluctuations seen on the screen at these 10 points, which
were photographed. Therefore, in some cases, double lines
are seen, which differ slightly from each other. On their
part, these slight differences show the regularity of con­
secutive cycles. Trace 1 is taken at point 1 at the begin-
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018

1836 W. A. HUELSSE

pressure fluctuations from the preceding cycle. At mark

1, EO, pressure begins to rise as a result of the blowdown
impulse, reaching maximum at mark 2, SO, or slightly
later. Then pressure declines rapidly, and between the
marks about bdc, pressure is low, increasing the pressure
difference needed for good scavenging and for sucking fresh
charge through the port into the exhaust pipe.
At trace 11, the pressure dip can be easily recognized,
better than in trace 1. Traces 1 and 11, though taken at
ning of the recording period; trace 2 is taken a t point 2, the same point 1, differ slightly because of higher order
and so on; trace 10 is taken at point 10, and trace 11 is frequencies superimposed over the main pressure fluctuation,
taken again at point 1, but at the end of the recording period. indicating that the thermal state of the engine may have
The base line of the second beam of the oscilloscope, carry­ changed during the recording time, thus creating these other
ing the 4 marks l.EO, 2.SO, 3.SC, 4.EC, is adjusted to such higher order frequencies.
a vertical position that it nearly represents zero line. An At the mark 3,SC, and 4,EC, the reflected wave reaches
exact line of the ambient pressure has not been recorded. point 1 with an amplitude more than half of the blowdown
Description of the Pressure Fluctuations - In Fig. 27, trace shock wave, with a maximum at about point 3,SC. Whether
1, from the left to the right are seen first the remaining or not it is more advantageous to have the wave return a
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018

