Application of infrared technology for quality control of diesel engine glow plugs

In recent years, the diesel engine has increasingly become a more popular choice with manufacturers and car buyers owing to its high fuel and power efficiencies. The research into diesel engine and its components is driven by the desire to meet strict emission standards and improving performance. This paper describes the application of infrared technology for quality control of diesel engine glow plugs. It is not sufficient to measure the resistance of glow plugs to assess their conformance to the performance specifications on account of the irregularity of the heat patterns produced. Moreover, the full power testing of glow plugs is not practical for quality control owing to the consumption of power, the considerable length of time, and the extreme temperatures generated. This paper describes a novel approach using low-cost infrared technology and a limited power-consuming experiment in order to test 100 per cent conformance of manufactured glow plugs. The results show that the technology can be utilized for quality control inspection of glow plugs.