COMPRESSION RATIO

Engine power has always been limited by the compression ratio, hereinafter RC, even
today research continues on how to achieve higher RC, an example of this is direct
injections, in which the engine only air enters, so there can be no combustion
until the gasoline is injected. let's start with understand what RC is, when the
piston descends in the intake time it sucks the air-gasoline mixture into the
cylinder, once it has exceeded PMI it begins to compress the mixture up to PMS, the
volume reduction from PMI to PMS is the Static RC, for example if the cylinder
volume has been reduced from BDC to TDC eight times, it is said that there is a
static RC of 8 to 1, but the compression does not really start until the intake
valve closes, this happens later than BDC and the piston will have traveled a
distance when this happens, the RC that is calculated with the piston travel from
the point where the intake valve closes to TDC, is the dynamic RC, both are
important as will be seen , the equation to calculate the RC is the following.
RC = ( VCI + VCA) / VCA
VCI = volume of the cylinder.
VCA = volume of the combustion chamber.
Increasing the RC is the most effective way to increase engine torque, it is about
compressing the gas more and increasing its pressure and temperature for a more
powerful and faster combustion, having a more powerful combustion is already an
increase in power , but it is also faster, this means that ignition has to be
delayed and has the benefit that the piston can compress the gases a few degrees
more at less pressure than if combustion were taking place. But everything has a
limit and increasing the RC excessively some problems may appear, one of them is
detonation or better known as knocking, when the spark is produced the combustion
begins around the spark plug, the pressure and temperature of the gases that in
that The moment they act in the combustion increases very quickly and compresses
the surrounding gases that have not yet acted, these are already at a very high
pressure and when they are compressed a little more, they ignite before the
combustion flame front arrives, therefore two combustions are produced, one due to
the spark and another due to the increase in pressure and two waves are created
that collide with each other and create brutal forces that hit the piston,
producing a very characteristic sound, as if it were hitting the engine with a
hammer, being able to destroy it in a matter of seconds. Some of the solutions that
can be tried to avoid the chopping are exposed below, but if it is not possible to
avoid it with any of them, there is no other possibility than to reduce the RC
again. Therefore, two combustions are produced, one by the spark and the other by
the increase in pressure and two waves are created that collide with each other and
create brutal forces that hit the piston, producing a very characteristic sound, as
if it were being hit with a hammer into the engine, being able to destroy it in a
matter of seconds. Some of the solutions that can be tried to avoid the chopping
are exposed below, but if it is not possible to avoid it with any of them, there is
no other possibility than to reduce the RC again. Therefore, two combustions are
produced, one by the spark and the other by the increase in pressure and two waves
are created that collide with each other and create brutal forces that hit the
piston, producing a very characteristic sound, as if it were being hit with a
hammer into the engine, being able to destroy it in a matter of seconds. Some of
the solutions that can be tried to avoid the chopping are exposed below, but if it
is not possible to avoid it with any of them, there is no other possibility than to
reduce the RC again.
-Enriching the mixture, the gasoline cools the interior of the combustion chamber
and the piston head, which allows the temperature of these parts to be lowered and
the gases do not increase in temperature so quickly before combustion.
-Delay the ignition, as combustion occurs faster, the engine needs less ignition
advance, this does not mean that the power decreases, the ignition advance must be
correct at all times and in this case an ignition delay will surely produce better
performance.
-Try a better cooling of the cylinder head, the combustion chamber will heat up
more due to the increase in temperature of the gases.
-Use higher octane gasoline.
-Delay the closing of the intake valve(s), as will be seen, a very important point.
If, after trying these remedies, detonation continued to occur, there would be no
other possibility than to decrease the RC again, if it is an atmospheric engine, if
it were a supercharged engine, the pressure generated by supercharging would drop,
for all this, a good advice is to go little by little in the increase of the RC.
