What advantages does the U-groove in the IRIDIUM POWER ground electrode have?
Ignitability can be improved without increasing the required voltage. (The U-groove is original DENSO technology and a patent for it was acquired in 1975.)
To improve ignitability, it is important to allow the good growth of the flame nucleus (live coal) created in discharge.
The usual way of ensuring this is increasing the spark gap, but this also increases the required voltage and thus places a great load on the ignition coil and plug cords.
The ground electrode, with its U-groove, maintains a large volume of space without altering the spark gap. Therefore, excellent firing ignitability is enabled even though the sparking required is kept low.