Results and discussion
All the tests presented in this paper were carried out at an engine speed of 2,000 rpm and wide-open throttle. Absolute intake air pressure and temperature were fixed at 1.4 bar and 338 K, respectively. The relative injection pressure was settled at 3.5 bar. The spark timing was changed in the range 12 to 20 crank angle degree before top dead centre (CAD BTDC) in order to identify the maximum brake torque and the knocking limit. To distinguish normal combustion cycles from knocking cycles, the knocking signal was evaluated through 5- to 30-kHz band-pass filtering of the pressure signals [16–18]. For all cycles, the evolution of the knock pressure was calculated using the absolute value of the knock signal. The combustion cycles were classified in the following way according to their knock intensity [19–21]:
normal combustion (knock pressure 2% lower than the motored pressure at TDC),
borderline knocking (knock pressure between 2% and 5% of the motored pressure),
standard knocking (knock pressure between 5% and 25% of the motored pressure),
heavy knocking (knock pressure was 25% higher than the motored pressure).
The duration of injection (DOI) was changed in order to set λ = 1.0 (±3%), as measured by a lambda sensor at the engine exhaust, and averaged over 200 consecutive engine cycles. The fuel injection conditions are resumed in Table 3. The injection timings were fixed at 130 CAD after top dead centre (ATDC) and 300 CAD BTDC in order to inject the fuel when the intake valves were closed (CV) and open (OV), respectively.