Development of intake manifold for Student Formula CMU F-914 using theoretical and simulated designs

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to design, develop and construct an intake manifold for the Student Formula CMU F-914 race car, or the F-914, by using theoretical analysis together with simulation software and experimental verifi cation of the design results. Then to compare the pressure drop in the intake manifold of the F-914, which was designed in this study, and the intake manifold of the previous race car, the F-813. The designed intake manifold consisted of an ABS restrictor with the narrowest passage located at 25% of the restrictor’s length measured from the inlet, a carbon fi ber surge tank with internal volume of 1,558 cm3 , aluminum elliptical profi le bellmouths, and aluminum runners with a length of 102 mm. The experimental verifi cation showed that after the pressure drop across the throttle valve was considered in the simulation, the pressure drop from the simulation was almost the same as the one from the experiment for both intake manifolds. Moreover, it was found that the intake manifold of the F-914 had lower pressure drops than those of the F-813 by 43%, 94%, 66%, 69%, and 29% at engine speeds of 6,000, 7,000, 8,000, 9,000, and 10,000 rpm, respectively. Therefore, the theoretical and simulated designs presented in this study had acceptable reliability and they could be practically used for designing the intake manifolds.