EXHAUST SYSTEM OF 2-STROKE CYCLE ENGINES 1837

little sooner or a little later can be proved only by engine necessary to suck fresh charge through the port. Without
performance. fresh charge in the exhaust near the port, there is no possi­
The shock wave of the blowdown period, propagating in bility of supercharging the engine by means of the reflected
the direction of the exhaust gas flow, designated "V" in pressure wave.
trace 1, and the wave "R" reflected at orifice "B" and propa­ Investigate the effect of the different cone angles by
gating against the direction of the exhaust gas flow, are means of an oscilloscope.
getting closer to each other on traces 2-8, since the wave Create a high amplitude blowdown shock wave at the
propagation time to the orifice and back decreases, the more beginning of the diffuser. We clearly showed the importance
the recording point approaches the orifice "B." Finally they of a high amplitude shock wave propagating into the diffuser.
superimpose on themselves, and can no longer be distinguished The suction valley and the amplitude of the reflected wave
from each other. Only one wave is seen in traces 9 and 10. are quite different when caused by shock waves with dif­
As the wave "V" flows forward through the manifold, ferent amplitudes. The several ways of obtaining a high
from point 1 to point 8, its amplitude decreases through the amplitude wave are discussed below.
diffuser in the direction of its large end. PIPE DIAMETER - The energy to create the blowdown
Observing the reflected wave "R" on its way into the shock wave is gained out of the area of the expansion not
diffuser from the large to the small end, against the exhaust used in the PV diagram. This precious energy must be pre -
gas flow, it is seen that it increases its amplitude again and served, but much of it is wasted because the gas expands
that its front grows steeper and steeper until it again reaches into a pipe with a too large cross section. By making the
point 1 with a relatively very steep front. pipe narrow, a high amplitude blowdown shock wave will
The graphs (a) to (i) of Fig. 4 are based on these record­ result and will be transported to the small entrance of the
ings. diffuser with the utmost efficiency. Small passages are
This concluded our practical investigations. It should be used in large 4 stroke engines to transport the exhaust energy
mentioned that we finally used an exhaust system very simi­ to the turbine. In view of this goal, it is not necessary to
lar to exhaust manifold C in Figs. 9-14 and Figs. 15-18, make the cross section of the exhaust pipe larger than the
and managed to install the length required. cross section of the exhaust port. Up to now, the cross sec­
tion of the pipe has been designed far larger than that of
GENERAL RESULTS AND the port.
ADDITIONAL REMARKS DESIGN OF THE PASSAGE FROM THE PORT TO THE
PIPE - In order not to waste energy, the passage from the
SPEED AND TORQUE - The most important requirement rectangular cross section of the port to the round cross sec­
is the length of the diffuser exhaust manifold from the e x ­ tion of the pipe has to be designed with the utmost precision.
haust port to the reflecting orifice. The greater the length, No changes in cross sectional area should occur from the
the longer the time needed until the reflected pressure wave port to the pipe.
returns to the port. Engine speed at which the exhaust mani­ Although the pipe has a larger cross section, as selected
fold works best is low. At this low engine speed, torque will up to now, it is necessary to design the passage very properly
be the best. If you now increase engine speed, with this by steadily increasing the cross section from the rectangular
manifold working best at low speed, the reflected wave will one of the port to the round one of the pipe. Much energy
come back too late, the exhaust port already may have may be wasted by throttling and friction loss at this point.
closed, and no supercharging will occur. The mep will d e ­ Sometimes two exhaust systems are used with one single
crease. If you want to increase torque at this higher speed, cylinder engine. Such installations look very neat, but
shorten the distance to the orifice. are undesirable from the viewpoint of energy conservation.
THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM OF A DIFFUSER EXHAUST We have to concentrate out precious blowdown energy in
SYSTEM - For the first design of a diffuser exhaust mani­ order to create a strong wave, instead of splitting it into
fold, calculate the time needed for the scavenging period two.
at the desired engine speed. With this amount of time, c a l ­ A land in the center of the exhaust port to guide the
culate the length of wave travel needed, assuming a wave piston rings also disturbs the blowdown gas flow. Fig. 28,
speed of 600 m/sec (1970 fps). Half this length is the proper left side, shows a poor design featuring a land, and on the
distance of the exhaust manifold from port to orifice. right side, a good one without land. The port seems to be
The investigation with the oscilloscope in the manner very wide, but we had no trouble with the protrusion of the
described will show any deviation. Correct the deviation piston rings.
by changing the length, as shown above. REFLECTING ORIFICE - Although its distance from the
Select a cone angle of the diffuser at about 8 deg. Our port is of utmost importance in order for the reflected wave
investigation showed that a diffuser with a cone angle about to return at the right moment, the shape of the reflected
8 deg works better than one with only 5 deg. Investigate wave may greatly depend on the details of design of the
whether it is possible to choose a larger cone angle, say, orifice. During the above investigation, the orifice was
13 deg. The amplitude and the width of the suction valley never changed. We always used the same muffler as orifice.
is a function of the diffuser angle. The suction wave is However, the orifice may have different shapes. It may
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018
1838
be a simple sheet metal disk with a hole in the center. This
hole may have different sizes, or the hole may have a very
strong throttling effect by means of a short pipe inserted
into it. Tapered pipes with different, but constant, cone
angles may be used as orifice, or tapered pipes with a vari­
able cone angle may be used. These so-called counter-
diffusers are located with their large end toward the main
diffuser or its cylindric prolongation, the exhaust gas flowing
from their large cross section into their small cross section.
The same difference is seen when comparing the different
shapes of reflection the simple pipe with the open end and
the diffuser give (seen above) as well as the simple disk and
the counterdiffuser. Now, concerning the reflection of a
pressure wave: The disk only represents one single point at
which the reflection occurs; only one single steep wave will
be reflected, which lasts only a short time.
The counterdiffuser provides for a range of an infinite
number of points of reflection. Since the pressure waves re­
flected at the large beginning of the counterdiffuser return
sooner at the port than these reflected toward the small end
of the counterdiffuser, a range of high pressure is created
at the port. It should last from SC to EC.
Since this time is far shorter than the scavenging period,
the counterdiffuser has to be far shorter than the main dif­
fuser, which causes the long lasting, deep pressure valley
at the port during the scavenging period. In eastern Germany,
some experiments with different counterdiffusers were made.
See Ref. 6.
Little about the effect can be foreseen by theory, but the
