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I TO ASME MEMBERS

~~f;~·c;~-11
RESEM~CH STP.FF
FORD MOfOH COMPM.'Y

Design of a Tuned Intake Manifold

H. W. ENGELMAN
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
The Ohio State University,
Columbus, Ohio
Mem. ASME

This paper summarizes a long-term study of intake manifold tuning. It includes

the results of several graduate research projects. A ration al mathematical model
is developed which defines the modes of resonance in a manifold for up to four
cylinders, and affords a method of design for peak ram supercharge at a desired
engine speed. A specific example of the design of a manifold is included.

Contributed b y the Diese l & Gas Engine Power Dh•ision of th e American Society of
'\1eehanieal Engineers for presentation at the Winter Annual Meeting, Detroit, Mich-
igan, November 11 - 15, 1973. Manuscript r ece i,•cd at ASME H eadquarte r s .Jul y 18, 1973 .
Copies will be available until August I, 1974 .

... , ....

t AfiERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAl. ENGINEERS, UNITED ENGINEERING CENTER, 345 EAST 47th STREET, NEW YORK. N.Y. 10017
·Design of a Tuned Intake Manifold
H. w. ENGELMAN

it was still the Oil and Gas Power Division.

ABSTRACT That initial work established the Helmholtz resona-
This paper summarizes a long-term study of intake tor as a model of the cylinder and its intake pipe with
manifold tuning. It includes the results of several t he valve open dur ing the intake stroke . Previous
graduate research projects . A rational mathematical analyses were all based on organ-pipe theory, which
model is developed which defines the modes of resonance simply does not provide a way to inc lude the effect of
in a manifo ld for up to four cylinders, and affords a · pipe area and cylinder volume. Thus th e Ricardo patent
method of design for · peak r am supercharge at a desired (3) sets forth equations which bracket the optimum
engine speed. A specific example of the design of a length within a ratio of 3 to 1. Less indefinite is
manifold is included . the equation given in the Pla tn er patent (4), which
gives the tolerance in inches, but even this may be
twenty percent plus or minus . The reason for these
BACKGROUND
t olerances is simple: variations of pipe area or cylin-
Improved breathing wi ll almost always improve the der volume do affect the optimum pipe length, and the
combustion in a diesel engine. It is not uncommon to equations do not include them.
f ind that a better air su pply may actually reduce peak
pressure at a given power level. PRINCIPLES
This paper describes an accurate mathematical mod-
el for the design of certain multicyli nder intake mani- The basic Helmholtz reso nator is shown in Figure
folds to get the best possible breathing, using the re- 1. The characteristic feature of this resonator is
sonances which are always present to obtain some super- that its dime nsions are small compared with the wave-
charge. The fact that air, like all gases, is compres- length of a sound at its resonant frequency . At ics
sible, or e l astic , means that resonances will exist . fundamental res onance, the air in the pipe is the
Just as crankshafts and valve trains have resonances, osci llating mass, and the air in the cavity volume is
so does every intake manifold. However, in cran kshaf ts the spring of a simple spring-mass system .
and valve trains we seek to avoid resonant oscilla-
tion~, whereas in manifolds, the oscillations can be
extremely beneficial.
It is not generally possible to say j ust how much
gain can be achieved in a particular engine by intake
tuning. It will be of the order of a twenty percent
increase i n charge flow over the open port, for a typi-
cal engine. However, since any manifold on the engine
will have resonances, some tuning effects will exist
and may produce some supercharge. The tuned design
may not be much better . It is not at al l unusual to
encounter air distribution problems in a new engine
development. These are most commonly resona nce effects,
but not recognized as such .
It would be well to define just what a properly Fig. 1 Helmholtz Resonator
tuned manifold is or does. Give n an eng ine, a well-
tuned intake manifold will give maximum torque at some
desired value of rpm by utilizing resonance effects to The cylinder of an engine with its intake pipe
produce supercharge. The air flow and charge density with the valve open constitutes just s uch a Helmholtz
will be above the values for the engine with open ports resonat or as shownin Figu re 2. A principal finding
over a speed range greater than two-to-one. The great- o f the original work (1,2) was how piston movement af-
est percentage increase will be in the middle of the fected the resonance.
For the fixed resonator of Figure 1, th e resonant
range, and the peak will not be sharp .
frequency, f 0 , is given by
The design calculations set forth in this paper

