Assignment MEC 1400 Statics

Year 2014/2015

Introduction:
Majority of personal cars and motorcycles are powered by four-stroke internal combustion
engine. The engine design process involves computation that predicts the engine performance based
on the specific data. Your task is to provide computation on the level corresponding to your
knowledge related to Engineering Mechanics Statics. The measured data are given for one four
stroke cycle thus you assume that at each given position of the mechanism the static equilibrium
will be satisfied so inertia forces at that instant do not affect the behaviour of the engine. This
assumption is suitable to provide Statics analysis only as a first step to evaluate the engine
performance.
The specific data for your group are given in the file Assignment Data 2014-15.

Four stroke engine - brief description:

The first stroke (A, on the diagram above) fills the volume above the piston with the
mixture of air and fuel while the piston is moving downwards.
During the second stroke (B) the mixture is compressed while the piston is moving upwards
till it reaches the Top Dead Centre (TDC) position.
At the beginning of the third stroke (C) the fuel is ignited thus the highest pressure in the
cylinder is reached while the angle of the crank shaft makes an angle to TDC. The angle varies
according to the engine type and set-up, usually considered around 10% below TDC position. This
stroke is called the power stroke.

The final fourth stroke (D) is called exhaust stroke. During this stroke the piston moves up
to TDC and pushes out the gas thus prepares the cylinder for the start of the first stroke.

Your goal is to analyze the load transfer during the cycle and compute the couple moment
that will be delivered to the crank shaft.

The solution has to be presented in the report showing all your work thus it must include:
1. Description of load transfer during the whole cycle of a four stroke internal combustion
engine and its mechanical function.
2. Identification of all important mechanical components forming the engine, classification
of their connections/constrains.
3. Schematic diagram of the engine excluding the stationary parts such as the motor case
and the system synchronizing the valve movement.
4. Mobility analysis, free body diagrams of all elements of the mechanism and
corresponding static equations of equilibrium
5. Computation of the couple moment acting on the crank shaft, and all reaction forces as
theyll develop due to the pressure in the cylinder.
6. The power of the engine.
Your solution must be provided:
a) Analytically
b) Graphically with the scales of length and forces, which MUST be presented
together with the mechanical structure and your graphical solution of all
reaction forces on one single sheet of paper.
c) Numerically using Excel or Matlab. The matrix solution must be submitted in
hard copy as a part of the report and soft copy of the solution in Excel sheet or
Matlab code uploaded via VLE. The file must include the code and your
system of equations
d) The model of engine that can demonstrate the mechanism of combustion
engine and movement of the mechanical parts. The demonstration can be
done in 3D or 2D providing model of the engine/one cylinder only. The
model must be built using MERKUR (construction set available at the Mech.
Eng. Laboratory) and has to be done in our laboratory on the day given for
your group.

The assignment must be delivered in:

soft copy via VLE and
hard copy by hand in Room EB305

All assignments must be submitted not later then

12:00 oclock 15th January 2015

Note: Be aware that the VLE will be opened for submission till noon (12:00) and once closed all late submission will be rejected.