oscilloscope will show immediatly the influences. There­
fore, as in all other cases mentioned, the oscilloscope turns
out to be a very practical tool for the test engineer.
In summary - The orifice has two opposing tasks: to reflect
the wave the best way possible while imposing little restric­
tion on the gas flow out of the manifold.
REDUCTION OF THE EXHAUST NOISE - The usual ex­
haust noise is a function of the amplitude of the waves leav­
ing the exhaust manifold. The muffler has to damp the
amplitudes to a reasonable value. It destroys the amplitudes
by throttling, friction, interference, or absorption. The
W. A. HUELSSE
volume of the muffler naturally depends upon the magnitude
of the amplitude it has to destroy.
In our model of a diffuser exhaust manifold, much energy
of the wave is consumed to create the suction, the reflection,
and the supercharging. Therefore, only a wave with a small
amplitude leaves the orifice. The muffler of our diffuser
exhaust manifold has to deal only with these small amplitudes,
and therefore it can be small.
TEST MANIFOLD OF A MOTORCYCLE - Fig. 29 shows
a diffuser exhaust manifold generally used for motorcycles
with 2 stroke engines. It can be divided into two sections:
The first section, extending from the port to the orifice,
may be called "the performance improving section," and
the section from the orifice to the end (the muffler) may
be called "the noise damping section." It is clearly seen
that we do not destroy energy, as before, but try to regain
much of it and to make it useful in the manner described.
Fig. 29 shows a testing arrangement. Except for the cone
angle and the diameter of the exhaust pipe, many details
that influence the exhaust phenomenon can be changed.
The noise damping part is adjustable in the cylindrical
prolongation of the diffuser. It can be moved back and
forth, thus getting different distances from the cylinder wall
to the orifice.
The orifice is a simple disk with little pipes protruding.
Several disks are available with 2, 3, and 4 pipes, thus mak­
ing it possible to change the effective diameter of the orifice.
The orifice may be changed by using different forms of the
orifice or counterdiffusers instead of the simple disk.
Our findings were that a very small diameter orifice
works best. For instance, a disk with two pipes, diameter
11 m m (0.433 in. = 7/16 in.) and length 70 mm (2.75 in.),
proved to be sufficient for an engine of V = 0.131 liter
s
3
(8 in. ) displacement. However, the design of the muffler
may also slightly influence the efficiency of the orifice.
This test manifold is installed on the author's motorcycle.
ENGINE SPEED LIMITS - It was stated above that about
one-third of the total engine speed will be in the range of
the effectiveness of the diffuser exhaust manifold. Three
conditions exist:
1. It was found that the exhaust manifold works best at
high loads, since high loads create a high amplitude blow-
down wave, which causes the effects mentioned. With small
blowdown shock waves at part load, not so much of an effect
is gained. This is in good accord with the actual necessity:
The help of the phenomena described is needed only at high
loads.
2. It was stated that the upper speed range of the effec­
tiveness of the exhaust manifold is limited by the fact that
the reflected wave returns too late, since the time needed
is too long compared with the time needed for the scaveng­
ing period. The reflected wave returns when the exhaust
port has already closed. No supercharging occurs. But the
higher the speed, the higher the average exhaust tempera­
ture will rise, and the higher the exhaust gas temperature
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018
EXHAUST SYSTEM OF 2-STROKE CYCLE ENGINES
increases the propagation speed of the wave so that the
wave will return earlier. Thus a certain adjustment takes
place automatically, and the upper limit of the range of
efficiency of the diffuser exhaust manifold rises slightly with
continuous full load.
3. The lower limit of the range of speed, where the e x ­
haust manifold yet works, is due to the fact that the r e ­
flected wave returns too soon and disturbs the scavenging
process. The time needed for the scavenging process, of
course, remains always the same, independent of the engine
speed. If the time area available is sufficient for good
scavenging at the speed at which the exhaust manifold works
best, then at lower speeds (at which there is much more time
area available), the scavenging will be complete at a point
before SC.
The scavenging process is controlled by its own drainage
flow, which will not be affected by the opening period of
the ports because only sufficient time area is available.
This also applies to supercharging. The reflected wave can­
not disturb the scavenging process, since the scavenging has
already taken place when it arrives.
Consequently, if the speed is too low, the tuned manifold
only slightly influences the whole charge changing mecha­
nism. At the lower limit of engine speed, at which the
effectiveness of the exhaust manifold may stop, there is the
possibility that parts of the fresh charge may flow out again
through the yet open exhaust port, caused by a second fluc­
tuation, depending upon the elasticity of the trapped gas
volume of the cylinder.
CONCLUSION
This paper deals with the phenomena occurring in the
exhaust system of a 2 stroke cycle engine, their investiga­
tion, and the methods for making them useful in tuning the
exhaust system. A properly working oscilloscope is needed
for the investigation, and generally only a few models of
exhaust systems, which can be easily made. The results
gained with this simple way of investigation show the general
direction for further development effort.
1839
The paper points out some laws of the phenomena, espe­
cially that a strong shock wave passing the exhaust, created
by a sufficient blowdown time area of the exhaust port, is
necessary to get a long lasting, low pressure at the exhaust
port by means of a diffuser.
The shape of the reflected wave depends on the details
of design of the orifice. The time at which the reflected
wave returns depends on the distance of the orifice from
the port and the wave propagation speed.
In author's opinion, about 80% of the total possible effect
can be achieved by means of this simple method of investi­
gation.
To gain the remaining 20%, it would be necessary to use
further scientific methods. Perhaps the last step to gain the
utmost efficiency would be computer simulation, which may
achieve the perfect tuning of an exhaust system without the
necessity for prior testing.
REFERENCES
1. W.Huelsse,"Winkelquerschnitte von Zweitakt-Ver-
brennungskraftmaschinen." MTZ, Jahrg, 20 (February 1959),
51-58.
2. F. Nagao and Y. Shimamoto, "The Effect of Crank­
case Volume and the Inlet System on the Delivery Ratio of
Two-Stroke Cycle Engines." Paper 670030 presented at SAE
Congress, Detroit, Mich., January 1967.
3. H. List, "Die Verbrennungskraftmaschine," Bd. 4: "Der
Ladungswechsel der Verbrennungskraftmaschine," Teil 2:
"Der Zweitakt." Wien, Springer-Verlag, 1950, pp. 242-248.
4. H. Simon, "Ein luftgekühlter Kleindieselmotor," Mit-
teilung aus dem Institut fur Verbrennungsmotoren und Kraft-
fahrwesen der Technischen Hochschule Dresden, Direktor
Professor A. Jante, Kraftfahrtechnik, Jahrg. 10 (January
1960), 4-7, and (February 1960), 46-50.
5. H. Martin, "Gasdynamische und akustische Vorgange
in schalldämpfenden Abgasanlagen." MTZ, Jahrg. 21 (Feb­
ruary 1960), 47-50.
6. H. Seyfert, "Beeinflussbarkeit des Ladungswechsels
an Einzylinder-Zweitaktmotoren durch die Abasanlage."
Kraftfahrzeugtechnik, Jahrg. 15 (April, 1965), 293-298.
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018