~
are the result of a very long-term study. A Ph.D.
study at th e University of Wisconsin (1)1 resulted in fo = Cs • (1)
a paper (2) presented to this division in 1953, when
21T " ~
ll.umbers in parentheses designate References at end of
Paper .
wltere, in consis tent units, where K is the ratio of frequencies , and may vary from
2.0 to over 2 . 5 depending largely o n valve timin g .
cs velocity of sound For metric units the constant is 1348. This study also
A
L
pipe c r oss-sectional area
pipe length
I cover ed the effect of standing waves in the organ pipe
mode when the valve closed, and showed that the effect
v cavity volume is not large unless the pipe itself is quite large .
The study also included th e effects of bends, and pipes
The e f fec t ive engine cylinder volume is that at
consisting of two sections of diff erent c ross-sectional
mid-stroke (1), one-half the displacement plus the
area. An important result is that the composi t e pipe
c l earance volume. Thus
i may be treated on the basis that

( ~) 11
VD
2 R - l
(2)
(~L) eff =A
1
(5)

where
VD piston dis placement where the subscripts refer to the individual sections
R compression r atio of the pipe .
A manifold was then built for a V-8 gasoline en-
Substitution of this Veff fo r V i n Eq uation (1) gives gine and t es ted as an undergraduate laboratory experi-
the resonant f r equency of the cylinder and pipe with ment in The Ohio Sta t e University Internal Comb ustion
a moving piston, where the end of the pipe is open . Engine Laboratory . The stock two-barrel carb uretor
was used, each barrel feeding fou r cylinders which
fire at uniform intervals . The improvemen t in economy
and l ow-end torque led Ka uff ma nn (7 ) to undertake th e
r eduction of gasoline engine emissions by application
~I of tuned manifolds as his Ph.D. dissertation. Unfor-
tunately, the Clean Air Act of 1970 was passed during
his i nvestigation. A treme ndous improvement whe n he
started , suddenly was not ha lf good enough as of Decem-
ber 31, 1970 .
However , Eberhard and Schwallie in the M.Sc. theses
(8 , 9) i nvestigated the tuning of manifolds. The basic
1
concept is present ed in the early work (1) but without
experimen tal confirmation . Eber hard studied three-
cylinder groups a nd Schwa llie studied the four-cylinder
manifold .
The basic acoustical model of three-cylinder and
four-cylinder manifolds is shown in Figure 3 . For
Fig. 2 Cylinder and Intake Pipe Modeled as simplici ty, the cylinder on its intake s troke is denoted
a Helmholt z Resonator . by vl, and i ts pipe to the branch point has dimensions
1 1 a nd A1 . The idle pipes with their closed valves
simply comprise a volume de noted by v 2 . Their organ
The second principal fi nd i ng of the original work pipe mode resonance frequencies will be substantially
is that the tuning peak will occur wh e re the nat ural higher than the tuning or Helmholtz frequency . Conse-
Helmholtz resonan ce of cylinder and pipe is roughly quently, their effect is that of a plenum at the branch
doub le the piston frequency . That is, the pe riod of point . Flow e nters the bra nc h point through a feed
a resonant cycle takes approximately 180 degrees of pipe of dimens i ons L2 a nd A2 . In a gasoline engine,
crank rotation. the carburetor would comprise par t of L2 /A 2 .
From these findings the equation published in 1953
(1, 2) is

Np 77C s ~ ~~ ~ (3)
"'V LVD "'V R + 1

where Np is the rpm at which the tuning peak occurs,

Cs is t he velocit y of sound in t he pipe in fps, and
A, L, and v are in inches. The cons t a n t, 77 , provides
0
for convers1on of units and sets the Helmholtz reson-
ance a t 2 . 1 times piston frequ e ncy . The constant is
642 for metric units , wh ere C i s in M/sec a nd A, L,
and V are in cent imeters. s I
~hompson at The Ohio State University in his M.S c . ! Fig . 3 Acoustical Model of I ntake Manifo ld
thesis (5) continued the st udy of singl e pipes and the
r esults were presented in a DGP paper (6) in 1969 .
Equation (3) is rewritten (for English units) The acoustical model can now be hand l ed easily by
a mathematical method used for electrical resonant cir-

~ r;::-: ~
cuit s . The elect rical analog is shown in Figure 4.
Np = 162 C Resonant electrical circuits , especially in communi-
K sl ~l~ (4) cations wo rk , are generally treated in terms of resonant
freq uency or freque ncies , a nd a factor Q wh ich i s essen-

2
 . --
tially the reciprical of the losses. It is quite con- and the two frequencies are found t o be
venient to treat the tuned manifold in the same way.
The frequency of the tuning peak is quite independent
of the losses. The losses reduce the gain, or super-
charging, but their elimination is quite separate from
l (ab+a+l) - ~ (ab+a+l ) 2 - 4ab
211 (8)
the design for a particular Np.

