Patterns in the combustion process in a spark ignition engine

We analyze combustion variations in a four cylinder spark ignition engine. We apply dimensional time series analysis to heat release and construct recurrence plots for different advance angles of spark ignition. The results show that the qualitative change in combustion can be easily related to patterns in recurrence plots. Fluctuations for a larger advance angle have more deterministic nature influenced by an intermittency phenomenon. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.