1840 W. A. HUELSSE

APPENDIX

To collect further information about the average wave
speed, data derived from Figs. 7-25 and Fig. 27 were used.
The originals were used to measure the distances needed.
The distance "a" represents 115 deg, measured between
point SO and SC, in millimeters.
The distance "b" represents the distance between the two
maxima of pressure between the shock wave created by the
blowdown period and the back propagating wave reflected
at the orifice, in millimeters.
Fig. A - l represents the example of Fig. 16. β is the cor­
responding crankshaft angle, calculated from
In Figs. 19-21, the distance "b" is the distance between
the maximum of the pressure wave, propagating forth, and
the minimum of the suction wave, reflected at the sudden
increase of the cross section at the large end of the diffuser.
Fig. A-2 represents the example of Fig. 19. The distance
" c " is the distance between the pickup and the point of
reflection, that is, the sudden increase in cross section at
the large end of the diffuser.
In Fig. 27, the distance "c" shortens as it progresses from
trace 1 to trace 10 because the pickup is fixed nearer and
nearer to the orifice.
Fig. A-3 represents the example of Fig. 27, trace 5.

"n" is the engine speed (rpm) measured during the moment

the picture was taken.
"t" is the time (sec) the wave needs to pass back and
forth from the pickup to the orifice. It is calculated from

"c" is the distance (mm) between the point at which the

pickup is fixed and the orifice.
The average wave speed is calculated from

where v is the average wave speed (ft/sec).