1 (ab+a+l) + ~ (ab+a+l/ - 4ab

(9)
211 2abL c
1 1
where f is the lower and f the higher resonant fre-
1 2
quency.
'1 The resonant frequency of L c alone is
1 1

f
p (10)
Fig. 4 Electrical Analog of Intake Manifold.

which is analogous to equation (1) . Then two frequenc y

To design a manifold having certain frequency char-
acteristics it i~ not necessary to carry any loss or
resistance terms in the calculations . According l y ,
Figure 4 shows no resistances in the electrical analog.
c1 corresponds to the effective cylinder volume, 1 1 to
the L/A of th e intake pipe, c2 to the volume of the
other intake pipes and log at the branch, and 1 2 to the
L/A of the inlet, including the carburetor, if any.
It should be pointed out that this analog is valid
only if the intake periods have little or no overlap,
generally up to four cylinders only.
It is readily shown that the electrical analog in
Figure 4 has two resonant frequencies, and further,
that one of these will be higher a nd one lower tha n the
resonant frequency of 1 1 and c1 taken alone. At the
lower frequency, the voltages on c and Cz are in phase,
1 p
while at the higher frequency the voltages are of oppo-
site phase .
Similarly, in the tuned manifold there are two res-
onances, one higher than and one lower than that cal-
culated for Np from e quations (3) or (4) using Vl,
A1, and L1. At the lower resonance the pressures i n
the cylinder and at the branch point are in phase, and
at the higher resonance they are out of phase .
The solution for the resonant frequencies is re ad-
ily carried out on the basis of series r esonance, such
that the voltage across the current source in the ana-
log is zero. To simplify the solution, an inductance
ratio is defined for both the analog and the acoustical
model:
(L/A)
2 sented here will do instead is also useful, however.
(6)
1 (L/A)
1 1
Similarly, a capacitance ratio is defined
v2 2(R-l)
VD (R+l)
Then the characteristic equation for the ana log circuit
becomes
0 mos t important of th e experimental results whi ch f ol-
ratios may be defined for the analog circuit
(11)
and
(12)
For the intake manifold,
Nl
X = - (13)
1 N
and
(14)
Figures 5 and 6 give the values of x and x respective-
1 2
ly for the ratios a and b most likely to be encountered.
It should be emphasized that these equations do
not define engine performance or performance gained
by tuni ng. It is recognized that the designer want s
to be able to predict the performance of the engine
on his drawing board, and needs the e quations which
will e nabl e him to do so . What the equations pre-
With this mathematical model, the designer can define
the manifold configuration which optimizes resonance
for his operating conditions. The fact that any flow
losses will degrade breathing is well known, but the
designer may elect to accept a l oss to obtain swirl
in the cylinder in a diesel e ng ine, or t o accept the
losses due to high runne r velocity for mixture d is-
tribution in a gasoline engine . As will be shown,
this mathematical model pre dict s the re so nan ces ver y
well, in terms of the freq uencies that will be found.
It should therefore be a very useful de s ign tool .
The confirmation of this model is considered the
low. The ide nti f i cation of the r esonances was empha-
sized in the expe rime ntal work, rather than specific
prediction of e ngine performance .

