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On the Use of Fast-Response Pressure Transducers in a Common-Rail Diesel

Injection System

Conference Paper · January 2006

DOI: 10.1115/ESDA2006-95479

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 Proceedings of ESDA2006
8th Biennial ASME Conference on Engineering Systems Design and Analysis
Proceedings
July of ESDA2006
4-7, 2006, Torino, Italy
8th Biennial ASME Conference on Engineering Systems Design and Analysis
July 4-7, 2006, Torino, Italy

ESDA2006-95479
ESDA2006-95479

ON THE USE OF FAST-RESPONSE PRESSURE TRANSDUCERS IN A COMMON-RAIL DIESEL

INJECTION SYSTEM

Amirante R., Catalano L. A., Dadone A., Lombardo V.

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Gestionale

Centro di Eccellenza di Meccanica Computazionale
Politecnico di Bari, via Re David 200, 70125, Bari, Italy
Tel: +39 080 5963379/3465 - Fax: +39 080 5963411

Contact author: Prof. L. A. Catalano

DIMEG – Sezione Macchine ed Energetica
Politecnico di Bari, via Re David 200, 70125, Bari, Italy
E-mail: catalano@poliba.it

effective in matching the above target, thanks to its

ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to investigate the use of fast-
response pressure transducers for measuring the
instantaneous pressure in different sections of a common-
rail diesel injection system, both for a single injection and
for multiple injections. The influence of the pressure
transducer onto the measured pressure is evaluated
numerically by comparing the pressure history computed
without the pressure transducer and that computed with the
presence, and thus with the disturbance, of this sensor. A
new electric circuit is proposed in substitution of the
standard electronic central unit, which allows to modify the
injection parameters and to perform injections on a test rig,
as done in the automotive applications. Experimental results
are provided both for a single injection and for multiple
injections, to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed
test bench for the unijet injectors.
INTRODUCTION
Diesel engine technology seems to be the most powerful
technique to keep exhaust emissions within the stringent
limits imposed by Euro 4 (2005) [1] and next Euro 5 (2008)
standards. These engines show the greatest potential in fuel
consumption, and in emission reduction at lower costs. The
Common Rail (CR) injection system represents a
fundamental improvement in the field of the Diesel engines,
as demonstrated by its very wide and quick diffusion. In
particular, the CR injection system seems to be very
flexibility in injection management [2-4]: CR injection
systems are capable of setting up injection pressure, start of
injection timing and injected fuel quantity according to the
engine operating conditions. Moreover, CR injection
systems allow a more flexible use of the pilot injection
(already introduced in the traditional injection systems) to
increase the chamber temperature before the main injection,
and have the capability of a further subdivision of the main
injection (multi-jet); finally, a lower torque is absorbed by
the supply pump, which works continuously during the
entire engine cycle, and not only during the injection phase,
as in the pump-injector systems.
Currently a further step in injection system development is
required toward environmental concerns [5]. The multiple
injection idea is to split the injection in more than two
pulses, with particular attention on reducing the dwell before
the main injection [6]. This strategy was initially limited by
the performance of the first generation of the CR injectors.
A new driving circuit, which allows generating two
consecutive pulses with a delay of about 15 µs has been
proposed in [7,8], in conjunction with a new voltage profile
capable to reduce the minimum opening and closing time of
the standard Unijet injector. Experimental tests show a
significant injection pressure drop (up to 200 bar) during
most of the injection phase, mainly due to the sudden
acceleration of the fuel, rather than to friction losses. These
dynamic effects [9,10] could be exploited in the multi-jet
version, since the temporary closing of the injector creates a
significant pressure increase, that propagates along the pipe.

