SIMULAÇÃO DO ESCOAMENTO DE AR EM UM TUBO DE VENTURI EM MOTORES DE VEÍCULOS DO TIPO FÓRMULA

Abstract

The main objective of the present work is to seek better performances of internal combustion engines in the Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) competition through the analysis of the behavior of some parameters of the air flow along a Venturi tube. However, it is important to point out that, due to the numerous applications of the Venturi tube, this particular analysis in the flow can serve as a reference for other later projects. The Formula SAE competition imposed a rule regarding the air intake of the engines used in the competition. The purpose of this rule is to limit engine power for safety reasons, but it also poses a challenge for teams that must design an intake system that minimizes the pressure drop associated with a sudden reduction in cross-section in the Venturi tube as much as possible. The study was developed through computer simulation and different geometric configurations were simulated with the software package Ansys/Fluent student version 2022 R1, which allows the solution of problems involving fluid dynamics through the finite volume method and using the equations of Navier-Stokes with Reynolds means (RANS). The turbulence modeling was performed using the two-equation model K − ε. The pressure and velocity contours found in the simulations show that the geometric configuration with the converging and diverging angles of 12° and 3°, respectively, reached the maximum outlet pressure of 98,818 kPa with a pressure recovery coefficient of 0,9304 and, consequently, the lowest pressure drop among the analyzed models.