Piston Design for Flow Re-Direction

An internal combustion engine, comprising:

• an engine block having a cylinder bore;
• a cylinder head having a flame deck surface disposed at one end of the cylinder bore;
• an air intake valve associated with the cylinder head and configured to open and allow a flow of air into the cylinder bore;
• a piston connected to a rotatable crankshaft and configured to reciprocate within the cylinder bore, the piston having a crown portion facing the flame deck surface such that a combustion chamber is defined within the cylinder bore and between a top surface of the crown portion and the flame deck surface, the crown portion including a piston bowl having a generally concave shape and extending within the crown portion and a wall, the wall extending peripherally around the piston;
• a fuel injector having a nozzle tip disposed in fluid communication with the combustion chamber, the nozzle tip having a plurality of nozzle openings configured to inject a plurality of fuel jets into the combustion chamber, each of the plurality of fuel jets being provided along a respective fuel jet centerline;
• a plurality of protrusions disposed in the piston bowl adjacent the wall, each of the plurality of protrusions including a first side surface and a second side surface, the first side surface having a generally concave shape, the second side surface having a generally flat or convex shape;
• wherein, during operation, a swirling air mass provided into the combustion chamber through the air intake valve interacts with a counter-swirling flame that includes air and fuel provided by the fuel injector such that a net effect of the interaction results in directing the flame towards a center of the combustion chamber.