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SAE TECHNICAL
PAPER SERIES 940987

Cyclic Variability in Spark Ignition Engines

A Literature Survey
Nir Ozdor, Mark Dulger, and Eran Sher
Ben-Gurion University

The Engineering Society

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Cyclic Variability in Spark Ignition Engines
A Literature Survey
ABSTRACT
Cyclic variability has long been recognized as
limiting the range of operating conditions of spark ignition
engines, in particular, under loan and highly diluted
operation conditions. Previous studies have shown that if
cyclic variability could have been eliminated, there would
be a 10% increase in the power output for the same fuel
consumption. The cyclic variability results also in high
levels of variation in the engine speed that is interpreted
as poor driveability. At full load, some of the cycles tend to
knock, while some others may not have complete
combustion by the time the exhaust valve opens.
The cyclic variability is usually attributed to the
result of random fluctuations in equivalence ratio and flow
field due to the turbulent nature of the flow in the cylinder.
These spatial fluctuations that are also time-dependent,
contribute to an imperfect mixing of the cylinder content,
partial stratification, random convection of the spark
kernel away from the electrodes, random heat transfer
from the burning kernel to the spark electrodes, etc.
During the last decade, extensive researches have
enriched our knowledge in this subject. It is the purpose of
the present paper to review and discuss the different
indicators of cyclic variability used in the literature, to
evaluate the relative contribution of the various factors by
means of a literature survey, and to designate the best
operation conditions to minimize the cycle-by-cycle
variations.
1. INTRODUCTION
It is known for some decades that spark-ignition
internal combustion engines that apparently operate
under steady-state conditions, do not maintain perfectly
stable operation. A comparison between one cycle to
another reveals random variations in the in-cylinder peak
and indicated mean pressures. This phenomenon is
particularly noticeable in lean and highly diluted mixture
(e.g., as with EGR operation) and at low loads and engine
speeds (such as under idle conditions) where the
irregularities are usually audible. It is known that the cycle-
by-cycle variations (from now on will be abbreviated by
"c.c.v.") are the result of variations in the combustion
1
940987
Nir Ozdor, Mark Dulger, and Eran Sher
Ben-Gurion University
process. The latter can be characterized by a number of
parameters, such as the rate of the heat release due to
combustion or the crank angle corresponding to a given
fraction of the burnt mass.
Variations in the combustion duration lead to a
situation in which combustion in some of the cycles is
faster, while in others is slower. The variations are
associated with losses in terms of power and
thermodynamic efficiency and fluctuations in the amount
of work done. Consequently, fluctuations in the engine
speed and torque which affect also the overall engine
performance characteristics, such as the engine brake
power and its specific fuel consumption, may be
observed. Elimination of the c.c.v. could have improved
the engine brake power by some 10% for the same fuel
consumption in lean mixtures (Soltau, 1960). For some
kinds of transmissions, such as lock-up torque converters
and manual transmissions, torque fluctuations result in
poor driveability of the vehicle (Young, 1981). In the fast
combustion cycles, both the in-cylinder peak pressures
and the knock tendency are high, and therefore these
cycles impose the lower limit for the allowed fuel octane
number and the upper limit for the engine compression
ratio. In the slow combustion cycles, the combustion may
not be completed before EVO, and high HC emission as
well as high fuel consumption is expected. This effect is
prominent with diluted mixtures (either with EGR, lean
mixtures or under throttled conditions). Previous studies
have shown that part of the engine noise is attributed to
c.c.v. in the in-cylinder pressure (Young, 1981). Therefore,
reducing the c.c.v. may contribute also to suppress engine
noise. Periodic oscillations in engine speed of a fuel
injected SI engine at idle conditions is another
phenomenon which was found to be affected by
combustion perturbations (Ando and Motomochi, 1987).
It is however worth to notice, that the total
elimination of cyclic dispersion may not be desirable with
the present management systems that retard the ignition
when incipient knock is detected before the engine enters
into the entire knocking operation (Stone et al., 1992). If
there was no cyclic dispersion, then either none or all of
the cycles would knock. With the present management
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systems, it would be acceptable to the engine, for only a
few cycles to knock.
The main challenges of the engine designers today
(as ever), are to improve the engine fuel consumption
while reducing emission of pollutants. The means for
achieving these goals, however, are restricted to a large
extent by the extreme conditions caused by c.c.v. Lean
and diluted mixture operation, for example, is expected to
reduce fuel consumption and NO x emission level. but at
the same time it decreases burning rate and thereby
increases HC emission. To compensate for long
combustion duration, an advanced ignition is required,
that in turn increases the knock tendency. Furthermore,
decreasing engine speed at idle would significantly
improve fuel economy, especially under urban driving
conditions, but it is limited by the cycles with the lowest
IMEP values. Also, a higher compression ratio would
improve engine thermodynamic efficiency, but is limited by
the fast burn cycles. for which the knock tendency is
higher.
A corollary from the above brief discussion is
evident: reducing the c.c.v. in the combustion process
would enable the engine to operate under average
conditions that are closer to the limiting ones. The latter
are determined by the fundamental properties of the
combustible mixture. In this way, reduction in both the fuel
consumption and pollutant emission. accompanied by an
improvement in the vehicle driveability, may be achieved.
2. INDICATORS OF CYCLE-BY-CYCLE
VARIATIONS
One of the resultant effects of the c.c.v. in the
combustion process, that is most important with regard to
the engine performance characteristics, is the c.c.v. in
IMEP. The IMEP is a parameter related to the in-cylinder
pressure history, which, in turn, is determined by various
factors such as the rate of heat release due to combustion
process, heat losses to the cylinder walls, and the cylinder
volume change due to the piston motion.
Based on Matekunas (1983) and Heywood (1988),
the cyclic variations can be characterized by the variations
in different type of parameters. These parameters may be
grouped into four main categories:
Pressure-related parameters:
- in-cylinder peak pressure, Pmax
- crank angle at which the in-cylinder peak pressure
occurs, θPmax,
- maximum rate of pressure rise, (dP/dθ)max,
- crank angle at which the maximum rate of pressure rise
occurs, θ(dP/dθ)max
- IMEP of the individual cycles.
Combustion-related parameters:
- maximum rate of heat release, θ(dQ/dθ)max’
- maximum rate of mass burning or maximum rate of
change of burnt mass fraction in the cylinder, (dXb/
dθ)max’
- ignition delay, ∆θ d,
- combustion duration, ∆θ b,
2
- time (in crank-angle dgrees) elapses from ignition to a
moment at which a certain mass fraction is burnt, ∆θxb.
Flame front-related parameters:
- flame front position, smoothed flame front area, or flame
entrained volume at a specific crank angle,
- crank angle lapse between flame front arrival to two pre-
specified different locations in the cylinder,
- displacement of the flame kernel center from the spark
gap at different crank angles.
Exhaust gas-related Parameters:
- concentration of different components in the exhaust
gases.
It appears that different investigators use different
indicators to characterize the c.c.v. phenomenon. Since
the results are expressed in different terms, the relative
contribution of each factor can hardly be evaluated.
Analysis of various definitions and their relation to other
important parameters could be a very valuable tool in
determining the most meaningful definition to use. The
analysis involving pressure-related parameters has been
performed by Matekunas (1983) and resumed by
Heywood (1988).
2.1. PRESSURE-RELATED PARAMETERS - The use of
pressure-related parameters seems to be a natural choice
since these parameters can easily be measured through a
pressure transducer which is usually integrated with the
spark plug unit. The in-cylinder pressure may then be
recorded against time or crank-angle. The relationship
between the maximum in-cylinder pressure and the crank-
angle at which it occurs is shown schematically in fig.1,
Also is shown the effect of the burning rate and start-of-
combustion timing (which is the crank angle
corresponding to the end of ignition delay), on both Pmax
and θPmax.
Fig. 1. Schematic of variation in maximum cylinder
pressure and crank angle at which it occurs,
in individual cycles. CABE typical of fast heat-
release process; C’A’B’D’E’ typical of slow
heat-release process (Heywood, 1988).
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Points A and A’ correspond to the MBT start-of-combustion
timing, while all other points correspond to either retarded,
or advanced timing. Thereby, different points on both curves
represent possible variations in the ignition delay time. One
can notice that the relationship between P max and θPmax is
approximately linear for fast burn in the entire range, while
for the slow burn case this linearity prevails only up to a
certain retard (point D’). For further retarding, there is a
"hook-back" region which corresponds to a very late
phasing of combustion, when the effect of expansion due to
the piston motion becomes an important factor. It seems
that the value of the maximum pressure depends on a wide
range of parameters, such as the combustion duration, the
mean burning rate, and the ignition delay. These parameters
by themselves depend on the intake pressure, the fuel-air
ratio, the amount of recirculated exhaust gas, etc. The
interpretation of the relative importance of each factor in the
role of the maximum pressure cyclic variability is therefore a
complicated task, if possible at all. The same reasoning is
also applicable for (dP/dθ)max.
Within the linear range (fig. 1) the crank angle at
which the in-cylinder peak pressure occurs, θPmax seems to
be weakly dependent on the burning rate. Therefore, the
c.c.v. in θPmax can be interpreted as the c.c.v. in the ignition
delay (Matekunas, 1983). This conclusion can also be
justified by fig. 2. Matekunas has applied different
combinations of swirl intensity and spark plug location in the
combustion chamber to obtain various burning velocities.
One can see, that except for very slow burning rates, that
correspond to the non-linear region in fig. 1, there is a linear
dependence between θPmax and the crank angle at which
Xb=0.5 (a parameter which represents combustion phasing
in the cycle). The cyclic variability of the crank angle at
which the maximum rate of pressure rise occurs, θ(dP/dθ)max’
may also assist to distinguish between the various
parameters, though its measurement is more involved and
less convenient.
Fig. 2. Location of peak pressure with spark advance
as a function to location of 50% mass-burned
point (Matekunas, 1983).
3
From the practical point of view, the impact of the c.c.v. in
the combustion process on the vehicle driveability, its fuel
consumption and its pollution. is of most interest. A measure
of the cyclic variability, which may be obtained from
pressure data, is the coefficient of variance in indicated
mean effective pressure, which is usually expressed in
percent (Heywood, 1988):
It has been found that vehicle driveability problems usually
result when COVIMEP exceeds about 10 percent (Heywood,
1988).
Matekunas (1983) has found that as the spark timing
approaches the MBT conditions, the relative variations in
IMEP are very small as compared with the relative
variations in θPmax, and become more significant with
advanced ignition timing.
Soltau (1960) conducted tests at wide-open-throttle
conditions with 9:1 and 10:1 compression ratio engines, and
concluded that in a slightly enriched mixtures the relative
c.c.v. in Pmax were about 5.5%, while the relative c.c.v. in
indicated power were typically in the range of 1.0 - 1.5%.
Stone et al. (1992) have also noticed that the c.c.v. in
IMEP are minimized as the ignition timing is set to MBT. The
researchers have marked that the c.c.v. in both Pmax and
(dP/dθ)max decrease as the ignition timing is advanced.
They concluded that since the coefficient of variance of
Pmax is sensitive to the ignition timing in a way that could
lead to misleading results, the coefficient of variance of
IMEP (COV IMEP) should be used in preference.
Hamai et al. (1986) mentioned that the variance of
IMEP is proportional to the ignition delay time raised by a
power of four. They found that the correlation coefficient
between the IMEP and the ignition delay time is 0.86, which
may lead to the conclusion that the c.c.v. in IMEP are a good
indicator for the cyclic variations of the flame development in
its early stages.
Pundir et al. (1981) analyzed the influence of retarded
ignition on Pmax variations and found that they happened to
be less than at MBT ignition. This is consistent with fig.1 in
which the regimes referred to by the authors lie on the return
branch of the slow burn curve.
Belmont et al. (1986) have found distinct correlations
between the various pressure-related parameters under
lean operation conditions. They also examined the
Matekunas’ (1983) suggestion to Use θPmax as an indicator
for the cyclic variability, and found direct correlations
between θPmax and Pmax. They, therefore, suggested that
Pmax is the most convenient basis for c.c.v. measurements.
Its first advantage is the ease of measurement, and the
second is that P max is more sensitive to cyclic variations in
the indicator work, than any other parameter. However, the
correlations between θPmax and Pmax, which are presented
in their paper. seem to contradict the results of Matekunas
(1983) as presented in fig.1. The latter show an inverse
correlation for most of the burning rates and ignition timings.
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Weaver and Santavicca (1992) have found that the
fluctuations in the flame kernel radius at a certain crank-
angle, are well correlated with the fluctuations in both
Pmax and (dP/dé)max, where the correlation with Pmax is
somewhat better than that with (dP/dé)max.
2.2. COMBUSTION-RELATED PARAMETERS - speculative assumptions about the flame front surface
Practically, the combustion-related parameters are
derived from the pressure diagrams by means of one or
another thermodynamic heat-release model. Therefore,
they do not represent primary data, but rather interpret the
in-cylinder pressure history. The application of the
maximum rate of heat release, (dQ/dθ)max, and the
maximum rate of change of burnt mass fraction, (dXb/
dθ)max, can hardly be found in the literature as c.c.v.
indicators. Combustion-related parameters, such as the
ignition delay, ∆θd, the combustion duration, ∆θb, and the
crank-angle elapses from ignition to a moment at which a
certain mass fraction is burnt #éxb, are in frequent use.
When the combustion duration is used, however, one
should keep in mind that while the #éb variability seems to
provide direct information about variations in the burning
rate, it is also affected by the ignition delay, ∆θb, which
makes ∆θd a less helpful parameter.
As concern to the ignition delay, ∆θ d, it is commonly
accepted that both its mean value and its variance to a
great extent determine the c.c.v. In general, ∆θd correlates
well with the engine operation mode. A smaller ∆θd is
usually associated with a smoother engine operation, and
therefore. ∆θd seems to be a good parameter to indicate
the extent of c.c.v. in initial stages of combustion.
However, as it will be demonstrated later, ∆θd is not a very
informative parameter, as it does not provide any
information about the reasons for early combustion c.c.v.
(random direction and velocity of the flame kernel
convection, local fluctuations in the air-fuel ratio and
amount of diluents, etc.). Also, as ∆θ d is derived from the
pressure measurements at the earliest stage of
combustion, it is highly sensitive to the accuracy of the
pressure recording system. Therefore, modest errors in
the pressure recording may lead to significantly
misleading results. This reasoning prompts us to consider
utilization of the third group of parameters, namely, the
flame front-related parameters.
2.3. FLAME FRONT-RELATED PARAMETERS - Flame
front-related parameters are usually obtained by means of
either visual techniques (fiber-optics, schlieren or shadow
photography, LDV, etc.), or ionization gap techniques.
These means make it possible to detect minor changes in
the flame kernel development and also to distinguish
between different factors. such as the flame kernel
convection velocity and direction, the rate and extent of
the flame front wrinkling, the rate of the flame kernel
radius growth, etc. Thereby, the flame front-related
parameters provide a valuable information for the
assessment of the contributing factors. Among the most
commonly recognized parameters are the equivalent
flame radius, rf, and the displacement of the flame kernel
center from the spark gap center, d f. Unfortunately, the
4
procedure of acquiring this important information is rather
complicated and expensive. In addition, most of the visual
techniques are restricted to a narrow observation slot. and
their resolution is quite limited. The flame front-related
parameters are therefore mainly used to analyze the initial
stages of the flame development and often involve some
geometry. One more disadvantage of applying some of
the above techniques is the necessity in specially
designed research engine allowing for optical access into
the cylinder.
2.4. EXHAUST GAS-RELATED PARAMETERS - The
parameters of this group are related to the cyclic
fluctuations in concentration of the exhaust products.
Although these parameters are not widely used to
characterize, or to indicate, the cycle variability, one can
use the data to gain an important information about
several c.c.v. related phenomena, such as the in-cylinder
non-homogeneity of the A/F ratio (Pundir et al, 1981),
cyclic variability in the maximum temperature of the
products of combustion, etc.
As it follows from the above discussion, a limited
number of parameters are preferred as c.c.v. indicators.
These are: Pmax, θPmax, and IMEP - from the pressure-
related parameters, and rf and df - from the flame front-
related parameters. The first three are the easiest to
acquire, though are limited to overall c.c.v. estimations,
which however are of practical importance. If to choose
from the first group, one should take into account that
practically the ignition timing is set to MBT, and therefore
the c.c.v. in P max will be the most prominent among
others. However, if the interest is limited to c.c.v. in the
stage of the early flame kernel development, then the
most suitable parameter would be θPmax. The c.c.v. in the
IMEP are most useful for indicating the engine response
to c.c.v. in the combustion process. The two flame front-
related parameters seem to provide valuable information
for a deeper understanding of the in-cylinder combustion
and the fundamental reasons for the cyclic variations.
3. COMBUSTION DEVELOPMENT
Since the cyclic variations in IMEP of an engine are
mainly attributed to the c.c.v. in the combustion
development, it is worthwhile to look into the combustion
process and to analyze the governing mechanisms and
influencing factors. As it is commonly agreed, the
combustion process in a successful cycle can be
conventionally divided into the following main stages:
(1) sparking and flame initiation;
(2) initial flame kernel development;
(3) turbulent flame propagation (main stage of
combustion);
(4) flame termination.
Evidently, each of the listed stages may be
influenced by a different set of dominating factors, while
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each preceding stage affects the subsequent ones. The The last phase of the spark is the glow discharge,
last stage does not affect noticeably the c.c.v. and which occurrence and characteristics depend on the type
therefore will not be discussed here. of ignition system (Heywood. 1988). Thus, in a capacitor
In any stage, the number of governing parameters discharge the glow phase is negligible, while in the
is rather significant, and many of them are of different inductive spark it can last for few milliseconds (Kalghatgi,
nature. Among the parameters are the electrical 1987; Heywood, 1988). This phase is characterized by a
characteristics of a spark discharge, the mixture relatively low power (of the order of 10 W), but as it last for
properties, the spark plug and combustion chamber a long time. the total energy release in this phase is the
geometry, the flowfield nature, etc. Some of the largest (in the range of 30 to 100 mJ) (Heywood, 1988),
parameters are completely independent. while others are which is about 90% of the total energy deposited by the
interrelated. Thus, micro-characteristics of the turbulence spark (Kalghatgi, 1987). The current is less than 100 - 200
influence the inhomogeneity of the mixture, and the mean mA (Kalghatgi, 1987; Heywood, 1988), while the voltage
flow velocity in the spark gap influences spark discharge grows up to about 500 V. The temperature of the positive
characteristics. Such complex relations hamper a column of the discharge is of the order of 3000 K, which is
quantitative evaluation of the role played by each factor. close to the adiabatic flame temperature. During the glow
In this chapter, a qualitative description of the phase, self-sustained flame propagation is established.
processes involved in each stage, is outlined. The next Development of the flame kernel at this stage is most
chapter is devoted to a detailed discussion of the complex and is governed by a large number of factors,
available findings as pertain to each factor. including combustion-related, flowfield-related, mixture
3.1. SPARKING AND FLAME INITIATION STAGE - composition-related, spark energy release-related, and
Sparking is initiated by a voltage rise between electrodes spark plug geometry-related parameters. Since the
followed by an electrical breakdown in the spark gap. combustion process gradually becomes one of the
Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of the voltage and governing factors during this phase, there is no distinct
the current variation with time for a conventional coil boundary between the glow phase and the following initial
spark-ignition system. The first phase of the discharge, flame kernel development stage.
the breakdown phase, occurs in an extremely short time
of the order of 10 -8s (Sher and Keck, 1986; Heywood,
1988; Ho and Santavicca, 1987; Sher et al., 1992). The
size and the temperature of the hot kernel depend on the
deposited energy and plug configuration. The c.c.v. in the
properties of the plasma kernel may be caused by
fluctuations in the mixture density, mixture strength, and
the local flow velocity.
The breakdown phase is followed by the electrical
arc phase, which lasts for several hundreds of
microseconds (Sher and Keck, 1986). In this phase, the
plasma kernel is growing in size and is cooled down to
approximately 6000 K (Kalghatgi, 1987; Heywood, 1988)
due to expansion and heat transfer to the electrodes. The
voltage falls down below 50 - 100 V (Sher and Keck,
1986; Kalghatgi, 1987; Heywood, 1988), while the current
is still relatively high. At this stage, the spark
characteristics are also affected by the external flowfield.
Mean velocity in the spark vicinity stretches the discharge
channel downstream, and thereby increases its length (De
Soete, 1983; Le Coz, 1992). A phenomenon of "shunting"
may also occur, short-circuiting the downstream arc. The
higher is the mean velocity, the less is the spark duration
(De Soete, 1983), though the energy deposition into the
spark channel becomes greater (Bianco et al., 1991). In
this context, it is worth to note the importance of the
direction of the mean velocity with respect to the spark
plug orientation. Some investigations (Halldin, 1992;
Arcoumanis and Bae, 1993) showed that the position of
the side electrode relative to the mean flow direction is of
a great significance to the velocity field within the spark Fig. 3. Schematic of voltage and current variatrion
gap. The main reasons for the c.c.v. during the arc phase with time for conventional coil spark ignition
are, therefore, fluctuations in the mean velocity and its system. Typical values for energy and voltage
direction, which result in variations in the spark duration in the three phases -- breakdown, arc, and
and the energy input.
glow discharge -- are given (Heywood. 1988).

