Injection valve with single disc turbulence generation

A method of generating turbulence in a fuel flow through a fuel injector, the method including the steps of:

• providing a fuel flow under pressure along a longitudinal axis to the fuel injector;
• opening a valve in the fuel injector and allowing the pressurized fuel to flow past a sealing surface of the valve and into a seat orifice, the sealing surface defining a virtual projection that intersects a surface of a metering orifice disc prior to intersecting the longitudinal axis;
• flowing fuel at an initial velocity from the seat orifice into a controlled velocity channel formed by the valve and the metering orifice disc along a tapered portion of the controlled velocity channel as the channel tapers from a first height at an upstream end of the controlled velocity channel between the seat orifice and the metering disc to a second height between the tapered portion and the metering disc at a downstream end of the tapered portion, the second height being smaller than the first height, the fuel generally maintaining a generally constant velocity through the controlled velocity channel between the seat orifice and proximate at least one metering orifice of the metering orifice disc;
• and
• directing the fuel flow through the at least one metering orifice opening spaced from the longitudinal axis and downstream of the controlled velocity channel, and out of the fuel injector.