3
 those of the s t ock manifold in Fig . 7. The two
tuning peaks are quit e clea rl y visible. In Fig.
8, the theoretical or predicted rpm values of these
peaks are compared with the experimentally dete rmined
values for a group of manifolds all having the same
1. 0
I i I I Np . Fig . 9 shows one of Eberhard ' s manifolds, and is
I i ! I I typi cal of all. The B- 3 and B-4 manifolds of Fig. 7
0. 9 are shown in Fig . 9: s tandard 2-inc h/copper water
~: I I I I tube, with long-radius solder ells connected to a large
0.8
,\\_~ : I I I I I "lo g." The difference between the B-3 and B-4 manif olds
~'(\ ' i
0 .7
I

I \\\~'\ ~ ).__
~\\\\'\. "{_ ~
" ,
i

I
! :
I , I
l
I I
I
is in the leng th L . The A-3 and A-4 configurations
2
were simil a r, but the log-t o- cy lind e r pipe s we re 1-1/2
inch conduit bends . Again, the difference between the
\\\1'\1'\.j ~ N CA.PACI'I'AlfC! RATIO b\
A-3 and A- 4 manifolds is th e length L . The st oc k
... 0.6
- - \\\V<~ 0 I "N
~
I

:
I
I I 2
manifold i s a log bolted directly to the head .
~'\.'\."l""' "'- ~ I
0
J
~0. 5 ;-- rl-
~""-~ ~"'-1 T-- 1"--.L
t;
ili o.•
I ~~'-...~t---.. N-.. I lr--
~ --...__.,...._--:. "t--l-... ......
~ -----...::: :::::f:::±::-- ~r- t-
0. ~
I

I I
i
1-~~
I I
- 120
0. 2
I I I

o. 1
. ' I j I I CONFIGURATJ ON
115
I I
! I I --lr- A-,_ 12
--v- A-4-1;
..e,,o
•

0
i ' I i I I I ---Q-B-}- 2
--o-B-4- 2
0 0 .2 0 .4 0 .6 0.8
1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
IMDUCTUCE RATIO a --STOCI
~
Fig. 5 Frequency Ratio X vs . Induct a nce Ratio a ,..
1 ~1 05
and Capacitance Ratio b
.."
tl1 oo

"
H

t
lC
~ 95
0
>

90
}.0

-
I - · ----
2. 8 ------ . -·. -- 85
1000 1500 2000
DI GIJB SPIED, RPM
2500
- -- .
!
2. 6 r- - I
------ I
Fig. 7 Comparison of Four Tuned Ma nifolds with St oc k
.----- ----·
2. 4
: -.
Intake Manifold, from Reference (8)

..N

~2.2
II ' \ ·
I

I !
I
L

r-
- t-
' -
l - The volumetric efficiency of almost 116 percent
il \ ! : ; shown in Fig . 7 represents a subs tant ial supercharge,
~
I

t;2.0 i\ I I ! and a gain of some 18 percent over the stock manifold

i:i - I- --!
I
1'\ I
I I
I I i for the B-4 configuration. The other manifolds show

.2
I I
a:;LB
I I I I similar peaks, but l ess gai n or supercharging effect.
I\ 1\ . 'i'-,. I The primary cause of this difference is th e cross-
\ \ ~--'---' CAPACITAN CE RATIO b sectional area of the pipes. That is, the magnitude
1.6
! I ~ of the oscillation, and the resulting supercha r ge, de-
I pend on t he flow velocity.
1\ I'- ! I

1• •
\
r-- ~
--r- .._,_ '
!
I
For single pipes, data from many sources i ndicates
that max imum supercharge occurs when t he mean induction
1.2
\
velocity at resonan ce is approximately 200 fps . The
I mean induction veloc it y is the average ve l oci t y of a
1 .0 I volume of charge equal to the piston displacement flow-
0.2 o. • o .6 o.e 1.0 1.2 , , 1.6 1.e 2 .0
ing into the cylinder during the time requir ed for 180
IKDUCTAN CE RATIO a
degrees of crankshaft rotation. Ricardo (3) found the
¥ig. 6 Frequency Ratio x2 vs. Inductance Ratio a and optimum at 180 fps for his configuration . The Platner
Capacitance Ratio b equation as found in the patent (4) gives the same
pipe length as equation (3) if the mean induction velo-
city co rresponds to a Mach number of 0.180, which is
RESULTS a velocity of 210 fps for velocity of sound at 1150
fps. The flow losses affect the value of the optimum ,
Some of the results fr om Eberhard ' s thesis are increasing losses t ending to decrease the optimum velo-
shown in Figs . 7 and 8 . Meas ured va lues of vo lumetric city .
effi ci ency for four of his manifolds are compared with

4
 2100

2000
/of
I

~/
~
~
P. 1500

"~
i:
~1 000
7 •,+---j 1----+-•2

ii
§
.. 100 I/
[7
0 500 1000 1500 2000 21 00
EXPERH!EHTAL TUNIIriG PEAK, RPP'!