5
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3.2. INITIAL FLAME DEVELOPMENT STAGE - This
stage is usually defined as the period during which the
burnt mass fraction reaches 1 or 2% (Gatowski et al.,
1984). It lasts during about 30% of the total combustion
duration in the cycle (Bianco et al., 1991). This fact and
the high sensitivity of the initial flame development to a
large number of factors, make the initial stage the most
crucial with respect to the c.c.v.
The flame starts at the spark gap as a smooth-
surfaced roughly spherical kernel being formed in about
1° CA after spark breakdown (Gatowski et al., 1984;
Tagalian and Heywood, 1986). As long as the size of the
kernel is small compared to most of the turbulent scales in
the flow, it preserves its smooth surface. Gatowski et al.
(1984) observed a smooth surface during the first 3° CA
after breakdown. In this period, the flame kernel growth
rate is governed by the rates of kernel expansion and
mass burning (Ho and Santavicca. 1987). Different
investigators (Tagalian and Heywood, 1986; Bianco et al.,
1991; and more) noticed that in this period, the burning
velocity is close to its laminar value. Therefore, the c.c.v.
at this phase of combustion are mainly attributed to the
fluctuations in the local equivalence ratio of the mixture,
extent of its dilution, and the prevailing local
thermodynamic conditions.
Following this sub-period, interaction of the flame
front with the turbulent eddies starts and becomes one of
the main factors of the process. The turbulence increases
the total flame front area by its wrinkling and corrugating.
The role played by turbulence at this stage can be
assessed by the following expression for ignition delay
time (Hires at el., 1978):
where 1I u’, 1M and SL are the integral scale, the turbulent
intensity, the microscale, and the laminar flame velocity,
respectively. Equation (2) suggests, that during this stage,
the influence of the turbulence intensity is still less
important than that of the laminar flame speed. therefore,
local and temporal variations in the value of u’ are
secondary importance reasons for the c.c.v.
Until the size of the kernel reaches the size of the
largest eddies in the flow, it can be convected as a whole
from the electrodes, both by mean flow and by random
large-scale fluctuations, to a distance of several
millimeters (Hacohen et al., 1992; Witze et al., 1988;
Kerstein and Witze, 1990). Motion of the kernel as a
whole determines both the instantaneous fraction of its
surface area which is in contact with the spark plug
electrodes and insulator, and the active flame front area
not interrupted by the solids. These two parameters settle
the balance between heat losses from the kernel to the
electrodes and the heat release from combustion, and
thereby to a great extent determine the rate of the kernel
growth. Too intensive flowfield can tear the kernel off the
electrodes and the power supply. The direction of the
kernel convection influences the later stages of its
development. Thus, if the kernel is moved towards the
chamber walls, it may be subjected to a partial quenching.
6
When the flame kernel reaches a size at which it is
simultaneously influenced by a few large eddies, it
continues its growth in a flamelet regime of turbulent
combustion (Peters, 1986). This process is usually
referred to as turbulent flame propagation stage.
3.3. TURBULENT FLAME PROPAGATION STAGE - In
this stage the main portion of the in-cylinder charge is
burned. Its duration is commonly defined as the time lapse
between 10% and 90% of the mass burnt fraction.
Physically, this stage begins after a stabilized turbulent
flame propagation is achieved, and terminates when the
whole in-cylinder charge is entrained into the flame front.
This stage is followed by the flame termination stage at
which the combustion front reaches the cylinder wall,
while some remaining pockets of unburned mixture
behind the flame front may still burn.
At any instance, the burning rate is strongly
dependent on the active flame front area. If to assume
that the flame propagates spherically from the center of
the kernel which had been formed during the previous
stages, then the location of this center in the combustion
chamber together with the chamber configuration would
govern the instantaneous flame front area. In this context,
the spark plug location is also an influencing parameter
since it affects the kernel position with respect to the
combustion chamber; in any cycle. the center of kernel will
be randomly located in a limited space around the spark
gap. Actually, the presence of a directed mean flow in the
cylinder (either swirl, tumble, or squish motion) distorts the
spherical propagation of the flame and convects it farther
along the chamber. However, the higher is the burning
rate, the less is the deviation of the flame shape from a
sphere, and the less is the distance to which its center is
convected during the flame propagation.
At the considered stage, local fluctuations of the
mixture composition and flow velocity do not play a
noticeable role, since the resultant effect is obtained
through averaging over a relatively large number of local
events. However, cyclic variability in the overall
equivalence ratio and in the extent of the mixture dilution,
as well as c.c.v. in the averaged turbulence intensity, are
still important. While the mixture composition-related
parameters affect the burning rate through the laminar
flame speed, the turbulence characteristics act through
influencing the effective flame front area. During flame
propagation stage, at any given crank-angle, the c.c.v. in
the turbulence intensity depend to a large extent on the
c.c.v. in the combustion phasing, i.e., the c.c.v. in the
duration of the initial flame kernel development. Thus,
there is a close relation between the initial flame kernel
development stage and the stage of the flame
propagation. This relation is manifested through the initial
kernel location and shape, as well as the combustion
phasing in the cycle. Therefore, the parameters pertained
to c.c.v. in the initial flame kernel development stage gain
higher importance. Moreover, since in the main stage of
combustion the major part of the charge is burnt, c.c.v. in
the charging efficiency become another influencing factor.
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4. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE C.C.V.
In this chapter we shall discuss together two groups
of factors, which are related to c.c.v. in a principally
different way. The first group includes those factors from
which c.c.v. can originate, while the second group
includes those factors which determine the sensitivity of
the engine to the factors of the first group. For example,
overall equivalence ratio. spark plug location, or fuel type
do not cause c.c.v. in combustion themselves but affect
the extent of c.c.v. caused by other factors. such as
mixture inhomogeneity, turbulence, c.c.v. in spark
discharge characteristics, etc.
As it was discussed in the previous chapter, e.c.v.
during the initial flame kernel development stage,
frequently referred to as 1ignition delay stage, are of the
most importance for overall c.c.v. in the engine
performance. This fact is admitted by different
investigators (Stone et al., 1992; Mantel, 1992; Pundir et
al., 1981; etc.), as well as the fact that the shorter is the
ignition delay, the smaller are the c.c.v. in engine
performance.
We shall consider all the previously mentioned
c.c.v. related factors in more detail and present available
findings on each of them, including those obtained before
1981 and summarized by Young (1981).
It is proposed to relate each of the c.c.v. factors to
one of the four following sources:
1. Mixture composition;
2. Cyclic cylinder charging;
3. Spark and spark plug;
4. In-cylinder mixture motion;
The factors which belong to the second group
influence mostly the main stage of combustion, while all
other factors play role at any of the combustion stages.
4.1. MIXTURE COMPOSITION-RELATED FACTORS -
The following factors were placed into this group:
1) type of fuel
2) the overall equivalence ratio of the mixture and its c.c.v.
3) the overall fraction of diluents and its c.c.v.
4) mixture equivalence ratio and dilution spatial
inhomogeneity.
4.1.1. Type of Fuel - the influence of the fuel type on the
engine performance and its c.c.v. is directly related to the
laminar burning velocity, which is of a particular
importance during initial flame kernel development.
Young (1981) discussed two related characteristics
of the fuel type that affect the c.c.v. Those are the
equivalence ratio at which the maximum flame speed
occur, and the magnitude of this maximum. From fig.4 it
can be seen that for different fuels the equivalence ratio at
which the maximum reaction-front speed occur in the
combustion chamber lies between 1.0 to 1.45, while the
values of this maximum are in the range of 40 to 55 m/s.
On the other hand, as long as different commercial
gasolines were compared, differences in cyclic variations
of pressure development were found to be small.
Heywood and Vilchis (1984) compared between
propane and hydrogen with respect to flame development
7
Fig.4. Reaction-front speeds for selected fuels
(Young, 1981).
in the combustion chamber of a single-cylinder engine
with a square cross-section. Laminar burning velocities of
the two fuels under engine conditions differ by an order of
magnitude (about 1 m/s for propane and about 8 m/s for
hydrogen). The schlieren photographic technique was
used to visualize and record the processes occurring in
the combustion chamber. It was found that the hydrogen-
air mixture burning rates were much higher then those for
propane-air mixtures (6° CA against 33° CA were needed
for the hydrogen and propane mixtures, respectively, to
reach a certain size of the flame kernel). The hydrogen
flame was more spherical and less irregular in outline.
Also, the size and shape of the flame in the case of
hydrogen combustion were repeated closely from cycle to
cycle, and the flame remained centered at the spark gap.
Opposite to that, for the same stage of the propane-flame
development, there were substantial cyclic variations in all
of these features (fig. 5). It is consistent with what has
been said in the previous section -- high burning rates
reduce the effect of the in-cylinder mean motion -- and
explains the smaller resultant c.c.v. in pressure
development for hydrogen.
Stone et al. (1992) conducted their experiments
with three pure fuels of different structure: iso-octane,
toluene and methanol. All of the pressure-related
parameters were measured in a variable compression
ratio spark ignition engine and used to evaluate the
combustion performance. Different working conditions
were attained by using varying equivalence ratios,
compression ratios and throttle setting while ignition
timing was varied to encompass the MBT timing. The
results showed that differences between the fuels were
most prominent in weak mixture and with retarded
ignition, and that the slowest burning fuel had the highest
COVIMEP and vice versa. They also remarked that "in
general the differences between fuels are smaller than the
differences that would occur for a unity change in the air -
fuel ratio".
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Fig. 5. Photographs showing c.c.v. in early stages of flame development. Hydrogen is on the left; propane is on the
right. Numbers showing timing of the photographs in degrees after ignition (Heywood and Vilchis, 1984).
There were not many investigations devoted to the
aspect of fuel type during last years. Probably, this is due
to a common opinion that the higher is the laminar
flamevelocity of the fuel, the higher is burning rate and the
less c.c.v. are experienced by the engine.
One more parameter by which one fuel can differ
from another is its heating value. This parameter can
influence the burning rate through the expansion rate of
the flame and adiabatic flame temperature. However, we
did not find any comparison between the fuels with
concern to their heating values.
From the practical viewpoint it seems unreasonable
to put much efforts into investigations of this subject; for
radical changes in the fuel type used by vehicles today
are not likely to be introduced in the near future. On the
other hand, usage of additives to the fuel, such as
hydrogen in small quantities, was shown to provide the
whole set of the lean burn engine benefits (Sher and
Hacohen, 1988; Sher and Hacohen, 1989) and therefore
looks more attractive.
4.1.2. The Overall Equivalence Ratio of the Mixture and
Its C.C.V. - Generally, it can be stated that the effect of the
overall equivalence ratio of the mixture on the engine
c.c.v. is through the laminar burning speed, and that the
highest burning speed is achieved in stoichiometric or
slightly enriched mixtures (Young, 1981). Therefore, any
deviation from the stoichiometric ratio leads to decrease in
the laminar burning velocity with consequent increase in
the ignition delay time and the level of c.c.v.
8
Young (1981) summarized the results of several
investigators and concluded that minimum variations in all
indicators of combustion variability occur at a slightly rich
mixture, typically 1.1 to 1.25 equivalence ratio. These
mixture ratio strengths correspond to the best-power
values and tend to give the shortest combustion duration
and highest peak cycle pressures.
Sher and Keck (1986) developed a mathematical
model simulating the evolution with time of a spark
channel into a combustion wave. They took 0.24 MPa and
480 K as typical thermodynamic conditions at sparking in
the engine and obtained that 5% deviation of equivalence
ratio from the value of 0.9 leads to 5% change in the
steady-state burning velocity.
Hill (1988) and Hill and Kapil (1989) conducted
experiments on a Ricardo Hydra engine at different
speeds and equivalence ratios on the lean side of
stoichiometry. Fig. 6 presents the example of the influence
of equivalence ratio on the frequency histograms of
pressure data at 3000 rpm. It can be seen that the
decrease of the equivalence ratio from 0.926 to 0.727
results in approximately doubled relative standard
deviation of Pmax. Although the speed of 3000 rpm
seems rather high as compared to the conditions for
maximum c.c.v., fig. 7 shows that the impact of engine
speed on c.c.v. is much less
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Fig. 6. Frequency histograms for maximum pressure
(Hill, 1988).
Fig. 7. Relative standart deviation in maximum pres-
sure (Hill, 1988).
than the impact of equivalence ratio. This figure prompts
for almost linear correlation between the overall
equivalence ratio and the relative standard deviation of
Pmax, at least in the range of tested conditions.
Pundir et al. (1981) studied the effect of charge
inhomogeneity on the engine c.c.v. Their study is
mentioned in this paragraph since the authors found strong
and similar influences of the overall equivalence ratio on
both charge inhomogeneity in the combustion chamber
and c.c.v. in Pmax. Thus, they found that both the charge
inhomogeneity and the c.c.v. attain minimum at nearly
stoichiometric mixtures (fig 8). Again, almost linear
9
correlation between equivalence ration and c.c.v. in Pmax
(C.V. in the figure) is seen on the lean mixtures branch.
Fig. 8. Relative mixture non-homogeniety and cyclic
variation in peak pressure as functions of air-
fuel equivalence ratio (Pundir et al., 1981).
In section 4.1.4 more attention will be paid to the effect of
inhomogeneity on the engine c.c.v. and to the experimental
conditions employed by the authors. The only remark we
should like to make here is that the authors did not propose
any explanation to the phenomenon of the dependence of
the charge inhomogeneity in the combustion chamber on
the overall equivalence ratio. We guess that the main
reason for the observed phenomenon is the difference in
the engine temperature with different equivalence ratios
influencing perfectness of the mixing process.
The reason for c.c.v. in pressure-related parameters
arises from the corresponding fluctuations in combustion-
related parameters. This can be proved by investigations of
Ho and Santavicca (1987) devoted to early flame kernel
growth in lean mixtures in a flow reactor at atmospheric
conditions. Fig. 9 shows two sets of flame kernel growth
curves for φ=0.8 and φ=0.58 and the same other
conditions. The increased variation in the flame kernel
growth as the equivalence ratio is lowed is very apparent in
this results.
From the above discussion it could be thought that
because of the linear dependence, the equivalence ratio
may be decreased progressively without drastic impact
onto the c.c.v. However, it is not the case. Practically, the
equivalence ratio in engine operation is limited; for the
misfires crop up, as illustrated by fig. 10. This limit is known
as the lean misfire limit. It varies from engine to engine and
is dependent on engine operation conditions.
Evidently, the closer is the mixture to stoichiometric
one, the less are the c.c.v. However, one should not think
that this is the remedy for c.c.v. problem, since it
contradicts to the main trend for engine lean operation, as it
was mentioned in the Introduction. On the contrary, the
leanest possible mixture is desired for engine operation,
and c.c.v. have to be reduced by treating other factors.
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Fig. 9. Variation in ignition flame kernel diameter
versus time (Ho and Santavicca, 1987).
Fig. 10. Ignition probability versus equivalence ratio
(Ho and Santavicca, 1987).
As the reader could notice, we did not discuss here
the problem of c.c.v. in overall equivalence ratio. In fact,
although a simple cycle-resolved exhaust gas analysis is
needed to measure these c.c.v., it is of surprise that
nobody has reported any results of such an analysis.
Later, cycle-resolved local air/fuel (A/F) ratio
measurements (Matsui et al., 1979; Hamai et al., 1986)
will be discussed. The results of these measurements,
however, is not easy to interpret: obtained local
fluctuations can be attributed to both spatial
inhomogeneity of the mixture in the cycle and c.c.v. in
overall equivalence ratio. Giving no preference to any of
these interpretations, we decided to present these studies
in section 4.1.4 devoted to mixture inhomogeneity.
Anyway, it is reasonable to underline a close relationship
between mixture inhomogeneity in the cylinder and c.c.v.
in local mixture composition. Really, a non-zero mixture
inhomogeneity predetermines a non-zero c.c.v. in the
mixture composition within the spark gap, but not vice
versa.
10
4.1.3. The Overall Fraction of Diluents and Its C.C.V. -
Due to imperfect scavenging there is always a non-zero
amount of the residual gases remaining in the cylinder
from the previous successful cycle. Besides, one of the
known ways for NOx emission reduction is EGR --
recirculation of a portion of exhaust gases back into the
cylinder. Such a mixture dilution reduces its flammability
and the laminar burning rate.
Young (1981) summarized the results of five
researches on this subject. The methods for varying the
amount of diluents were: throttle opening variation,
skipping ignition in cycles fore-running the tested ones,
variation of the extent of EGR, and introduction of inert
additives. The results of all studies led to a conclusion that
increase in dilution, either with exhaust residuals or with
other gases, generally causes increased c.c.v. in pressure
development. The explanation to this trend was similar to
that for the impact of mixture leaning.
Matsui et al. (1979) developed a special sampling
plug which enabled for local sampling of the mixture from
the spark gap in successive cycles. They observed higher
c.c.v. in both total HC and CO2 concentrations near the
spark gap as the extent of EGR increased (fig. 11). They
did not study the effect of these variations on c.c.v. in
engine performance.
Fig. 11. Mixture variatioin affected by EGR (Matsui et
al., 1979).
Sher and Keck (1986) found from their theoretical
model that changing volumetric efficiency (which is equal
to 1 minus residual gas fraction) by 5% leads to a
significant (13%) change in the mixture burning velocity.
Worth to note that variation of volumetric efficiency affects
not only a fraction of residuals, but also the
thermodynamic properties of the mixture, such as its
pressure and temperature. Thereby the influence is
amplified.
Kalghatgi (1985) observed a decrease in burning
velocity in the early combustion stage with reduced
engine compression ratios for three different types of fuel.
The most of the effect was attributed to increase in
residuals fraction.
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Weaver and Santavicca (1992) studied the effect of