Another problem can be self-ignition, as the gases increase their temperature, they
heat up the metals in contact with them more, if there are sharp points inside the
chamber or in the head of the piston due to machining or sharp edges due to the
shape of the parts, when If there is less material in these areas, they would heat
up more than the rest of the material, and could even become incandescent and
create the effect of a candle. To solve this problem, in addition to the previous
tips for detonation, it is best to polish all the sharp edges that exist in the
combustion chamber and the piston head, to try to prevent this from happening.
Another problem could be the valve-piston clearance, the distance between the
valves and the piston will decrease at PMS, since to increase the compression ratio
you have to remove material from the cylinder head, from the block or put pistons
with a higher head, any of the three options makes the piston get closer to the
combustion chamber and the valves at TDC, at this point the intake valves will be
starting to open and the exhaust valves will be finishing closing and it may be the
case that the valves and the piston will hit, with the breakdown that entails. Pay
close attention to this clearance, especially if, in addition to bringing the
piston closer, camshafts have been mounted that make the valves more open at TDC,
as is normal in competition trees, in image 2 it can be seen very well clearance
between valve and piston.

Image 2
Once explained the RC and the problems that can appear when trying to increase it,
it will be explained how to measure the static and dynamic RC separately.
CUBE THE COMPRESSION RATIO
Cubing means determining the capacity or volume of a body in cubic centimeters, to
use the equation RC = (VCI + VCA) / VCI, you must know the volume of the cylinder
and the volume of the combustion chamber, the volume of the cylinder is You can
calculate by equation knowing the stroke and the diameter, for example an engine
that has a stroke of 86 mm and a cylinder diameter of 86 mm, its volume can be
calculated with the following equation:
V = PI * Radius2 * Height
The stroke is used as the height and the cylinder diameter / 2 as the radius:
V = 3,14 * (4,3 cm * 4,3 cm) * 8,6 cm = 499,55 cc
It has gone from millimeters to centimeters to have the volume in cubic
centimeters, if this engine has 4 cylinders, its total displacement would be:
499;55 cc * 4 = 1998,23 cc
For these calculations you have to be very exact, the normal thing would be to say
that the engine has 2000 cc, but if you want to do it right, you need the exact
displacement per cylinder, if you divide 2000 / 4 = 500cc, you would already be
falsifying the measurements.
Knowing the volume of the cylinder, the volume of the combustion chamber is missing
and the chamber cannot be cubed by an equation like the cylinder, its shape makes
it almost impossible, also the combustion chamber is not only the hole in the
cylinder head , but for this example it will be simplified, it will only use the
combustion chamber and the cylinder head gasket, then the other factors to be taken
into account are explained. To cover the combustion chamber, use oil and a test
tube or syringe like the ones in image 3:

Image 3
The syringe can be found in any pharmacy and measures differences of 1 cc, the
other is a laboratory test tube and measures differences of 0.1 cc, it is about
pouring very dense oil into the chamber until it is full, the volume of oil to be
introduced will be the volume of the combustion chamber, to know how much oil
volume has been introduced, the test tube is filled up to a specific measure, for
example 60 ml (1 ml equals 1 cc) and the oil is poured into the chamber, if after
filling the combustion chamber 10 ml remained in the cylinder, the volume of the
chamber would be 50 cc.
To make the measurement, put the cylinder head with the combustion chambers up and
flat, you can make a transparent plastic cover with a small hole in the center to
pour the oil and hold it with screws, without the cover it is difficult to see when
It is completely full, it is also necessary to seal with grease between the valves
and their seats so that the oil does not escape, the same between the edge of the
sleeve and the piston, when the piston head is squared, with image 4 it can be seen
You will understand better, although in this case the head of a piston is being
cubed, in the combustion chamber it is done the same.

