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The initial flame kernel behavior in a SI engine was measured by a spark-plug-fiber-optics probe. From these measurements, the flame kernel may be characterized by an expansion speed and a convection velocity. These quantities were correlated with the bum rate on a cycle-to-cycle basis in an engine configurated with quiescent, swirl, and tumble in-cylinder motion. The expansion speed correlates well with the 0-2 percent mass burn duration for all the configurations. The flame convection velocity depends on the in-cylinder motion in the expected manner. There was, however, only a weak correlation between the 10-90 percent burn duration and the initial flame kernel behavior.

This paper presents a new approach of Air Fuel Control (AFR) control strategy based on non-linear dynamics models of the engine air and fuel processes. Higher demands for lower engine exhaust emissions require a more accurate control of the air-fuel ratio during transient operations. A model-based air-fuel ratio control was applied to a production multipoint port injection engine with the initial constraint to keep the original sensors and actuators. The control strategy contains real-time engine models which describe air, fuel and sensors dynamics. In the final step, the control structure was implemented on a production car and evaluated on a chassis dynamometer. Several experiments with different transient conditions have shown reduced air-fuel ratio excursions in magnitude and duration compared to the standard strategy. Moreover, the calibration process was considerably easier than usual and required less testing on the car.