dilution on c.c.v. in flame kernel size at different crank
angles. The research was conducted on a two-stroke
single-cylinder engine modified by a square cross-section
piston with two quartz windows enabling for 2-D schlieren
photography. The results were compared for two values of
the diluent fraction: 0% and 10%. The 0% fraction was
achieved by skipping ignition in 9 cycles from each 10 in
order to ensure perfect cylinder scavenging. The 10%
fraction was obtained by the same ignition skipping and
introducing additional nitrogen. The results on both flame
kernel radius standard deviation and coefficient of variance
are plotted in figs. 12 and 13. One can notice that though
the standard deviation is not affected by dilution, the
relative variations are increased remarkably under diluted
conditions. The reason for this effect is a slower kernel
development in the diluted mixture. Therefore, at any crank
angle, the size of the kernel is less, and with the same
standard deviation the relative variations in the flame
radius appear greater. The same can be said regarding
relative variations in pressure related parameters given in
Table 1. It can be seen that the 10% dilution caused 6%
increase in standard deviation of Pmax and 34% decrease
in standard deviation of (dP/dθ)max. The decrease in Fig. 12. Standard deviation of flame kernel radius
standard deviation of (dP/dθ)max would not be misleading: vresus crank angle BTDC (Weaver and
the percent variations in both cases were almost doubled. Santavicca, 1992).
The correlations between fluctuations in flame kernel
radius and fluctuations in Pmax and (dP/dθ)max at different
crank angles had very close values for 0% and 10%
dilution.

Table 1: Maximum cylinder pressure and maximum

cylinder pressure rise rate results (Weaver and
Santavicca, 1992).

Maximum Cylinder Pressure Results

Dilution
0% 10%
Maximum Cylinder Pressure (kPa) 1920 1230
Standard Deviation (kPa) 163 173
Percent Variation (%) 8.5 14.1
Crank Angle of Occurrence ATDC (deg) 8.75 15.7
Standard Deviation of Crank Angle of
Occurrence ATDC (deg) 3.13 3.36

Maximum Cylinder Pressure Rise Rate Results

Dilution Fig. 13. Percent variation of flame kernel radius

0% 10% vresus crank angle BTDC (Weaver and
Santavicca, 1992).
Max. Cylinder Pressure Rise (kPa/deg) 122 45.5
Standard Deviation (kPa/deg) 31.8 21.1 dilution reduces flame kernel growth rate (see later fig. 27).
Percent Variation (%) 26.0 46.4 The complete information on the influence of EGR
Crank Angle of Occurrence ATDC (deg) 4.24 9.59 percentage on the c.c.v. in engine performance and
Standard Deviation of Crank Angle of combustion characteristics is still in lack. The only work
Occurrence ATDC (deg) 3.13 3.13 found to present more or less complete data has been
carried out rather long ago by Kuroda et al. (1978). The
examples of the influence of EGR on pressure related
Cho et al. (1992) used different amount of nitrogen
parameters are taken from this work and shown in figs. 14
as diluent in their study of the spark power effect. Their
and 15.
result will be discuss in detail in the section 4.3.2. In this
context worth mentioning their conclusion that increased
11
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Fig. 14. Frequency distribution in IMEP at different
EGR rates. 0% gave excellent engine stbility,
20% aceptable stability, and 28% poor
stability. Operating conditrion: 1400 RPM, #0=
1.0, MBT timing, averaged IMEP=324 KPa.
(Heywood, 1988).
Fig. 15. Effect of increasing burn rate on tolerance to
EGR; Operating conditrion: as in Fig. 14
(Heywood, 1988).
It seems to be a common opinion among the
investigators that the higher is the dilution, the less is the
burning rate, and the greater are the c.c.v. in engine
performance. However, emission regulations prompt for
usage of EGR, so the efforts should be concentrated upon
the ways of compensating for negative EGR effect on
c.c.v. This reminds the situation with the overall
equivalence ratio, where also care should be taken of
other factors in order to diminish negative influence of
mixture leaning. Heywood (1988) showed increased
tolerance to EGR of the engines with fast burn rates.
No special studies on c.c.v. in the fraction of
diluents was met in the literature. However, it is believed
that such variations exist, particularly due to variations in
cyclic cylinder charging efficiency discussed in section
4.2.
12
4.1.4. Mixture EQuivalence Ratio and Dilution Spatial
Inhomogeneity - The process of fuel atomization and
evaporation in any fuel supply system, either injection or
carburettor, is never perfect. Sometimes fuel droplets with
a non-negligible size remain in the cylinder up to ignition.
Moreover, imperfect mixing between mixture components
(including exhaust residual and recirculated gases) leads
to spatial mixture inhomogeneity in the combustion
chamber. Therefore, the equivalence ratio and the amount
of diluents in the spark gap vicinity can differ from cycle to
cycle. As a consequence, there will be c.c.v. in the initial
flame kernel development stage.
In his paper Young (1981) mentioned several
studies related to the methods of mixture preparation and
their influence on c.c.v. The tentative statement is "more
homogeneous mixture, lower cyclic variability". However,
the studies described in that paper did not prove or
disprove this statement. Different authors obtained
opposite results. For example, Patterson (1966)
concluded that particularly at lean mixtures, the well-
mixed propane-air charge was more desirable than the
normally carbureted indolene-air charge. Opposite to that,
Soltau (1960) did not notice greater pressure stability for a
gaseous fuel than for a liquid fuel carbureted or sprayed
into the intake manifold. Moreover, the investigations of
Peters and Quader (1978) and Matthes and McGill (1976)
suggested that inhomogeneous mixtures containing
droplets can result in less cyclic pressure variations and
lower lean misfire limit values than well-mixed purely
gaseous mixtures. They found that for the latter mixtures
the burning rates were lower, which could be the reason
for higher c.c.v.
Matsui et al. (1979) carried out their tests on both
two-stroke and four-stroke engines. Concentrations of
CO2 and total HC were measured 22° CA before spark
discharge. The results showed that c.c.v. in the spark gap
mixture composition were larger for two-stroke engine (fig.
16).
Pundir et al. (1981) conducted their research on the
CFR engine with unshrouded and shrouded valves at 900
rpm. Two types of fuel -- gasoline and propane -- were
tested. The authors assumed a normal distribution of
mixture strength in the combustion chamber. This seems
reasonable if to considers fig. 16 as a typical form of fuel
concentration distribution curve. The Eltinge (1968)
technique was used to evaluate charge inhomogeneity
through exhaust gases composition. The standard
deviation of air/fuel ratio. Sx, was obtained with the help of
this technique and used further as the inhomogeneity
indicator. Also, a relative non-homogeneity index (RNHI)
was defined as the ratio between S x and A/F. Eltinge in his
work obtained higher Sx values for leaner mixtures. Thus,
for stoichiometric A/F ratio he obtained Sx= 1.65
(RNHI=10.9%), while for A/F= 18 he observed Sx =4.12
(RNHI=22.8%). To evaluate these figures one should
keep in mind that deviation of the equivalence ratio from
1.0 to 0.75 results in the 150% increase in the duration of
the initial stage of combustion (Pundir et al., 1981). The
results of Pundir et al. show linear correlation between
RNHI and
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Fig. 16. Example of total HC concentration : (a) two stroke engine (operating condition: 1200 RPM, idling, gasoline
fuel), (b) four stroke engine (operating condition: as in Fig. 11 except for the gasoline fuel). (Matsui et al.,
1979).
the coefficient of variance of Pmax (fig. 17). Extrapolating history diagram was recorded, together with the mixture
their graphs to RNHI=0 they noticed non-zero values of composition in the spark gap. The heat release delay, t,
the coefficient of variance of Pmax. This led the authors to was calculated from the pressure curve. The results for 50
conclusion about the presence of other factors consecutive cycles are plotted in fig. 18. As it is seen, the
contributing to c.c.v. in Pmax. leaner is the local A/F ratio near the spark gap, the longer
is

