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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Design and Materials for Long-Life Spark Plugs</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1807330</link>
      <description><![CDATA[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.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 09 Dec 2021 10:26:37 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>High-Fidelity Numerical Modeling of Spark Plug Erosion</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1598306</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Spark plug erosion is critical in determining the overall efficiency of a spark ignition engine. Over its lifetime, a spark plug is subject to millions of firings. Each spark event results in material erosion due to several mechanisms such as melting, vaporization, sputtering and oxidation. With electrode wear, the inter-electrode spacing increases and a larger voltage difference is required to initiate the spark. The probability of engine misfires also increases with electrode erosion. Once a critical gap is reached, the energy in the ignition coil is not enough to cause a spark breakdown, and the spark plug must be replaced. Due to the long relevant time scales over which erosion occurs, and the difficulty of analyzing the spark plug environment during operation, determining spark plug lifetime typically requires extensive field testing. A high fidelity commercial thermal plasma solver, VizSpark is used simulate electrode erosion due to spark events. The model preserves key arc physics such as current conservation, conjugate heat transfer, fluid flow and electrode ablation. The solution framework includes the capability of coupling high fidelity arc physics with a dynamically deforming spark-plug electrode. A phenomenological model for electrode erosion based on energy is derived from prior experimental work on single-pulse electrode erosion. The energy-based electrode erode model is validated against experimental results, and 3-D electrode erosion simulations in stationary and cross-flow were performed.       ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 28 May 2019 09:47:16 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>EROSION MECHANISMS OF AUTOMOTIVE SPARK PLUG ELECTRODES</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/213350</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Scanning electron microscopy and microchemical analyses were conducted to determine the electrode erosion mechanisms of two different spark plugs, platinum-tip and nickel-alloy, tested under various environments in both bench and vehicle tests.  The electrodes were shown to have eroded by different mechanisms, depending on the electrode materials and the operating environments.  In the bench test, the platinum center electrode is eroded primarily by ejection of molten platinum particles through a recoil force mechanism, and, to a lesser degree, by metal vaporization.  The nickel-alloy center electrode was eroded by ejection of molten oxide particles from the oxide layer on the electrode surface.  The nickel-alloy side electrodes are eroded by metal vaporization due to electrode-ion bombardment.  In vehicles using unleaded fuels, the nickel-alloy center electrode is rerded by vaporization of the top compound layer, and by oxidative recession of the base metal.  In vehicles using leaded fuel, the nickel-alloy electrodes are eroded mainly by chemical corrosion.  In vehicles using unleaded fuel with MMT (Methycyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl) additive, the platinum center electrode is eroded by separation of platinum grains due to grain boundary corrosion.  The nickel-alloy center electrode is eroded by particle ejection from the surface compound, and by oxidative recession of the base metal; the side electrode is eroded by surface vaporization and base metal oxidation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 30 Jun 1985 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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