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Cylinder (engine)
Encyclopedia
A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine
or pump
, the space in which a piston
travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron
before receiving precision machine work. Cylinders may be sleeved (lined with a harder metal
) or sleeveless — with a wear-resistant coating such as Nikasil
.
A cylinder's displacement, or swept volume
, can be calculated by multiplying its cross-sectional area
(the square of half the bore by pi
) and again by the distance the piston travels within the cylinder (the stroke). The engine displacement
can be calculated by multiplying the swept volume of one cylinder by the number of cylinders.
A piston is seated inside each cylinder by several metal piston ring
s fitted around its outside surface in machined grooves; typically two for compressional sealing and one to seal the oil
. The rings make near contact with the cylinder walls (sleeved or sleeveless), riding on a thin layer of lubricating oil – essential to keep the engine from seizing and necessitating a cylinder wall's durable surface.
During the earliest stage of an engine's life, its initial 'breaking-in' or 'running-in' period, tiny irregularities in the metals are encouraged to gradually form congruent grooves by avoiding extreme operating conditions. Later in its life, after mechanical wear has increased the spacing between the piston and the cylinder – with a consequent decrease in power output – the cylinders may be machined to a slightly larger diameter to receive new sleeves (where applicable) and piston rings, a process sometimes known as 'reboring'.
Heat engines, including Stirling engine
s, are sealed machine
s using pistons within cylinders to transfer energy
from a heat source to a colder reservoir, often using steam or another gas
as the working substance
. (See Carnot cycle
.) The first illustration depicts a longitudinal section of a cylinder in a steam engine
. The sliding part at the bottom is the piston, and the upper sliding part is a distribution valve (in this case of the D slide valve
type) that directs steam
alternately into either end of the cylinder. Refrigerator
s and air conditioners
are heat engines driven in reverse cycle as pumps.
Internal combustion engines operate on the inherent volume change accompanying oxidation
of gasoline
(petrol), diesel fuel (or some other hydrocarbon
) or ethanol
, an expansion which is greatly enhanced by the heat
produced. They are not classical heat engines since they expel the working substance, which is also the combustion product, into the surroundings.
The reciprocating
motion of the pistons is translated into crankshaft
rotation via connecting rod
s. As a piston moves back and forth, a connecting rod changes its angle; its distal end has a rotating link to the crankshaft. In addition to cylinder-piston engines, there are also rotary
turbine
s. The Wankel
engine is a rotary adaptation of the cylinder-piston concept which has been used by Mazda
and NSU
in automobile
s. Rotary engines are relatively quiet because they lack the clatter of reciprocating motion
.
Air-cooled engines
generally use individual cases for the cylinders to facilitate cooling. Inline
motorcycle engines
are an exception, having two-, three-, four-, or even six-cylinder air-cooled units in a common block. Water-cooled engines with only a few cylinders may also use individual cylinder cases, though this makes the cooling system more complex. The Ducati motorcycle company, which for years used air-cooled motors with individual cylinder cases, retained the basic design of their V-twin
engine while adapting it to water-cooling.
In some engines, especially French designs, the cylinders have "wet liners". They are formed separately from the main casting so that liquid coolant is free to flow around their outsides. Wet-lined cylinders have better cooling and a more even temperature distribution, but this design makes the engine as a whole somewhat less rigid.
A typical four-cylinder automobile engine has a single row of water-cooled
cylinders. V engine
s (V6 or V8
) use two angle
d cylinder bank
s. The "V" configuration is utilized to create a more compact configuration relative to the amount of cylinders. Many other engine configuration
s exist.
During use, the cylinder is subject to wear from the rubbing action of the piston ring
s and piston
skirt. This is minimized by the thin oil film which coats the cylinder walls and also by a layer of glaze
which naturally forms as the engine is run-in, but eventually the cylinder becomes worn and slightly oval in shape, usually necessitating a rebore to an oversize diameter and the fitting of new, oversize pistons. The cylinder does not wear above the highest point reached by the top compression ring of the piston, which can result in a detectable ridge. If an engine is only operated at low rpm for its early life (e.g. in a gently driven automobile) then abruptly used in the higher rpm range (e.g. by a new owner), the slight stretching of the connecting rods at high speed can enable the top compression ring to contact the wear ridge, breaking the ring. For this reason it is important that all engines, once initially run-in, are occasionally "exercised" through their full speed range to develop a tapered wear profile rather than a sharp ridge.
to match the piston.
Reciprocating engine
A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types...
or pump
Pump
A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids, gases or slurries.A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into three major groups: direct lift, displacement, and gravity pumps...
