The Effect of the Location of Knock Initiation on Heat Flux Into an SI Combustion Chamber

A study has been conducted in order to investigate the effect of the location of knock initiation on heat flux in a Spark-Ignition (SI) combustion chamber. Heat flux measurements were taken on the piston and cylinder head under different knock intensity levels, induced by advancing the spark timing. Tests were performed with two engine configurations, the first with the spark-plug located on the rear side of the chamber and the other having a second non-firing spark-plug placed at the front side of the chamber. The presence of the non-firing spark-plug consistently shifted the location of autoignition initiation from the surface of the piston to its vicinity, without causing a noticeable increase in knock intensity. By localizing the initiation of knock, changes induced in the secondary flame propagation pattern affected both the magnitude and the rate of change of peak heat flux under heavy knock. On the piston crown, up to 2.3 times lower magnitudes and 2.6 times lower rates of increase of peak heat flux with knock intensity were encountered. On the other hand, peak heat flux magnitudes were essentially unaffected on the squish regions of the cylinder head. These findings clearly demonstrate the importance of the location of knock initiation on the heat transfer characteristics under knock conditions.