Fig. 17. Relation between cyclic variation in Pmax

and mixture non-homogeniety (Pundir,1981).
Hamai et al. (1986) also used spark plug built-in
gas sampling valve to measure local mixture composition.
Opposite to Matsui et al. (1979), the measurements were
performed shortly after ignition and involved
concentrations of CO, CO2, NO, and HC. Through the gas
analysis, A/F ratio of the ignited mixture was obtained. As
concern to any correlations with the following combustion,
this method seems to be more accurate and trustful than
the pre-ignition measurements; for in the latter case, due
to mixture motion, combustion initiation may start in a Fig. 18. C.c.v. in heat-release delay, τ, and IMEP
neighboring eddy with different equivalence ratio. Two derived from air-fuel ratio, A/F, for each cycle
production 4-stroke, 4-cylinder engines were used in the obtained by using Consecutive Cycles Gas
experiments. Unleaded regular gasoline was supplied by Sampling Method (Hamai et al., 1986).
injection system. In each consecutive cycle pressure

13
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the beat release delay, and the lower is the IMEP in the
cycle. The variance of heat release delay tends to
increase with longer t corresponding to leaner mixtures.
Strong correlations between A/F, t, and IMEP in the cycle
were found. All correlation coefficients were in the range
of 0.86-0.90.
Sztenderowitz and Heywood (1990a) carried out
their tests in a research single-cylinder engine at 900 rpm.
partial load, stoichiometric A/F ratio, MBT spark timing.
Two types of mixture were compared: one was formed by
indolene indirect injection into the air stream and
simulated typical mixture inhomogeneity in the engine,
while another was a preliminary well-mixed iso-octane-air
mixture and simulated "perfectly mixed" composition. In
fact, the ratio between the level of inhomogeneity of these
two mixtures was estimated as 2:1, when the
inhomogeneity was calculated through the Eltinge
technique. For the test conditions, this difference
manifested itself in a very modest reduction in the
variation of the ignition delay time, and did not influence
the statistics of the main combustion phase, nor the IMEP
variations. The authors found their results to be consistent
with the general knowledge that IMEP is insensitive to
small variations in cycle phasing around MBT. They
admitted that for retarded spark and/or lean operation the
effect of mixture inhomogeneity might be more significant.
Concerning this work, we should notice that since all the
experiments were performed at stoichiometric
equivalence ratio, the results are of a limited practical
interest, mainly for engines equipped with three-way
catalysts.
Another part of the investigation of Sztenderowitz
and Heywood (1990a) was devoted to the contribution of
imperfect mixing between burned residual gases and
incoming fresh charge to the mixture inhomogeneity. Two
different engine operating modes were compared. The
first represented a normal in-cylinder residual gas non-
uniformity and was a regular engine operation with a
premixed propane-air mixture and continuous firing. The
second simulated a homogeneous mixture of residual and
fresh charge in the cylinder. It was achieved by "skip-
firing" and charging the cylinder with a mixture of propane,
air, and synthetic residual gas composed of N2, CO2, and
air. The results with respect to variations in flame initiation
(0 - 2% mass burned fraction) and flame development (0 -
10% mass burned fraction) angles are presented in fig.
19. They display no significant impact of residual gas non-
uniformity on the flame development process. On the
other hand, a somewhat inconsistent result has been
obtained with respect to the IMEP fluctuations (fig. 20).
From this figure it appears that elimination of residual gas
inhomogeneity decreased IMEP fluctuations by 25 - 50%.
Explaining these results, the authors suggested that in
fact there was no difference between the residual gas
non-uniformity levels in the two used modes of engine
operation and concluded that even under the regular
operation the residual gas was well mixed with the fresh
charge. The reduction in IMEP variability was explained
by reduction in cyclic variation of the in-cylinder trapped
mass under skip-firing operation. The following section will
discuss variations in cyclic cylinder charging in detail. It
should be noted, that in fact the authors did not achieve
their goal in this part of their work, since they did not
14
succeed to obtain different residual gas non-uniformity
levels.
Summarizing the above said, the dependence of
c.c.v. in both engine performance and combustion on the
mixture inhomogeneity in the combustion chamber
remains still uncertain. Our opinion on the reasons for this
uncertainty is that up to date little attention has been paid
to the importance of scales of non-uniformities in the
mixture. Following the assumption of Eltinge (1968),
Sztenderowitz and Heywood (1990a), Belmont et al.
(1991), the whole cylinder volume can be conventionally
subdivided into a large number of equal mass elements,
each with its own A/F ratio, from zero to infinity. However,
the size of these elements was ignored. As long as one is
interested in the inhomogeneity level only, the Eltinge
technique is reasonable; for it is based on the analysis of
exhaust gases resulting from the total in-cylinder
combustion of a sufficiently large number of elements.
Opposite to this, speaking about the initial flame kernel
development stage, the scale of non-uniformities
becomes important (Belmont et al., 1991), since the
number of involved elements is rather limited. In its turn,
the scale of non-uniformities depends on the structure of
turbulence, and therefore on the engine design and its
operation regime. Belmont et al. (1991) estimated this
scale as a millimeter or fraction of millimeter. The finer is
the turbulence structure at the time of ignition. the larger is
the number of elements participating in initial flame kernel
formation, and therefore the more pathways between
combustible elements exist in the spark gap vicinity. In
such a situation, the initial combustion stage is less
sensible to the mixture inhomogeneity. An example for this
effect are the results of Pundir et al. (1981). They
introduced a swirl motion of the mixture through
installation of the shrouded valve and noticed a significant
decrease of the variance of Pmax (fig. 17), while the level
of the mixture inhomogeneity remained the same (fig. 8).
This discussion suggests that the impact of
inhomogeneity on c.c.v. in combustion can be essentially
reduced by controlling the in-cylinder turbulence
characteristics.
One more point should be stressed in the context of
scales of mixture inhomogeneity. Usage of any gas
sampler with the sample volume larger than the volume of
the uniform elements can lead to inaccurate results as
concern to the level of mixture inhomogeneity. Too large
sampling volume contains not one but several elements
and therefore the analysis of the sample will give A/F ratio
averaged over them. Thus, Matsui et al. (1979) and
Hamai et al. (1986) sampled 0.4 cc and 1.1 cc,
respectively. These volumes seem to be too large
compared to the above estimation of Belmont et al. We
also should remind that local mixture sampling method
does not permit to distinguish between spatial mixture
inhomogeneity and c.c.v. in overall mixture strength.
The question of the influence of residual gas spatial
non-uniformity on c.c.v. in engine performance still
remains open, since no relevant studies has been found in
the literature. Intuitively, this non-uniformity will manifest
itself in the same manner as the A/F ratio inhomogeneity,
and the effect will also depend on ten non-uniformity
scales.
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Fig. 19. Effect of residual gas non-informative on
variations in flame initiation and development
angles as a function of mean 0-10% burn duration
(Sztenderowitz and Heywood, 1990a). Operating
condition: 900 RPM, f=1.0, MBT spark timing,
propane fuel.
4.2. CYCLIC CYLINDER CHARGING-RELATED
FACTORS - This group includes factors which result in
variations in the mass of mixture trapped in the cylinder.
Unlike other factors, variations in cyclic cylinder charging
mostly influence pressure-related parameters, and not
combustion-related ones.
There is no data on this subject in the Young’s
(1981) literature survey.
Fig.1 from section 2.1 schematically displayed the
dependence between mean values of Pmax and θpmax.
This schematic presentation was gained from the detailed
individual-cycle data presented by Matekunas (1983) and
reproduced here in fig. 21. Matekunas presumed that the
spread in both IMEP and Pmax values in the vicinity of
θPmax for optimally phased cycles and for the MBT data is
15
Fig. 20. Effect of residual gas nonuniformity on
IMEP fluctuations as a function of mean 0-
10% burn duration (Sztenderowitz and
Heywood, 1990a). Operating condition: as
in Fig. 19.
dominated by charging variations. This presumption
seems logical. Really, what are the reasons which can
cause different Pmax values at the same value θPmax ?
Matekunas suggested that this can occur under
combination of both slow early flame speed with more
rapid later propagation and vice versa. Another reason is
variability in charging efficiency. For small θPmax values
(corresponding to optimally phased cycles) the IMEP is
not sensitive to the burn rates, therefore the single reason
for its fluctuations are variations in charging efficiency.
In the previous paragraph we discussed the work of
Sztenderowitz and Heywood (1990a), in which variations
in IMEP values were also attributed to cylinder charging
variability. The detailed analysis of the reasons for
charging variations was given in the other paper of the
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Fig. 21.(a) Individual-cycle maximum pressure versus
crank angle at which Pmax occurs (épmax).
(b) Individual-cycle IMEP versus θpmax. (Hey-
wood, 1988; Matekunas, 1983).
same authors (Sztenderowitz and Heywood, 1990b). In
that research elimination of gas non-uniformity by skip-
firing method had no impact on the flame development
process but nonetheless caused IMEP fluctuation to drop
about half under very light load conditions. The example
to the spread of IMEP results for a constant 0-50% mass
burnt fraction (representing both the flame initiation and
propagation stages) is given in fig. 22. The authors
followed Matekunas (1983) suggesting that particularly for
optimally-phased cycles the IMEP fluctuations were
mainly controlled by the cyclic variations in the amount of
fuel burned per cycle. whose contribution was roughly
estimated as 50 - 75%. Several plausible mechanisms
were identified for variations in trapped fuel mass:
displacement of fresh charge by residual gas quantity
(thought to be relatively small), effect of residual gas
temperature on charging efficiency, variation in the
residual fuel mass, fluid dynamics effect, and variations in
the mass leakage from the cylinder. It should be noted
that no experimental results were obtained with regard to
the proposed mechanisms. only rough estimations have
been reported.
Lack of experimental data on c.c.v. in both the in-
cylinder trapped fuel mass and the factors determining it,
hampers any qualitative. not to mention quantitative,
conclusion. Further investigations in the field are needed.
16
Fig. 22. Scatter plots of IMEP versus θ0-50% for skip
firing (900 RPM,φ φ=1.0) (Sztenderowitz and
Heywood. 1990b).
4.3. SPARK AND SPARK PLUG-RELATED FACTORS -
Spark plug design and spark characteristics are of a
primary importance for the initial flame kernel
development stage. Due to strong correlation between
this stage and the total cycle characteristics, these factors
influence the whole engine performance. Kalghatgi (1987)
reviewed the literature on the spark ignition, the nature of
spark discharge process and the attempts to decrease
c.c.v. in engine operation through changes in the spark
ignition. His opinion was that "variants of the spark ignition
system seem to be of most practical interest for
automobile applications in the immediate future".
It seems reasonable to divide the appropriate
factors into two categories:
1. Ignition system related factors.
2. Spark plug design related factors.
The first category includes:
1) Spark timing.
2) Spark discharge characteristics.
3) Spark "jitter" (c.c.v. in spark timing).
The second category includes:
1) Spark gap.
2) Spark plug electrode shape.
All of these factors affect the earliest stage of flame
initiation. In the later stage of combustion both the location
of the plug and the number of spark plugs in the
combustion chamber start to play a noticeable role, and
therefore are also considered in this section. Besides, due
to the wake of electrodes in the in-cylinder mean gas flow,
spark plug orientation was also found to influence the
early combustion stage. This factor will be discussed in
section 4.4.2.
From the results of a few studies Young (1981)
concluded that only a part of the listed above factors,
namely, spark gap location, number of ignition points. and
spark timing, influence c.c.v. in pressure development.
Later investigations partially disproved this conclusion.
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4.3.1. Spark Timing - Young (1981) concluded that
minimum c.c.v. in combustion and pressure development
generally take place at MBT spark timing. In the reviewed
studies the c.c.v. dependence on the spark timing was
affected by overall mixture strength and spark location.
Thus. the leaner was the mixture, or the larger was the
plug offset from the center of combustion chamber, the
more prominent was the c.c.v. extreme. Note, that both
the mixture leaning and locating spark plug at the
combustion chamber periphery decrease mixture burning
rate. Young suggested that for slow burn rates the
combustion is phased late in the cycle, and c.c.v. are
augmented by the changing pressure due to the rapidly
varying cylinder volume during this part of the cycle.
Fig. 23. Experimental and predicted values of c.c.v.
in: maximum rate of pressure rise, for iso-
octane with weak, stoichiometric and rich
mixtures over a range of ignition timings, for
full throttle (Stone et al., 1992).
17
Pundir et al. (1981) also found the effect of spark
timing on c.c.v. in Pmax, with minimum variations at MBT
timing. They also admitted the influence of piston motion
on c.c.v. in the slow burn cycles. Opposite to Young,
however, they claimed that this influence reduces c.c.v. in
Pmax, This statement may be logical as long as it implies
deviations in Pmax but not a percent variation.
In section 2.1 the work of Stone et al. (1992) was
discussed with respect to preference of one pressure
related parameter to another. The authors confirmed that
minimum relative c.c.v. in IMEP occur in the region of
MBT spark timing. On the other hand, relative c.c.v. in
Pmax and (dP/dθ)max were reduced by over-advanced
ignition (fig. 23). It was explained by a remarkably higher
mean values of both Pmax and (dP/dθ)max caused by the
over-advanced ignition, therefore relative variations
decreased.
Pischinger and Heywood (1988) investigated the
effects of the ignition system and spark plug type on the
single-cylinder transparent visualization engine
performance characteristics. Later we shall discuss this
work in more detail. In this section it is mentioned due to
the very illustrative results concerning spark timing effect
on c.c.v. in IMEP (fig. 24). Note, that fig. 24(b)
corresponds to a shrouded-valve engine settlement
providing faster burning rate of the mixture. As it is seen,
for all presented cases the c.c.v. in IMEP achieve
minimum in the vicinity of MBT spark timing. Neither the
type of ignition system or spark plug design, nor the
burning rate do influence this fact. In the region of over-
advanced ignition, however, the curves are steeper for
non-shrouded valve (slow burn case). This is in
consistence with general knowledge on the dependence
of the severity of c.c.v. on the burning rate.
The practical inference from the above said will
sound somewhat trivial: minimization of c.c.v. in IMEP can
be provided by strict encompassing MBT ignition timing.
This is anyhow the general task of the engine designer.
The only thing worth to emphasize is a crucial importance
of ensuring the accuracy of keeping spark timing at MBT
in a slow-burn engines.
4.3.2. Spark Discharge Characteristics - Several
characteristics are usually distinguished in a spark
discharge: the spark duration, spark energy (total and
effective), and the law of energy release. Usually, all of
them are strongly coupled. Thus, changing spark duration
inevitably causes changes in either the total spark energy,
the law of its release, or in both of them (Douaud et al.,
1983). Therefore, we decided to discuss spark discharge
characteristics all together. We admit, that there is another
factor affecting these characteristics, namely, spark gap
(Pischinger and Heywood, 1988). However, we preferred
to consider the effects related to spark gap separately,
since for a given engine it is an invariable factor.
Because of the interrelations between the spark
characteristics. the influences to be presented are not
independent and have to be interpreted with care.
Young (1981) concluded that spark discharge
characteristics have no effect on cyclic variation as long
as the mixture could be ignited.
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suited for ignition than arc or glow discharge due to high

energy transfer efficiency.
De Soete (1983) studied flame kernel initiation and
growth in ethylene/oxygen/nitrogen mixture passing
through the duct of a square cross-section. The ignition
system he used provided for independent variation of
spark duration and energy. He observed flame kernel
growth enhancement with the spark energy increase.
while spark duration did not have any effect in a wide
range of energies. Though c.c.v. in the rate of flame
growth were not studied, general knowledge suggests that
the more rapid is the initial flame growth, the less are
relative c.c.v. in this growth.
Similar results with respect to the influence of the
spark energy on the initial flame kernel size were obtained
by Ho and Santavicca (1987). In their experiments ignition
was achieved by the pulsed laser. Such a technique has
the advantage of the absence of electrodes. Thereby both
heat losses and flow perturbations due to electrodes were
eliminated. The duration of the laser pulse was 10 ns, that
brought essentially a breakdown high energy deposition
rate discharge. Fig. 25 displays different dynamics of
kernel growth for two values of deposited energy in both
the lean combustible mixture and quiescent air.