Fig . 8 Comparison of Theoretical and Experimental

Tuning Peaks, 1 1/2-Inch Series, from Reference (8) .

For a manifold such as that shown in Fig. 9, opti-

mization of the velocity is more complex. The high
peak for the B-4 configuration shown in Fig . 7 is in
the lower frequency mode of oscillation. For this
lower frequency mode, the pressure oscillations in th~
cylinder and in the log (or at the branch point) are Fig. 9 Three-Cylinder Tuned Intake Manifold Studied
in phase, and most of the "ramming" effect is provided
by Eberhard (8), Made of Copper Pipe and Fittings.
by the inertia or inductance of the feeder pipe 1 .
2 Similar Units Made with Conduit Bends were Also Used.
Thus, the peak at 1100 rpm occurs with only 116 fps
mean induction velocity in the cylinder pipes. The
feeder pipe veloc ity, however, is 185 fps, if allow- Schwallie's data (9) on 4-cylinder manifolds pro-
ance is made for flow equal to 20 percent of v t o duced r esults which were quite similar to Eberhard's.
2
pressurize v 2 . In this case, the flow ~n the feeder The manifolds had been originally made by Kauffmann
pipe consists of the 98 cu in . piston d1splacement (7) for research in gasoline engine emissions . Fo r
plus 20 percent of the 358 cu in. total volume of the
this rea son, the four cylinder pipes are brought to-
log and the two idle cylinder pipes .
gether in an "X" which is horizontal, and the carbure -
In the A-4 configuration, which peaks at 113 per-
to r feeds vertically downward into the cente r of the
cent volumetric efficiency at 1200 rpm in Fig. 7, the
-X as shown in Figure 10, the object being good mix-
mean induction velocity in the smaller cylinder pipes
at the peak is 161 fps, which the velocity in the feed-
t~re distribution. The manifold is shown in place in
Fig. 11, together with a low-cost laminar flow meter
er -pipe is 186 fps, almost id entical to that at the
which made problems, and emphasizes t he fac t that a
B-4 peak. The difference of 3 percent in the volumet-
resonant system will resonate r egardless of the intent
ric efficiency with these two manifolds must therefore
of the designer. This flowmeter added a n additional
be attributed to the higher cylinder pipe velocity of
resonance to the mani f olds which gave the dip shown
the A-4 configuration.
in air f l ow at 1450 rpm in Figure 12. At this con-
At the higher frequency peak of 2300 rpm for the
dition, there is oscil l atory flow in the laminar ele-
B-4 manifold, the cylinder pipe mean induction ve l o-
ment, with peaks co nsiderably above the l ami nar flow .
city is 242 fps, above the optimum, but most of the
limits of the element . The air flow data in the v1c1n1-
loss of supercharge is attribu t able to flow loss 1n
t y of this cond ition are meaningless . Two student s ,
the feeder pipe. The A-4 peak at almost the same rpm
John O'Dea and Richard Wagner , established the existence
shows the supp r ession resulting from excessive cylin-
of this parti cula r reso nance in an undergraduate labora-
der pipe veloci ty.
t ory experiment, and their assistance is hereby grate-
Eberhard's data covered a total of 20 different
fully ac knowled ged . The only cure fo r this k ind of
manifolds, all of the same general configuration. The
prob l em i s a c han ge of the frequency of the added reson-
curves of Fig . 7 are quite typical. Howe ver, in a num-
ance . In this case, the flowmeter elemen t acted 3S a
ber of the manifolds, the standing waves du e to or gan-
third inductive leg , or 1 , and the volume between it
Pipe-type resonance wer e more evident than the A- 3 and 3
and the carbur etor acted as a capaciti ve element , or
B-3 c urves of Fig. 7 indicate. Overall, these did
not have a major effect on volumetric efficiency, a nd
c3 , added to the analog in Fig . 4 . The solution fo r
this engine is a 55- ga l lon drum, between t he meter1ng
did not change th e bas ic Helmholtz peaks .
eleme nt and the carbu r e t or . It is a fact that any
metering element such as a noz zle or orifice will be

5
followed by a finite volume, exact l y like the laminar
element . There will be a resonance associated with
that volume, and the frequency must be well ou t of the
range in which valid data is desir ed . l~ith the drum ,
a shift to 10 Hz or 300 rpm is easy .
runner or cylinder pipe c ross- sectional a r ea . In Ebe r-
hard ' s manifolds, the logs were quite large, while in
Sc hwallie ' s stock manifold, the log is only slightly
larger than the ru nners between cylinders 1 and 2 ,
and between cylinders 3 and 4.

