Direct Injection (DI) chambers, also called open or undivided chambers, resemble those used in carbureted engines (Fig. 7-1). These symmetrical chambers have small surface areas and, to reduce heat losses further, generally take the form of a cavity in the piston crown.
Until the advent of multiple-orifice, staged injectors and the high-pressure fuel systems necessary to support them, DI chambers compensated for poor fuel penetration by imparting energy to the air charge. Two mechanisms were involved: swirl and squish. The exit angle of the intake-valve seat imparted a spinning motion, or swirl, to incoming air stream. Squish was achieved by making the edges of the piston crown parallel to the chamber roof. As the piston neared top dead center (tdc), air trapped between these two faces “squished” inward, toward the piston cavity. Mixing was less than perfect, which resulted in ignition delay and rapid rises in cylinder pressure as the accumulated fuel charge exploded. As a result, DI was confined to stationary, heavy trucks and marine engines where noise, vibration, and exhaust smoke counted for less than fuel economy.
The breakthrough came in the late 1980s in the form of electronic injectors that sequenced fuel delivery to “soften” combustion and reduce ignition delay. Ultrahigh fuel pressures, coupled with orifice diameters as small as 0.12 mm, or twice the thickness of a human hair, atomize the fuel for better mixing. The fuel charge became the primary vehicle for mixing that, in some cases, enabled designers to eliminate the pumping losses associated with generating air turbulence. DI also opened the way for massive power increases. By substituting DI for the Ricardo Comet V cylinder head originally fitted, enlarging the bore, and adding a turbocharger, Volkswagen increased the power output of its four-cylinder engine by a factor of 3.4.