1 Copyright © 2006 by ASME

This gives new motivations to a wide research activity
aiming at an accurate knowledge of the time variation of the
pressure in the pipes of the common-rail fuel injection
system. To date, strain gages have been mostly used to
follow the fast variation of the injection pressure. However,
even using folded strain gages, the deformation of the
injector body influences the pressure measurement
significantly, as it will be described in the next section.
The aim of this paper is to realize a test bench for testing a
Common Rail injection system operating with very close
injections and to obtain direct pressure measurements in
different sections and, in particular, near the nozzle. To
achieve this goal, the test bench includes a new electric
circuit which supplies the solenoid-valve and a newly-
developed fast-response pressure transducer for the
measurement of the time variation of the pressure in a pipe
section or inside a volume. The entire test bench and these
two devices are described in Section 2. Section 3 proposes a Fig. 1 : Common Rail test bench diagram: 1 Pump shaft, 2
numerical investigation on the intrusivity of the pressure high pressure pump, 3 rail pressure regulation, 4 fuel and
transducer. Section 4 presents some experimental tests H2O filter, 5 fuel tank with source fuel pump, 6 cylinder of
performed on the developed test bench. injection, 7 pressure transducer amplifier, 8 piezo-resistive
pressure sensor, 9 common rail, 10 rail pressure sensor, 11
connecting pipe, 12 power supply, 13 data acquisition card,
14 injector, 15 injection electronic control unit, 16 personal
NOMENCLATURE computer.
ρ fuel density As usual, there are two different fuel circuits, at high (dark
t time line) and low pressure (outlined line), respectively. In the
u velocity experimental tests, the Diesel oil has been replaced with the
x coordinate along the pipe mineral oil ISO 4113; the oil is filtered by a fuel filter and
p pressure passes through a H2O eliminator (4). The oil is maintained at
D pipe diameter the selected temperature value of 40°C ± 2°C, specified in
λ friction coefficient the International Standards ISO4113, which establishes the
Es isentropic modulus of elasticity calibration requirements for diesel injection equipments.
c propagation speed
25
cp specific heat coefficient
T temperature
20
Es* corrected value of isentropic modulus of elasticity
E steel modulus of elasticity
Current (A)

15
δ pipe thickness
10
Subscripts
i step index 5

Superscripts 0
n time level 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Time (µs)

Fig. 2 - Injector current waveform

1. Test bench
Commercial automotive components have been combined
with some additional instrumentations to implement an
engine-free test bench, capable of investigating the influence
of the unsteady flow in the pipes onto the injection pressure.
Figure 1 provides a diagram of the test bench, which differs
from the standard automotive implementation mainly for the
injector driver.
The temperature of the injector body has been recorded and
checked continuously too. A low pressure pump installed
inside the fuel tank (5) provides fuel to the high pressure
injection pump (2), driven by a 15 kW electrical engine.
High pressure pipes connect the main pump to the common
rail (9) and the common rail with one injector (14) only. The
connections with the three missing injectors have been
closed.

2 Copyright © 2006 by ASME

Fig. 3 - ECU PWM generator : (1) timer NE555 setting injection duration, (2) timer NE555 setting the peak duration, (3) timer NE555 setting the peak current (4)
timer NE555 setting the hold current (5) 74LS00N not-and gates, (6) TC4428CPA power mosfet driver, (7) voltage regulator, (8) mosfet transistor, (9) RUR1560
ultrafast diode, (10) S1-2 switches.

