• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.210-213
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• 2005

This article describes an estimate method of the spark plug gap by measuring breakdown voltage. Breakdown voltage is the function of spark plug gap, pressure, temperature and humidify. However. It is dominated mainly by the spark plug gap. This technique is applied to in-line process test of the spark plug gap in automobile engine production. Breakdown voltage of normal spark plugs slightly scatters in ordinary conditions and if there is dust or burr in the gap, breakdown voltage gets lower. This technique saves repairing time for bad spark plug and attributes to improve the quality of automobile engine.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.100-108
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• 2006

Time-resolved current and voltage measurements for an inductive automotive spark system were made. Also presented are measurements of the total energy delivered to the spark gap. The measurements were made in air for a range of pressures from 1-18atm, at ambient temperatures. The measured voltage and current characteristics were found to be a function of many ignition parameters; some of these include: spark gap distance, internal resistance of the spark plug and high tension wire, and pressure. The voltages presented were measured either at the top of the spark plug or at the spark gap. The measurements were made at different time resolutions to more accurately resolve the voltage and current behavior throughout the discharge process. This was necessary because the breakdown event occurs on a time scale much shorter than the arc and glow phases. The breakdown, are, and glow voltages were found to be functions of spark plug resistance, gas density, and spark plug gap as expected from the literature. Spark duration was found to decrease as either pressure or gap was increased. The transition from the arc to glow phase is usually distinguished by a sudden rise in the voltage across the gap. At pressures above about 7atm this transition was not observed suggesting that a glow phase was not present. Energy delivered to the gap increased with increasing pressure. The effective resistance of the spark gap during discharge was about twice as large for the glow phase as the arc phase.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1311-1317
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• 2001

To investigate only the effects of the stratified mixture distribution on initial flame propagation and combustion characteristics, the instantaneous equivalence ratio in the spark plug gap and combustion pressure were measured simultaneously In a constant volume chamber, To induce the stratified propane-air mixture distribution near the spark plug, counter-flow typed mixture injection system was used under the constant mean equivalence ratio $\Phi$$\_$mean/= 1.0 The instantaneous equivalence ratio was measured by a single-shot Raman scattering with narrow-band KrF excimer laser. The measuring error was within the limit of $\pm$ 3.5% provided that the proposed method was applied to the measured Raman signals. Judging from mass fraction burned derived from the measured pressure, the optimum combustion characteristics were shown under the condition that the local equivalence ratio in the spark plug was near 1.28$\pm$0.04, and these characteristics were more remarkable at the initial stage of combustion.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.23-31
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• 2000

Knock and misfire, kinds of abnormal combustion, are highly undesirable effect on the internal combustion engine. So, it is important to detect these avnormal combuition and control the ignition timing etc. to avoid these mal-effect factors in real engine system. In this study, the system which detects the knock and the misfire using by spark plug is presented. This system is based on the effect of modulation breakdown voltage(BDV) between the spark gaps. The voltage drop between spark plug electrodes, when an electrical breakdown is initiated, depends on the temperature and pressure in combustion chamber. So, we can detect knock and misfire that produce changes in gas temperature and pressure (consequently, its density) using by BDV signal change which carries information about the character of combustion.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.223-229
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• 2002

Spark plug ionization signal could be useful in an internal combustion engine as a feedback signal for combustion diagnostics such as misfire detection, knocking detection and lambda control, but the signal has high level of cyclic fluctuation in an internal combustion engine due to residual gas, pressure, temperature, mixture composition in the spark gap. Because of this reason it is very difficult to apply ion signal to commercial engine control. In this Study, a correlation between A/F and spark plug ionization signal was studied in a constant volume chamber. Constant volume chamber with gas phase fuel(Propane) has homogeneous fuel composition , no mixture flow, same pressure and temperature on each test. The results show that mean chemi-ion signal has the highest correlation with A/F and intial pressure change has on effect on the thermal-ion signal and not on chemi-ion signal.

