Lasers to replace sparkplugs?

[Ra1nfade]

Its my wife and I's project car shes had it from high school and Im working on grafting the suspension and engine/tranny from a termie into her.

 

[Soren]

Who cares about the cars

The laser is much more intersting - by the sound of it, its a Nd:YAG with passive q switching, and probably the mirrors are coated onto the rod was well. The only thing new about that is that they would be cheap enough to use as engine ignition, which is great for hobby use.

One thing i did not find in the article is what they use to pump it with. Diode? Flashlamp?

Its certainly intersting since they will be 1064 nm, and high power density too with the pulsed operation. I see potential for building very nice 532 if we can get doubler crystals that can take the heat

It says there are two lines, I wonder what the other is. :thinking:

 

[billyblanko]

High Frequency vibration will kill them long before anything else does ...but if we are pitchin ideas to replace a absolute nr perfect design ...then ....lets change the pistons for High Power magnets & instead of Fuel , Cams , Valves , Exhausts , Carburetters , Throttle Body`s , Plenums , Turbo`s lets use Switchable Pole Electro Magnets !!!

 

[Multimode]

Dilithium crystal and the warp drive, and cars fitted with photo torpedoes to clear the traffic jam in front
(wonder how many M140 diodes you'd need to incinerate the car in front?)

 

[Wildlands]

I have to think that a hydrogen fuel cell would be a better application for laser ignition, with the byproduct being water.

Carbon buildup would be very tough to control in any hydrocarbon based engine.

 

[ShortyInCanada]

Now that you have continued the postings after the original necropost (more than a year old thread here !) and as I have just read it all I will ask a question about the comments related to the dirty build up in the LP forklifts : Would the increased build up be from improper combustion, normally lower operating temperatures, and likely poor maintenance procedures concerning the machine ?
From all my experiences with LP forklifts, they are left off and cold most of the time, started up and used for heavy duty/high RPM operations within seconds of starting, then shut off before attaining a "typical" engine temperature. They are subjected to some of the hardest operating cycles, through countless fuelings, used and abused like no other vehicles, left alone and unserviced untill they break down, then repaired as cheaply as possible.
If the only side effect is a dirtier combustion chamber then I'm amazed !