Very cool! I often wondered if anybody ever tried this. Now let's see a clip of a straight 6 crankcase inside while it's running up and down the rpm... Only problem is, you need some good wipers on the lens...
I can't get the stupid video to open, but it's probably the same one I saw at work today. What I found very interesting is the speed/velocity of the incoming charge when the valve opens. Even in the super-slo-mo video, the charge has some speed to it. Now, what I REALLY like is the math involved here: If that engine is running at 1,500rpm, that intake valve is opening 12.5 times PER SECOND, and the plug is firing--accurately--12.5 times per second, and the piston is hitting TDC 25 times per second. Imagine all that happening on the back stretch of the Daytona 500. -Brad
If you watch it over and over and look close, you can see that the cylinder actually has four valves, dual intake and exhaust. It also appears to be some type of hemi style cylinder, which I would quess also has dual spark plugs and the camera lens may be in one of the spark plug holes. It is pretty cool to watch though!
Fantastic video. Thanks! I couldn't help but notice the "go Navy" in your signature. Retired now for 20 years but still a sailor at heart. Snipe
Wouldn't the combustion chamber be dark until ignition? They must have lit it up somehow.........one of the best engine related things I've seen. Thanks
Snipe, I was an EM. i wonder if it was a 4 valve motor if they went in through a valve. It might also be a custom job with a second spark plug. The world may never know.
I always imagined something similar, but until you see it with your own eyes, imagination can only go so far. Killer vid - thanks for posting.
I've always wanted to see what we can only talk about in theory. That must be some amazing camera equipment to deal with the speed, pressure, temperature and the lighting.
wow that was rad! i wonder what it would have looked like if it was racing alcohol with a shot of nitrous!?
Cool. Can recall doing the same thing many years ago on a VW diesel engine to view flame patterns. This was while I worked for a local research company.
I think it's fake, here's why: 1) Combustion isn't an explosion, it's a controlled burn with an advancing flame front. Thats not apparent in the video. 2) Where's the exhaust gases? 3) Spark is much too weak and erratic compared to a spark caught on high-speed film. 4) The lighting in the cylinder seems questionable. Just my 2 cents worth......
I think it's pretty cool. I thought it was interesting how there's lots of droplets of fuel in the charge coming in, but they all vaporize pretty quick when they get in the hot combustion chamber. Also the fuel droplets hose down the spark plug pretty well every time the intake opens. The spark has a pretty long duration and kind of dances around a little instead of staying in one spot. I wonder if this was a cold engine and this was at idle with a pretty rich mixture. I'm thinking maybe the flame is almost clear and the little yellow flickers of flame are areas where the mixture is too rich or the tail end of the flame. Think of torch flame, how the flame is clear or blue at the actual hottest point of combustion and then it turns yellow afterwards.
I'm guessing you dont see part of one Cycle, but they are stills put together of different parts of it. That would explain why its all a bit shaky, and why part of the 4 stroke cycle is missing... I think its pretty damn cool.
Pretty neat to watch! What's even more amazing is the sheer speed that the whole process is run at! Nick
There are two more valves in the background and the chamber is distinctly pentroof. The sparkplug is centered between the 4 valves. So cant be a hemi or a twin plug head Camera can watch from dedicated hole drilled in head, same way ports for cylinder pressure measurement are done. The intake valve closest to the camera should not be moving under compression, definitely not under combustion, so either the video is a mix and match of frames from multiple cycles joined together, or there is something wrong with the engine!!! but thats a cool vid, going straight to the pool room!
The Jalopy Journal
