Throttle

This article is about the control of engine power. For the engine, indirectly controlling the charge (fuel + air)
other uses, see Throttle (disambiguation).
burned on each cycle due to the fuel-injector or carburetor
maintaining a relatively constant fuel/air ratio. In a motor
A throttle is the mechanism by which uid ow is man- vehicle the control used by the driver to regulate power is
sometimes called the throttle pedal or accelerator.
aged by constriction or obstruction.
An engine's power can be increased or decreased by the The throttle is typically a buttery valve. In a fuelrestriction of inlet gases (i.e., by the use of a throttle), but injected engine, the throttle valve is placed on the enusually decreased. The term throttle has come to refer, in- trance of the intake manifold, or housed in the throttle
formally and incorrectly, to any mechanism by which the body. In a carbureted engine, it is found in the carburepower or speed of an engine is regulated. What is often tor.
termed a throttle (in an aviation context) is more correctly
called a thrust lever. For a steam engine, the steam valve
that sets the engine speed/power is often known as a regulator.

When a throttle is wide open, the intake manifold is usually at ambient atmospheric pressure. When the throttle
is partially closed, a manifold vacuum develops as the intake drops below ambient pressure.
Usually, the throttle valve is controlled with a throttle
pedal or lever via a direct mechanical linkage. In vehicles with electronic throttle control, the manual throttle
control sends a signal to the Engine Control Unit (ECU),
which then directly controls the position of the throttle
valve. This means that the operator does not have direct
control over the throttle valve; the ECU can nely control the valve in order to reduce emissions or maximize
performance.

Internal combustion engines

In a reciprocating-engine aircraft, the throttle control is

usually a hand-operated lever or knob. It controls the engine power, which may or may not reect in a change of
RPM, depending on the propeller installation (xed-pitch
or constant speed).[1]
The power output of a diesel engine is controlled by regulating the quantity of fuel that is injected into the cylinder.
Because the engines do not need to control air volumes,
they lack a buttery valve in the intake tract. An exception to this generalization is newer diesel engines meeting stricter emissions standards, where a throttle is used
to generate intake manifold vacuum, thereby allowing the
introduction of exhaust gas (see EGR) to lower combustion temperatures and thereby minimize NOx production.

2 Throttle body
In fuel injected engines, the throttle body is the part of
the air intake system that controls the amount of air owing
into the engine, in response to driver accelerator pedal
A cross-section view of a throttle valve
input in the main. The throttle body is usually located beIn a gasoline internal combustion engine, the throttle is tween the air lter box and the intake manifold, and it is
a valve that directly regulates the amount of air entering usually attached to, or near, the mass airow sensor.
1

OTHER ENGINES

When the driver presses on the accelerator pedal, the

throttle plate rotates within the throttle body, opening the
throttle passage to allow more air into the intake manifold. Usually an airow sensor measures this change and
communicates with the ECU. The ECU then increases
the amount of fuel being sent to the fuel injectors in order
to obtain the desired air-fuel ratio. Often a throttle position sensor (TPS) is connected to the shaft of the throttle
plate to provide the ECU with information on whether the
throttle is in the idle position, wide-open throttle (WOT)
position, or somewhere in between these extremes.
Throttle bodies may also contain valves and adjustments
to control the minimum airow during idle. Even in those
units that are not "drive-by-wire", there will often be a
small electric motor driven valve, the Idle Air Control
Valve (IACV), that the ECU uses to control the amount
of air that can bypass the main throttle opening.

The components of a typical throttle body

The largest piece inside the throttle body is the throttle

plate, which is a buttery valve that regulates the airow.
On many cars, the accelerator pedal motion is communicated via the throttle cable, to activate the throttle linkages, which move the throttle plate. In cars
with electronic throttle control (also known as drive-bywire), an electric motor controls the throttle linkages and
the accelerator pedal connects not to the throttle body, but
to a sensor, which sends the pedal position to the Engine
Control Unit (ECU). The ECU determines the throttle
opening based on accelerator pedal position and inputs
from other engine sensors.

Image of BMW S65 from the e92 BMW M3 showing eight individual throttle bodies

Many cars have a single throttle body. Others employ

more than one, chained together by linkages to improve
throttle response. At the extreme, high performance cars
like the E92 BMW M3 and high performance motorcycles like the Yamaha R6 use a separate throttle body for
each cylinder, often called individual throttle bodies or
ITBs.
A throttle body is somewhat analogous to the carburetor
in a non-injected engine. Carburetors combine the functionality of the throttle body and fuel injectors into one in
order to modulate the amount of air ow and to combine
air and fuel together. Cars with throttle body injection
(called TBI by General Motors and CFI by Ford) locate
the fuel injectors in the throttle body, thereby allowing
an older engine to be converted from carburetor to fuel
injection without signicantly altering the engine design.

Throttle body showing throttle position sensor. The throttle cable

attaches to the curved, black portion on the left. The coppercoloured coil visible next to this returns the throttle to its idle position when the pedal is released.

3 Other engines
Steam locomotives normally have the throttle (North
American English) or regulator (British English) in a

3
characteristic dome at the top of the boiler. The additional height aorded by the dome helps to avoid any liquid (e.g. from bubbles on the surface of the boiler water)
being drawn into the throttle valve, which could damage
it, or lead to priming. The throttle is used in conjunction
with the reversing lever to start, stop and to control the
locomotives power although, during steady-state running
of most locomotives, it is preferable to leave the throttle
wide open and to control the power by varying the steam
cut-o point (which is done with the reversing lever), as
this is more ecient. A steam locomotive throttle valve
poses a dicult design challenge as it must be opened and
closed using hand eort against the considerable pressure
(typically 250psi) of boiler steam. Examples include the
balanced double beat type used on Gresley A3 Pacics.
Throttling of a rocket engine means varying the thrust
level in-ight. This is not always a requirement; in fact,
the thrust of a solid-fuel rocket is not controllable after ignition. However, Liquid-propellant rockets can be
throttled by means of valves which regulate the ow of
fuel and oxidizer to the combustion chamber. Hybrid
rocket engines, such as the one used in Space Ship One,
use solid fuel with a liquid oxidizer, and therefore can be
throttled. Throttling tends to be required more for powered landings, and launch into space using a single main
stage (such as the Space Shuttle), than for launch with
multistage rockets.
In a jet engine, thrust is controlled by changing the
amount of fuel owing into the combustion chamber. In
some instances, a throttle is known as a "thrust lever"
(as in most Airbus and Boeing aircraft). This is chiey
due to the fact that throttle is associated with traditional
gasoline engines.[2]

See also
Adapted automobile

References

[1] Chapter 6: Aircraft Systems (PDF). Pilots Handbook

of Aeronautical Knowledge. Federal Aviation Administration. 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
[2] CEO of the Cockpit #84: Terms of Up-Gearment.
Avweb.com. 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2009-09-10.

External links

7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

Throttle Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throttle?oldid=653510842 Contributors: Xanzzibar, Psb777, Bkonrad, Vessbot, Smyth,

Ttguy, Hooperbloob, Interiot, Versageek, Theodork, GreyCat, Antilived, Arado, RL0919, JHCaueld, Zephalis, Katieh5584, John, Tim
bates, 16@r, Slakr, JoeBot, Dragonix, Emote, CmdrObot, Dobowet, Mystylplx, Dgw, Underpants, Orphu of io, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, IJB TA,
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and Anonymous: 68

7.2

Images

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