1
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018

EXHAUST SYSTEM OF 2-STROKE CYCLE ENGINES 1841

DISCUSSION

GEORGE G. LASSANSKE The author indicates "the load increases from Fig. 1 5 to
Outboard Marine Corp. Fig. 1 6 , the pre-exhaust shock wave is higher." Why then
does this shock wave magnitude decrease in Fig. 1 8 for a
slightly higher bmep?
In following the development by the author of the so-
MR. HUELSSE IS to be congratulated for his work and for the called "ideal" exhaust system, I must agree generally with
account of that work presented here. However, as always in his conclusions as to providing a system with the proper
these matters, the paper asks as many questions as it answers. length and shape. Of course, it must be remembered that
For example, in using a pipe with an open end the author the exhaust system must handle mass flow as well. How­
states that the suction wave is short due to a reflection at only one ever, in looking at the pressure traces throughout this paper,
point. Yet, in almost all of his exhaust port pressure traces especially those in Figs. 2 2 - 2 5 , I wonder how some of these
the width of the blowdown pulse is approximately one-third conclusions were made. These traces especially appear to
the total scavenging port opening period. Wouldn't a re­ contain considerable external or internal perturbations not
flected wave of this width aid scavenging considerably? As evident in many of the other traces. Would the author
regards the magnitude of the blowdown pulse, has the author please comment on the type of pressure pickup used and its
=
measured values as high as the 4 4 psi (P/PQ 3 ) indicated in installation in the manifold?
It has been our experience, that because of the low pres­
the text? What is the pressure scale of the traces - are they
sures being measured and the vibration sensitivity (psig)
all the same?
present in most pickups, considerable " data" can be col­
In regard to the pipe and diffuser system, would the au­
lected which represents loose muffler clamps, loose mani­
thor expect this system to increase performance over a pipe
fold studs, and panel vibrations rather than exhaust system
alone at a particular engine rpm? Or is it the function of
pressure traces or changes in the "thermal state of the en­
the diffuser to broaden the speed (rpm) range over which the
gine."
performance increase is realized?
The author's comments would also be appreciated on the
The author's comments on an exhaust system with pipe,
effect of the various systems on the static pressure level at
diffuser, and orifice are most interesting since this is the
the exhaust port. Our experiences indicate that many sys­
type of system existing in many 2-stroke-cycle engine muf­
flers. tems of the closed end type continue to function well at
static pressure levels exceeding 6 0 in. H^O.
He states "the back propagating pressure wave-with a
relative high amplitude, and, if all is tuned well, with a Does the author have any results he can relate to us on
steep front" reaches the port. Is the steep front positive re­ the comparison between the final exhaust system decided
flection optimum? What are the possible effects at off d e ­ upon and the original? Especially interesting would be the
sign rpm when this steep positive pulse arrives too early and gains in horsepower and bsfc achieved. Our experiences in­
there is yet no fresh charge but only hot exhaust products dicate improvements in both over open exhaust in excess of
outside the exhaust port? What is the possible magnitude 2 0 % are possible. If compared to a conventional straight
of pulse in relation to the cylinder pressure at the time of pipe and plenum chamber exhaust system, which has equal
its return? exhaust noise level, even greater improvements are possible.
Is the "supercharge" indicated by the author measurable What dictated the final selection of system "C" rather
on the cylinder pressure tract? than any of the other systems tried?
The presentation of Figs. 4 and 2 7 showing the pressure In conclusion, it is significant to show what results can
levels along the length of the exhaust system at various times be obtained in using the proper exhaust system with a 2 -
is most enlightening. As regards a muffler, would it be of stroke-cycle engine. We must not forget, however, that
advantage to place the orifice or outlet at other than the re­ designing an exhaust system for an engine is really an after­
flecting wall? Also indicated in this figure as well as others thought. The exhaust system is as much a part of the engine
are fluctuations as a result of the preceding cycle - could as port timing and scavenging patterns, and unless it is con­
these be used to advantage rather than "dampen them down sidered in this manner, the maximum possible performance
so they do not disturb the next process." of 2-stroke-cycle engines will not be achieved.
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018
1842
AUTHOR'S CLOSURE
TO DISCUSSION
MR. LASSANSKE'S OPINION that the paper asks as many
questions as it answers is correct. This incompleteness is
mainly a result of the fact that, when I made the investiga­
tions in 1 9 5 4 , I never intended to make a scientific report
out of my investigations.
During my work on my paper, I became aware of many
problems I never thought about in former times, and I could
only partly solve them. After the conclusion of my paper
and its presentation, I only feel, "Scio me nihil scire."
However, probably further work on these matters will
clear up some of the problems.
Now, as for the first question concerning the efficiency
of the pipe with the open end, there is no doubt that the
pipe with an open end helps scavenging by sending back
suction waves. These suction waves are short and deep.
Mr. Lassanske quotes that the width of the blowdown pulses
is one-third of the scavenging process. This shape was r e ­
corded near the exhaust port. During its way through the
pipe, since it is a supersonic phenomenon, the wave changes
its shape, and its front becomes steeper. Therefore, the
width of the blowdown pulse decreases on its way to the open
