WG Nut Effects

Next up I wanted to see if creating a smoother transition for the airflow going into the turbine housing would make a difference in maximum airflow.  Commonsense says that adding a bellmouth to the entry would help smooth out the airflow and give higher numbers.

turbine_inlet_bellmouthIn this case it did not.  My guess is that the airflow into the housing is not great enough for a difference to be detectable with the equipment I have.  There may have been an increase, but if there was it was tiny.

The second order of business was to see how opening the wastegate flapper door gradually affected the airflow through the turbine housing.

I loosed the nut on the wastegate actuator arm to the point where the disk that covers the wastegate port could just start to spin.  From there I made single turns of the nut, one 360 degree rotation about the actuator arm, and took an airflow reading with the flapper door open the amount corresponding to that one turn.

I repeated that process until I reached the end of the actuator arm and the nut was flush with the end.  That turned out to be ten complete turns.  Airflow through the housing for each position of the flapper door is shown below.

wg_nut_chart

I was thinking there might be a point where the airflow jumped significantly, but that was not the case as the amount of airflow increased almost linearly with each turn of the nut.

Turbine Airflow Varying Wastegate

To assess the amount of additional air that can pass through the turbine housing with the wastegate door open I loosened the nut holding the wastegate shut.  I positioned the nut at the end of the wastegate rod, so that the nut was flush with the end.  This position was selected for ease of repeatability and because it allows the door to open to the maximum extent while the nut is still on the actuator arm.

k04_wg_nutThe position allows the door to open a good amount, though far from being fully open.  In order to determine where the door placement is when the actuator rod is fully extended I’ll need to attach a pressure source to the wastegate canister and observe the door opening.

k04_wg_flapper_door

The airflow through the turbine housing with the door closed versus open is shown below.

wg_open_vs_closedNo surprise the airflow is significantly higher with the wastegate door partially open.

Audi B5 S4 Information and Testing