Types of Engines and Engine

Performance

1
 Simplified Geometry

( )
1/ 2
VC Stroke = a cos θ + A − a sin θ 2 2 2
TC
B

Bore L The clearance volume Vc = cylinder volume when

Stroke piston at TC: e.g. Stroke=a+l

BC At arbitrary crank angle the cylinder volume:

πB2
V = Vc + (A + a − s)
l
4
πB2
Maximum displacement is L, swept volume: Vd = L
4
TC = 0D
θ VBC Vc + Vd
Compression ratio: rc = =
a VTC Vc

Typically, for most engines B ~ L

TC = 180 D
2
 Geometrical Properties

( )
1/ 2
VC TC s = a cos θ + A − a sin θ
2 2 2

B
Let N is the rotational speed of the crank shaft in units
L
revolutions per second, then average and instantaneous
piston velocity are:
BC
ds
U p = 2LN Up =
dt
l ⎡ ⎤
s Up π ⎢ cos θ ⎥
= sin θ ⎢1 + ⎥
⎢ ⎛ 1/ 2
⎥
( )
⎞
Up 2 2
⎢ ⎜ l / a − sin θ ⎟ ⎥
2

⎣ ⎝ ⎠ ⎦
θ
a Average piston speed for standard engine is about 15
m/s. It is limited by material strength. Therefore
engines with large strokes run at lower speeds those
with small strokes run at higher speeds.
3
Piston Velocity versus Crank Angle

R = l/a

4
 Torque and Power
Torque is measured off the output shaft using a dynamometer.

b
Stator Force F
Rotor

N
Load cell

The torque exerted by the engine is T: T = F⋅b units: Nm = J

The power delivered by the engine and absorbed by the dynamometer (ω=2πN is
the shaft angular velocity in units rad/s) is:

 = ω ⋅ T = (2π ⋅ N) ⋅ T ⎛ rad ⎞ ⎛ rev ⎞

W units: ⎜ ⎟⎜ ⎟ (J) = Watt
⎝ rev ⎠ ⎝ s ⎠

5
¾ Torque is a measure of an engine’s ability to do work. P
¾ Power is the rate at which work is done 
W b
¾ The brake power is used to specify that the power is measured at
the output shaft, this is the usable power delivered by the engine
to the load.
¾ The brake power is less than the power generated by the gas in
the cylinders due to mechanical friction and parasitic loads (oil
pump, air conditioner compressor, etc…
¾ The power produced in the cylinder is the indicated power - 
W i

6
 Indicated Work per Cycle
Given the cylinder pressure data over the operating cycle of the engine one can
calculate the work done by the gas on the piston: typically given as P vs V
diagram

The indicated work per cycle is Wi = v∫ PdV

WA > 0

WB < 0

Compression Power Exhaust Intake 7

W<0 W>0 W<0 W>0
 Work per Cycle

Gross indicated work per cycle – net work delivered to the piston over the compression
and expansion strokes only:

Wi,g =area A + area C (>0)

Pump work – net work delivered to the gas over the intake and exhaust strokes:

Wp =area B + area C (<0)

Net indicated work per cycle – work delivered over all strokes:

Wi,n = Wi,g – Wp = (area A + area C) – (area B + area C)=

= area A – area B

8
 Wi N ⎡ ( kJ cycle)( rev s) ⎤
Indicated power:  =
W Units : ⎢ ⎥
⎢⎣ ⎥⎦
i
nR rev cycle

N – crankshaft speed in rev/s

nR – number of crank revolutions per cycle
= 2 for 4-stroke
= 1 for 2-stroke
Power can be increased by increasing:
¾ engine size -- Vd
¾ compression ratio - rc
¾ engine speed -- N

9
 Indicated Work at Part Throttle
ƒ At wide-open-throttle (WOT) the pressure at the intake valve is just below
atmospheric pressure, however at part throttle the pressure is much lower than
atmospheric.
ƒ Therefore at part throttle the pump work (area B+C) can be significant compared to
gross indicated work (area A+C)

Pint

10
 Indicated Work with Supercharging
9 Engines with superchargers or turbochargers can have intake pressures greater
than the exhaust pressure, giving a positive pump work.
9 Supercharges increase the net indicated work but is a parasitic load since they are
driven by the crankshaft
Wi,n = area A + area B

Pint

11
 Mechanical Efficiency

Some part of the power generated in the cylinder is used to overcome engine friction
and to pump gas into and out of the engine.