Fig. 24. COV in IMEP as a function of spark timing for

three different spark plugs: (a) base case, (b)
shrouded-valve case (Pischinger and Hey-
Fig. 25. Ignition kernel diameter versus time (Ho and
wood, 1988).
Santavicca,1987).
Operating condition: 1400 RPM, λ=1.2,
volumetric efficiency=0.29.
Later studies, however, led to a variety of
viewpoints (sometimes rather opposite) on the influence
of different phases of discharge and their characteristics
on the flame initiation process. The reason for this seems
to lie in a variety of ignition devices used in the
researches. Some of the devices produced high energy in
the breakdown phase, while in the others most of energy
was deposited in the arc or glow phases. The difference in
the percent of energy lost in each of the phases further
complicates the problem. Furthermore. some of the
experiments were conducted under ambient conditions,
while the others were performed on different types of
engines and on different operation regimes.
Maly and Vogel (1978) suggested that the
breakdown controls the inflammation process up to #1 Fig. 26. Cycle-to-cycle correlation between spark
ms. They concluded that the breakdown is far better duration, ∆T, and heat-release delay, τ (Hamai
et al., 1986).

18
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Hamai et al. (1986) used three different ignition
systems in their study: a conventional spark ignitor (CSI)
with fully transistorized coil (provided spark duration of 1.5
ms and spark energy of 22 mJ), a long duration spark
ignitor (LDSI), and a pulsed plasma ignitor (PPI). The LDSI
could have a longer spark duration (up to 6 ms) and higher
energy as compared to CSI, while the PPI brought shorter
(0.8 ms) high current discharge pattern with high rate of
energy release in the spark gap. In a constant volume
chamber with an inducted swirl it was observed that the
LDSI provided the most favorable spark discharge
characteristics with respect to rapid flame kernel
development. Consistent results were obtained on a
production engine: due to longer spark duration for LDSI a
heat release delay was shortened and its range of
fluctuation was reduced (fig. 26). Another important
inference from this research is that the gas motion through
the spark gap affects spark duration. This was also
observed by Le Coz (1992), who found that the less is the
mean velocity in a spark gap, the longer is the spark
discharge. A correlation coefficient of -0.6 between these
parameters was obtained. From these results it can be
expected that due to velocity fluctuation spark duration
shows c.c.v. The detailed discussion of mixture motion
related phenomena will be presented later.
Belmont et al. (1986) hypothesized that there is a
correlation between successive cycles in the engine
operation. To check this hypothesis. they introduced an
autocorrelation functions of Pmax and found that there is a
casual relationship between cycles and the degree of this
causality depends on operating conditions. From the
autocorrelation diagrams presented in their work they
concluded that when the arc (spark) duration is reduced,
the autocorrelation function decreases. In order to aid
further interpretation of the autocorrelation function the
cyclic dispersion has been statistically modeled. It resulted
in an inverse correlation between the value of the
autocorrelation function and the c.c.v. level. Thereby the
authors could draw a conclusion that shortening the arc
worsens c.c.v. Unfortunately, no quantitative data on the
c.c.v. were reported.
Theoretical results of Sher and Keck (1986) showed
that "introducing a higher energy during the breakdown
phase and longer spark duration contribute to the creation
of a larger volume of hot region in short time". By the
reasons stated above this is expected to shorten the
ignition delay time and to reduce its c.c.v.
In the previously mentioned research of Pischinger
and Heywood (1988) three different discharge
characteristics were achieved with the same transistorized-
coil ignition system coupled with three different spark
plugs. This is an illustrative example of the above said
interrelation between the plug design and the discharge
characteristics. Typically, a "standard" spark plug provided
60 mJ of energy deposited during 3.8 ms, a "breakdown"
spark plug gave 80 mJ in 3 ms, and a "surface-gap" spark
plug delivered 110 mJ in 2.1 ms to the spark gap. For any
tested conditions. the effect of increased spark energy was
a faster initial flame growth in the earliest stage of
combustion. The consequence was a decrease in
COVIMEP values at MBT-timing (fig. 24). It should be noted
that the observed effect cannot be solely attributed to the
19
level of energy deposit. Firstly, the duration of the spark
varied with the energy. Secondly, the shape of the
electrodes, as well as the spark gap were also different
from case to case and could affect both the rate of heat
losses and the flowfield around the electrodes.
Lim et al. (1987) investigated the effect of both
inductive spark energy and spark power on the early flame
kernel development in a constant volume bomb. The coil
primary current was varied to obtain spark energies of
approximately 2, 11.5, and 54.8 mJ with respective
discharge durations of 264, 810, and 3730 ms. For all three
cases the flame kernel size was identical up to about 100
ms. After that, the flame radii started to deviate one from
another with larger kernels corresponding to higher energy
input. The important observation was that energy
augmentation from 2 to 11.5 mJ caused larger effect than
its further augmentation from 11.5 to 54.8 mJ. Examining
the effect of spark power, the same amount of energy
(about 15 mJ) was deposited in different time spans (from
600 ms to 1700 ms) and did not exhibit any significant
difference in flame kernel radius after 400 ms. The authors,
however, mentioned that the breakdown energy of the
lower power spark was about 100% more than that of the
higher power spark. In the former case it resulted in a
larger flame kernel at earlier times. It seems that the two
factors with opposite influence (larger breakdown energy
and lower inductive spark power) compensated one for
another and resulted in an insignificant net effect.
Cho et al. (1992) conducted an experimental study
of the effect of spark power on the flame kernel growth rate
and misfires in a turbulent flow system under 1 atm, 300 K
conditions. All measurements were made with premixed
propane-air with a different extent of dilution by nitrogen.
Three different ignition systems: a GM High Energy Ignition
(HEI) system, a low power breakdown (LPBD) system, and
a high power breakdown (HPBD) system were employed.
The first system provided a long (~4 ms) inductive
discharge with 5.35 mJ of the total effective ignition energy
(4.73 mJ of which were released in the glow phase). The
second and the third systems provided a short (~100 ns)
discharge with 5.36 mJ and 56.4 mJ of the total effective
ignition energy, respectively, released in the breakdown
phase. Fig. 27 shows the effect of ignition system on the
two burn times. As it is seen, the larger is the spark power,
the higher is the burning rate. The effect is more
pronounced for the earlier stage, where neither the dilution
of up to 14%, nor the level of turbulence showed effect on
the rate of combustion with ignition by the HPBD system.
Shen and Jiang (1992) used schlieren technique and
high speed camera to investigate initiation and early flame
development in the engine. Special spark ignition system
was designed for producing different spark energy levels.
The distribution of spark energy with Lime was adjusted by
the plug gap. Experimental results showed qualitatively
that "augmentation of breakdown energy ... made the
original flame size increase effectively which results in fast
flame propagation even at the very early stage.
Conversely, the augmentation of spark energy only during
the arc and glow phases had no obvious effect".
The first thing to note in conclusion of this section is
that the direct correlations between spark characteristics
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Fig. 27. The effect of ignition spark power on the burn
time (Cho et al, 1992).
and c.c.v. in either combustion or engine performance
parameters are scarcely found in the literature. However,
this should not disappoint. Most of the studies were
devoted to the effect of spark characteristics on the rate of
initial flame kernel growth. A strong correlation between
this rate and the level of its c.c.v., as well as the level of
pressure development cyclic variability is well known and
was several times reminded above.
The general result is that in case of a limited energy
stored in the ignition system the most favorable mode of
its release is to "pore" it in a shortest possible time, ideally
during the breakdown phase which has the highest
energy transfer efficiency. This will result in a largest hot
plasma ball after the spark onset.
Increasing total spark energy which can be done
through introduction of additional energy in the arc and
glow phases (augmentation of current and/or duration) is
also beneficial for flame kernel growth. This conclusion is
about the same made in the review of Kalghatgi (1987).
Any modification of the ignition system is expected
to bring maximum result at lean and highly diluted engine
operation. Under these conditions the early flame kernel
development stage is longer and stronger affected by
spark discharge characteristics.
4.3.3. Spark "Jitter" - Young (1981) counted this factor
among others influencing c.c.v. and concluded that its
effect is too small to account for. No other researches
found in the literature paid attention to this factor.
20
Moreover, the modem trend to replace a conventional
distributor point - breaker system by electronic ignition
system almost eliminates spark "jitter" in the engine.
4.3.4. Spark Gap - The influence of the spark gap
manifests itself through two effects. The first effect is the
change in the breakdown voltage and energy. The larger
is the gap, the higher is the voltage required to break
down the gap, and the larger is the energy released in this
phase of discharge. One should keep in mind, however,
that too large gaps cannot be broken down with realistic
ignition systems. The second effect is the change in
percent of the energy lost from the flame kernel to the
electrodes due to heat transfer. Increasing spark gap
usually results in larger ratio between flame kernel volume
and "wetted" electrode surface area. The first effect is
more important in the earliest stage of flame initiation,
while the second effect becomes apparent in the stage of
flame kernel growth. Anyway, the spark gap has to be
larger than the flame quenching distance.
Young (1981) mentioned spark gap as a factor
having little effect on pressure c.c.v.
In the work of Douaud et al. (1983) an experimental
single-cylinder engine fed by a commercial-type gasoline
was employed to reveal the effect of different parameters
on misfires. Four spark plug configurations were used to
evaluate the influence of their geometry on misfires. The
plugs had either a normal electrode diameter (2.7 mm), or
a small one (0.7 mm), and either a standard spark gap
(0.7 mm), or a wide one (1.2 mm). The results showed
extended lean misfire limit for the wide spark gap (fig. 28).
The extent of this effect depended on the electrode
diameter. Since the lean misfire limit may be interpreted
as a result of drastic increase in c.c.v. as the mixture is
made more lean, the extension of this limit evidence to
improved conditions of flame kernel development and
implicitly indicates less c.c.v. for the same overall
equivalence ratio.
Hill and Kapil (1989) varied spark gap from 0.7 to
2.3 mm in their experiment, using a conventional
sparkplug. Their results indicate little or no effect of spark
plug gap on the standard deviation of time required to
reach a certain mass burnt fraction.
In the previous section the work of Shen and Jiang
(1992) was briefly outlined. Besides spark energy effect,
they also studied the effect of a spark gap using two spark
plugs with 0.65 and 1.5 mm gaps with the same level of
spark energy (150 mJ). Fig. 29 presents flame kernel
evolution for three combinations of spark gap and energy.
As it is seen, curves 2 and 3 correspond to different gaps
with the same spark energy. For the larger gap the original
kernel size was also larger. It implies that combustion was
started from a larger hot plasma "ball" created by higher
breakdown energy. Increasing spark gap was also
accompanied by augmentation of flame velocity. Opposite
to several other studies, this one suggests for a distinct
effect of the spark gap on the initial flame kernel
development. The extent of this effect on pressure
development c.c.v., however, was not reported.
Despite some studies indicating no influence of
spark gap on combustion process in the engine and the
absence of any data on that influence on the engine c.c.v.,
it seems to
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Fig. 28. Influence of ignition parameterson misfires
(Douaud et al., 1983).
Operating condition: 1500 RPM, f=0.8,
hemispheric head, unshrouded valve,
volumetric efficiency=0.4.
us that some reduction in c.c.v should be expected with
increased gaps. The lack of correlations between spark
gap and c.c.v. is rather disappointing since such an
experiment seems simple to carry out.
4.3.5. Spark Plug Electrode Shape - The shape of spark
electrodes is the main factor determining heat losses to
electrodes from the flame kernel. It is naturally to expect
more favorable kernel heat balance from thin and/or
sharply-pointed electrodes. These electrodes, however,
are subjected to stronger relative erosion and therefore
have less durability. Also, the surface temperature of a
thin or sharp-pointed electrode will be higher. This creates
a danger of pre-ignition at high loads.
Before discussing the effect, one remark seems to
be important. Pischinger and Heywood (1990a) and De
Soete (1983) noticed that thinning the electrodes changes
energy release distribution in the spark. The thin
electrodes spark plug is more likely to operate in the arc
rather than glow discharge mode with higher release rate
of useful energy. This change can also contribute to the
total effect.
Young (1981) mentioned the electrode shape as a
slightly affecting factor.
De Soete (1983) observed the effect of the
electrode thickness on both the critical ignition energy and
the initial flame speed, which was stronger for weak
mixtures.
Douaud et al. (1983) similarly found a sensitivity of
initiation of combustion to "wall" effects (fig. 28).
21
Fig. 29.Comparison of flame evolution for different
spark energy and plug gaps: 1- spark energy
63mJ and plug gap 0.65mm, 2- spark energy
150mJ and plug gap 0.65mm, 3- spark energy
150mJ and plug gap 1.50mm (Shen and
Jiang, 1992).
Among other investigators, Pischinger and
Heywood (1990a) carried out the most systematic study
on spark plug geometry effects. They used standard (2.7
mm diameter) and thin (1 mm diameter) electrode plugs.
The results showed less heat losses from the flame kernel
to the electrodes with the thin electrode spark plug. The
reason for that can be easily understood from fig. 30
displaying the c.c.v. in contact area fraction for both plugs.
The contact area fraction is the ratio between the flame-
electrode contact area and the flame front area. As it is
seen, not only the level of c.c.v. but also the average value
of the contact area fraction is lower for the thin electrode
plug. The c.c.v. in contact area were found to originate
from c.c.v. in local flowfield in the spark gap vicinity. To
add, in both cases maximum of the contact area fraction
occurred at flame kernel radius of about 1 mm. As a
consequence, both equivalent flame kernel radius and its
c.c.v. at any time after spark onset are influenced by the
plug geometry. The example of this influence for t=0.93
ms is presented in fig. 31 showing somewhat 25% larger
averaged flame kernel radius and 30% less standard
deviation of it.
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Fig. 30. Frequency distribution of contasct area
fraction at 0.93ms after spark onset for
Standartd and Thin Electrodes spark plugs
(Pischinger and Heywood, 1990a).
Operating condition:1400 RPM, 1=1.25, 65°
BTC spark timing, 28.5% volumetric
efficiency.
Fig. 31. Frequency distribution of equivalent flame
radius at 0.93ms after spark onset for
Standard and Thin Electrodes spark plugs
(Pischinger and Ak-Heywood, 1990a).
22
Opposite to the previous studies, Hill and Kapil
(1989) used two types of spark plug -- conventional and
needle-pointed with smaller electrode diameter -- and
found no apparent effect of electrode geometry on the
standard deviations in burning times of the smallest flame
kernels.
Worth noting is that since the effect of the electrode
configuration is essentially expressed through heat losses
from the flame kernel, in this sense it is similar to the
previously discussed effect of the spark gap. The
combination of spark gap and electrode diameter actually
determines the contact area ratio. This can be seen from
fig. 32 in which the lean misfire limit is plotted versus
spark gap for several center-electrode diameters.
Fig. 32.Effect of spark plug electrode diameter, and
plug gap width on air-fuel ratio at engine’s
lean stable operating limit (Heywood, 1988).
Operating condition. 1600 RPM, 40° BTC
spark timing,intake pressure 300 mmHg,
30mJ spark energy.
It seems to us that though few researches deny the
effect of electrode shape on engine c.c.v., it plays an
important role in the early flame kernel development. The
thinner is the electrodes the higher is the early flame
kernel development rate and the lower are its c.c.v. The
restrictive factors for application of a thin-electrode spark
plugs were mentioned in introduction to this section. A
possible remedy can be found in further improvement of
electrode coating materials.
4.3.6. Spark Plugs Number and Location - Young (1981)
stated that spark plugs number and location have a strong
influence on cyclic combustion variations. From the
findings of several investigators he concluded that "in
general any change which decreased the maximum flame
travel distance or increased the rate of mass burning, and
thus decreased flame travel times, resulted in lowered
cyclic variations". Grounding his statement, Young
referred to the results obtained with the spark plug moved
to a more open volume in a "L" shape head engine, and to
measurements of c.c.v. in a dual spark plug engine.
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However, neither in the Young’s review, nor in the later
literature the effect was evaluated quantitatively.
Ideally, in the absence of a strong swirl motion spark
gap of a single spark plug has to be located centrally in a
combustion chamber. The combined effect of spark plug
location and in-cylinder swirl was studied by Witze (1982).
This work will be discussed in section 4.4.4. In the case of
multi-plug system as many spark sources as possible
should be equidistantly spread in the combustion chamber,
or a peripheral "surface discharge" ignition should be used
(Automotive Engineering, 1992). An example to a multi-
plug engine is the Mazda lean-burn engine with four spark
plugs per cylinder (Automotive Engineering, 1992).
Witze (1982) invesigated combustion in the engine
equipped with two spark plugs along a common diameter
near the mid-radius positions. Significanly faster burning
rates in the main stage of combustion were obtained as
compared to simply one spark plug at the same radial
location. However, when the single plug was optimally
located, the improvement provided by two sparks was not
very dramatic.
Nakamura et al. (1985) studied engine performance
characteristics with up to 12 simultaneously igniting sites.
Their results confirmed that the more is the number of
simultaneously developing flame kernels, the higher is the
initial burning rate. Furthermore, with a large number of
ignition sites c.c.v. in combustion reduced due to
elimination of slow and occasional partial-burning cycles
occurring with fewer spark plug gaps.
4.4. IN-CYLINDER MIXTURE MOTION-RELATED
FACTORS - The flow in the cylinder of internal combustion
engine is essentially turbulent. The probabilistic nature of
turbulence forces investigators to consider mixture motion-
related factors as the most influential with respect to c.c.v.
in engine performance (Young, 1981; Johansson, 1993;
Namazian et al., 1980; etc.). Since turbulence is the
inevitable feature of the in-cylinder motion, c.c.v. in the
engine performance cannot be eliminated completely. The
turbulence nature of the flow has a double effect. On the
one hand, it accelerates the combustion by increasing
flame front area and enhancing beat and mass transport
between the burned and unburned parts of the charge.
Thereby, c.c.v. tend to decrease. On the other hand,
random flow pattern in the spark gap vicinity causes
fluctuation in the magnitude and direction of the charge
velocity. It is the reason for c.c.v. in early flame kernel
development. Both effects are related with other factors,
such as combustion chamber geometry, spark plug
location, etc. Therefore, relative contribution of each of the
two effects might differ from engine to engine, and the
problem of the optimal in-cylinder flow pattern seems to be
engine-dependent.
The following factors are related to the mixture
motion:
1) mean flow velocity vector in the spark gap vicinity, and
its c.c.v.,
2) spark plug orientation with respect to the mean flow
velocity vector,
3) turbulence intensity and scales,
4) overall in-cylinder flow pattern.
23
Note, that most of these factors are strongly coupled.
For example, changing flow pattern entails changes in the
turbulence characteristics throughout the whole stage of
combustion. Also, spark plug orientation influences local
flow pattern in the spark gap vicinity. So, the above division
is conventional rather than physical.
4.4.1. Mean Flow Velocity Vector in the Spark Gap Vicinity.
and Its C.C.V. - According to the terminology of Frazer and
Bracco (1989) by mean flow velocity vector we imply the
ensemble average of the velocity in the spark gap vicinity
at the time of spark onset. The difference between mean
velocity in a particular cycle and the ensemble-averaged
mean velocity gives the c.c.v. in mean velocity.
Mean flow velocity in the vicinity of spark gap has
several important effects. In the very early stage of
sparking and flame initiation it lengthens the discharge
channel and increases the electrical energy deposited into
the flame kernel in the breakdown phase. Later, in the initial
flame kernel development stage, it can convect flame
kernel away from the electrodes decreasing beat losses to
them (Pischinger and Heywood, 1990a). In an undesirable
case (unfavorably oriented spark plug, unfavorable mean
flow vector direction, etc.) this convection is towards one of
the electrodes or the combustion chamber walls. The early
flame kernel convection affects the rate of mass burn in the
flame initiation stage and thereby influences both ignition
delay time and flame kernel radius at a given crank angle.
Furthermore, c.c.v. in the mean flow can cause random
convection that brings the kernel to different locations
around the spark gap. Then, in any individual cycle the
history of flame propagation will depend on the initial
location of the early flame kernel center: the closer is this
center to the center of combustion chamber, the faster burn
is expected in the cycle.
The influence of mean flow on spark discharge
characteristics was mention in section 3.1 with reference to
De Soete (1983). To remind, gas flow mean velocity at
spark gap displaces the discharge channel downstream
until it reaches a given length, then a new discharge is
created in a "shunting" mode. This phenomenon was also
observed in the experiments of Hamai et al. (1986). De
Soete found that "an increase in flow velocity resulted in a
decrease of the spark duration". The effect on the spark
energy, however, depended on the spark type (fig. 33). For
conventional Capacity/inductance sparks (sparks A, B, and
C in the figure) the spark energy was significantly
aggravated by the mean flow.
Hamai et al. (1986) showed that under their
experiment conditions in a constant volume chamber (see
section 4.3.2.) the spark path length started to fluctuate
when mean velocity value reached 20 m/s. A reasonable
comment is that such velocities are rather high as
compared with the optimal velocity in a spark gap vicinity (3
- 5 m/s) found by Pischinger and Heywood (1990a). Hamai
et al. concluded from their results that c.c.v. in spark
duration are caused by fluctuations in spark path length
due to variation in the gas flow velocity, but the effect of the
gas flow on the combustion fluctuations was not studied.
While the two last works mentioned above were
carried out in a constant volume combustion chamber, Hall
(1989) performed his research on a modified SI engine
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Fig. 33.Relative variation of spark energy as a funtion
of flow velocity (De Soete, 1983). Curves A, B,
and C: capacity/inductance sparks with
respective spark energy (Es) of 18.6, 4.0, and
2.6 mJ; respective spark durations in stagnat
air : 408, 156, and 122 ms. Curve D: high
voltage capacity spark; Es,= 36 mJ, spark
duration= 3.5 ms. Electrode spacing for all
sparks = 2 mm; two sharply pointed
electrodes of o.3 mm diameter.
fueled by methane. Different flow field characteristics
were achieved through the use of prechamber with two
different inlet orifice diameters. Measures were
undertaken to ensure perfect gas homogeneity, constant
spark plug orientation and equal thermodynamic
conditions for all tests. Visual access to combustion
chamber allowed for LDV measurements of the flow, while
flame kernel growth and convection were recorded using
a fiber-optic instrumented spark plug. The observations
showed significant c.c.v. in flame kernel growth and
convection which were attributed to variations in the local
flowfield at the spark gap around the time of ignition.
Correlation coefficients between flame expansion velocity
and convection velocity on the one hand, and P max and
θPmax on the other hand were calculated for different
conditions but look rather inconsistent and in several
cases are surprisingly low.
Keck et al. (1987) analyzed the results of
experiments that were conducted on MIT square cross
section piston engine. The analysis suggested that "c.c.v.
in the position and growth rate of the flame kernel at very
early times are the major cause of cycle-by-cycle
fluctuation in the pressure curves for SI engines". The
authors noted that mean flow solely did not produce any
24
c.c.v., i.e. in fact the mean velocity remained the same
from cycle to cycle. All variations in kernel displacement
and direction were attributed to the kernel "random walk"
in the turbulent flow.
In order to test the hypothesis of Keck et al. in a
production engine, Witze et al. (1990) used a fiber-optic
spark plug. Measurements were made in a single-cylinder
engine with the valves located in the sidewall of a disc-
shaped combustion chamber. The cylinder head had
optical access to allow for LDV measurements. A
comparison between the spark-plug-probe-derived
convection velocities and the LDV ensemble-average
swirl-direction velocities showed good agreement (fig. 34)
which implies that convection velocity can represent the
mean flow velocity. The obtained correlations between
combustion duration and convection velocity were
surprisingly low. This led the authors to conclusion that the
effect of the random early flame kernel convection on
c.c.v. in combustion might be much less than it was
suggested by Keck et al. (1987).
Fig. 34. Comparison of ensemble-averaged spark-
plug-derived velocities with LDV
measurments (Witze et al., 1990).
Pischinger and Heywood (1990a) noted a
remarkable role played by mean flow velocity at the time
and location of the spark. The correlation coefficient found
between individual cycle flow velocity and initial flame
growth was 0.8 for condition close to the ignition limit. In
conclusion of their work the authors recommend to keep
the values of mean flow velocity within the range of 3-5 m/
s as the optimal range for minimizing c.c.v. They suggest
that such velocities are large enough to tear the kernel off
the electrodes and at the same time are insufficient to
quench it by stretching.
In another paper, Pischinger and Heywood (1990b)
developed a model for early flame kernel growth
accounting for its possible convection. They used the
experimental results on flame-center-motion vectors and
cycle’s electrical energies as the input data, and
calculated flame propagation histories in the individual
cycles. The results showed that two thirds of the
experimentally
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observed cyclic variability in flame growth was due to