Image 4
Once everything is ready, all you have to do is pour oil until it is full and the
difference in the measurement in the test tube will be the volume of the combustion
chamber. Let's assume that the difference has been 46 cc, since the head gasket is
part of the the combustion chamber, you have to measure it separately and add it to
the volume of the chamber, this is easy, the same equation is used that was used
for the cylinder, for example, this engine in question uses a head gasket with a
thickness of 1.4 mm and a diameter of 86 mm, knowing the diameter and the height:
V = PI * Radius2 * Height
V = 3,14 * (4,3 cm * 4,3 cm) * 0,14 cm = 8,12 cc
Once the volumes of all parts are known, the equation can be used:
RC = (VCI + VCA) / VCA
Where:
VCI = Cylinder volume = 499.55 cc
VCA = Combustion Chamber V = Gasket V + Combustion Chamber V = 8.12 cc + 46 cc =
54.12 cc.
RC = (499.55cc + 54.12cc) / 54.12cc = 10.23 to 1 would be the RC of this engine.
As said before, the example has been simplified to make it easier, but the shape of
the piston head must be taken into account, it can be concave or convex and will
add or subtract volume to the combustion chamber, it can have recesses in its head
to make room for the valves or when reaching TDC can protrude from the block. An
example of how to calculate the RC of an engine that mounts a piston like the one
seen in image 6 is going to be done, all the material that protrudes above the
block is subtracting volume from the combustion chamber and to find out how much
volume remainder the head of the piston will be cubed.

Image 6
To measure the piston head, the first thing to do is measure the distance that
protrudes from the block, for this, pistons 1 and 4 are placed at PMS and a ruler
is placed on the highest points of the pistons, with a caliper the distance is
measured from the block to the bottom of the ruler, that will be the distance the
piston protrudes from the block, let's say it was 1.5mm.
The second is to lower the piston to a known distance, for example 5 mm, for this
the plastic cover is placed and measuring with a caliper through the hole in the
plate, the highest part of the piston is placed 5 mm from the bottom of the plate,
as the gauge rests on the top of the plate, the gauge measurement should be 5 mm
plus the thickness of the plate, then the edge between the piston and the sleeve is
sealed with grease.
The third thing is to pour oil through the hole until it is full and the measure is
recorded, let's imagine that 20 cc have been introduced.
Now calculate the oil that would have entered a cylinder 5 mm high and 86 mm in
diameter.
V = 3,14 * (4,3 cm * 4,3 cm) * 0,5 cm = 29,02 cc
Since the piston head has occupied part of the cylinder volume that has been
calculated, the difference between the calculated and the measured is the
displacement of the piston head.
29,02 cc - 20 cc = 9,02 cc
Knowing what the piston head occupies, it is subtracted from the combustion
chamber.
54,12cc - 9,02cccc = 45,1cc
And the RC is calculated with this measure.
RC = (499,55 cc + 45,1 cc) / 45,1 cc = 12,07 real de RC.
This case is one of the most difficult that could be found, the piston head is
curved, has recesses for the valves and also protrudes from the block, from the
example you can deduce any situation that is found:
- Flat piston flush with the block, the simplest as the first case.
- Flat piston but it protrudes from the plane of the block or remains below the
plane of the block, if it protrudes the volume of the combustion chamber must be
subtracted and if it remains below it is added.
- Crowned piston up or down and at the same level as the block, if it is up the
volume of the combustion chamber is subtracted, if it is down it is added.
STARTING POINT, DYNAMIC COMPRESSION RATIO
The big question is, how much compression ratio can you get without knocking? As
said there are two compression ratios, the static and the dynamic, the static is
the one that is calculated in the way that is exposed above, the dynamics depends
on the closure of the intake valve, reasoning a little, the compression cannot
start until the intake valve is not closed and its closure occurs after PMI, let's
take an example, an engine with a stroke of 83.5 mm and a diameter of 82.5 mm, the
49 cc cubic combustion chamber , its static RC is:
RC = (440.74 cc + 49 cc) / 49 cc = 9.99 to 1 static RC.