end. Actually another kind of wave reaches the open end
than was recorded at the port. We have to apply the law of
the wave reflection at the open end to this new kind of short
wave, and then it is obvious that a short reflected suction
wave will result. Fig. 2 1 approximately shows the trace,
which similarly will be received with a well-tuned length
of a pipe with an open end. I could prove this with a con­
siderable amount of theoretical calculation. It would have
been far easier when I made my investigation, with a simple
test. This fact again points out that a scientific work was
not my intention 1 4 years ago.
On the second question, I have not measured magnitude
of the blowdown pulse equal to about 4 4 psi. I quoted this
amount in the theoretical treatment to exemplify the
problem of energy conservation during the reflection at an
open end. I adopted this example only because during a
far later test, I had recorded values of about p/p = 2 . 5 .
0 out the loss of the advantage of a high pressure wave arriving
In answer to the third question, the pressure scales of the
traces for a specified group of recordings is always the same.
This concerns the group of tests Figs. 9 - 1 4 , the group of
tests "C" Figs. 1 5 - 1 8 , the group "D" Figs. 1 9 - 2 1 , "E"
Figs. 2 2 and 2 3 , "F" Figs. 2 4 and 2 5 , and, naturally, the
recordings of Fig. 2 7 . In each group the pressure traces can
be compared; the scales are the same.
The fourth question, in regards to the pipe and diffuser
system compared with the pipe alone, I tried to point out
the main difference between these two arrangements in the
theoretical explanation. The diffuser mainly provides the
possibility of converting high amplitudes of blowdown pulses
into suction waves without loss of energy caused by sudden
expansion into the ambient air, as it is found at the open
end of a pipe.
W. A. HUELSSE
The following theoretical assumption can be made: as
the paper points out, the blowdown pulse is diminished dur­
ing its travel through the diffuser. The blowdown pulse
knows nothing about ambient pressure. It diminishes its
amplitude according to the cross-sectional areas it traverses.
At a certain value of the cross-sectional area, it must reach
an amplitude of P/P - 1. that is, ambient pressure. If the
0
diffuser ends exactly at this point, no reflection at all can
occur, since, at this "orifice" (that is, none), no pressure
difference exists which may create reflection waves, neither
in a positive nor a negative sense. Provided that series of
the same blowdown pulses exist, that is, the engine does
not change speed and load, no exhaust noise can be heard,
perhaps only a roaring as it is found in turbojet engines.
This theoretical picture only tries to explain the main
difference between a simple pipe and a diffuser in handling
those pressure waves resulting from the blowdown period.
Continuously, over the whole range of the diffuser length,
suction waves are reflected which diminish the blowdown
pulses, until nearly nothing remains of them. (See Max
Leiker, "The Exhaust System of the Two-Stroke Cycle En­
gine," section on "The Conically Widened Pipe (Fig. 6 ) . "
(1)*
Therefore, with the application of the diffuser, it was
intended neither to increase performance over a pipe alone
only at a particular engine rpm, nor to broaden the speed
(rpm) range over which the performance increase is realized.
Fortunately, in the 2-stroke-cycle engine, we badly need
these suction waves, and we can use their energy to improve
the pressure differential between the crankcase and the ex­
haust port.
Fortunately, the whole system does not work only at a
single engine speed as it is usually believed. The reason
the manifold works properly over one-third of the total e n ­
gine speed is given in the discussion of exhaust manifold
C, Figs. 1 5 - 1 8 , and under "Engine Speed Limits."
In reply to question five, I consider the steep-front posi­
tive reflection optimum, for it allows the deep pressure to
endure very long. The possibility for good scavenging and
the suction of fresh charge through the port is enlarged with­
in time. This steep front is the shortest connection between
the desired low pressure during the scavenging process and
the high pressure desired for the supercharging. Therefore,
the steep front of the reflected wave is advantageous.
The possible effect of the too early arrival of a reflected
wave at off-design rpm, that is, at an engine speed that is
far from the one-third of the rpm range where the exhaust
manifold works well, is discussed in the section, "Engine
Speed Limits." Fresh charge may flow out of the cylinder,
caused by a second fluctuation depending upon the elasticity
of the trapped gas volume. The assumption "and there is
yet no fresh charge but only hot exhaust products outside the
* Numbers in parentheses designate References at end of
author's closure.
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018
EXHAUST SYSTEM OF 2-STROKE CYCLE ENGINES
exhaust port" is not right, this is not possible according to
the premises "if all is tuned well." With a well-tuned sys­
tem, the dimension of the diffuser necessarily must create
a suction of such an amount that fresh charge is previously
sucked into the exhaust pipe. An arrival of the reflected
wave at the port at a time, where " there is yet no fresh
charge outside the exhaust ports," can never occur. If we
have no fresh charge at this "off-design rpm," we shall
never have one at the "rated" speed. The suction of fresh
charge only is a function of the dimension of the exhaust sys­
tem, and in no case connected with the engine speed. If we
deliver hot exhaust products back into the cylinder, then we
have a poor exhaust system, but this is not of interest.
No recording of the cylinder pressure trace was made.
Therefore, the relation between the possible magnitude of
the pulse at the time of its return and the cylinder pressure
cannot be given.
The "supercharge" can be seen on the cylinder pressure
trace. But I myself did not record the cylinder pressure
trace. I can only refer to Max Leiker's Fig. 12 (1). At
