Everything you say about flame fronts is correct, Dutch, with one exception: not all internal combustion engines have 'm.
A flame front, like the name says, is the frontier between burning mixture and not-yet-burning mixture. In HCCI combustion there is no such frontier. A random spot of mixture is not ignited by a flame; pressure rise and radiated heat cause it to ignite spontaneously. The time for the whole charge to be consumed by burning can be tens of times shorter than with flame front combustion.
Sounds familiar? Yep, the same description fits detonation....
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