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SAE TECHNICAL
PAPER SERIES 980158

Mixing Control Strategy for Engine Performance

Improvement in a Gasoline Direct Injection
Engine
Kazunari Kuwahara, Katsunori Ueda and Hiromitsu Ando
Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

International Congress and Exposition

Detroit, Michigan
February 23-26, 1998

400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001 U.S.A. Tel: (724) 776-4841 Fax: (724) 776-5760
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Copyright 1999 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

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Mixing Control Strategy for Engine Performance Improvement in
a Gasoline Direct Injection Engine
Kazunari Kuwahara, Katsunori Ueda and Hiromitsu Ando
Copyright © 1998 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
ABSTRACT
Spray motion visualization, mixture strength measure-
ment, flame spectral analyses and flame behavior obser-
vation were performed in order to elucidate the mixture
preparation and the combustion processes in Mitsubishi
GDI engine. The effects of in-cylinder flow called reverse
tumble on the charge stratification were clarified. It pre-
serves the mixture inside the spherical piston cavity, and
extends the optimum injection timing range. Mixture
strength at the spark plug and at the spark timing can be
controlled by changing the injection timing. It was con-
cluded that reverse tumble plays a significant role for
extending the freedom of mixing.
The characteristics of the stratified charge combustion
were clarified through the flame radiation analyses. A first
flame front with UV luminescence propagates rapidly and
covers all over the combustion chamber at the early
stage of combustion. Then, the combustion of rich mix-
ture proceeds in the reaction zone behind a second flame
front with thermal radiation. The second flame front prop-
agates into the post flame zone of the first flame front
filled with the products of first flame such as radicals and
CO. Soot generated in the rich mixture zone is burned-up
in this radical rich zone.
Based on this finding, a new mixing control strategy for
knock suppression named "two-stage mixing" was pro-
posed. A first injection is performed during the early
stage of the intake stroke to prepare the very lean pre-
mixed mixture and a second injection is performed during
the later stage of the compression stroke to prepare the
distinctively stratified mixture. The premixed mixture is
too lean to induce knock and the stratified mixture does
not have the enough time for the incubation reaction of
knock to proceed. What is interesting is that soot gener-
ated in the rich mixture zone is not emitted at all. In the
case of the conventional stratified charge rich combus-
tion, soot behind the flame front propagates to the air
zone and is cooled to generate cold soot that will not be
reburned. In case of the two-stage mixing, soot in the rich
mixture zone propagates to the lean premixed mixture
zone, where soot plays a role of the ignition site and
ignites the lean mixture. Soot in the lean mixture zone is
1
980158
Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
burned-up efficiently utilizing the air, radicals and heat
generated by the combustion of the lean mixture.
INTRODUCTION
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation had proposed a new mix-
ing control strategy to realize a stable and distinctive
stratification for its GDI (Gasoline Direct Injection) engine
[1-5]. This concept adopts a wide spacing layout shown
in Figure 1. First, the fuel spray is directed toward a
spherical piston cavity, then, redirected towards the spark
plug after the impingement on the cavity surface. As com-
pared with the close spacing layouts the interval between
the fuel injection and the spark ignition can be extended.
Fuel vaporization and fuel air mixing take place during
this interval. Thereby, fuel air mixture with the controlled
mixture strength can be prepared around the spark plug
at the spark timing.
At low engine speeds, the primary factor promoting mix-
ing is the reflection on the piston surface and the air
motion induced by the spray. These factors do not
depend on engine speed.
Upright straight intake ports are adopted to generate the
reverse tumble with the rotational direction opposite to
that of the conventional tumble. The reverse tumble flow-
ing along the cavity surface effectively transports the fuel
in the cavity to the spark plug. Upward piston motion also
assists the fuel transport to the spark plug. Effects of the
reverse tumble and the piston motion to mixture forma-
tion are enhanced at higher engine speed with the
increase of the velocities of intake air and the piston.
Thereby, the kinetic energy prepared by the reverse tum-
ble and the piston motion becomes the primary factor for
fuel air mixing at higher engine speeds. Many factors,
that is, spray motion, reverse tumble and the piston
motion cooperate to prepare the adequately dispersed
mixture around the spark plug in wide engine speed
range.
In this study, the characteristics of mixing and combus-
tion of the GDI engine were investigated. Fuel spray
motion was visualized by laser shadowgraphy. Mixture
strength was measured by LIF and a new method using
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the spectra of the spark discharge emission. Instanta-
neous spectra of the light emitted from the combustion
zone and the sets of simultaneous flame photographs of
UV and visible ranges were used for the combustion
analyses.
Based on the findings of the combustion analysis, a mix-
ing control strategy named "two-stage mixing" to sup-
press the knock will be proposed at the end of this paper.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
