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Robust engine operation with long maintenance intervals and low emissions is the key to meeting future engine requirements. At the same time, engines should be environmentally friendly, resource-friendly, and cost-effective to produce and operate. To meet these market requirements, a central component in engine development is the ignition system and in particular the spark plug. To increase the maintenance intervals of internal combustion engines, it is necessary to increase spark plug lifetime by reducing spark plug wear. The electrode materials used to date are often expensive and rare, and their mining is not without controversy. Successful use of alternative spark plug electrode materials which are available in large quantities, inexpensive, and more resistant to wear than existing materials with similar ignition behavior would advance engine development so it can meet further economic and environmental requirements. To this end, ceramic spark plug electrodes were investigated to determine their spark and ignition behavior as well as their wear. These materials seem to be an interesting alternative to existing spark plug electrode materials. This paper presents a spark plug with ceramic spark plug electrodes that achieves conditions similar to those of standard spark plugs in terms of secondary voltage trace and ignition behavior. Furthermore, it introduces a sophisticated method for scientific, cost-effective, and application-oriented development. Finally, it provides a promising outlook for the ignition behavior and combustion performance of engines with this spark plug.

This paper is concerned with the influence of cavitation in the injection nozzle on combustion in diesel engines. After an overview of the fundamental definitions to characterize nozzles — where above all the injection pressure, the back pressure, the injection mass flow, and the spray momentum through the nozzle as well as the geometry play a role — the difference between a cavitating and a non-cavitating nozzle will be clarified both theoretically and based on engine measurements. To observe the influence of cavitation on combustion in isolation, a cavitating and a non-cavitating nozzle were designed in such a way that they possessed the same mass flow and the same nozzle discharge velocity. In addition to the manufacturer's measurement, the nozzles were measured using a combined flowrate—spray momentum device at levels of injection pressure and back pressure close to those in an engine. A single-cylinder research engine with a modern common rail injection system served as the test engine for the experiments. The experiments revealed striking differences in emission levels. Especially notable are the differences in the soot values. To explore in more detail these differences between the cavitating and non-cavitating nozzle, optical investigations were conducted in an injection chamber. CCD high-speed imaging was used to visualize mixture formation of the two different nozzles.

The characterization of diesel sprays for the simulation-based optimization of injection strategies and combustion chamber geometries is of particular importance to reach future targets concerning performance, fuel consumption and emissions. The prediction quality of this simulation process depends largely upon the adequate calibration of the spray models used. This paper aims to present the experimental setup of a spray box, the applied optical visualization techniques and the results. Furthermore, it will show the adjustment and the validation of the simulation models based on the experimental analysis.Copyright © 2006 by ASME