 , is used to describe these power losses:

The friction power, W  =W
W  −W 
f i,g b
f

Friction power can be measured by motoring the engine.

The mechanical efficiency is defined as:

W W
ηm = b = 1 − f

W 
W
i,g i,g

12
 Mechanical Efficiency (2)

9 Mechanical efficiency depends on throttle position, engine design and engine

speed.

9 Typical values for car engines at WOT are:

90% at 2000 RPM and 75% at max speed.

9 Throttling increases pumping work and thus decreases the brake power so the
mechanical efficiency drops and approaches zero at idle.

9 Power varies with speed but torque is “independent” of engine speed

 ∝ N⋅W
W  ∝ N⋅T
W ⇒ T ∝ Wcycle
cycle

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 Power and Torque versus Engine Speed
 ∝ N⋅W
W T ∝ Wcycle
cycle

The maximum in the brake power versus

Rated brake power engine speed called the rated brake power
1 kW = 1.341 hp (RBP).
At higher speeds brake power decreases as
friction power becomes significant compared
to the indicated power W  =W  −W 
b i,g f

Max brake torque There is a maximum in the torque versus

speed called maximum brake torque (MBT).
Brake torque drops off:
• at lower speeds do to heat losses
• at higher speeds it becomes more difficult to
ingest a full charge of air.

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 Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP)
IMEP is a fictitious constant pressure that would produce the same work per cycle if
it acted on the piston during the power stroke.
Wi  ⋅n
W IMEP ⋅ Vd ⋅ N IMEP ⋅ A p ⋅ U p
IMEP = = i R
⇒ 
Wi = =
Vd Vd ⋅ N nR 2 ⋅ nR

IMEP does not depend on engine speed, just like torque

T ∝ Wcycle ⇒ IMEP ∝ T

IMEP is a better parameter than torque to compare engines for design and
output because it is independent of engine speed, N, and engine size, Vd.

Brake mean effective pressure (bmep) is defined as:

Wb 2π ⋅ T ⋅ n R bmep ⋅ Vd
bmep = = ⇒ T =
Vd Vd 2π ⋅ n R
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The maximum bmep of good engine designs is:

Four stroke engines:

SI engines: 850-1050 kPa*

CI engines: 700 -900 kPa

Turbocharged SI engines: 1250 -1700 kPa

Turbocharged CI engines: 1000 - 1200 kPa

Two stroke engines:

Standard CI engines comparable bmep to four stroke

Large slow CI engines: 1600 kPa

*Values are at maximum brake torque at WOT

Can be used above maximum bmep to estimate engine displacement required to provide a
given torque or power at a specified speed for design puropses.

16
 Maximum BMEP

Wb 2π ⋅ T ⋅ n R
bmep = =
Vd Vd

ƒ The maximum bmep is obtained at WOT at a particular engine speed

ƒ Closing the throttle decreases the bmep

ƒ A higher maximum bmep means more torque for a given displacement,

ƒ For a given torque, a higher maximum bmep means smaller engine

ƒ Higher maximum bmep means higher stresses and temperatures in the engine
hence shorter engine life, or bulkier engine

ƒ For the same bmep 2-strokes have almost twice the power of 4-stroke

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 Passenger Car Engine Characteristics
Vehicle Engine Displ. Max Power Max Torque BMEP at BMEP at
type (L) (HP&rpm) (lb-ft&rpm) Max BT Rated BP
(bar) (bar)
Mazda L4 1.839 122&6000 117&4000 10.8 9.9
Protégé LX
Honda L4 2.254 150&5700 152&4900 11.4 10.4
Accord EX
BMW L6 2.793 190&5300 206&3950 12.6 11.5
328i
Ferrari V8 3.496 375&8250 268&6000 13.1 11.6
F355 GTS
Ferrari V12 5.474 436&6250 398&4500 12.4 11.4
456 GT
Lamborghini V12 5.707 492&7000 427&5200 12.7 11.0
Diablo VT

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 Road-Load Power
¾ A part-load power level useful for testing car engines is the power required to drive
a vehicle on a level road at a steady speed.