OPTICAL ENGINE – A single-cylinder optical engine
shown in Figure 2 with bore x stroke of 85 mm x 88 mm
was used. The GDI engine originally has the spherical
piston cavity. However, because the phenomena in the
spherical cavity is not optically accessible, the cylindrical
piston surface configuration with the same design of
cross section as the central cross section of the spherical
cavity was adopted in place of the spherical cavity in
some experiments. The mixing and the combustion pro-
cess in the cylindrical chamber can be observed through
the quartz windows on the side walls of a pentroof com-
bustion chamber.
The compression ratio was reduced to 8.0:1 from 12.0:1
of the original GDI engine by changing the piston surface
configuration. Intake air was heated to compensate the
compression temperature decrease caused by the com-
pression ratio reduction.
Figure 1. Mixing Control Concept for the GDI Engine
2
Figure 2. Optical Access to Cylindrical Chamber
The intensity of the reverse tumble was controlled by
intake valve shrouds. In the case of reverse tumble, the
rotational speed of the reverse tumble was about six
times as high as engine speed during the late stage of
the compression stroke. In the case without reverse tum-
ble, any large scale rotational air motion could not be
observed.
The engine was operated by late injection. Operating
conditions are noted below each figure. Before the mea-
surements, it was operated by early injection for several
minutes to heat the piston surface.
DIAGNOSTICS OF MIXING – The fuel spray reflecting
on the piston surface was visualized by shadowgraphy
with Ar ion laser through a pair of the quartz windows on
both side walls. A high-speed video was used to image
the motion of the fuel spray.
For the purpose of LIF measurement, a small cylindrical
lens was mounted at the center of the pentroof combus-
tion chamber in place of the spark plug. A substitute
spark plug with long projection was installed on one of
the side wall. A KrF excimer laser sheet was introduced
into the cylindrical chamber through the cylindrical lens.
Gasoline LIF distribution was observed through the side
window by a high sensitivity image intensifier and a fram-
ing camera.
A new technique using the spark discharge spectra was
adopted for the mixture strength measurement. The mix-
ture strength at the spark plug at spark timing was mea-
sured quantitatively.
DIAGNOSTICS OF COMBUSTION – In order to analyze
the combustion in engines, a high-speed OMA (Optical
Multichannel Analyzer) illustrated in Figure 3 was devel-
oped [6]. A 512-cell photodiode array was used as 256
channels to shorten the scanning time to 40 microsec-
onds while maintaining the sensitivity. The flame spectra
was acquired by this OMA every 1 CAD.
UV flame luminescence was visualized by an image
intensifier with short decay phosphor and an high speed
video. Visible flame emission was observed by the high
speed video.
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Figure 3. High-Speed Optical Multichannel Analyzer
Soot was visualized by Ar ion laser light extinction mea-
surement through a pair of the side wall windows.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MIXING ON GDI
CONCEPT
FUEL SPRAY BEHAVIOR – Figure 4 shows the con-
tours of shadowgraphs of fuel spray. The influence of
injection timing and the reverse tumble on spray behavior
were analyzed. By comparing spray motions in the cases
with and without reverse tumble, the following role of the
reverse tumble on spray motion were confirmed:
1. Spray motion is accelerated by the air flowing toward
the spark plug on the piston surface.
2. Fuel air mixing is promoted by the rotational flow in
the combustion chamber.
Figure 4. Influence of Injection Start Timing and Reverse Tumble on Fuel Spray Motion
(Engine Speed: 1000min -1 , WOT, Injection Pressure: 5MPa, Injection Period: 1.67ms, A/F: 35)
3
3. The dispersion of the fuel outside of the combustion
chamber near the injector is suppressed by the flow
descending in the intake side.
4. Two-dimensional structure of the reverse tumble with
the smaller velocity component in the axis direction
attenuates the fuel dispersion in this direction.
When the reverse tumble is applied, 40 CAD BTDC is the
retard side injection timing limit for the reflected fuel spray
to arrive at the spark plug by the spark timing of 15 CAD
BTDC, and 70 CAD BTDC is the advance side injection
timing limit for the fuel spray to impinge on the piston sur-
face. When the reverse tumble is not applied, fuel spray
injected at 40 CAD BTDC can not arrive at the spark plug
by the same spark timing, and the fuel spray injected at
70 CAD BTDC does not impinge on the piston surface. In
short, when the reverse tumble is applied, available injec-
tion timing will range from 40 to 70 CAD BTDC. When the
reverse tumble is not applied, the behavior of the fuel
spray is controlled only by the reflection, and the avail-
able injection timing will be narrow. When the injection
timing is too early, fuel will be over penetrated beyond the
combustion chamber, when injected too late, fuel will not
arrive at the spark plug.
In conclusion, it was clarified that the reverse tumble
accelerating the spray motion extends the available injec-
tion timing range. What is important is that the mixture
strength at the spark plug is affected by the injection tim-
ing. When the fuel is injected early, it is dispersed and the
leaner mixture will be prepared, when injected late, richer
mixture will be prepared. Extension of the available injec-
tion timing range by the reverse tumble means an
increase of the freedom of the mixing control.
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(a) Gasoline LIF Measuring Area