1. 2
10 PRCTOT'(PE ~ 1

' .0 !H
h fk
---= - -- 1.1'-,
..&:-

~~ li/f ~ '\ 1-
~ 0 .8
\
I VI ~ !:---
~

e: 0 . 6
"
,,
~\
I
I
PROTO TYPE ; 2/
/ ....
--
r-

~ /jj STOC K

0.2

Fig . 10 Tuned Manifold Made by Kauffmann, Reference

(7), and Studied by Schwaii e , Reference ( 9) .
0
1000 2000 }000 4000
~GI N E RPM

Fig. 1 2 Volumetric Flow Data Showi ng Tuning Effect of

Fl owmeter, from Reference (9 ).

40 r--.-,.-.--.--,--,-
,-,-1~--r--.--~~-.--.--.
I I I- c- - ~.....,.._..~-..::::::-<

I -·1---, L _L 1__1_ _ _ 1
·--r- ) /. _L _
PkOTOTYP E 1 1 -- 4-CYL AV-.. L..,;'" ,t/" __. ,--
}5 f-- ·- - v~--"" - ..... ~-"'
~ ....--...,.
V f--- __ _ /"\.....1...
1-.:;- - 1 - - ·-<. ~''\,.' CYLS i 1 " 4 -- - STOCK
f:f V~"' '-
cns n .. } -- srocK
~}O ~v~
- ~./~-1-~4-~-1-~4-~~-b-+-~~
~ 1--- 1--- --l-+- -1-+
...
Fig . 11 Four - Cy linde r Engine with Tuned Manifold and
Laminar Flowmeter in Place , as Used by Schwallie ,
Reference (9).

20 ~-t--t--r--r-~~r-1--4--+--+--+--+--~~--
Schwallie was able to calculate the r esona nces of
the rake type stock manifold for this engine, and so
acco un t fo r t he r ather sma ll ga in in breathing achieved
with the t un ed manifolds as compared with the stock
unit. The effective cy linder pipes for the end cylin-
ENGI NE RP!'I
ders each co nsis t of port , runner , and part of the log,
up to the adjacent cylinder runner . For the two mi ddle
cylinders , the effective pipes consist of port a nd Fig . 13 Comparative Compression Data Showing Uneven
~ unn er only . Thu~ , for the e nd cylinders, 1 and 4, 1
Air Distribution Due to Tuning Effects. Data from
1 Reference (9) .
~s larger and V2 ~s smaller, than for the middle cylin-
ders, 2 and 3. This differe nce could be seen in his
compre~sion data for individual cylinders, and repre-
sentat~ve data are shown in Fig. 13. In describing Mention should be made here of the end correction
this manifold as a rake type, it is necessar y to dis- which applies to Helmholtz resonators and other sys-
tinguish it from Eberhard ' s ma nifold s , which would t ems involving oscillatory flow in pipe s . For a simple
a lso be described as r ake t ype . The major difference pipe with the end cu t off square, a commo n value is 0 . 8
is the r atio of th e log cross - sec tional area to the times th e diamet er to be added to the actual length to
determine the effective length . For a simple orifice

