A fuel injector is configured so that, when seen from a top view of a combustion chamber, a first fuel spray flux and a second fuel spray flux sandwich an electrode part of a spark plug, and the electrode part is located outside of contour surfaces of the two fuel spray fluxes. A first injection angle between a center line of the first fuel spray flux and a vertical line and a second injection angle between a center line of the second fuel spray flux and the vertical line are larger than an angle between a center line of any other fuel spray flux and the vertical line. The second injection angle is made smaller than the first injection angle so that a distance from the electrode part to the contour surface of the second fuel spray flux is larger than a distance from the electrode part to the contour surface of the first fuel spray flux.

An intake stroke injection and a compression stroke injection are performed during catalyst warm-up control (upper section in FIG. 7). During the catalyst warm-up control, a discharge period at an electrode portion is set on a retard side of compression top dead center, and an expansion stroke injection is performed during the discharge period. However, when a distance between a spray contour surface and the electrode portion increases, an additional injection (first injection) is performed in advance of the expansion stroke injection (second injection) (lower section in FIG. 7). The additional injection is performed at a timing that is on the retard side of compression top dead center and is on an advance side relative to a start timing of the discharge at the electrode portion.

A control device is configured to perform, when it is estimated that a combustion fluctuation increases, estimation related to an ignition delay for initial flame generated from a discharge spark and an air-fuel mixture containing fuel spray injected by intake stroke injection. When it is estimated that the ignition delay for the initial flame is increased from that before the increase in the combustion fluctuation, an injection amount in expansion stroke injection is reduced in a next time cycle. When it is estimated that the ignition delay for the initial flame is reduced from that before the increase in the combustion fluctuation, the injection amount in expansion stroke injection is increased in a next time cycle.

A cylinder head of an engine in which a thermal stress acting between a valve seat made of clad material and a base metal is reduced. The cylinder head comprises: an inner wall surface; a pair of intake ports arranged adjacent to each other; a valve seat formed of clad material around each intake port; a mask section formed within a predetermined range of a circumference of each intake port to protrude toward a combustion chamber; and a cavity formed between a pair of the mask sections by partially depressing the inner wall surface toward the combustion chamber.

Methods and systems are provided for a cylinder head. In one example, a system comprises cylinder head having a bore arranged therein. The bore comprises a coupling element therein configured to selectively receive an ignition plug.

A compression ignition engine may operate using autoignition resistant fuels by laser-assisted ignition where a focused laser beam directly heats a spray of fuel proximate to an injector nozzle to promote a lifted flame combustion avoiding knock that could occur with the ignition of premixed fuel.

A piston may have an annular body including a crown portion defining a longitudinal axis, a radial direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, a plane containing the longitudinal axis and the radial direction, and a contoured combustion bowl. In the plane containing the longitudinal axis and the radial direction, the crown portion includes a radially outer squish surface, and a swirl pocket having a reentrant surface that extends axially downwardly and radially outwardly from the squish surface defining a tangent that forms a reentrant angle with the squish surface that ranges from 33.0 degrees to 37.0 degrees.

In a combustion cycle in which fuel for forming a homogenized air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber is injected from the first fuel injector, ignition-use fuel for forming an ignition-use air-fuel mixture in the vicinity of the electrode part is injected from the second fuel injector, and lean combustion is performed by an excess air rate of 2.0 or more, the ignition-use fuel is injected by at least an injection rate of 1.0 mm.sup.3/ms or more for a duration of 250 μs or more in an interval from a crank angle advanced by exactly 20 degrees from an ignition timing of the spark plug to the ignition timing, and the quantity of the ignition-use fuel is 2.0 mm.sup.3/st or less.

Systems and methods regarding a ducted fuel injection (DFI) combustion system for an internal combustion engine can control an injection timing of a fuel injector to output fuel injections through at least one duct and into a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine. The injection timing can include one or more pilot injections according to a predetermined range before top dead center (BTDC) for a combustion cycle; and a main injection into the combustion chamber for the combustion cycle after all of the one or more pilot injections. A first amount of the fuel injected for the main injection can be greater than a second amount of fuel injected for the one or more pilot injections. The predetermined range before top dead center (BTDC) of the one or more pilot injections can be from 85 to 40 degrees BTDC.

A control device for a compression ignition engine includes a controller configured to operate an engine body by compression ignition combustion when the engine body operates in a compression ignition range. When the engine body operates in a low load range with a load lower than a predetermined load in the compression ignition range, the controller sets a time of fuel injection with the fuel injection valve in a first half of a compression stroke or earlier, and allows the ozonator to introduce the ozone into the cylinder. When the engine body operates in the low load range, the controller controls an ozone concentration to be lower at a higher speed than at a low speed.