(b) Comparison of Gasoline LIF Distributions in the Cases of Different Injection Start Timings
(With Reverse Tumble, Imaging Timing: 15CAD BTDC, Other Conditions: See Fig. 4)

Figure 5. Measurement of Gasoline LIF Distribution in Cylindrical Chamber

(A KrF excimer laser sheet was introduced into the cylindrical chamber through a
cylindrical lens at the center of the pentroof combustion chamber.)

FUEL AIR MIXING – In order to clarify the influence of
the injection timing on mixing control, cross-sectional
structures of fuel spray were visualized by gasoline LIF
distribution. Results are shown in Figure 5. Because the
laser is considerably absorbed by rich mixture, and tem-
perature decrease caused by the fuel vaporization influ-
ences the quantum yield of LIF, it was impossible to
convert LIF intensity into quantitative mixture strength.
However, it had been confirmed that the LIF intensity cor-
relates with the mixture strength by the preliminary exper-
iments using the premixed mixtures.
When the fuel is injected at 40 CAD BTDC, the front con-
tour of the reflected fuel spray arrives at the spark plug at
the spark timing of 15 CAD BTDC. When fuel is injected
at 50 CAD BTDC, the roll-up vortex region inside the
reflected spray is located at the spark plug at the spark
timing, in which the roll-up vortex promotes the air
entrainment into the fuel spray. Consequently, the mixture
strength around the spark plug is lower than that in the
case of the injection timing of 40 CAD BTDC.
When the fuel is injected at 70 CAD BTDC, the fuel spray
is widely dispersed in the combustion chamber by the
spark timing. The mixture strength around the spark plug
is the lowest.
QUANTITATIVE MIXTURE STRENGTH MEASUREMENTS –
The spectra of spark discharge were detected with the
temporal resolution of 0.5 CAD by the high-speed OMA.
Discharge light in mixture is composed of the emissions
mainly from OH band, CN band and the broad band NO-
O recombination emission. Figure 6 -(a) shows the dis-
charge light spectra in uniform mixture at the spark timing
of 15 CAD BTDC. The spectra were analyzed at the
moment that the intensity of the CN band emission is the
maximum before the combustion. The dependence of
spectral profile on mixture strength can be found.
The correlation between the ratio of the intensity in CN
band emission with that in OH band emission and the
mixture strength in uniform mixture is shown in Figure 6 -
(b). A distinct correlation can be observed. Based on this
correlation, the mixture strength at the spark plug can be
derived from discharge light spectra.
This technique was applied to the mixture strength mea-
surement in GDI engine. In order to verify the result from
the LIF measurement, the influence of injection timing on
the mixture strength at the plug at the spark timing was
examined. The results are shown in Figure 6 -(c). By
changing the injection timing from 50 to 70 CAD BTDC,
the average ratio of the luminescence intensities
decreases from 3.6 to 1.9. The equivalence ratio of the
mixture at the spark plug decreases from 1.9 to 1.3 . The
cycle by cycle variance in the equivalence ratio is in the
relatively narrow range.