6
in the wall of a cavity, the effective leng th is usu-
ally taken as the diameter of the hole . Since length
enters the frequency eq uations (1), (3), and (4) · as a
square root, however, a nd since round ed entrances are
commo n in manifolds to reduce flow losses, empi rical
data must be obtained for any specific configuration .
It is well established that in mus i ca l instruments
like the trumpet or French horn, the end of the effec-
tive l ength is somewhere in the bell (10) . For mani-
folds, there fore, the value of car r yi ng an end correc-
tion throu gh preliminary calculcations is questionable.
For the X configuration of Fig. 10 , centerline dis-
t a nces work well. For a manifold like that in Fig. 9 ,
length to the inner wall of th e log will account for
some rounding of the e ntrances of the cylind e r pipes .
DESIGN PROCEDURE
As an example of the explici t design of a tuned
manifold, the engine of Figure 10 will be used. The
manifold will be of the pattern shown: the inlet en-
ters an X, or cross, at right angles to its plane.
The engine has 4 cy linde rs, 38 c u in . displacement per
cylinder, a total of 152 cu in., and a compression ra-
tio of 9 . 0. A tuning peak will be es tablished at 2000
rpm.
Step 1. The important engine dimensions must be ob ~
tained, since the se are physically limiting. In this
case, the end ports (#1 and #4) are approximately 15
inches betwee n centers, and the valve stems are 4
inches from the manifold gasket surface . Therefore,
the centerline length of the intake passage to these
cylinders will consist of 4 inches of port, 7 inches
from the X to the port, plus an allowance for the
bend to enter the por t, or about 15 inches fo r L1 . The
smaller the pipe diameter , the smaller the radius of
the bend may be made without introducing intolerable
flow losses.
Step 2. Initially, pipe and port area are chosen for
a mean induction velocity of 200 ft . per second at
the peak, which is to be 2000 rpm or 33.3 rps. 38 cu
in. in 180 degrees of crank travel is 38 x.2 x 33 . 3 ;
2533 cu in. per seco nd, 200 ft. per second; 2400 in.
per second. The required area is then
2533
1.055 sq . in .. ; A
2400 1
This is a diameter of 1 . 16 i nches.
Step 3. Calculate Np from equation (3) or (4). For
most naturally aspirated engines the v e l oc ity of sound
may be taken as 1150 ft . per seco nd, it s value at 90 F.
Then, from equation (3),
Np ; 77 x 1150 • ~ • r;-
"~ "~
Np ; 3400 rpm.
It will be qui t e obvi ous th at the des ired peak at 2000
rp~ will ·be the lower, or N resonance , a nd x ; 0 . 589 .
1 1
Th~s pip e area will a lmos t eliminate the N2 peak, and
slightly reduce the N1 peak.
Step 4 . De te rmi ne ~he volume or capacitance ratio b.
The three idle pipes will have a combined volume
V ; 3 X 15 X 1 . 055; 47.5 CU in.
2 value for a ca r bu r eto r must be determined experimen-
Then, from Equation (7),
v2 2(R-l)
47 . 5 X 16
b 2 .0
VD (R+L) 38 X 10
Step 5. Enter Figure 5 , for b 0 . 589. find
inductance ratio a.
a ; 0.82
Step 6 . I nlet proportions may now be chose n . Eber-
hard's r es ult s i ndicate t hat 200 ft . per second ve l o-
city in L is near optimum. To the flow into the cy-
linder, tfiere must be added the flow which raise s th e
pr essure in v2, th e idle intake pip es by about 20 per-
cent . Considering the ram compression adiabatic, thi s
is 14 pe r cent on volume, or 6.65 cu in. The area A2
should then be inc r eased to 1 .25 sq. in .
From equation (6)
0.82 X 1.25 X 15
14.6 in.
1. 055
Step 7 . The higher res onance N is found from Figure
6. x2 is found to be 1.33, giv~ng 2 N ; 4540 rpm.
2
Step 8. The physical layout is now checked. It i s
desirable that all four individual pipes be of th e
same L/A value and have equal flow loss es .
It will be obvious t hat inc reas ing L1 will decrease
Np, will increase volume rati o b, and will result in
new values of L2 a nd N2. For example , if L1 is in-
creased to 18 inches , Np becomes 3100, x1 becomes
0 .64 5 , and b becomes 2 .4. Then a ; 0.64, L2; 13.7
inchas , X2 ; 1.30, and N2 ; 40 30 rpm .
It may be des i rable to use the configuration shown
in Figure 9. For a given value of L1, b will be in-
creased by the volume of the log, and L2 will be de-
creased, as will N2 .
A possibility is the use of the Figure 9 configura-
tion with the log connected by v e ry short pipes t o th e
ports . It is informative to consider t his, al though
the optimized proportions have not been deve l oped . The
cylinder port may be increased in area for this purpose
since the N1 resonance has cylinder and log pr ess ure s
in phase, and the individual cyl inder passages provide
little ram effect. Loss elimination may be benefic ial.
Thus, an Np of 6000 rpm mi gh t be chosen, for which
x1 ; 0 .3 3 . Port and pipe area A1 then might be increas-
ed to, say, 3.165 sq . in. for which L1 becomes 5 inches,
based on equation (3). Such propo rtion s for individua l
intake pipes will be quite fam iliar to r acing buffs .
From Figure 5, values of a and b can be chosen to
provide the value of 0.33 fo r X1.
The value of A2 should provide for th e mean ind uc -
tion veloci t y of 200 ft. per second, including the
effect of compression in the lo g . I t will be not ed
that this configuration ca lls for l arge values of both
a a nd b, and that N2 f rom Figure 6 is only of the o r-
der of 10 perc ent higher than Np.
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS
The design proced ur e set fo r th here does not repre-
sent the e ntir e picture of tuned manifold design . The
fol lowing are some us efu l fac t s in respect to the pro-
cedures and configurations described:
1 . The X c onfigu ra tion of Figure 10 provides excellent
mixture distribution with liquid fuels (7) . The L/A
tally.
2 . The data are incomplete for the large l og configura -
tion, although for the small log shown in Figure 9, t he
performance conforms to the proced ur e presented (8).
7
• 3: Data are not avai l able for the specific cases of
siamese ports.
4. Data are not available fo r a manifold consisting
of a fairly large log feedin g six or eigh t cylinders.
Further, no data have been ob t aine d for any conf i gura-
tion supplying more than 4 cy linder s . However, one
configuration shown in the Platner patent (4) consists
of a large box in the V of a V-8 engine with short
pipes to the individual cylinders . It appears that
these short pipes act as · i f they wer e open to the at-
mosphere. That is, due t o the overlap of int ake
strokes, the feeder pipe flow is virtually continuous ,
and the system reverts to a single degree of freedom .
The only significant resonan ce i s then at Np .
5 . No r eason is appa rent for believing that t uning
should not be applied for a turb ochar ged e ngine . Rath-
er , i t should be helpful. In fact, there is good rea-
so n to attribute the wide variation of benefits gained
by pulse-charging, as compared with co ns tant pressure
systems, to good and bad exhaust tun i ng .
6 . High back pres s ure in the exhaust system is detri-
mental to breathing. Int a ke manifold tunin g will no t
eliminate exhaus t l osses .
7. The tun ed manifold will use up some of th e engi ne
power in the form of pumping work . Overall , the ef-
fect is almost exactly the same as that of a good gear-
driven supe rcha rger g iving t he same power boost (1 , 2,
5,6,8,9) .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The support and assistance of the Cummins Engine

