The Knock Syndrome — Its Cures and Its Victims

The problem of knock is traced back to the earliest scientific paper on combustion in premixed gases written by Mallard and Le Chatelier. The pioneering contributions of Ricardo, Kettering and Semenov are then put in proper perspective. Upon the recognition of the fact that this phenomenon has been, and still is, imposing the major technological constraint upon the automotive and oil industries, its various cures are reviewed. Essential features of combustion instability leading to its onset are then exposed, and the methodology is outlined for a rational attack upon the problem it poses.