¾ The road-load power, Pr, is the engine power needed to overcome rolling
resistance and the aerodynamic drag of the vehicle.
1
Pr = (CR M v g + ρa CD A vS2v ) ⋅ Sv
2
CR = coefficient of rolling resistance (0.012 - 0.015)
Mv = mass of vehicle
g = gravitational acceleration
ra = ambient air density
CD = drag coefficient (for cars: 0.3 - 0.5)
Av = frontal area of the vehicle
Sv = vehicle speed

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 Specific Fuel Consumption

¾ For vehicles fuel economy is defined as L/100 km.

¾ In engine testing the fuel consumption is measured in terms of the fuel mass
flow rate m  .
f

¾ The specific fuel consumption, sfc, is a measure of how efficiently the fuel
supplied to the engine to produce power:
f
m f
m ⎡ g ⎤
bsfc = isfc = in units ⎢ ⎥
  ⋅
W b
W i ⎣ kW hr ⎦

A low value of sfc means that for a given power less fuel is consumed

20
 Brake Specific Fuel Consumption vs Engine Size
Bsfc decreases with engine size due to reduced heat losses from gas to cylinder wall

Ratio of cylinder surface to volume increases with bore diameter.

cylinder surface area 2πrL 1
= 2 ∝
cylinder volume πr L r
21
 There is a minimum in the bsfc versus engine speed curve

At high speeds the bsfc increases due to increased friction i.e. smaller 
W b

At lower speeds the bsfc increases due to increased time for heat losses from 
W i
the gas to the cylinder and piston wall, and thus a smaller

Bsfc increases with compression ratio due to higher thermal efficiency 22

Performance map is used to display the bsfc over the engines full load and
speed range. A dynamometer used to measure the torque and fuel mass flow rate:
2π ⋅ T ⋅ n R  = (2 π ⋅ N ) ⋅ T f
m
bmep = W bsfc =
V
b 
W
d b

bmep@WOT

Constant bsfc contours from a two-liter four cylinder SI engine

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 Engine Efficiencies

The time for combustion in the cylinder is very short so not all the fuel
may be consumed or local temperatures may no favour combustion

A small fraction of the fuel may not react and exits with the exhaust gas

The combustion efficiency is defined as:

actual heat input Qin Q

ηc = = = in

theoretical heat input m f ⋅ Q HV m f ⋅ Q HV

Qin = heat added by combustion per cycle

mf = mass of fuel added to cylinder per cycle
QHV = heating value of the fuel (chemical energy per unit mass)

24
 Engine Efficiencies (continuation)
The thermal efficiency is defined as:
work per cycle W W
ηth = = =
heat input per cycle Qin ηc ⋅ m f ⋅ Q HV
or in terms of rates
power out W W
ηth = = =

rate of heat input Qin ηc ⋅ m
 f ⋅ Q HV

Thermal efficiencies can be given in terms of brake or indicated values

Indicated thermal efficiencies are typically 50% to 60% and brake thermal
efficiencies are usually about 30%

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 Engine Efficiencies (continuation)

Fuel conversion efficiency is:

W W
ηf = =
m f ⋅ Q HV m f ⋅ Q HV

The fuel conversion efficiency can also be obtained from:

1
ηf =
(sfc) ⋅ Q HV

26
 Air-Fuel Ratio
The proper relative amounts of air and fuel must be present in the cylinder for
efficient combustion.
ma a
m
The air-fuel ratio is defined as: AF = =
mf f
m

The ideal AF is approximately 15:1 and combustion is possible in the range of

6 to 19.

For a SI engine the AF is in the range of 12 to 18 depending on the operating

conditions.

For a CI engine the mixture is highly non-homogeneous, the AF can be in the

range of 18 to 70.

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