This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
Design and Materials for Long-Life Spark Plugs
Technical Paper
2006-01-0617
ISSN: 0148-7191, e-ISSN: 2688-3627
Annotation ability available
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
Durability of spark plug electrodes is mainly determined by spark gap widening, caused by electrode wear. The performance of a spark plug strongly depends on the electrode material, the electrode design, and the operating conditions, i.e. temperature, atmosphere, spark energy, and current.
The knowledge about erosion mechanisms of spark plug materials and their dependence on spark plug parameters is of fundamental interest for the development of materials with a high resistance against electrode erosion. Endurance tests were carried out in a compression chamber to study the spark erosion behavior of different electrode materials in the temperature range between 200 and 900°C. The experiments were carried out in pure nitrogen and synthetic dry air. The pressure in the chamber was 7 bar. In pure nitrogen no erosion was observed which suggests that oxidation is the principal mechanism.
The ignitability relies both on the electrode gap and the electrode diameter. Their influence on spark erosion was studied for pure platinum and nickel. Furthermore, the effect of atmospheric pressure and the contribution of different spark discharge phases to the electrode wear were determined. It was found that platinum and nickel show a completely different behavior due to different oxidation mechanisms. This affects both design and material development of new spark plugs.
Recommended Content
Technical Paper | Super Ignition Spark Plug with Wear Resistive Electrode |
Technical Paper | Gas Engine Ignition System for Long-Life Spark Plugs |
Technical Paper | Development of New Iridium Alloy for Spark Plug Electrodes |
Authors
Citation
Rager, J., Böhm, J., Kaiser, T., Flaig, A. et al., "Design and Materials for Long-Life Spark Plugs," SAE Technical Paper 2006-01-0617, 2006, https://doi.org/10.4271/2006-01-0617.Also In
References
- Albrecht H. Maly R. Saggau B. Wagner E. Neue Erkenntnisse über elektrische Zündfunken und ihre Eignung zur Entflammung brennbarer Gemische 1977 4 37
- Rager J. Flaig A. Schneider G. Kaiser T. Soldera F. Mücklich F. Oxidation Damage of Spark Plug Electrodes Advanced Engineering Materials 2005 7 633
- Gray E. W. Pharney J. R. Electrode erosion by particle ejection in low-current arcs Journal of Applied Physics 1974 45 667
- Jones F. Llewellyn Electrode Erosion by Spark Discharges British Journal of Applied Physics 1950 1 60
- Sigmund P. Theory of Sputtering. I. Sputtering Yield of Amorphous and Polycrystalline Targets Physical Review 1969 18 383
- Fryburg G. C. The Pressure Dependency in the Oxidation of Platinum Explained by a Boundary-Layer Diffusion Mechanism Transactions of the Metall. Society of AIME 1965 233 1986
- Fryburg G. C. Enhanced Oxidation of Platinum in Activated Oxygen Journal of Chemistry and Physics 1965 24 175
- Paschen F. Über die zum Funkenübergang in Luft, Wasser und Kohlensäure bei verschiedenen Drücken erforderliche Potentialdifferenz 1889 37 69
- Samsonov G. V. The Oxide Handbook IFI/Plenum New York 1973
- Lasagni A. Soldera F. Mücklich F. Quanitative investigation of material erosion caused by high-pressure discharges in air and nitrogen Zeitschrift für Metallkunde 2004 95 102
- Kaiser T. Hoffmann A. Einfluss der Zündkerzen auf das Entflammungsverhalten in modernen Motoren 2000 61 10