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Figure 6. Characteristics of Discharge Light Spectra in Uniform Mixtures and Influence of Injection
Start Timing on Mixture Strength on Spark Plug at Spark Timing in Late Injection Mode
This technique could not be applied in the case of the
injection timing of 40 CAD BTDC because the rich mix-
ture did not arrive at the spark plug at the spark timing
and the capacitive discharge is performed in the mixture
too lean to emit the discharge light including the CN band
emission. Even in this condition, however, stable com-
bustion can be realized since the flammable mixture
arrives at the spark plug before the inductive discharge
period.
CHARACTERISTICS OF COMBUSTION
STABLE COMBUSTION ZONE – The influence of the
reverse tumble on the stable combustion conditions was
investigated by cylinder pressure analysis. Figure 7
shows the stable combustion conditions on the map of
the injection and the spark timing. The stable combustion
zone was defined as the condition in which the COV of
imep is less than 10 % and no misfire takes place.
Figure 7. Combustion Limits Defined by of 10% or Miss
Fire Rate of 1% (WOT, A/F: 35)
5
Figure 8. Variation of HC Emission Level with of
Injection Start Timing (Ignition Timing:
15CAD BTDC, Other Conditions: See Fig. 4)
Results shown in the figure seems to show that the
reverse tumble is not influential with the combustion sta-
bility in such a low engine speed conditions of 500 or
1000 min-1. This results shows that the major factor con-
trolling the mixing is the kinetic energy carried by the fuel
spray itself, since the kinetic energy of reverse tumble in
such a low engine speed is not significant.
However, as shown in Figure 8, the reverse tumble gives
a large influence on HC emission. When the reverse tum-
ble is not applied, a large amount of HC is emitted except
in the very narrow injection timing range. When the
reverse tumble is used, however, the HC emission is
maintained low over the wide range of injection timing
available for the stable combustion. This result confirms
that the reverse tumble is effective to suppress the fuel
spray dispersion to outside of the combustion chamber.
In other words, when tumble is not used, air fuel mixture
overpenetrate in the direction of the tumble axis to
escape from the combustion chamber. The fuel dis-
persed out of the combustion chamber becomes too lean
to be burned by the flame propagation.
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Figure 9. Influence of Injection Start Timing on Combustion Process

(with Reverse Tumble, Ignition Timing: 15CAD BTDC, Other Conditions: See Fig. 4)

Results of the cylinder pressure analysis for the cases

with reverse tumble are shown in Figure 9. When the
injection timing is later than 45 CAD BTDC, the induction
period of combustion becomes longer. This may be the
result of poor spark phenomena caused by the absence
of the flammable mixture at the timing of the capacitive
discharge. When the injection timing was earlier than 50
CAD BTDC, the influence of the injection timing is small.
When the fuel is injected at 70 CAD BTDC, however, the
cycle by cycle variance of the combustion rate is some-
what larger, probably because of the over mixing as had
been shown in Figure 6 -(c).
In the case of the injection timing of 50 CAD BTDC, the
combustion is the most stable. It can be considered that
the cycle by cycle variance in equivalence ratio shown in
Figure 6 -(c) is within the range of mixture strengths ade-
quate to the stable combustion.

