Cylinder-to-cylinder and cycle-to-cycle variation in combustion process in radial aircraft engine

Cycle-to-cycle variation in combustion in a single cylinder of a radial engine has an impact on that in others and the entire engine. Steady- and transient-state engine operation was investigated, and the transient states were generated by cyclic changes in the timing of fuel injection to a given cylinder, having others operated on the same mixture composition. The measurement of pressure in the combustion chamber allowed for specifying indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) in all cycles. The time series of IMEP were studied with mathematical techniques of non-linear dynamics, i.e. a wavelet transform and a multifractal analysis. Controlled disturbances in mixture composition in a single cylinder can have an impact on certain cylinders only. Cylinders 3, 5, 7 and 9 are most responsive to such disturbances, which proves their least cycle-to-cycle variation in combustion.