measurement point 7, the wave comes back with an ampli­
tude of about 0.72 atm. At measurement point 8, in the
cylinder, the pressure reached an amplitude of about 0. 063
atm. The pressure in the cylinder increased from about
0. 008 to 0. 063 according to the reflected wave recorded
at measurement point 7. This amount seems to be very
small, but the effect of the supercharge depends not only
on the magnitude of the reflected wave, but also on the
amount of the time-area of the blowdown period, which we
use a second time, now to supercharge the engine, as I
pointed out in the section, "Pipe and Diffuser with Orifice."
Therefore, the second necessity to have sufficient time-area
of the blowdown period is clearly seen.
Question six, as regards a muffler, it would be of ad­
vantage to place the orifice or outlet somewhere else than
on the reflecting wall. Both Figs. 4 and 27 indicate that
the pressure increases to nearly double the amount of the
arriving wave during its reflection at the wall. Therefore,
the muffler has to cope with these relatively high ampli­
tudes, which are, however, much smaller than the original
amplitudes in the pipe. If we place the outlet, for exam­
ple, at the beginning of the cylindrical prolongation, we
only have to cope with amplitudes of half the amount found
with the orifice located in the wall at the end of the cylin­
drical prolongation. It would be easier to dampen them and
thus have less exhaust noise. However, we have to cope
with the double frequency, for the outlet, placed sidewise
at the beginning of the cylindrical prolongation, will be
passed by the original pressure wave as well as by the re­
flected wave.
On question seven, certainly, the fluctuation remaining
in the system until the next point EO can be used to advan­
tage for the next process. This would have been the next
step in a further scientific work concerning this matter, but
it was not done due to lack of time.
Question eight concerns the magnitude of the shock waves
at different loads. The object of discussion is found not only
1843
at exhaust manifold C, but also at exhaust manifold D: the
bmep is the highest at Fig. 21, but the blowdown shock wave
has a smaller amplitude than in Figs. 19 and 20. The very
important fact that " the higher the load, the higher the
blowdown shock wave" can be recognized not only in Figs.
15 and 16, but nearly throughout the paper. The discussion
of this fact is found also in Figs. 9-14. Comparing section
figures " D , " "E, " and "F" of Figs. 9-14, this fact can be
recognized too, though it is not particularly mentioned
in the discussion. Now this comparison can be exact only
at the same speed. This is discussed in the paper: "to
these figures (13 and 14), Fig. 9 may be added, since the
difference in engine speed of 10 rpm is very small."
To summarize, no discrepancy is found if pressure traces
that occur at nearly the same engine speed are compared.
Now three reasons can be given that may explain the
apparent discrepancies in Figs. 18 and 21.
1. We were working with an air-cooled engine, which
itself drives the fan. Therefore, a considerable amount of
bmep, that is, the bmep equal to the performance the fan
needs, must be added to the bmep the brake records to get
the imep, which creates the magnitude of the blowdown shock
wave.
Since the performance to drive a fan increases with the
third power of the engine speed, the performance to drive
the fan is far lower at low engine speed, say 2000 rpm.
Here, at 2000 rpm, only a small amount has to be added
to the bmep measured to get the imep. It is clear that the
imep at 2000 rpm can be far lower than that at 2800 rpm,
although the brake indicates a slightly higher bmep.
Regarding the imep, the discrepancy thus no longer ex­
ists.
2. No trace recording the ambient pressure has been
written. Assuming that the trace with the timing marks
may have been adjusted slightly incorrectly in regards to
its vertical position, the amount of the discrepancy may
be considerably diminished.
3. The effect of port opening versus time is different at
a lower speed. Port opening is accomplished slower at lower
engine speed. Therefore, a greater throttling occurs at the
beginning of the port opening period, and a greater part of
the energy is destroyed and cannot contribute to the magni­
tude of the shock wave which, therefore, is recorded smaller.
Question nine, " . . . keeping in mind, of course that the
exhaust system must handle mass flow as well" - during the
development and investigation of the exhaust system men­
tioned, I kept in mind this fact; I used the same muffler as
the orifice. As I said in the paper, "in order to avoid ex­
haust noise, it was necessary to continue using the muf­
fler. . ." and "all further investigations were conducted with
this modified muffler." The modification, as pointed out
in the paper, only consisted of moving the reflecting
orifice 100 mm towards the end of the muffler.
Also, under the section, "Reflecting Orifice," I said,
"During the above investigation, the orifice was never
changed. We always used the same muffler as the orifice."
This muffler from the former medium-pressure engine had
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018
1844
already proved its ability to handle the mass flow of this
engine.
However, I consider the handling of mass flow as a ques­
tion of inferior quality for a single-cylinder engine inasmuch
as the orifice is extremely small. How small it can be I
pointed out in the description of the manifold of the motor­
cycle.
In the oral presentation, I gave an additional commen­
tary explaining why a very small orifice can handle the mass jected the same amount of fuel per engine cycle. The in­
flow of a single-cylinder engine: "The time available for
the gas to flow out through the small cross-section of the
orifice corresponds to one entire engine revolution, and
therefore, it is about six times longer than the time the gas
has available to flow through the exhaust port. Therefore,
the cross-section of the orifice naturally can be far smaller
than that of the exhaust port without disturbing the gas flow." provides, although there does not exist any proportion. (When