FLAME SPECTRA – The characteristics of the stratified

charge combustion were clarified through the flame radi-
ation analyses with the high speed OMA. Figure 10
shows the flame spectra every 1 CAD. Flame emission
was integrated over the large space in the cylindrical
chamber.
The major component of flame spectra is the thermal
radiation from the soot generated in rich mixture zone all
over the combustion process.
In the early combustion process, the chemilumines-
cences mainly from OH, CH and C2 radicals are
observed. After the disappearances of CH and C2 chemi-
luminescences, the continuous emission from the broad
band on CO-O recombination appears. The thermal radi-
ation attenuates in relatively short period, showing the
rapid burn-up of the soot.

Figure 10. Flame Spectral Analysis by High-Speed OMA

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Figure 11. Influence of Injection Start Timing on Flame Behaviors in UV and Visible Wavelength Ranges
(with Reverse Tumble, Ignition Timing: 15CAD BTDC, Other Conditions: See Fig. 4)

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Figure 12. Comparison between Flame Front Defined by UV Luminescence in Different Injection Timing Conditions
(with Reverse Tumble, Ignition Timing: 15CAD BTDC, Other Conditions:
See Fig. 4, Cycle-by-Cycle Variance of Three Cycles)

FLAME BEHAVIOR – Simultaneous observations of the supported by eddies with the scale characterizing this
UV flame luminescence and the thermal radiation were structure. With the advance of the injection timing, that is,
performed. UV luminescence was observed in the wave- with the promotion of the mixing to prepare the leaner
length from 270 to 370 nm in which the intensity of mixture around the spark plug, the local brightness and
chemiluminescence is comparable to that of the thermal the area of the luminous flame are reduced.
radiation . Thermal radiation was observed in the visible
range from 510 to 590 nm. Results are shown in Figure
11.
At the early stage of combustion, a first flame front with
UV luminescence propagates rapidly and covers all over
the combustion chamber. Then, the combustion of the
rich mixture proceeds in the reaction zone behind a sec-
ond flame front.
Figure 12 shows the first flame contour extracted from
UV luminescence. Referring the fuel spray behavior
which had been shown in Figure 4, it can be found that
the flame propagation is controlled by the mixture forma-
tion. For example, in the case of the injection timing of 40
CAD BTDC, the flame propagation toward the piston sur-
face is faster because a large amount of fuel exists
between the piston surface and the spark plug at the
spark timing. In the case of the injection timing of 50 CAD
BTDC, the flame propagation follows the fuel transport in
the direction to intake side. In any injection timing, it
seems that the UV flame propagates to the end of com- Figure 13. Influence of Injection Start Timing on Flame
bustion chamber in a short time. Spectra of Late Combustion
In the visible range, luminous flame with the wrinkled (with Reverse Tumble, Ignition Timing:
structure can be observed. It can be considered that the 15CAD BTDC, Other Conditions: See Fig. 4)
air entrainment into fuel spray and combustion zone is

Figure 14. Influence of Reverse Tumble on Thermal Radiation Distribution

(Engine Speed: 500min-1, Injection Start Timing: 30CAD BTDC, Ignition Timing:
10CAD BTDC, Other Conditions: See Fig. 4)