cycle-to-cycle differences in the vector of the flame kernel
center motion from the spark plug. The rest of cyclic
variability was attributed to c.c.v. in mixture strength as
well as to turbulence, which were not accounted by the
model.
Bianco et al. (1991) studied the initial flame kernel
behavior in a SI engine by using the fiber-optic spark plug
developed by Witze et al. (1988). The engine used was a
single-cylinder research engine Ricardo Hydra. A special
intake manifold was used to generate either a tumbling or
swirling motion during the induction process. With the
regular manifold the charge motion was considered as not
much organized. This case was designated as the
quiescent chamber case. The behavior of the flame kernel
was characterized by an expansion speed which
describes its growth rate, and a convection velocity which
describes its overall movement. A strong correlation
between these two parameters has been found (fig.35).
The authors explained this correlation by three factors:
higher turbulent fluctuation with higher bulk motion
velocity; larger flame stretch with higher convection
velocity due to flame anchoring by the electrodes;
reduced heat losses when the flame is pushed by
convection out of the spark plug region. There was,
however, only a weak correlation between the 10 - 90%
burn duration and the initial flame kernel behavior.
Arcoumanis and Bae (1993) conducted their work
in a cylindrical constant-volume combustion chamber
using premixed propane-air lean mixture (φ=0.75). Ignition
was provided by a conventional automotive TCI ignition
system and spark plugs. In-cylinder flow velocities were
measured by LDV and flame development was recorded
by shadowgraphy. The mixture was introduced into the
combustion chamber tangentially and ignited after various
time delays. This allowed for different levels of mean
velocity and turbulence intensity to be investigated, since
those were decaying with time. Therefore, the shorter was
the time lapse before ignition, the larger were both mean
velocity and turbulence intensity., The results (fig. 36)
showed strong effect of the flow characteristics on the
flame development in both initial and main combustion
stages. When the mean flow velocity and turbulence
intensity were higher. the combustion duration was
shorter. The correlation between mean and rms flow
velocities and combustion duration was found to be
almost linear. It should be noted that in this study the
results represent a combined effect of the mean and rms
velocities.
The discussed works showed that definitely there is a
certain influence of the mean flow on the flame kernel
growth rate through both alteration of spark characteristics
and flame kernel convection. The extent of this influence,
however, is not entirely clear. Moreover, worth to remark
that it is not easy to practically distinguish between
contributions of turbulence fluctuations and c.c.v. in mean
velocity to resultant c.c.v. in flame kernel convection. In
several cases this put before us a problem of whether to Fig. 35. Expansion speed versus convection speed
ascribe the findings to the present section or to place for three flow configurations at 1300 RPM
them in section 4.4.3 devoted to turbulence (Bianco el at., 1991).
characteristics.

