Improving Intake System Efficiency of a Restricted Formula SAE Engine

This research project encompasses the study of improving the volumetric efficiency of an internal combustion engine’s air intake system with the overarching goal of improving engine power output in a more fuel-efficient manner. The senior capstone project that we are a part of, called Formula SAE, requires all engines to use a 20-millimeter intake system restrictor--which can be thought of more simply as a small, roughly nickel-sized hole through which all of the engine’s air must flow. From an engineering perspective, the restrictor inherently reduces the available air to the engine’s cylinders, which reduces the engine’s ability to produce torque and power which drive the vehicle. Researching ways to improve the intake system’s efficiency not only benefits the Formula SAE project by extracting more power from the restricted engine, but also provides important insight into the future of internal combustion engines in modern vehicles. While continued technological developments in the field of fully-electric vehicles (EV’s) make it apparent that EV’s will undoubtedly be here to stay, there are still niche applications in which vehicles with internal combustion engines thrive. To keep their place in industry, internal combustion engines must be made as fuel-efficient and eco-friendly as possible. One way to achieve this is by lowering the displacement of the engine so that less fuel is required to be processed per engine cycle. A lower-displacement engine processes smaller quantities of fuel and air, much like the effect the intake system restrictor imposes on our Formula SAE engine. Throughout this research, improvements in interior part surfaces, internal geometries, and intake system packaging were explored in order to realize efficiency benefits, and thus produce sufficient engine power for the Formula SAE project vehicle, while maintaining a more fuel-economic state of operation