With the drive towards a greener world, the focus on emissions and efficiency from our vehicles increases. Laser drilling of fuel injectors is an enabling technology in this process.
Fuel injectors are designed to deliver specific quantities of fuel at exactly the right time in the engine cycle. Precise control of the fuel spray pattern and atomisation (droplet size) has a dramatic impact on engine efficiency and emissions.
In order to achieve this, the industry requires that every aspect of the fuel injector to be tightly toleranced. Fuel is delivered under pressure through small nozzles. The metered quantity of fuel depends on the accuracy to the micron or even sub-micron level of the orifice diameter, taper and wall finish. The atomization, or spray characteristics of the fuel is extremely sensitive to these parameters therefore any defects in the orifice geometry can have an adverse effect to the performance of the injector.
New designs are increasing the complexity of the hole patterns to optimise the fuel spray delivery into the combustion chamber. As the diameters of the individual injection orifices becomes smaller and the geometry more complex, conventional and EDM machining are unable to meet these requirements and laser drilling becomes the process of choice.
Oxford Lasers providing fuel injector drilling services and systems.
If you would like more information or to request a quote, please contact us today.