3 Copyright © 2006 by ASME

The high pressure pump is equipped with an electrical by a 74LS00N not-and gates (5). A voltage regulator (7)
discharge valve (3), which regulates the fuel flow rate reduces the external supply voltage (12 V) to the lower
delivered to the rail and sets the rail pressure. The fuel is value of 5 V required by the circuit, whereas a mosfet
injected into a cylindrical capacity charged with air at 20 transistor (8) driven by TC4428CPA power mosfet driver
bar, in place of the engine cylinder (6). (6), switches on the voltage in a coil inductance to increase
The injector is opened by a power supply equipment (12), the current on the injector. A RUR1560 ultra fast diode (9)
which provides the current to the electromagnet. The Unijet connected to the solenoid provides the current recirculation,
injectors must be ideally driven by the current waveform Two manual switches (10) allow to change operation mode
shown in figure 2; at first, an high current pulse (peak from local to remote control by a Personal Computer.
current) must be supplied to overcome the inertia of injector This circuit provides an almost constant current profile for
mechanics; then, a lower constant current (hold current) is constant PWM duty cycle, except for the small variations
needed to hold the injector nozzle open for a variable period. (see example of Figure 4), which are due to the Power MOS
Peak and hold values are about 20 A and 11 A, respectively, transistor (8); for each switching, two different phases are
and their time durations are approx 400 µs and 1200 µs, present: in the first phase (active duty cycle phase) the
respectively. current increases, whereas in the second phase the current
decreases (passive duty cycle phase). Finally, a sudden
Components Ref. Product name Value
reduction of the duty cycle determines a progressive
reduction of the current averaged value.
TIMER 1234 NE555P
NAND
As shown in Figure 1, a data acquisition system composed
NOT - AND GATES 5 74LS00N
TTL/CMOS by an acquisition card (13) and by a personal computer (16)
POWER MOSFET DRIVER 6 TC4428CPA allows to control the injection parameters, as well as to
MOSFET TRANSISTOR 8 SPW47N60C3 display and to record all measured quantities. In particular,
VOLTAGE RUGULATOR 7 7805BT 12 V → 5V the personal computer (16) provides a single square wave to
ULTRAFAST DIODE 9 RUR1560
the ECU, to set up the duration of the injection.
To date, non-intrusive measurements of the time variation of
SWITCHS 10
the injection pressure have been realized by means of strain
D1 D2 D3
DIODES
D4
1N4007 gages.
R1 R2 R5
VARIABLE RESISTORS R6 ,R7 R8 47 kΩ
R9
RESISTORS R3 R4 10 kΩ

C1 1 µF (J100)
C2 C5 C7
10 nF
C9
C3 2.2 nF (J400)
0.015 µF
C4
(J100)
CAPACITORS C6 C8 3.3 nF (J100)

C10 4.7 µF (J35)

C11 100 nF (J650)

C12 100 nF

C13 0.33 µf

Tab 1 – ECU components list.
In order to obtain the dynamic behaviour of a commercial
injection system and the current waveform shown in fig 2 in
the solenoid-valve, a suitable electronic control unit ECU
(15) has been developed. Figure 3 and table 1 show the
circuit which controls the solenoid current by switching a
power mosfet with a waveform produced by proper Pulse
Width Modulation (PWM) drivers. This equipment supplies
the solenoid with a pulsating voltage with a squared
waveform at 30 kHz frequency. The current value is
modulated by changing the duty cycle of the waveform. In
particular, the ECU PWM generator employs two NE555
timers to set up the injection duration (1) and the peak
duration (2); other two similar timers are employed to
generate the PWM signals which realize the peak (3) and
hold (4) current values. The peek and hold signals are mixed
Fig 4 - Current profile during a decreasing PWM duty cycle
phase.
As an example, Figure 5 provides a diagram of the injection
pressure versus the time, measured by means of folded
strain gages. An unrealistic pressure increase is visible in
Figure 5, approximately between t=570 and t=770
microseconds; in this period, the injection has not started
yet: in fact, the pin lift is measured as the displacement of
the top of the control piston rather than of the needle. Thus,
a small pin lift is measured even when the compression on
the pin is reducing, but the needle is still on its sealing seat.
The measured pressure increase can be explained as follows:
when the control piston presses the needle on its sealing
seat, the injector body is stretched; the folded strain gages
are obviously calibrated for this stress distribution, which
occurs when there is no injection. On the contrary, when the

4 Copyright © 2006 by ASME

 injector starts opening, the control piston does not press the the pipes of the injection system. The reliability of this
needle on its sealing seat, and the injector body deformation experimental tool will be analyzed in the following
is reduced. According to basic laws of continuum paragraph by means of numerical investigations.
mechanics, a circumferential stretching occurs, which is
registered by the strain gages as an unrealistic pressure
increase. Even the following pressure acquisition is
probably affected by this significant error.

