ECM1101 P13, PSSD1
Disassembly and assembly of a simple four-stroke engine

Mechanics, thermodynamics and strength of materials

Aim

This exercise is designed to show you how a simple four-stroke engine is constructed and how it operates. You will also have to answer questions about the engine. These questions relate to topics which you will encounter in the core courses, such as measurement, thermodynamics, and materials.

Handout and Report

It will be advantageous if you read the questions in the handout and prepare some of them in advance.

You will have to submit a report answering the questions at the begining of the 2nd year (counting 10% of PSSD2). This report will be judged on the quality of the answers, of course, but also on its neatness.

Links

Engines

You may like to look at the Howstuffworks page on engines.
Or at the Java applets created by Klaus Wetzstein.
Finally, NASA has a very interesting series of animations illustrating a four-stroke engine

Thermodynamics

Nasa again has a simple page on the Otto Cycle that underpins the four-stroke engine.
You can also look at related Carnot Cycle.

Arnaud Marmier
College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physcal Sciences
April 2010