Cylinder head porting refers to the process of modifying the intake and exhaust ports of an internal combustion engine to improve their air flow. Cylinder heads, as manufactured, are usually suboptimal for racing applications due to being designed for maximum durability. Ports can be modified for maximum power, minimum fuel consumption, or a combination of the two, and the power delivery characteristics can be changed to suit a particular application.
Dealing with air
Daily human experience with air gives the impression that air is light and nearly non-existent as we move slowly through it. However, an engine running at high speed experiences a totally different substance. In that context, air can be thought of as thick, sticky, elastic, gooey and heavy (see viscosity), and head porting helps to alleviate this.
Port modifications
When a modification is decided upon through testing with an air flow bench, the original port wall material can be reshaped by hand with die grinders or by numerically controlled milling machines. For major modifications the ports must be welded up or similarly built up to add material where none existed.
The Ford two-liter F2000 engine in stock trim equipped with the head shown above was capable of delivering 115 horsepower at 5500 rpm for a BMEP of 136 psi.
This aftermarket Pro Stock racing head was used in an engine capable of 1300 horsepower at 9500 rpm with a BMEP of 238 psi. A BMEP of 238 puts it close to the limit for a naturally aspirated gas-burning engine. Naturally aspirated Formula One engines typically achieved BMEP values of 220 psi. Cam profiles, engine RPM, engine height constraints and other limitations contribute to the difference in engine power with the Ford unit as well, but the difference in port design is a major factor.
Port components
Wave dynamics
When the valve opens, the air doesn’t flow in, it decompresses into the low-pressure region below it. All the air on the upstream side of the moving disturbance boundary is completely isolated and unaffected by what happens on the downstream side. The air at the runner entrance does not move until the wave reaches all the way to the end. It is only then that the entire runner can begin to flow. Up until that point all that can happen is the higher pressure gas filling the volume of the runner decompresses or expands into the low-pressure region advancing up the runner. (Once the low-pressure wave reaches the open end of the runner it reverses sign, the onrushing air forces a high pressure wave down the runner. Not shown in this animation.)
Conversely, the closing of the valve does not immediately stop flow at the runner entrance, which continues completely unaffected until the signal that the valve closed reaches it. The closing valve causes a buildup of pressure that travels up the runner as a positive wave. The runner entrance continues to flow at full speed, forcing the pressure to rise until the signal reaches the entrance. This very considerable pressure rise can be seen on the graph below, it rises far above atmospheric pressure.
It is this phenomenon that enables the so-called “ram tuning” to occur, and it is what is being “tuned” by tuned intake and exhaust systems. The principle is the same as in the water hammer effect so well known to plumbers. The speed that the signal can travel is the speed of sound within the runner.
This is why port/runner volumes are so important; the volumes of successive parts of the port/runner control the flow during all transition periods. That is, any time a change occurs in the cylinder – whether positive or negative – such as when the piston reaches maximum speed. This point occurs at different points depending on the length of the connecting rod and the throw of the crank, and varies with the connecting rod ratio (rod/stroke). For normal automotive design this point is almost always between 69 and 79 degrees ATDC, with higher rod ratios favoring the later position. It only occurs at 1/2 stroke (90 degrees) with a connecting rod of infinite length.
The wave/flow activity in a real engine is vastly more complex than this but the principle is the same.