1400
1350
1300
1250
Pressure (bar)

1200
1150
1100
1050
1000
950
900
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Time [µs]

Fig. 5 – Injection pressure measured with folded strain

gages (courtesy by Elasis).

For such a reason, a different instrumentation, namely a

piezo-resistive high pressure sensor (8) is adopted in the
scheme of Figure 1 to measure the time history of the
injection pressure. The employed sensor is the Kistler 4067 Fig. 8 - Sensor assembled on the nozzle
A2000 A2, shown in Figure 6, with 2000 bar full scale and
precision 0.5% in the temperature range 20-200°C.

The sensor signal is

amplified by the Kistler
device 4618A2 (7), which
also provides the
linearization of the
measured signal and a
temperature
compensation. The
pressure output signal is
in the range 0-10 V, the
temperature output signal
is 10 mV/K and the signal
Fig. 7 - Clamp adapter on the
rise/fall time < 7 µs (into
pipe
10-90% of load variation).
Using the clamp adapter shown in Figure 6, the pressure
sensor has been fastened both on the supply pipe upstream
the injector (Figure 7) and on a section near the multi-hole
nozzle (Figure 8). Figure 9 shows the detail of the second
application: a little hole (1) with diameter of 1.5 mm and
length of 7.5 mm is machined on the injector and connects
the sensor (2) to the pipe feeding the fuel from the
accumulation volume to the nozzle. Since a short pipe and a
small volume are interposed between the sensor and the
section under investigation, the insertion of the clamp Fig. 9 – 1) Machined hole on the nozzle control volume, 2)
adapter determines an intrusion in the system under test, piezo-resistive pressure sensor
which could alter the system of pressure waves traveling in

5 Copyright © 2006 by ASME

Figure 10 provides a photograph of the developed test  ∂p Ε s ∂ρ 2 ∂ρ
bench.  ∂x = ρ ∂x = c ∂x

 (4)
 ∂p = Ε s ∂ρ = c 2 ∂ρ
 ∂ t ρ ∂t ∂t
namely,

 ∂ρ 1 ∂p
 ∂ t = 2 ∂ t
c
 (5)
 ∂ ρ 1 ∂p
= 2
 ∂ x c ∂x
By substituting the above expressions in the continuity
equation, and after rearranging the momentum equation, the
following set of governing equations is obtained:

 ∂p ∂p 2 ∂u
 ∂t + u ∂x + ρc ∂x = 0

 ∂u (6)
 +u
∂u ∂p λu 3
Fig. 10 - The test bench + + =0
 ∂t ∂x ρ∂x 2 u D


2. Intrusivity of the pressure sensor which can be integrated numerically. Polynomial

A CFD code has been developed to analyze how the expressions are used for the equation of state, ρ=ρ(p,T), and
presence of the intrusive pressure sensor influences the the modulus of elasticity, Es=Es(p,T) [13]. The temperature
measured value. The code discretizes and solves the one- T is evaluated according to:
dimensional equations which govern the unsteady flow in dp
c p dT = (7)
the pipes connecting the rail with the control volume and ρ
with the injection holes [11]. Zero-dimensional conservation cp being the specific heat coefficient. Due to the high
equations simulate all capacities. If the friction forces are pressures involved, also the pipe deformations must be taken
evaluated by considering a steady flow with the same into account, thus modifying the isentropic modulus of
velocity, the continuity and the momentum equations can be elasticity, Es. The corrected value Es*,
written as follows:
Es
 ∂ρ ∂(ρu ) E s∗ = (8)
 ∂t + ∂x = 0 E D
1+ s
 Eδ

( )
 ∂(ρu ) + ∂ ρu + ∂p + λρu = 0
2 3 (1)