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The intensity of the thermal radiation is determined by The luminous flame at the engine speed of 500 min-1 is
the soot concentration and its temperature. The spectra shown in Figure 14. At this engine speed, the difference
of the thermal radiation from luminous and feeble flames between mixture formations before the combustion in the
are compared in Figure 12. In the case of the luminous cases with and without reverse tumble can be minimized.
flame observed with the injection at 40 CAD BTDC, the Therefore, the direct influence of the reverse tumble on
inflection point of the spectra seems to be located at the the combustion can be extracted. By adopting the
shorter wave length than that of the feeble flame reverse tumble, the luminous flame becomes feeble. This
observed with the injection at 50 CAD BTDC, suggesting result means that the formation of soot is suppressed or
that the radiation temperature of the soot in the richer the its burning is activated by the enhanced air entrain-
mixture has higher temperature. This shows that the heat ment into the combustion zone.
generation in the local area close to the soot is active in
the case of the richer mixture. This will be result of the A MIXING CONTROL STRATEGY FOR KNOCK
promoted burning up of the soot. SUPPRESSION, "TWO-STAGE MIXING"
Comparing the flame behaviors in the UV and the visible
ranges, it can be observed that the UV flame propagation The authors had reported that the improvement of the full
with chemiluminescence precedes the appearance of the load performance caused by the charge air cooling
thermal flame. In the UV flame propagation, because the effects and the effect of the transient knock suppression
combustion zone is under rich condition and the flame is one of the inherent characteristics of a gasoline direct
propagation speed is very high, a large amount of fuel is injection engine [1-5]. For the further full load perfor-
left behind the UV flame front. After the UV flame propa- mance improvement, a new knock suppression method
gation, the thermal flame appears in rich mixture zone named "two-stage mixing” was invented.
and propagates to the area behind the UV flame front.
The combustion of the rich mixture proceeds in the reac-
tion zone behind the thermal flame front. The burning up
of the soot generated in the rich mixture is completed
principally by the air entrainment into the combustion
zone promoted by the reverse tumble and the squish flow
near the ceiling of the pentroof combustion chamber. The
thermal flame propagates to the mixture zone in a con-
ventional premixed engine. It propagates to the air zone
in a diesel engine. In the case of direct injection gasoline
engine, however, the thermal flame propagates to the
zone filled with the combustion product containing radi-
cals and CO generated by the first UV flame. This pecu-
liar combustion phenomena of gasoline direct injection
engine will promote the burning up of the soot generated
in the rich mixture zone.

Figure 16. Effective Conditions of Two-Stage Mixing

(Engine Speed: 600min-1 , WOT, 1st Injection
Start Timing: 280CAD BTDC, Ignition Timing:
20CAD BTDC, Total A/F: 12)

Generally speaking, the most distinctive feature of the

direct injection engines is the freedom of the mixture
preparation. Two-stage mixing utilizes the this freedom
for the knock suppression. Figure 15 illustrates the pro-
cedure. Fuel is injected twice, a first injection is per-
formed during the early stage of the intake stroke to
prepare the premixed lean mixture and a second injection
is performed during the later stage of the compression
stroke to prepare the stratified mixture. In Figure 16,
Figure 15. A Mixing Control Strategy of Two-Stage effective zone of two-stage mixing is shown with respect
Mixing to second injection timing and to ratio of second injection
fuel quantity to total fuel. In the figure, the effective zone

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is defined in which no misfire takes place, smoke density Soot observed by the laser light extinction method is
is less than 0.1 BSU and the HC emission is less than shown in Figure 19. In case of the late injection,
5000 ppm. As shown in the figure, this method is effective unburned soot is observed even at the later stage of the
when the major portion of the fuel is prepared by the sec- expansion stroke when the average mixture strength is
ond injection. Air to fuel ratio of the premixed mixture pre- rich. When the two-stage mixing method is adopted,
pared by the first injection is from 30 to 80, which is however, the generated soot is burned up during the
beyond the flammability limit in usual engine condition. early and the middle stage of the expansion stroke.
Figure 17 shows the engine outputs at the trace knock
conditions. Significant knock suppression effect is real-
ized by two-stage mixing. This phenomena can be
explained as follows;
1. premixed mixture prepared by the first injection is too
lean to cause the knock,
2. stratified mixture prepared by the second injection
may form the stoichiometric mixture in some location,
however, the life time of that mixture before the igni-
tion is not long enough for the precursor reaction of
knock to proceed.

