INTERNAL-COMBUSTION

ENGINES

Prepared by:
Angelie A. Cabande
BSED-Science
Internal-Combustion Engines

are devices that generate work using the

products of combustion as the working
fluid rather than as a heat transfer
medium.
Cycle of a four-stroke internal-
combustion engine
• Intake stroke. The descending piston
draws a mixture of fuel and air through
the open intake valve.

• Compression stroke. The intake valve

is closed and the rising piston
compresses the fuel-air mixture. The
spark plug is fired, igniting the mixture.
• Power stroke. The burning mixture
expands, driving the piston down
and delivering power.

• Exhaust stroke. The exhaust valve

opens and the piston rises, expelling
and burned gas from the cylinder.
• First mixture of air and the
gasoline vapor flows into a
cylinder through an open intake
valve while the piston descends,
increasing the volume of the
cylinder from a minimum of V
(when the piston is all the way
up) to a maximum of rV (when it
is all the way down.
• The quantity r is called the
compression ratio.
• At the end of the intake stroke, the
intake valve closes and the mixture is
compressed, approximately
adiabatically, to volume V during the
compression stroke. The mixture is then
ignited by the spark plug, and the
heated gas expand, approximately
adiabatically, back to volume rV, pushing
on the piston and doing work; this is the
Power stroke.
• Finally, the exhaust
valve opens, and the
combustion products
are pushed out
(during the exhaust
stroke), leaving the
cylinder ready for the
next intake stroke.
END