 ∂t ∂x ∂x 2 u D is employed in the code rather than Es, E and δ being the

elasticity modulus of the steel and the pipe thickness,
respectively.
ρ, t, u, x, p and D being the density, the time, the velocity,
The set of governing equations (6) is discretized by means
the spatial coordinate along the pipe, the pressure and the
of the second-order-accurate Mac Cormack scheme [14]. It
pipe diameter, respectively. Since the relative roughness is
is noteworthy that very similar results can be obtained also
negligible, the friction coefficient λ depends only on the
by using the first-order-accurate Lax scheme, thanks to the
Reynolds number [12]. Moreover, the flow is supposed
very small time scale characterizing this unsteady flow. The
isentropic, i. e., we assume that the heat developed by the
application of the Mac Cormack scheme to the equations (6)
friction forces is entirely transferred outside through the
leads to the following discrete governing equations,
pipe surface. After defining the isentropic modulus of
consisting of a predictor step,
elasticity
∂p
Es = ( ) s ρ (2)  pi∗ − pin p n − pin un − un
∂ρ  + uin i +1 + ρi ci2 i +1 i = 0
the propagation speed, c, can be evaluated as:  ∆t ∆x ∆x
u ∗ − u n (9)
Es 1 p − pi (ui +1 ) − (uin ) 2 λ (uin ) 3
n n n 2
c= (3)  i i
+ n i+1 + + =0
ρ  ∆t ρi ∆x 2∆x 2D uin

This allows to express the density derivatives as a function
of the pressure derivatives, as follows:

6 Copyright © 2006 by ASME

with predictor values (temporary values at the time level diagrams of the injection pressure computed without and
n+1) denoted by the superscript *, and of a corrector step, with the sensor mounted on the supply pipe.
1300

 pin+1 − pin+1/ 2 ∗ ∗
∗ pi − pi−1
∗ ∗
2 ui − ui−1 1250
 + u i + ρ c
i i =0
 ∆t ∆x ∆x 1200
 2
(10)

pressure (bar)
 n+1 n+1/ 2 1150

ui − ui
+ n
( ) ( )
+
2
1 pi∗ − pi∗−1 ui∗ − ui∗−1
2
( )
+
λ ui∗
3
=0
1100
 ∆t ∆x 2∆x
 ρi 2D ui∗ 1050
 2 1000
without sensor
950
The values of p and u at the time level n+1/2 are evaluated with sensor
as: 900
600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000
 n+1 / 2 pi∗ + pin time (ms)
 pi =
 2 Fig. 11 - Comparison between the numerical pressure trend
 (11) measured in the nozzle with and without the volume
∗ n
 n +1 / 2 u i + u i necessary to assembly the sensor on the nozzle.
u i =
2 1300
Further models and equations are used for sudden section
1250
variations, pipe bifurcations and concentrated volumes
[15,16]. The corresponding expressions are omitted for 1200

conciseness.
pressure (bar)

1150
The code has been applied to the simulation of the unsteady 1100
flow determined by one injection in a common-rail system
equipped with one injector only. The resulting time diagram 1050

of the injection pressure is shown in Figure 11 as a solid 1000

line. As obvious, the pressure remains constant before the 950
without sensor

injection starts. Then, as usual (see also Figure 6), the with sensor
900
pressure decreases due to the flow acceleration; the system 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000
of pressure waves causes the following increase of the time (ms)
pressure, which reaches or even overcomes the rail pressure. Fig. 12 - Comparison between the numerical pressure trend
Higher frequency pressure oscillations are due to the measured in the pipe with and without the volume necessary
pressure waves reflected by the concentrated volumes. to assembly the sensor on the pipe
More importantly, the pipe lay-out has been then modified 1300
by properly inserting the pipe and the volume of the clamp
1250
adapter, to investigate the intrusivity of the employed
pressure sensor. The time diagram of the injection pressure, 1200

computed with the pressure sensor mounted near the

pressure (bar)