Question 10, " . . . considerable external and/or internal
perturbations not evident in many of the other traces," I
generally agree with Mr. Lassanske, but I have the opinion
that these perturbations only are to be found in Figs. 22 and
23 concerning system "E." Actually these perturbations,
especially during the suction valley, were the reason I de­
creased the diameter of the cylindrical prolongation from
290 mm to 190 mm, that is, the diameter of the large end
of the diffuser, thus getting system "F." This reason I men­
tioned in the German publication of this investigation. (2)
In system "F," the perturbations have already disappeared.
Therefore, I ascribe these perturbations to the special char­
acteristics of the system "E."
Question 11 - I cannot comment of the type of pressure
pickup that was used. To avoid misunderstanding, please
refer to Dipl.-Ing. Rudolf Kreyser, 6901 Wilhelmsfeld, Ger­ 5) and exhaust manifold C.
many.
Concerning the installation of the pickup in the manifold
I can say that'we tried to prevent mechanical vibrations from 2600 rpm, according to a "Marburg-Test," a bmep of 3. 84
reaching the pickup. Much rubber was used to avoid this.
In many cases, not only in the case of Fig. 27, as I quoted,
the pickup was inserted and held by hand in order to avoid
any rigid connection with the engine or the exhaust pipe.
Question 1 2 - 1 agree with Mr. Lassanske's experience
about the possible troubles when working with a highly sensi­
tive pickup. But we were aware about these possibilities,
and we made great efforts to avoid them. I am very sure
that we recorded only real pressure fluctuations.
Question 13 - Static pressure levels never were recorded.
Since the waves do not care about the static pressure level,
I agree with Mr. Lassanske's experience that many systems
of the closed end type continue to function well at static
pressure levels exceeding 60 in. of water.
Question 14 - Since I did not intend to publish originally, so that
I did not care about all essential data, such as bsfc and so
on. Four faces clarify the investigation:
1. The medium-pressure engine LT 85 as well as the
pure diesel engine LT 85 D was governor-controlled. The
governor held the engine at a rated speed and prevented ex­
cess load. Therefore, any gain in effectiveness could only
be expressed by a decrease in bsfc. Therefore, as I tried
W. A. HUELSSE
the first diffuser exhaust system "A ," its application brought
1
a decrease in bsfc from 202 gm/hp-hr with the original ex­
haust manifold (Fig. 5) to 190 gm/hp-hr with exhaust mani­
fold A This first success was the basis for permitting m e
1
to do further development work.
2. I remember very well that when conducting the de­
velopment from diffuser manifold A to C, we always in­ 1
jection pump was adjusted to give always the same amount.
Therefore, we can recognize first a little increase in bmep
from A to A , then a little decrease to B, and then a con-
1 2
siderable increase from B to C, Fig. 9. This last increase
is a result of the higher air charge that exhaust manifold C
operating at the smoke limit, a slightly higher air charge
will already provide a considerable decrease in bsfc if the
engine already operates in the range where there is an ade­
quate surplus of air. A greater amount of air will only
slightly decrease bsfc.)
3. A graph for a production medium-pressure engine that
was published in MTZ (3) shows that the bmep was 3. 5
2
kg/cm (49. 8 psi) at 2900 rpm. The fuel consumption was
198 gm/hp-hr.
According to the only "Protokoll" I have, a bmep of
6.4 kg/cm was reached at 2900 rpm with a bsfc of 202
2
gm/hp-hr.
If the comparison is allowed, the gain in bmep was
2. 9 / 3 . 5 = 83% between the original exhaust manifold (Fig.
4. For another comparison, with the LT 85 D engine at
2
kg/cm was reached with a bsfc of 180 gm/hp-hr. Accord-
2
ing to the data from a 1/2 hr test, a bmep of 5. 0 kg/cm
was reached with exhaust manifold F. Unfortunately, the
type of the exhaust manifold was not recorded on the graph,
but I remember this test very well. The best manifold was
used, and this was type F.
If the comparison is allowed, the gain in bmep from ex­
haust type "C" to "F" was 1.16/3. 84 = 30. 2%.
Although it was not especially expressed, in answer to
question 15, the paper dealt with two classes of investiga­
tions :
1. Investigations made on the former medium-pressure
engine LT 85 with the goal to obtain a higher air charge,
the combustion system could be changed to a higher
compression ratio, evolved into tests on the later pure diesel
engine LT 85 D. This investigation began with the produc­
tion exhaust manifold, Fig. 5, and ended with the adoption
of exhaust manifold "C" for production use on the later LT
85 D. In the paper, this class of investigation ends with
Fig. 14. No photograph of the pressure fluctuation is avail­
able.
 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018

EXHAUST SYSTEM OF 2-STROKE CYCLE ENGINES 1845

2. The second class of investigations was done about one
year later, when there was available a certain time and
capacity to do a scientific investigation. Here, the engine
LT 85 D was used. Photographs were made of the pressure
fluctuations at that time.
The question of changing the production exhaust manifold
"C" was never present.
Question 1 6 - 1 agree very well with Mr. Lassanske's
opinion, that " the exhaust system is as much a part of the
engine as port timing and scavenging patterns and unless it
is considered in this manner the maximum possible per­
formance of 2-stroke-cycle engines will not be achieved."
I know very well, and it is indeed very bad, that the
exhaust system usually is an afterthought. I dedicated a
special publication to this matter, it was published in MTZ
(4), in order to point out this problem to all concerned.
REFERENCES
1. Max Leiker, " The Exhaust System of the Two-Stroke
Cycle Engine." SAE Transactions, Vol. 77(1968), paper 680470.
2. MTZ, Jahrgang 20, Heft 8, August 1959, p. 295.
3. MTZ, Jahrgang 15, April 1954, p. 123.
4. MTZ, Jahrgang 21, Heft 8, August 1960, p. 336.