Thermal Analysis of Heavy Duty Engine Exhaust Manifold Using CFD

Abstract

The exhaust manifold bridges the gap between the engine structure and the hot-end after-treatment system, the burned in-cylinder gases are disposed through the manifold. The automotive exhaust manifolds are designed and developed for providing a smooth flow with low/least back pressure and must be able to withstand extreme heating under very high temperatures and cooling under low temperatures.The paper presents a theoretical study aiming to investigate the feasibility of three different CAE approaches and techniques used for the simulation of exhaust manifold fluid flow and the accompanying thermal distribution. The main difficulty emanates from the pulsating nature of fluid flow inside the engine exhaust manifold. To verify the outcome of each solution experimental measurements of the manifold temperatures have been performed. The predicted metal temperature is then used to carry out the thermo-structure durability analysis to evaluate the design of HD diesel engine exhaust manifold which is out of the scope of this study.