1150
injection nozzle, is provided in Figure 11 as a grey line. As
1100
clearly seen, the two curves of the injection pressure are
almost superposed: the major differences, of about 4 bar, 1050

are registered when either a pressure wave or an expansion 1000

wave reach the nozzle and thus the short pipes of the sensor. 950
without sensor

The error in measuring the pressure injection can be with sensor

considered negligible. 900

Similarly, Figure 12 provides the time diagrams of the
pressure in the supply pipe, near the high pressure
connection: the black line refers to the standard, unmodified,
configuration, whereas the grey line has been computed with
the pressure sensor mounted on the pipe. The discrepancy
between the two curves is higher than before, the maximum
pressure difference being 5 bar. In this case, the error is not
negligible, but it is clearly localized in the increasing
pressure phase. However, the insertion of the pressure
sensor significantly affects only the locally measured
pressure, as shown in Figure 13, which provides the time
600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000
time (ms)
Fig. 13 - Comparison between the numerical pressure trend
measured in the nozzle with and without the volume
necessary to assembly the sensor on the pipe
The discrepancy between the two curves is again negligible.
These numerical comparisons assess the reliability of the
piezo-resistive pressure sensor mounted with the clamp
adapter, except when measuring the pressure in the supply
pipe, where larger errors occur during the increasing
pressure phase.

7 Copyright © 2006 by ASME

3. Experimental results
At first, the clamp adapter and the pressure sensor have been
mounted on the supply pipe, close to the high-pressure
connection of the injector. The rail pressure is 1320 bar, the
(peak + hold) excitation time is 750 µs and the dwell time
between two consecutive injections is 40 ms. The first
injections have been discarded, so as to achieve a periodic
flow field in the injection system, before starting
measurements. Figure 14 shows the time diagram of the
pressure measured by the piezo-resistive pressure sensor. As
usual, the pressure decreases during the injector opening
phase, of about 110 bar, due to the acceleration of the fuel in
the pipe. The slope variation registered approximately at t=
45300 µs could be caused by the pressure reduction in the
rail and/or to the variation of the fuel flow rate
instantaneously injected. After reaching 1210 bar, the pipe
pressure increases. The two peaks registered approximately
The time diagram of the injection pressure is presented in
Figure 16: a sudden decrease due to the flow acceleration is
measured after the injector opening, as usual. The pressure
drop, of about 155 bar, is higher than that registered in the
pipe. Then, the pressure increases again, overcoming the rail
pressure of about 70 bar. Also in this case, very large
pressure oscillations are measured after the injector closing.
These high-frequency oscillations are due to the wave
reflections and thus are progressively damped, mainly
thanks to the concentrated capacities interposed in the
supply pipe system. As for the pipe pressure, low-frequency
pressure variations are registered much further, due to the
small oscillations of the rail pressure.
1380 25
1360
1340 20
1320

Pressure (bar)
at t=45800 µs are determined by the wave reflections and by

Voltage (V)
15
1300
the injector closing, respectively. The pressure overcomes
1280
the rail pressure, reaching a maximum value of 1360 bar, 10
1260 Pipe pressure
and then decreases again below its initial value. After the Rail pressure
end of the injection phase, the pressure diagram presents 1240 Injector voltage waveform 5
large oscillations. 1220

1380 25 1200 0
44500 54500 64500 74500 84500
1360
Time (µs)
1340 20
1320 Fig. 15 - Pressure measured in the pipe, in the rail and the
Pipe pressure (bar)

1300 15 voltage profile injection control.