25
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Fig. 36. Effect of flow and spark plug orientation on
combustion characteristics in flowing
mixtures:
(a) Initial flame development (t02, t05, t10 --
time to burn mass fraction of 0-2%, 0-5% and
0-10%, respectively),
(b) Combustion duration (t91, t90 , t Pmax --
time to burn mass fraction of 10-90%. 0-90%
and time to peak pressure, respectivelly)
(Arcoumanis and Bae, 1993). For spark plug
orientation see Fig. 38.
4.4.2. Spark Plug Orientation - Since a conventional spark
plug is not axisymmetric, its position with respect to the
mean flow direction influences the local flowfield around
the electrodes and thereby affects gasdynamic conditions
in the early flame kernel growth stage. This statement was
confirmed by a recent work of Halldin (1992), who
investigated the influence of side electrode position on the
velocity field within the spark gap. Also, as it was
mentioned, flow convects early flame kernel either
towards the ground electrode or away from it depending
on the plug orientation. It is a common opinion that for a
given flow the optimal spark plug orientation exists.
Douaud et al. (1983) used five orientations of the
spark plug with respect to the mean flow direction (fig. 37).
26
In positions 1, 2 and 3 the ground electrode was
essentially in the wake of the spark. As it is seen, these
cases brought smaller spark advance misfire limits than
cases 4 and 5 in which the ground electrode was oriented
about perpendicularly to the flow direction. The results
look reasonable: in the latter cases the flame kernel was
convected away from the ground electrode and heat
losses were reduced.
Fig. 37. Interaction between swirl and spark plug
electrode position on misfires (Douaud et
al., 1983). Operating condition: as in Fig. 28.
In their constant-volume chamber experiments,
Arcoumanis and Bae (1993) checked three spark plug
orientations. They used a conventional 1 mm gap spark
plug with three angles of the ground electrode with
respect to the mean flow direction: 0°, 90° and 180° (fig.
38). Actually, these orientations fit to different
combinations of swirl and tumble in a four-valve engine
application. Also, a surface-gap spark plug was tested as
a reference case to examine flow/flame interaction without
the disturbance introduced by the ground electrode. The
results (fig. 36) show that under high mean velocities
(>5m/s) and high turbulence intensities, the downstream
orientation of the spark plug ground electrode (0°) offered
advantages in terms of flame kernel formation and
development, while the upstream orientation (180°) led to
slower burning in the early combustion phase. The effect
was less prominent under lower flow velocities.
In their square cross-section engine, Pischinger
and Heywood (1990a) fixed spark plug in four different
positions (fig. 39). Combustion durations were measured
under conditions close to the lean limit at MBT.
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Fig. 38. Spark plug orientation relative to flow
direction (é) (Arcoumanis and Bae, 1993).
A significant impact of the spark plug orientation was
claimed by the authors, though rather moderate influence
can be seen in the figure. The delayed combustion
process was observed when the ground electrode was
oriented towards the intake valve. In this case, as it was
evidenced by schlieren pictures, the flame kernel was
blown by the local flow more often towards the cooling
ground electrode.
Mantel (1992) used three-dimensional numerical
simulations of flame kernel growth to compare between
different spark electrode orientations, namely, crossflow,
downstream, and upstream. The results showed that the
crossflow and downstream cases permitted a faster burnt
kernel growth. The upstream case happened to be the
worst. This was explained by a masking effect imposed by
the ground electrode in the upstream position. The effect
led to lower mean and rms turbulent velocities in the spark
gap. The masking effect for the upstream ground
electrode position was later observed experimentally by
Arcoumanis and Bae (1993). Mantel presented a
comparative table containing the results of several studies
in which the best spark plug orientation was sought. The
works of Ziegler et al. (1986), Bjorge (1987), and
Anderson and Asik (1983) not mentioned by us before,
were included in this table. The two first researches "vote"
for downstream orientation, while the third study gave
preference to the upstream case. The common opinion,
however, was that the crossflow orientation is the best
from all points of view, providing
27
Fig. 39. Impact of spark plug rotation on varius
burned-levels with the standard spark plug
(Pischinger and Heywood, 1990a).
Operating condition: as in Fig. 30.
both the shortest combustion duration and the lowest lean
limit.
To summarize the findings described in this section,
there is still uncertainty about what side electrode
orientation, either upstream or downstream. is more
favorable for fast flame kernel growth. Anyway, crossflow
orientation of the spark plug was commonly recognized as
the best one, and this conclusion has the most practical
importance.
Unfortunately, no direct correlations between c.c.v.
in combustion and spark plug orientations were found in
the literature.
4.4.3. Turbulence Intensity and Scales - All early
investigations of turbulence effect on combustion
summarized in the Young’s (1981) review agreed that
turbulence enhancement, especially in the small-scale
part of its spectrum, leads to a higher burn rate and
reduced c.c.v. However, most of those studies were not
accompanied by flow measurements and qualitative
assumptions about the flow were made for different
modifications in the intake system. Therefore, most of the
conclusions in fact concerned the effect of the overall flow
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pattern alone. They will be discussed in the next section.
Some later researchers also drawn their conclusions on
turbulence effect from experiments involving different flow
patterns. Thus, the profound effect of a swirl motion was
attributed partly to increased turbulence.
The following phenomenology of the influence of
turbulence on the combustion process is customary. The
rate of energy release from combustion depends on both
the instantaneous mass burning velocity and the flame
front area. The latter, in turn, is influenced by turbulence.
In the regime of flamelet combustion, turbulence
increases the total flame front area by wrinkling and
corrugating (Peters, 1986). Therefore, to a certain extent
turbulence is beneficial to the kernel growth rate. Worth
noting is that in contrast to a fully developed flame, the
evolutionary small kernel at any given moment can be
affected only by scales less than its size, while the large
scale fluctuations can only convect it as a whole (Abdel-
Gayed et al., 1986). As the kernel radius grows, more and
more scales start to interact with the flame front until the
whole spectrum of fluctuations is involved in the process.
Not all of the fluctuations are favorable to flame kernel
development. The eddies with sufficiently large velocities
are able to locally quench the flame (Meneveau and
Poinsot, 1991; Ko and Anderson, 1989). The larger is the
turbulence intensity, the higher is the probability of there
being of these eddies in the flow, and global flame
quenching becomes more probable.
Cole and Swords (1981) conducted their study
using conditionally sampled LDV measurements in the
research engine. The conclusion was that there is "...a
strong correlation between fluctuation of relatively large
scale flow structures in the spark gap region immediately
prior to ignition and the subsequent combustion efficiency.
High frequency turbulence makes a much less significant
contribution to the observed combustion fluctuation".
However, no graphs or tables were presented in the paper
in support of this conclusion.
Similar statement is contained in the work of Le Coz
(1992) in which a single-cylinder engine with a four-valve
head has been used. Three different patterns of the in-
cylinder charge motion were achieved by changing intake
valves configuration. The LDV technique was used to
obtain the velocity components near the electrode gap.
Spark current was recorded in order to evaluate spark
duration. With this concern the results of the author were
mentioned in section 4.3.2. Analyzing the cyclic variance
of the flame initiation duration, Le Coz found that it is
predominantly affected by flame kernel convection which
is determined by the large scale fluid motion. The small-
scale turbulence affects the initiation stability mostly for a
fuel/air equivalence ratio higher than 0.8. This result
sounds illogical unless the author meant relative
contribution of small-scale turbulence to the total variance
in a lean and diluted mixture. Indeed, as the mixture is
made more lean, the effects of both spark characteristics,
large-scale motion, and small-scale fluctuation are
increased. Relatively, however, the two firsts of these
factors start to prevail.
Witze et al. (1984) used LDV measurements of the
flowfield ahead of the flame front in the Sandia single-
28
cylinder research engine modified to permit visual access
to the combustion chamber. In addition, the crank angle of
flame arrival to the LDV probe volume (éFA) was
registered in each cycle. The main finding of the
investigation is a strong correlation between turbulence
intensity ahead of the flame and éFA (fig. 40). As it is seen
from the figure, a shorter flame initiation stage occurs in
the cycle with higher turbulence intensity. concluded that
these results strongly suggest that c.c.v. in burn duration
are caused by c.c.v. in the bulk turbulence intensity.
Fig. 40. Conditionally-sampled turbulence data in the
unburned gas region. In general, there is a
correlation between flame arival time and the
turbulence intensity ahead of the flame
(Witze,et al., 1984).
The work of Hall (1989) was referred to in section
4.4.1 with concern to the mean flow effect. In this paper
the influence of turbulence intensity was studied also. The
inference derived from the results of flame kernel
development visualization in three different engine
configurations is rather opposite to the above conclusions
of Cole and Swords (1981) and Le Coz (1992). The author
suggests that just the small-scale turbulence intensity is of
a primary importance for early flame kernel growth rate,
while c.c.v. in the larger scale bulk velocities in the vicinity
of the spark do not contribute significantly to cyclic
variations in pressure. Higher small-scale turbulence
intensity was found to enhance the rate of flame kernel
growth for mixtures with equivalence ratio as lean as 0.7
(fig. 41). Unfortunately, it is not entirely clear from the
paper how the author has distinguished between the
contributions of the small-scale and large-scale fluctuation
to the overall turbulence intensity without using frequency
filter. Moreover, the conclusion about the minor role of the
large scales bulk velocities was derived from small
(always less than 0.3) correlation coefficients between
convection velocity and Pmax and épmax, However, the
author himself admitted that this result should not be
generalized. Thus, as the spark location was changed,
stronger correlation was obtained.
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In their analysis of the experimental results of

Gatowski and Heywood (1985), Keck et al. (1987) looked
for possible c.c.v. in the values of the characteristic
turbulent entrainment speed and eddy size during the
main combustion stage but did not find any. They
concluded that the random fluctuations in these quantities
were averaged out over the large flame area occurring
during this stage.

Fig. 41. Mean flame speed of flame kernel (Hall, 1989).

Ho and Santavicca (1987), whose findings

concerning equivalence ratio and spark energy were
mentioned earlier in sections 4.1.2 and 4.3.2, also
investigated the effect of turbulence on the early flame
kernel growth. The kernel growth was measured in a flow
reactor under two different turbulent flow conditions with
the help of laser shadowgraphy. Turbulence intensity and
integral length scale were obtained by using LDV for two-
point spatial correlation measurements. Though the
experiments were conducted not in the engine, they are
rather detailed and informative. Fig. 42 illustrates the
effect of turbulence intensity on kernel growth for two
different spark energies. Note, that the two studied
turbulence intensities differed one from another very
significantly (by the factor of 20). As it is seen, in both
cases higher turbulence intensity resulted in more rapid
flame development. The effect, however. is delayed in the
high spark energy case. This was explained by the
dominant influence of the powerful spark on the flame
kernel expansion velocity during the first few milliseconds.
The effect of turbulence depended on mixtures strength.
For ultra-lean mixtures, as it is shown in fig. 43, too high
turbulence level can be undesirable, imposing an inverse
effect on the rate of flame kernel growth. This was
attributed to an excessive flame surface stretching and
local flame extinction. Note. that fig. 43, as well as the
following fig. 44 are reproduced from the original paper
without any changes. However, it seems that by mistake
the legend contains the two constant turbulence intensity/
laminar flame velocity ratios (U’/SL). Evidently. they
cannot remain constant as the mixture strength is
changed. Therefore the reader should be advised to relate
triangles and circles to 100 cm/s and 5 cm/s turbulence
Fig. 42. Ignition kernel diameter versus time for
different turbulence intensities and spark
energies: (a) 7mJ spark energy, (b) 30mJ
spark energy (Ho and Santavicca, 1987).
intensities, respectively. Fig. 44 displayes relative c.c.v in
flame kernel volume at a fixed time of 2 ms after spark
onset. Somewhat surprisingly, high turbulence manifested
itself in higher cyclic variability over the whole range of the
examined mixture strengths. The authors did not explain
their results. We propose the following explanation. In the
case of low turbulence the value of turbulence intensity
was very small as compared to the laminar flame speed
plus expansion velocity of the kernel. Under such
conditions the early flame kernel formation seems to
proceed in the almost laminar mode, and the impact of
turbulence is negligible. On the opposite, the high
turbulence case examined in the work is close to the
quenching boundary, when the probability of locally
quenching eddies is significant. Such a flame usually
develops by irregular "jerks" which could become the
main reason for the observed high variability. We dare to
guess that a moderate turbulence level, somewhat
between those chosen in the research, would have both
accelerated the flame and reduced c.c.v.
Another attempt to relate c.c.v. in combustion to the
ratio between turbulence characteristics and the laminar

29
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Fig. 43. Mean equivalence flame kernel volume
versus equivalence ratio (Ho and
Santavicca, 1987).
Fig. 44. Relative rms fluctuation of the equivalent
flame kernel volume versus equivalence
ratio (Ho and Santavicca, 1987).
flame speed was undertaken in the works of Hill (1988)
and Hill and Kapil (1989). Opposite to the study of Ho and
Santavicca (1987) in which the turbulence intensity was
involved, in these researches the Taylor microscale length
(λ) stood for turbulence characteristic. Hill (1988)
proposed to utilize the Tennekes model of turbulence
structure to quantify c.c.v. in the initial stage of
combustion. He defined the characteristic mean random
time delay as λ/4SL and hypothesized quantitative relation
between this time and the observed fluctuations in ignition
delay time in the engine. Fig. 45 shows that such a
relation really exists. Note, that σ0 in the figure is the value
of standard deviation in burning times corresponding to a
certain mass burnt fraction, x, extrapolated to x=0. The
inference from the study was that the origin of cyclic
variations in engines lies mainly in the small-scale
structure of turbulence. In a later paper of Hill and Kapil
(1989) similar relation was revealed for the wider
30
operating conditions with a factor of two-thirds between
the experimental data and theoretical values. From this
result the authors arrived to a conclusion that cyclic
variation in SI engine can be reduced by decreasing the
Taylor microscale during ignition and increasing the
turbulence intensity.
Fig. 45. Comparison of estimated mean ignition time
delay and initial standard deviation of
burning times (Hill, 1988).
Cho et al. (1992) studied the influence of turbulence
level on early flame kernel development in the flow under
atmospheric conditions. Two turbulence intensities (0.33
m/s and 0.88 m/s) were employed in combination with
three ignition systems (see section 4.3.2). The results (fig.
46) showed that increased turbulence intensity generally
increased the flame kernel growth rate. However, the
extent of this effect depended on spark characteristics.
This latter conclusion is consistent with that of Ho and
Santavicca (1987).
As turbulence intensity is known to vary almost
linearly with the mean piston velocity, its effect can be
studied by comparison between early flame kernel
development at different engine speeds. This method was
adopted by Shen and Jiang (1992). The results are
consonant to the previous studies. Fig. 47 shows a
progressively enhanced flame kernel development rate at
higher engine speed.
Opposite to the above studies, Petrovic (1982)
investigated the impact of turbulence level on both initial
and main stages of in-cylinder combustion. His
experimental work was carried out on a single-cylinder
CFR engine. The level of turbulence was aggravated by a
factor of two by changing the intake valve from
unshrouded to shrouded. Two ionization gap probes were
used to measure the flame propagation periods: the first
probe located close to the spark plug was thought to
measure averaged flame kernel growth period, while the
second was fixed at the chamber wall opposite the spark
plug and supposed to represent the total flame
propagation period. The results suggested that increased
turbulence level
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Fig. 46. The effect of ignition spark power on flame
kernel growth at low and high turbulence
conditions, with no dilution (Cho et al.,
1992).
Fig. 47. Comparison of flame evolution for different
engine speeds (Shen and Jiang, 1992).
--.--.--.-- engine speed 500 RPM;
-- -- -- -- - engine speed 1100 RPM.
31
reduced the standard deviation in developed flame
propagation period. On the other hand, it did not affect
noticeably the parameters of flame initiation stage.
Unfortunately, no flow characteristics were measured by
the author. Therefore, no conclusions can be done about
either the overall flow pattern. which was definitely
changed by the shroud, or the constituents of the
turbulence intensity. Consequently, attributing the obtained
results to the changed turbulence level solely seems to be
not well-grounded.
Summarizing this section, several important
conclusions can be proposed. Firstly, to enhance the flame
kernel growth rate and accordingly to reduce c.c.v. in
combustion, the level of turbulence intensity near the spark
gap should be increased. This will be true until a certain
limiting value of turbulence intensity is reached. Above this
value opposite effect can be obtained due to excessive
flame stretching causing local flame quenching. Secondly,
the optimal turbulence level depends on the engine
operating conditions, particularly on the mixture strength
and spark characteristics. Despite a very limited
experimental data, another liable conclusion is that high
turbulence intensity is also beneficial at the main stage of
flame propagation, though again a certain limit is likely to
exist.
Several studies revealed that at the initial stage of
combustion the impact of turbulence level strongly
depends on spark discharge characteristics, in particular,
on the effective spark energy. This implies that insufficient
level of turbulence can be to some extent compensated by
enhanced spark discharge.
There is not a lot of agreement between the
investigators about relative importance of large and small
scales in the flow concerning their influence on the early
flame kernel growth rate. It is not of surprise; for the
experimental conditions strongly varied from study to study.
The extent of the effect of both large and small scale
fluctuations, however, strongly depends on flame initiation
conditions. Thus, large scale motion would be expected to
have a more profound effect if there is no strong mean flow
through the spark gap which predetermines kernel
convection. Then, random large scale fluctuations will
entail strong e.c.v. in direction of kernel convection, and
their relative importance will be large. On the opposite, in
the presence of a significant mean flow the kernel will be
convected more or less similarly in any cycle, and the role
played by small-scale fluctuations will grow. Also, the
energy distribution between small and large scales in the
spectrum is of a great importance and can differ from one
flow to another. A useful parameter to characterize this
distribution is the Taylor microscale length. C.c.v. in flame
initiation duration were found to be strongly related to this
parameter. The less is #, the less is the dispersion in "first
eddy bum times", and the less are the c.c.v.
The final remark worth to make is that the only
reasonable cut-off boundary between large and small
turbulent scales with concern to their effect on flame kernel
growth seems to be the instantaneous size of the kernel.
As this size is time-dependent, the relative contribution of
different scales also must vary. Apparently. this
phenomenon was out of the scope of the referred works.
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4.4.4. Overall In-Cylinder Flow Pattern - Different types of increased burning rate, particularly during the main stage
flow pattern can be met in the engine. The actual flow in of combustion. Squish velocities were also found to be
the combustion chamber is determined by the engine beneficial for the combustion, but to a less extent. While
design, namely, by the shape of combustion chamber and the main effect of the swirl was in the early combustion
induction ports, and the type and configuration of inlet development stage, the squish was found to have its
valves. The instantaneous flow also depends on the greatest impact on the main combustion stage near top
piston position and the engine operating regime. Three center. As cyclic variations arise mainly in the early
main macro-structures of the in-cylinder flow are usually combustion stage, the overall effect of swirl motion was
referred to: swirl, squish and tumble. The first is stronger than the effect of squish.
essentially a rotation of the charge about the cylinder axis.
The second is the charge motion radially inward the
combustion chamber at the end of compression stroke.
The third is the charge rotation in one of the meridional
planes of the cylinder. This last structure is known to exist
during intake and most of compression, but is usually
broken up close to the end of the compression stroke.
Most of its energy then is transformed into a turbulent
kinetic energy. Different combinations of these three main
motions can be provided by engine design.
In most of the engine designs there is a strong
correlation between in-cylinder flow pattern and mean flow
vector through a spark gap. Thus. if the spark is located
with some offset from the cylinder axis, swirl motion will
cause predominant flame kernel convection in the
tangential direction, while squish will tend to convect it
radially towards the center of the combustion chamber.
These trends were observed by Keck et al. (1987).
According to the previous discussion, early displacement Fig. 48. Effect of a shrouded valve on percent
of the flame center from the spark gap is one of the major variation. With high combustion rates, the
reasons for c.c.v. in mass burning rates observed later in minimum variation approched 30% (Young,
the cycles. Therefore, one of the mechanisms of the 1981; Patterson, 1966).
overall flow pattern influence on c.c.v. is expected through
early flame kernel convection.
In section 4.1.4 we mention the work of Pundir et al.
Another important feature of any mean turbulent
(1981). To remind, they modified intake system in the CFR
flow is the extent of turbulence generating shear stresses.
engine with a shrouded intake valve in order to generate a
In the swirl motion. turbulence is generated rather
swirl charge motion. From the experiments results (fig. 17)
moderately throughout the whole compression stroke,
they noticed that introduction of swirl decreased
whereas in the cases of tumble or squish, turbulence level
significantly the variance coefficient of Pmax.
is aggravated rapidly near the top center of compression
stroke. This turbulence generation can be thought as the In the study of Witze (1982) a single-cylinder
second mechanism of the overall flow pattern influence. engine with a sapphire window was employed. The
The last mechanism of the flow pattern effect is window was used for both LDV measurements and
through convection of the fully developed flame within the shadowgraph photography. Several different shrouded
combustion chamber. This phenomenon was intake-valves located at the side wall were used to
demonstrated by the in-cylinder photographs taken by generate swirls with different intensity. Three spark plug
Witze (1982). locations were studied: side-wall, central, and mid-radius.
The paper contains very illustrative flame motion pictures
From the Young’s (1981) survey it can be for different combinations of swirl ratio and plug position. It
concluded that swirl motion permits a significant decrease was revealed that optimal spark plug position in the
in c.c.v. in pressure and combustion development, as well combustion chamber depends on swirl intensity (fig. 49).
as achievement of remarkable improvement in other Thus, in the low swirl cases the central spark plug location
important characteristics, such as burning rate, IMEP, etc. brought the shortest total bum duration. It was explained
In one of the referred studies (Patterson, 1966) a 50% by the dominant effect of the flame travel distance. For
reduction in the relative pressure rate variations due to higher swirl numbers the mid-radius spark location started
swirl motion was announced (fig. 48). The largest effect of to be most favorable. Finally, for the most intensive swirls
swirl was obtained with lean mixtures. These conclusions the side-wall spark location was found to be the best. The
were common for all studies. The significant effect of the generally known relationship between total bum duration
swirl supplies energy to the turbulence, opposite to and c.c.v. in combustion was confirmed. Fig. 50 displayes
dissipation process that leads to turbulence decay.
Thereby, higher turbulence level remains in the
combustion chamber for longer period resulting in

