• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.23-31
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• 2000

Knock and misfire, kinds of abnormal combustion, are highly undesirable effect on the internal combustion engine. So, it is important to detect these avnormal combuition and control the ignition timing etc. to avoid these mal-effect factors in real engine system. In this study, the system which detects the knock and the misfire using by spark plug is presented. This system is based on the effect of modulation breakdown voltage(BDV) between the spark gaps. The voltage drop between spark plug electrodes, when an electrical breakdown is initiated, depends on the temperature and pressure in combustion chamber. So, we can detect knock and misfire that produce changes in gas temperature and pressure (consequently, its density) using by BDV signal change which carries information about the character of combustion.