Voltage (V)

1280
1260 10 The voltage profile has been finally set up so as to obtain
1240 two very close injections, in order to simulate the operating
1220 5 conditions of a multijet system. The aim is to verify that the
1200 circuit proposed in substitution of the standard automotive
1180 0 ECU is capable of realizing very close injections, and thus
44500 45000 45500 46000 46500 47000 47500 to analyze the pressure variations occurring in the multijet
Time (µs) systems. Experimental tests have been performed with rail
Fig. 14 - Time diagram of the pressure measured by piezo- pressure set up at 1320 bar, excitation time of 750 µs and
resistive pressure sensor in the pipe. dwell time of 1.5 ms, instead of the previous value of 40 ms.
The two injections can be approximately localized in time
Figure 15 provides the pressure diagram for a complete by looking at the voltage profile shown in Figure 17. As in
injection cycle. After reaching the lowest value of 1280 bar the previous case, an injection pressure drop of about 150
(pressure drop of 40 bar), approximately 1700 µs after the bar is measured during the first injection.
injector opening, the rail pressure progressively increases up 1380 25
to the value set up by the regulation valve, which is reached 1360
about 30 ms after the injector closing, namely close to the 1340
20
1320
following injection. The high-frequency oscillations of the
1300
pipe pressure are progressively damped: in particular, these
Pressure (bar)

Voltage (V)

1280 15
oscillations are significant for a period of about 8 ms, 1260
whereas low frequency oscillations are measured afterwards, 1240 10
which almost follow the rail pressure variation. Almost 1220
1200
steady conditions are achieved about 10 ms before the 5
1180 Nozzle pressure
following injection. 1160 Injector voltage waveform
The clamp adapter has been then mounted on the injector, so 1140 0
as to connect the pressure sensor to a section of the fuel 44500 45000 45500 46000 46500 47000 47500 48000

supply system very close to the injection nozzle, as shown in Time (µs)

Figure 8. Experimental tests have been performed with rail Fig. 16 - Pressure trend measured by piezo-resistive
pressure set up at 1315 bar, excitation time of 750 µs and pressure sensor in the nozzle
dwell time of 40 ms between two consecutive injections.

8 Copyright © 2006 by ASME

Then, the pressure rapidly increases, reaches a peak value of
1395 bar, and suddenly decreases. When the second
injection starts, the pressure has already decreased to a value
lower than the rail pressure. Thus, the smallest value of
pressure measured during the second injection (about 1100
bar) is lower than in the previous case. This detrimental
pressure drop is due to the effect of a reflected expansion
wave, which reaches the nozzle after the pressure peak and
thus sums up to the pressure decrease induced by the new
flow acceleration.
The latter experimental results demonstrate the importance
of optimizing the synchronism of multiple injections, in
order to reduce the second pressure drop. In particular, the
second injection should start before the injection pressure
reaches its peak, so as to exploit the positive effects of the
compression wave reaching the nozzle.
1400
1380
1360
1340
1320
1300
Pressure (bar)
1280
1260
1240
1220
1200
1180
1160
1140 Nozzle pressure
1120 Injector voltage waveform
1100
4000 6000 8000 10000
Time (µs)
Fig. 17 – Pressure diagrams for two close injections.
4. Conclusions
The influence of the internal pipes and volumes of the clamp
adapter and of the pressure transducer has been evaluated
numerically. The comparison between the time diagrams
without and with the sensor has assessed the reliability of
the measurement system, except when measuring the
pressure in the supply pipe, where larger errors occur during
the increasing pressure phase.
The developed test bench and the injectors driver system
allows to realize both single and multiple injections, thanks
to a suitable electronic circuit, which controls the current
profile in the solenoid-valve, by means of PWM drivers. It
also allows to perform direct pressure measurements in
different sections and, in particular, near the injection
nozzle, thanks to the use of a newly-developed fast-response
pressure transducer. Experimental results obtained with both
single and multiple injections have been provided to
demonstrate the capability of the test bench of analyzing the
dynamical effects which occur in the pipes of a Common-
Rail Diesel injection system, and of optimizing the
synchronism of multiple injections. In particular, the second
injection should start before the injection pressure reaches
its peak, so as to exploit the positive effects of the
compression wave reaching the nozzle.
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