Winterthur, June 2020 – Very high-intensity light sources from Kistler provide support for high-speed engine measurements that deliver critical information. High luminance levels make it possible to carry out high-resolution optical analyses of processes in the combustion chamber. And illumination systems in the LED-P series also bring their strengths to bear in many other applications.
Today's high-speed cameras feature ultra-short exposure times that open up new horizons for image data acquisition in combustion engines. For example, injection events can be recorded with absolute precision. As well as the camera itself, the right illumination is a critical factor in image quality: the combustion chamber must be illuminated with precise timing so that images of sufficient brightness and clarity can be captured.
The standards of efficiency required in modern engine development have made it increasingly uneconomical to use 'transparent engines': they are too costly and too time-intensive, and they cannot fully replicate practical conditions. To solve this problem, developers are making more use of endoscopy or borescope systems: with this method, images are captured and illumination is provided through small access bores into the combustion chamber. The illumination units in the LED-P series from Kistler were specifically developed to capture high-speed endoscopic images in combustion engines.