The dynamic RC calculation is done the same as with the static one, but taking as
the stroke the distance between the piston and PMS, when the intake valve closes,
with a cam that closes the intake valve 60º after PMI, the The piston will be at
67.23mm TDC when the valve closes, using this measurement instead of full travel:
VCI = 3,14 * (4,1cm * 4,1cm) * 6,723cm = 354,86 cc
Calculating the dynamic RC.
RC = (354.86 cc + 49 cc) / 49 cc = 8.24 dynamic RC.
The same but with a cam that closes the intake valve 80º past BDC, the piston
distance at TDC will be 54.99mm, using this measurement as the stroke.
VCI = 3,14 * (4,1cm * 4,1cm) * 5,499cm = 290,25cc
Calculating the dynamic RC.
RC = (290.25 cc + 49 cc) / 49 cc = 6.92 to 1 dynamic RC.
It is clearly seen how the dynamic RC has dropped even when the static remains the
same, the pressure created when the piston reaches TDC in the second example will
be much lower than that of the first example, the more delay there is in the valve
closing intake, the lower the dynamic RC and the more static compression can be
achieved. It is considered that with normal gasoline, so that there is no danger of
detonation, the dynamic ratio must be between 7.5 and 8 to 1, although everything
will depend on the type of engine, shape of the combustion chamber, position of the
spark plug, etc. , in some cases it could go a little higher, but since the subject
is covered in general this is a good starting point.
To find out at what point the valve closes, you can pay attention to the
manufacturer of the camshafts, who will provide us with the degrees of opening and
closing of the valves, if for example the manufacturer says that the intake valve
closes 70º after PMI, It must be found how far the piston is 70º after PMI and
calculate the dynamic RC. If there is no data on the cams, the closing point of the
intake valve will be searched, to make sure it is done correctly, it is searched
when the valve is 0.1 mm from the seat, it would not be a bad thing to check what
the manufacturer tells us of the camshafts in the same way to make sure that the
data is correct or that they have not moved while they were stalling.
CALCULATE HOW MUCH MATERIAL TO REMOVE FOR THE RC YOU ARE LOOKING FOR.
Once we have chosen the dynamic RC that we deem appropriate, depending on the
camshafts that we plan to mount or by modifying the timing, all that remains is to
know how much material to remove from the cylinder head or the block, for this the
following equation is used:
VCA = VCI / (RC-1)
Continuing with the previous example, stroke of 83.5 mm and diameter of 82 mm, in
the example some camshafts have been used that closed the intake valve 80º after
PMI, so the volume of the cylinder that gives the piston in that position, which
was 290.25 cc, with these data:
VAC = 290.25 / (8-1) = 41.46 cc should measure the combustion chamber for a dynamic
RC of 8 to 1.
Calculating the static RC with the volume of this chamber, but this time with the
volume of the total cylinder:
RC = (440.74 cc + 41.46 cc) / 41.46 cc = 11.63 to 1 static RC.
Once you have found out how much the combustion chamber should measure, to find out
how much material you have to remove, you will put the cylinder head with the
combustion chamber facing up and 41.46 cc will be poured into it, the oil will not
reach the edge of the cylinder head and the distance from the edge to the oil is
the measurement to be removed. In this case, the original measurement of the
combustion chamber is 49 cc in total, it includes the cylinder head gasket and the
variations that the piston may cause, if it is necessary to remove, for example,
1.2 mm, it can be done by removing material from the block, the gasket or the
cylinder head, it is best to distribute it among everything, if you can get a
thinner gasket, better than better, the rest is preferable to remove as much as
possible from the plane of the block so as not to weaken the cylinder head too
much, but carefully, Finally, it is necessary to make sure that the valves do not
hit the piston at TDC, especially if another type of cam has been mounted with a
greater crossing and in which the valves will be more raised at TDC, it must be
remembered that the piston will approach more to the combustion chamber and
therefore the clearance between valves and piston must be checked, at least 1.5 mm,
better more.
Another option is to buy some pistons that are already machined for the RC you are
looking for, you will not have to make any modifications to the block or cylinder
head, that is already to the liking of each one and your pocket.