Figure 18. Mechanism of Soot Burn-up Promotion

Figure 17. Effect of Two-Stage Mixing on Knock

Suppression
(Trace Knock Condition)

In the case of late injection, a large amount of soot is

emitted when the average mixture strength becomes
rich. In the case of two-stage mixing, however, soot emis-
sion can not be observed except for the very low engine
speed condition even when the average air fuel ratio is
12. The process of soot burn-up is explained schemati-
cally in Figure 18:
1. When the spark ignition takes place, only the strati-
fied charge is ignited because the surrounding pre-
mixed mixture is too lean to be ignited.
2. Combustion products generated in the rich stratified
mixture containing CO and soot is propagated to the
lean mixture.
3. Soot plays the role of ignition site and ignite the very
lean mixture beyond the flammability limit. In this pro-
cess CO may assist the ignition.
4. Soot is burned up in the combustion zone of the lean
Figure 19. Soot Visualization by Laser Light Extinction
mixture.
Method

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CONCLUSION REFERENCES

In order to clarify the characteristics of mixing and com- 1. Kume, T., Iwamoto, Y., Iida, K., Murakami, N., Akish-
bustion process of GDI engine in the late injection mode, ino, K. and Ando, H. : Combustion Control Technolo-
the fuel spray visualization, the mixture strength mea- gies for Direct Injection SI Engines, SAE Paper
surement, the flame spectral analysis and the flame 960600 (1996)
behavior observation were performed. 2. Kiyota, Y., Akishino, K. and Ando, H. : Combustion
Control Technologies for Direct Injection SI Engines,
Combining the results of these diagnostics, the following FISITA 96 (1996)
was clarified:
3. Iwamoto, Y., Noma, K., Nakayama, O., Yamauchi, T.
1. The kinetic energy carried by the fuel spray is the and Ando, H. : Development of Gasoline Direct Injec-
major factor controlling the mixing in low engine tion Engine, SAE Paper 970541 (1997)
speeds, the contribution of the reverse tumble to mix- 4. Ando, H. : Combustion Control Technologies for Gas-
ing becomes predominant at higher engine speeds. oline Engines, IMechE, International Seminar on
This mechanism supports the optimized mixing in the Lean Burn Engines
wide range of engine operating conditions. 5. Ando, H., Noma, K., Iida, K., Nakayama, O. and
2. By changing the injection timing, local mixture Yamauchi, T. : Mitsubishi GDI Engine - Strategies to
strength can be controlled. The reverse tumble plays meet the European requirements, AVL Engine and
the role to expand the range of available injection tim- Environment Conference (1997)
ing. The wide range of available injection timing 6. Kuwahara, K., Watanabe, T., Shudo, T. and Ando, H.
extends the freedom of mixture preparation. : A Study of Combustion Characteristics in a Direct
Injection Gasoline Engine by High-Speed Spectro-
3. Gasoline with high octane number can be burned scopic Measurement (in Japanese), 13th Internal
only by flame propagation. The fuel dispersed out- Combustion Engine Symposium, Paper No. 25
side the piston cavity escapes from the flame propa- (1996)
gation, resulting in the high level of HC emission. The
reverse tumble suppresses the fuel dispersion to the
outside of the combustion chamber, resulting in the
lower HC emission in wide range of injection timing.
4. In the combustion process under distinctively strati-
fied charge, the flame propagation with UV chemilu-
minescence propagates first. Then the thermal flame
propagates to the zone filled with the combustion
product of the first UV flame containing radicals and
CO. This peculiar combustion phenomena of gaso-
line direct injection engine will promote the burning
up of the soot generated in the rich mixture.Basing
on these findings, a novel knocking suppression
method named the "two-stage mixing" was pro-
posed:
5. Fuel is injected twice. A first injection during the early
stage of the intake stroke prepares very lean uniform
premixed mixture, and a second injection during the
late stage of the compression stroke prepares the
distinctively stratified mixture. Average air-fuel ratio is
set to be slightly rich.
6. Because the uniform mixture is too lean to cause the
knock, and the stratified mixture does not have
enough time for the precursor reactions, effective
knock suppression can be realized. Therefore, full
load performance in low engine speed conditions is
improved significantly.
7. Soot generated in the rich mixture propagates
towards the lean premixed mixture, then play the role
of the ignition site and ignite the very lean mixture.
Simultaneously, the burn-up of soot in the lean mix-
ture zone is promoted. As a result, soot-free combus-
tion is realized even in the rich conditions in which no
excess air remains in the post flame zone.

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