Piston Engine

Introduction

In Aviation there are two types of engine works.

• Reciprocating Engine

• Rotatory Engine

They both are comes under Internal Combustion Engine Category.

Piston Engine can be further classified as Petrol Engine and Diesel Engine.

In Aviation we use 4 stroke Petrol Engine.

Reciprocating Engine (Piston Engine) (Basic Part Familiarization)

Cylinder: It Provides a chamber for piston displacement intake &

combustion of charge(Fuel/Air Mixture) ,Intake and Exhaust valve
installation ports and Colling fins.

Piston: It acts like a moving wall inside the cylinder and displaces and compress
the fuel/air mixture. It is also a part which feels engine generated power first.

Connecting Rod: It connects Piston with Crank-shaft.

Crank Shaft: It converts reciprocating motion into

Rotatory motion
 Camshaft: It links with crankshaft and allows to
open/close the correct valve with respect to Piston
moment.

Cam Shaft Speed = half of crankshaft speed

Cam Shaft Gear = Double the crankshaft Gear.

Inlet/Outlet Valves: Its use as a door for charge. Intake valve open means to
allow fresh fuel/air mixture come inside the cylinder and Exhaust valve open
means burn gasses needs to spell out from the cylinder.

Spark Plug: It use for burning of Fuel Air Mixture during Power
stroke

How Does a 4 stroke Piston Engine Works?

Intake Stroke:

This is the first stroke for any 4 stroke petrol Engine. In this is stroke fresh fuel/air mixture goes inside the
engine. This time the movement of the piston is from TDC to BDC. During this stroke Intake valve remains
open and exhaust valve closed.
Compression Stroke:

This is the Second Stroke for any 4 stroke petrol Engine. In this is stroke fresh fuel/air mixture get compresses
by the piston, inside the engine. This time the movement of the piston is from BDC to TDC. During this stroke
both Intake and exhaust valves are closed.

Power Stroke

During Compression stroke when piston is about to reach at TDC just few degree before spark plug produces
the fire and the fresh and compress fuel air mixture gets burn.

At this time the burn gases expends and it push the piston towards down side (TDC to BDC). As here the work
was done by gases hence it is known as power stroke. At this moment the exhaust valve start to open.
Exhaust Stroke

At this time the exhaust valve is completely open and the piston starts to move from BDC to TDC. Hence it
spells out all the burn gases away from the cylinder.

Valve Lead is when the valve opens before the theoretical opening time. (Inlet valve opens before T.D.C.,
exhaust valve opens before B.D.C.).

Valve Lag is when the valve remains open after the theoretical closing time. (Inlet valve remains opens after
B.D.C., exhaust valve remains open after T.D.C.).

Valve Overlap is a period when both valves are partially open together. It is good for Engine
breathing/scavenging.

Type of Piston Engine as per Engine LayOut

Indicated Horse Power :-

The Indicated horse power produce by an engine is the horsepower calculated from indicated mean effective
pressure and the other factor which affect the power output of the engine.

Indicated horse power is the actual power developed in the combustion chamber without reference to
friction losses within the engine.”

Indicated horsepower = PLANK/33000

Where P = Indicated mean effective pressure

L = Length of the stroke in ft.

A = Area of the piston head or cross sectional area of the cylinder, in sq. inch

N = Number of power stroke per minute, r.p.m / 2

K = Number of cylinder

Brake HorsePower :-

The Indicated horsepower is the theoretical power of the frictionless engine.

The total horsepower lost in overcoming friction must be subtracted from the indicated horsepower to arrive
at the actual horsepower delivered to the propeller for useful work is known as Brake Horsepower (b.hp).

The difference between indicated horsepower and break horsepower is known as Friction Horsepower.

Friction Horsepower:-

Friction horsepower is the indicated horsepower minus brake horsepower. It is the horsepower used by an
engine in overcoming the friction of moving parts, drawing in fuel, expelling exhaust, driving oil and fuel
pumps, and the like. On modern air- craft engines, this power loss through friction may be as high as 10 to
15% of the indicated horsepower.

Thermal Efficiency

This is the ratio of the Useful work done by engine to the heat energy of the fuel it uses, expresses in work or
heat.

The thermal efficiency of an engine may be based on either b.hp or I.hp and is represented by the formula.

Mechanical Efficiency

Mechanical efficiency is the ratio that shows how much of the power developed by the expending gases in the
cylinder is actually delivered to the output shaft.
It is comparison between the b.hp and i.hp. It can be expressed by the formula ;

The factor that has greatest effect on mechanical efficiency is the friction within the engine itself.

Therefore, the mechanical efficiency of an engine will be highest when engine is running at the r.p.m at which
maximum b.hp developed.

Volumetric Efficiency

The Volumetric efficiency is a ratio between Volume of fuel/air charge inducted into cylinder to the total
piston displacement.

“ If the engine draws in volume of charge of this density exactly equal to its piston displacement, it is said to
be operating at 100% Volumetric Efficiency.”

“ An engine equipped with a high speed internal or external blower may have volumetric efficiency more than
100%”

Volumetric Efficiency……

Many factor decreases volumetric efficiency; some of these are ..