Company and t he Interna tional Harves t e r Company in
providing the engines used in the manifold s t udies is
gratefully acknowledged. Likewise, the Cummins Fe l low-
ship which supported the investigation by W. W. Eber-
hard is acknowledged with thanks.

REFERENCES

1. Engelman , H.W., " Surge Phenomena in Engine Sca-

venging," Ph. D. Thesis , University of Wisconsin , l953.
;11-:}:ngleman, H. W. , "The Tuned Manifold, or Super-
cha'rg'ing Without a Blower ," A. S . M.E . Paper 53-0GP-4- ,
1953.
3. Ricardo, H. R. , "Internal Combustion Engine,"
U.S . Patent No. 1,834,473, 1931 .
4. Platner, J.B., a nd Moore, C.D., "High Output
Engine," U.S . Patent No . 2 , 766,643, 1956.
5'1 Thompson, M. P. , "Non-Mechanical Supercharging
of a Four-Stroke Diesel Engine," M.S. Thesis, Ohio
State University, 1968 .
1 €5) Thompson, M.P . , and Engelman, H. W. , "The Two
Typ\.S of Resonance in Intake Tuning," A.S.M.E. Paper
69-DGP-11, 1969.
7. Kauffmann, J.C., "Investigation of the Influence
of Gasoline Engine Induction Sys tem Parameters on th e
Exhaust Emissions," Ph.D. Dissertation, Ohio State
University, 1972.
8 . Eberhard, W. \4., "A Mathematical Model of Ram-
Charging I ntake Manifolds for Four-Stroke Diesel
Engines, " M. S . Thesis , Ohio State University , 1971.
9 . Schwallie , A. L., " Verification of a Mat hemati-
cal Mode l for Intake Manifold Design, " M. S. Thesis ,
Ohio State Univer sity , 197 2 .
10. Bena de , Arthur H., "Th e Physics of Brasses, "
Scien tific America n, Vol. 229 , No . 1, July 1973,
pp. 24-37.