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.171-177
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• 2009

This study proposes a new stratified charge system for low emission and ultra lean burn. In order to examine combustion characteristics of the new system, sparkplug with a hole at positive pole and a common CNG injector for injecting fuel were used in this study as injector-type spark plug. The new stratified charge system injects fuel of extremely small quantities and ignites mixture around sparkplug gap. Also, the system was fitted in a visualized constant volume chamber. Then, for analysis of the combustion characteristics, we examined combustion pressure, lean inflammable limit, and visualized combustion flame according to equivalence ratio by comparison with homogeneous charge (HC) method and the new stratified charge (SC) method. As results of this study, in the case of using this system, the propagation speed of initial flame was increased and total combustion period was reduced in the ultra lean burn in the same equivalence ratio. These phenomena occurred clearly under the conditions of lean equivalence ratio. Furthermore, the lean inflammable limit of mixture was extended by using the injector-type spark plug.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.829-838
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• 2002

A constant volume combustion chamber is used to investigate the flame kernel development of gasoline air mixtures under various ignition systems, ignition energies and spark plugs. Three kinds of ignition systems are designed and assembled, and the ignition energy is controlled by the variation of the dwell time. Several kinds of spark plugs are also tested. The velocity of flame propagation is measured by a laser deflection method, and the combustion pressure is analyzed by the heat release rate and the mass fraction burnt. The results represent that as the ignition energy is increased by enlarging either dwell time or spark plug gap, the heat release rate and the mass fraction burnt are increased. The electrodes materials and shapes influence the flame kernel development by changing he transfer efficiency of electrical energy to chemical energy. The diameter of electrodes also influences the heat release rate and the burnt mass fraction.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1652-1661
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• 2000

A visualization study using the schlieren method is adopted in an optically-accessible, cylindrical constant volume combustion chamber to identify the mechanism of ignition energy and ignition system interaction in spark ignited, lean gasoline-air mixture. In order to research the effects of ignition system on flame propagation, two kinds of ignition system are designed, and several kinds of spark plugs are tested and evaluated. To control the discharge energy, the dwell time is varied. The initial flame development is quantified in terms of 2-D images which provides information about the projected flame area and development velocity as a function of ignition system and discharge energy. The results show that high ignition energy and extended spark plug gap can shorten the combustion duration in lean mixtures. The material, diameter and configuration of electrodes the flame development by changing the transfer efficiency from electrical energy to chemical energy and discharge energy. However these factors do not affect of flame development as much a ignition energy or extended gap does.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 2001

A constant volume combustion chamber is employed to investigate the initial flame kernel development and flame propagation of gasoline-air mixtures with various ignition systems, ignition energy and spark plug electrodes. To do this research, four ignition systems are designed and manufactured, and the ignition energy is controlled by varying the dwell time. Several kinds of spark plugs are also made to analyze the effects of electrodes on flame kernel development. The velocity of flame propagation is measured by the laser deflection method. The output laser beam from He-Ne laser is divided into three parallel beams by a beam splitter. The splitted beams pass through the combustion chamber. They are deflected when contacted with flame front, and the voltage signals from photodiodes change due to deflection. The results show that higher ignition energy raises the flame propagation speed especially under the fuel lean operation. The wider electrode gap, smaller electrode diameter and sharper electrode tip make the speed of the initial flame propagation faster. The speed of the initial flame propagation is affected by electrode material as well. Electrode material with lower melting temperature help the initial flame propagation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1486-1496
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• 2000

The initial flame kernel development and flame propagation in a constant volume combustion chamber is analyzed by the heat release rate and the mass fraction burnt. The combustion pressure is measured with a piezoelectric type pressure sensor. In order to evaluate the effects of ignition system and ignition energy on the flame propagation, four different ignition systems are designed and tested, and the ignition energy is varied by the dwell time. Several different spark plugs are also tested and examined to analysis the effects of electrodes on flame kernel development. The results show that the when the dwell time is increased, and when the spark plug gap is extended, heat release rate and the mass burnt fraction are increased. The materials and shapes of electrodes affect the flame development, because they change the energy transfer efficiency from electrical energy to chemical energy. The diameter of electrodes influences not only the heat release rate but also the mass burnt fraction as well.