1. Part throttle operation.

2. long intake pipes of small diameter.

3. Sharp bends in the induction system

4. Carburetor air temperature too high

5. Cylinder Head Temperature too high

6. Improper valve timing

7. Incomplete Scavanging
Work: -

As per physics we know that “ The work is force time distance”. Work done by a force acting on a body is equal
to the magnitude of the force multiplied by the distance through which the force acts.

Work (W) = Force (F) X Distance (D)

Horsepower: -

The common unit of the engine power is Horse Power (hp).

To calculate the horse power rating of the engine, divide the power developed in ft-lb per minute by 33,000 or
ft-lb per second by 550.

Piston Displacement: -

When other factor remain equal, the greater the piston displacement the greater the maximum horsepower
an engine will be capable of developing.

When piston moves from BDC to TDC. It displaces a specific volume.

“ The volume displaced by the piston is known as piston displacement and is expressed in cubic inches for
most American made engines and cubic centimeters (CC) for other.”

The piston displacement of one cylinder may be obtain by multiplying the area of cross section of the cylinder
by the total distance the piston moves in the cylinder in one stroke.

V=AXH

V= volume

A = Area of the piston base

H = Altitude
Compression Ratio

The Compression ratio of an engine is a compression of the volume of space in a cylinder when the piston is
at bottom of the stroke to the volume of the space when the piston is at top of
the stroke.

Types of Connecting Rod

Plain Type Connecting Rod: This type connecting road use in Inline and Horizontal
Opposed Type Engine.

Fork and Blade type Connecting Rod This type connecting road V Type Engine
Master and Articulated type Connecting Rod This type connecting road Radial Type Engine

Cylinder Numbering
Occasionally it necessary to refer to the left and right of the engine or to a particular cylinder.
Therefore it is necessary to know the engine direction and how cylinders of the engine are
numbered.
The propeller end of the engine is always refer the front end and the accessory end is the
rear end.
• Single row Radial engine cylinders are numbered clockwise as viewed from accessary
end.
• Double Row, all odd-numbered cylinders are in the rear and all even numbered
cylinders are in front.
• The numbering of opposed engine cylinder is by no means standard.
• Some manufacturers number their cylinder from the rear and other from the front of
engine.
• Always refer to the appropriate engine manual to determine the correct numbering
system used by the manufacture.
Firing Order
The Sequence in which the power event occurs in the different cylinders is called Firing
Order. Designed to provide for balance and to eliminate vibration.
Firing order in Single row radial engine.
• Odd first Even Later….
• For 9 Cylinder single row radial engine. 1-3-5-7-9-2-4-6-8
Firing Order in Double row Radial Engine
An easy way to calculate for 14 cylinder double row radial engine
Add 9 and subtract 5
for 18 Cylinder Engine
Add 11 and Subtract 7

Firing Order in Horizontal opposed/Inline Engine

• The Information always provided by the manufacture.
• For Lycoming Engine
• 4 Cylinder 1-3-2-4
• 6 Cylinder 1-4-5-2-3-6
• For Continental Engine
• 4 Cylinder 1-4-2-3
• 6 Cylinder 1-6-3-2-5-4

Strokes and Events of 4 stroke Piston Engine

The Crankshaft angle between TDC and BDC is 1800 . The Piston engine operation is as per Otto Cycle.

It is an Adiabatic Process (Temperature remains constant)

The valve timing for a particular engine is fixed, and does not vary with engine speed.

Control of power in piston engine is achieved by varying the quantity of air which enters the cylinder . this in
turn will very the pressure rise during combustion. The pilot controls a valve, The Throttle to vary the quantity
of air.

The area within the power column represents work done on the piston during the power
stroke and the blue areas represent work done by the piston in compressing the charge and
exhausting the cylinder against back pressure. This results in an average reading of pressure
on the piston during the working cycle being available which is termed the Indicated Mean
Effective Pressure (I.M.E.P.)
The pilot is not given a display in the cockpit of the IMEP but can be displayed manifold
pressure which is representative of cylinder pressure. This is displayed on the manifold
pressure gauge.
Opening the throttle increases manifold pressure and closing the throttle will reduce it. The
Manifold Absolute Pressure gauge (MAP) is normally calibrated to read in inches of mercury.

SPECIFIC FUEL CONSUMPTION (SFC)

The weight of fuel burnt, in lbs, for the power produced BHPin unit time (Hours) is called the
Specific Fuel Consumption.
Engine designers strive to get as much power as possible from the engine, for the minimum
weight of fuel burnt. During operation a reduction in power for the same weight of fuel burnt,
is defined as an Increase in Specific Fuel Consumption, and a reduction in fuel burnt for
the same, or more power a Decrease in Specific Fuel Consumption.
NOTE
SFC is affected by engine design and Pilot Operation of the engine. Since the pilot has no
control over design, correct operation of the engine is essential if performance Figures are to
be attained.

The Compression Ratio

Total Volume is the volume above the piston when the piston is at B.D.C.
Swept Volume is the volume displaced by the piston during a single stroke.

Swept volume =cross sectional area of the cylinder x the stroke.