32
 Downloaded from SAE International by Columbia Univ, Monday, August 20, 2018
these c.c.v. through standard deviation in éPmax versus
total burn duration for different swirl numbers.
Unfortunately, the spark location is not prescribed in the
figure legend. According to fig. 49, we guess that all the
data are for side-wall spark location.
Fig. 49. Effect of swirl on total bum duration (0-90%)
for varius spark locations (protruding plug)
and equivalence ratio (Witze, 1982).
Fig. 50. Dependence of cyclic variation on the total
burn duration (0-90%) and swirl number.
Cyclic variaton has been defind as the
standard deviation in the crank angle of
maximum per-cycle pressure (Witze, 1982).
33
In section 4.4.1 the work of Bianco et al. (1991) was
discussed. Three types of flow pattern were compared,
namely, quiescent. swirl and tumble. The results showed
that in every stage of combustion swirl and tumble provided
faster burning rate compared to the quiescent case. The
contribution of tumble to the burning rate was most
prominent in the early stage of combustion, when the burnt
mass fraction was between 5 and 10 percent. In the swirl
case the best improvement came in the middle of the
burning process. when the burnt mass fraction was
between 30 and 50 percent. This result looks very logical:
tumble cannot be felt in the late combustion stage since it
does not exist after top center. On the other hand, its
contribution at the early stage is caused by according
contribution to the small-scale turbulence fluctuations, as
was discussed before. One of the conclusions of this study
was that swirl and tumble present a definite charge motion
in the chamber and thereby provide less variation in the
direction of convection velocity, than the quiescent case.
Lord et al. (1993) used fiber-optic spark plug in
conjunction with pressure transducer to collect the data
from four production engines designed to generate
quiescent, swirl, and tumble charge motions. All tests were
conducted at stoichiometric A/F ratio. Analyzing early flame
kernel growth dynamics, the authors marked the highest
values of both the convection velocity and flame kernel
growth rate in the case of high swirl. Tumble could enhance
flame growth rate to a less extent and only in cases of
retarded ignition. This is consistent with the foregoing
discussion on tumble collapse at the end of compression.
Really, before this collapse. the influence of tumble should
not be expected. The tumble engine showed the shortest
total burning duration. This result should not be misleading:
the tests were carried out on different engines. Complete
engine specifications are not included into the paper. The
only available information is about engine displacements
and number of valves. It helped us to note that the
displacement of the tumble engine was somewhat 20%
less than that of the high swirl engine. while the
displacement of the quiescent engine was even less. The
immediate objection concerning direct comparison
between total combustion durations in these engines arises
from different flame travel distances supposed to be in their
combustion chambers. Then, it is rather natural that the
tumble engine had shorter combustion time than the high
swirl engine, but rather unnatural to relate this effect to the
flow pattern alone.
Belaire et al. (1983) investigated the effect of squish
intensity on 0 - 10% and 10 - 90% mass fraction burn
durations in a high swirl spark ignition engines. A single-
cylinder engine with a nearly central spark plug location,
operated on propane premixed with air, was utilized in the
study. Three combustion chambers were employed:
pancake, 60% squish area bowl-in-piston, and 75% squish
area bowl-in-piston. The results showed a significant
reduction of both 0 - 10% and 10 - 90% burn durations for
bowl-in-piston combustion chambers. The strongest effect
was obtained for 75% squish area combustion chamber.
Worth noting that 0 - 10% burn duration was affected by
squish only if the ignition was retarded. Keeping in mind
that squish motion is generated late in the compression
stroke. this result appears to be very reasonable.
 Downloaded from SAE International by Columbia Univ, Monday, August 20, 2018
In the work of Le Coz (1992), which was partially
discussed in section 4.4.3, the following conclusion was
proposed with concern to the overall flow pattern.
"Practically, the generation of a vortex in the combustion
chamber is a way for stabilizing the flow. The swirling
vortex ... reduces the cyclic variability. However, if the
spark plug is central, ... then it always in the vicinity of the
rotation axis of the vortex. This zone is known to be the
most unstable in the flow because the rotation axis moves
in a random manner. Therefore, it is desirable to introduce
a tumblimg component also. A vortex with a horizontal
axis induces a more regular flow velocity at the spark plug
location, and this property has the advantage of allowing
more stable initiation of combustion. Finally, the
combination of a tumbling and a swirling components is a
type of flow that minimizes the cyclic variability".
The last quotation may stand for a part of this
section’s summary. Strong swirl charge motion enhances
the burning rate if the spark plug is located off-center the
combustion chamber. For the optimal result the spark
location should be matched to a given swirl intensity.
Generation of swirl motion by installation of a shroud onto
the intake valve, however, has the disadvantage of
reducing engine volumetric efficiency and increasing heat
losses to the cylinder walls (Stone, 1992; Young, 1981). It
is still unclear, in which stage of combustion the swirl is
more effective, but its beneficence to both initial and
developed flame propagation stages is definite.
The effect of tumble is most prominent at the stage
of flame initiation. This is due to its break up with
consequent contribution to the in-cylinder turbulence
intensity just about the time of spark discharge.
A very limited number of studies have analyzed the
effect of squish on engine combustion characteristics and
their c.c.v. From the. reported results it follows that in
general squish reduces the duration of both combustion
stages, but the extent of this reduction is less than that
imposed by swirl.
5. SUMMARY
The problem of cycle-by-cycle variations in various
phenomena that occur inside the cylinder of a SI engine,
has been intensively studied during the last decades. The
subject received an increasing interest, that reflects the
increasing importance of the c.c.v. problem in the light of
the continuously stringent restrictions on engine
pollutants.
The development of advanced techniques for in-cylinder
measurements of the flame initiation and development
allows to gain a deep and fundamental understanding of
the c.c.v. origin, though yet only in qualitative terms. The
high potential of these methods is more and more
appreciated by both the scientific and industrial
communities. Simple measurements, however. such as
measurements of c.c.v. in pressure-related parameters
(Pmax, θPmax, or IMEP), are still most valuable in
estimating in quantitative terms, the effect of various
variables on the c.c.v. It seems that if a combination of the
methods, i.e., simultaneous measurements of the in-
cylinder phenomena together with the corresponding
pressure-related parameters, were a common practice
34
among the researchers, a well grounded basis for a
conclusive comparison study could have been
established. In this study we arrived to the conclusion that.
on the basis of the present available data on c.c.v. in
pressure-related parameters, it is almost impossible to
estimate in quantitative terms, the effect of some
important variables on the c.c.v. Our conclusions are
therefore reduced to essentially qualitative ones.
Though many indicators for c.c.v. can be
considered, the maximum pressure, P max, the crank-
angle at which it occurs, θPmax, and the IMEP, are of
special importance. Each of them has its own
peculiarities. Pmax exhibits the largest relative c.c.v. at the
MBT timing, i.e., under practical engine operation. θPmax
is the most suitable indicator for c.c.v. in the initial flame
kernel development stage, and the c.c.v. in IMEP are most
useful for the indication of the engine response to the
c.c.v. in the combustion process.
In this study, we have distinguished between c.c.v.
causing and c.c.v. influencing factors. Tables 2 and 3
present an idea of the mechanisms of their influences,
and an attempt to evaluate the relative contribution of the
causing (table 2) and influencing factors (table 3) on the
C.C.V. Estimating the relative contribution of the c.c.v.
causing factors, however, was sometimes a problematic
task due to coupled effects or insufficient data.
As concern to the factors influencing the extent of
the c.c.v., all of them affect the duration of either or both,
the initial flame kernel development stage, and the main
propagation stage. The general rule which can be inferred
from many studies is: the shorter are the combustion
stages (especially, the initial flame kernel development
stage), the less are the c.c.v. in combustion. The last
column of table 3 suggests best choice for each of the
factors to achieve minimum c.c.v. However, in many
cases this choice is not a practical solution. Thus, fuel
type is determined by commercial reasons. and its
replacement is rather a theoretical issue. Also, opposite to
the theoretical choice, high values of the overall A/F ratio
and EGR percent are needed to satisfy engine emission
regulations. Therefore their contribution to the extent of
c.c.v. should be compensated by treating other factors.
From all considered, the optimization of the spark
plug-related parameters (including spark orientation),
seems to be the easiest to implement. This. however,
requires advanced materials to with stand intensive
erosion and to provide high rate of heat conduction. Also,
one should remember that spark plug-related parameters
do not affect noticeably the main stage of combustion, and
therefore the result of their optimization is more limited
than that which could be obtained by optimizing flow-
related factors.
Flow-related parameters influence all combustion
stages. Their optimization, however, is not a simple task.
Usually it involves modifications in configuration of both
the intake system and combustion chamber. and depends
on the number of spark plugs, spark plugs’ location and
orientation. The optimal flow pattern. therefore. depends
very much on the engine design.
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Table 2 - Summary on c.c.v. causing factors

Influenced combustion Relative

stage contribution(st
1- sparking and flame ars stand for
initiation, Kind of caused primary variations remarks
C.c.v. causing factor
2 - intial flame kernel beneath the
development, table)
3 - turbulent flame
propagation.
turbulence intensity and scales 2 Flame streching, local quenching, flame Significant
kernel convection
c.c.v. in the overall A/F ratio 2 Laminar flame speed affecting flame *
kernel growth rate
3 Laminar flame speed affecting flame Unstudied
propagation velocity
c.c.v. in the overall fraction of 2 Laminar flame speed affecting flame *
diluents kernel growth rate
3 Laminar flame speed affecting flame **
propagation velocity
mixture spatial inhomogeneity 2 mixture composition Depends on
in the "first eddy burnt" the scale of
non-uniformities
c.c.v. in cylinder charging 3 Amout of fuel burned per cycle Significant
(conclusion is
based on a
single study)
c.c.v. in mean flow vector 1 Length of spark channel affecting spark Small
discharge characteristics
2 Kernel convection velocity vector Small,***
c.c.v. in spark discharge 1 Initial size of the hot plasma kernel Unstudied,
characteristics ****
2 Energy amount and rate of its deposition Unstudied,
into the flame kernel ****
Spark "jitter" 1 Thermodynamic conditions affecting Negligible,
spark breakdown energy particularly in
modern
3 Combustion phasing in the cycle electronic
systems

Comments:
* Only a combined effect of spatial inhomogeneity and
c.c.v. in both overall A/F ratio and fraction of diluents can
be drawn from the studies with local mixture sampling; this
combined effect is estimated to be significant.
** The effect is coupled with the effect of c.c.v. in cylinder
charging (reduced amount of residuals in the cycle is
usually accompanied by increased amount of fuel to be
burned, thereby the total effect is amplified). As a matter
of fact, we are not aware of any experimental data on
c.c.v. in both fraction of diluents and cylinder charging.
*** C.c.v. in flame kernel convection can be caused by
both random turbulent fluctuations and c.c.v. in mean flow
velocity. The latter source seems to be less important,
therefore its contribution is estimated as small.
**** C.c.v. in spark discharge characteristics are mostly
a secondary effect of the c.c.v. in mean flow velocity.
There is a lack of data on the magnitude of these
variations; only the effect of mean values of spark
characteristics was reported.

35
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Table 3 - Summary on factors influencing the extent of c.c.v.
Factor influencing the extent
c.c.v.
Type of fuel
Overall A/F ratio
Overall fraction of diluents
Spark timing
Spark discharge characteristics
Spark gap
Electrode shape
Spark plugs number and location
Spark plug orientation with
respect to mean flow velocity
vector
Mean flow vector at the spark gap
vicinity
Overall in-cylinder flow pattern
Turbulence scales
in the spark gap vicinity
Turbulence intensity
Influenced
combustion stage
1- sparking and Mechanism of influence Best for minimum
flame initiation. c.c.v
2 - intial flame kernel
development,
3 - turbulent flame
propagation.
2 and 3 Laminar flame speed Providing maximum
laminar flame speed
2 and 3 Laminar flame speed Close to
stoichiometric
2 and 3 Laminar flame speed Minimum possible
----- Combustion phasing in the cycle MBT
1 Hot plasma kernel expansion rate High breakdown
energy, long spark
2 Spark contribution to the flame duration, aggravated
kernel energy balance spark current
1 Size of initial hot plasma kernel,
breakdown energy
As wide as possible
2 Relative heat loss affected by
flame kernel volume to "wetted"
surface area ratio
2 Relative heat loss affected by Thin and/or sharp-
contact area fraction poined
3 Flame travel distance Multi-point ignition;
single spark location
depends on the flow
pattern
Heat losses affected by flame perpendicular to
kernel convection with respect to mean flow velocity
the side electrode vector
2 Flame kernel convection 3 - 5 m/s, crossflow
2 Flame kernel convection Intensive swirl
coupled with tumble
3 Convection of the fully developed or squish component
flame
2 Dispersion in "first eddy burn Small Taylor
times" microscale at the
time of ignition
2 Flame kernel growth rate Increased to a value
giving incipient local
3 Turbulent flame propagation flame quenching
velocity
36
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