, the space in which a piston
Piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from...
travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
before receiving precision machine work. Cylinders may be sleeved (lined with a harder metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
) or sleeveless — with a wear-resistant coating such as Nikasil
Nikasil
Nikasil is a trademarked electrodeposited lipophilic nickel matrix silicon carbide coating for engine components, mainly piston engine cylinder liners. It was introduced by Mahle in 1967, initially developed to allow rotary engine apex seals to work directly against the aluminum housing...
.
A cylinder's displacement, or swept volume
Volume
Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains....
, can be calculated by multiplying its cross-sectional area
Area
Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat...
(the square of half the bore by pi
Pi
' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...
) and again by the distance the piston travels within the cylinder (the stroke). The engine displacement
Engine displacement
Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre to bottom dead centre . It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters , litres , or cubic inches...
can be calculated by multiplying the swept volume of one cylinder by the number of cylinders.
A piston is seated inside each cylinder by several metal piston ring
Piston ring
A piston ring is a split ring that fits into a groove on the outer diameter of a piston in a reciprocating engine such as an internal combustion engine or steam engine.The three main functions of piston rings in reciprocating engines are:...
s fitted around its outside surface in machined grooves; typically two for compressional sealing and one to seal the oil
Motor oil
Motor oil or engine oil is an oil used for lubrication of various internal combustion engines. The main function is to lubricate moving parts; it also cleans, inhibits corrosion, improves sealing, and cools the engine by carrying heat away from moving parts.Motor oils are derived from...
. The rings make near contact with the cylinder walls (sleeved or sleeveless), riding on a thin layer of lubricating oil – essential to keep the engine from seizing and necessitating a cylinder wall's durable surface.
During the earliest stage of an engine's life, its initial 'breaking-in' or 'running-in' period, tiny irregularities in the metals are encouraged to gradually form congruent grooves by avoiding extreme operating conditions. Later in its life, after mechanical wear has increased the spacing between the piston and the cylinder – with a consequent decrease in power output – the cylinders may be machined to a slightly larger diameter to receive new sleeves (where applicable) and piston rings, a process sometimes known as 'reboring'.
Heat engines
Stirling engine
A Stirling engine is a heat engine operating by cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gas, the working fluid, at different temperature levels such that there is a net conversion of heat energy to mechanical work....
s, are sealed machine
Machine
A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, and a molecular machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work...
s using pistons within cylinders to transfer energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
from a heat source to a colder reservoir, often using steam or another gas
Gas
Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
as the working substance
Chemical substance
In chemistry, a chemical substance is a form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. It cannot be separated into components by physical separation methods, i.e. without breaking chemical bonds. They can be solids, liquids or gases.Chemical substances are...
. (See Carnot cycle
Carnot heat engine
A Carnot heat engine is a hypothetical engine that operates on the reversible Carnot cycle. The basic model for this engine was developed by Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot in 1824...
.) The first illustration depicts a longitudinal section of a cylinder in a steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
. The sliding part at the bottom is the piston, and the upper sliding part is a distribution valve (in this case of the D slide valve
D slide valve
The slide valve is a rectilinear valve used to control the admission of steam into, and emission of exhaust from, the cylinder of a steam engine.-Use:...
type) that directs steam
Steam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
alternately into either end of the cylinder. Refrigerator
Refrigerator
A refrigerator is a common household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump that transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room...
s and air conditioners
Air conditioning
An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
are heat engines driven in reverse cycle as pumps.
Internal combustion engines
Combustion
Combustion or burning is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of chemical species. The release of heat can result in the production of light in the form of either glowing or a flame...
of gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
(petrol), diesel fuel (or some other hydrocarbon
Hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....
) or ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
, an expansion which is greatly enhanced by the heat
Heat
In physics and thermodynamics, heat is energy transferred from one body, region, or thermodynamic system to another due to thermal contact or thermal radiation when the systems are at different temperatures. It is often described as one of the fundamental processes of energy transfer between...
produced. They are not classical heat engines since they expel the working substance, which is also the combustion product, into the surroundings.
The reciprocating
Reciprocating engine
A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types...
motion of the pistons is translated into crankshaft
Crankshaft
The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...
rotation via connecting rod
Connecting rod
In a reciprocating piston engine, the connecting rod or conrod connects the piston to the crank or crankshaft. Together with the crank, they form a simple mechanism that converts linear motion into rotating motion....
s. As a piston moves back and forth, a connecting rod changes its angle; its distal end has a rotating link to the crankshaft. In addition to cylinder-piston engines, there are also rotary
Rotation
A rotation is a circular movement of an object around a center of rotation. A three-dimensional object rotates always around an imaginary line called a rotation axis. If the axis is within the body, and passes through its center of mass the body is said to rotate upon itself, or spin. A rotation...
turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
s. The Wankel
Felix Wankel
Felix Heinrich Wankel was a German mechanical engineer and inventor after whom the Wankel engine was named. He is the only twentieth century engineer to have designed an internal combustion engine which went into production.-Early life:Wankel was born in Lahr, Baden, in the upper Rhine Valley...
engine is a rotary adaptation of the cylinder-piston concept which has been used by Mazda
Mazda
is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...
and NSU
NSU Motorenwerke AG
NSU Motorenwerke AG, normally just NSU, was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles and pedal cycles, founded in 1873. It was acquired by Volkswagen Group in 1969...
in automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s. Rotary engines are relatively quiet because they lack the clatter of reciprocating motion
Motion (physics)
In physics, motion is a change in position of an object with respect to time. Change in action is the result of an unbalanced force. Motion is typically described in terms of velocity, acceleration, displacement and time . An object's velocity cannot change unless it is acted upon by a force, as...
.
Air-cooled engines
Aircooling
Air cooling is a method of dissipating heat. It works by making the object to be cooled have a larger surface area or have an increased flow of air over its surface, or both. An example of the former is to add fins to the surface of the object, either by making them integral or by attaching them...
generally use individual cases for the cylinders to facilitate cooling. Inline
Straight engine
Usually found in four- and six-cylinder configurations, the straight engine, or inline engine is an internal-combustion engine with all cylinders aligned in one row, with no offset...
motorcycle engines
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
are an exception, having two-, three-, four-, or even six-cylinder air-cooled units in a common block. Water-cooled engines with only a few cylinders may also use individual cylinder cases, though this makes the cooling system more complex. The Ducati motorcycle company, which for years used air-cooled motors with individual cylinder cases, retained the basic design of their V-twin
V-twin
A V-twin engine is a two-cylinder internal combustion engine where the cylinders are arranged in a V configuration.- Crankshaft configuration :Most V-twin engines have a single crankpin, which is shared by both connecting rods...
engine while adapting it to water-cooling.
In some engines, especially French designs, the cylinders have "wet liners". They are formed separately from the main casting so that liquid coolant is free to flow around their outsides. Wet-lined cylinders have better cooling and a more even temperature distribution, but this design makes the engine as a whole somewhat less rigid.
A typical four-cylinder automobile engine has a single row of water-cooled
Watercooling
Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. As opposed to air cooling, water is used as the heat conductor. Water cooling is commonly used for cooling automobile internal combustion engines and large industrial facilities such as steam electric power plants,...
cylinders. V engine
V engine
A V engine, or Vee engine is a common configuration for an internal combustion engine. The cylinders and pistons are aligned, in two separate planes or 'banks', so that they appear to be in a "V" when viewed along the axis of the crankshaft...
s (V6 or V8
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
) use two angle
Angle
In geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays sharing a common endpoint, called the vertex of the angle.Angles are usually presumed to be in a Euclidean plane with the circle taken for standard with regard to direction. In fact, an angle is frequently viewed as a measure of an circular arc...
d cylinder bank
Cylinder bank
Internal combustion piston engines are usually arranged so that the cylinders are in lines parallel to the crankshaft. Where they are in a single line, this is referred to as an inline or straight engine....
s. The "V" configuration is utilized to create a more compact configuration relative to the amount of cylinders. Many other engine configuration
Engine configuration
Engine configuration is an engineering term for the layout of the major components of a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine. These components are the cylinders and crankshafts in particular but also, sometimes, the camshaft....
s exist.
During use, the cylinder is subject to wear from the rubbing action of the piston ring
Piston ring
A piston ring is a split ring that fits into a groove on the outer diameter of a piston in a reciprocating engine such as an internal combustion engine or steam engine.The three main functions of piston rings in reciprocating engines are:...
s and piston
Piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from...
skirt. This is minimized by the thin oil film which coats the cylinder walls and also by a layer of glaze
Glaze
Glaze or glazing is a thin shiny coating, or the act of applying the coating; it may refer to:In materials or engineering:* Architectural glass, a building material typically used as transparent glazing material in the building envelope...
which naturally forms as the engine is run-in, but eventually the cylinder becomes worn and slightly oval in shape, usually necessitating a rebore to an oversize diameter and the fitting of new, oversize pistons. The cylinder does not wear above the highest point reached by the top compression ring of the piston, which can result in a detectable ridge. If an engine is only operated at low rpm for its early life (e.g. in a gently driven automobile) then abruptly used in the higher rpm range (e.g. by a new owner), the slight stretching of the connecting rods at high speed can enable the top compression ring to contact the wear ridge, breaking the ring. For this reason it is important that all engines, once initially run-in, are occasionally "exercised" through their full speed range to develop a tapered wear profile rather than a sharp ridge.
Cylinder sleeving
Cylinder walls can become very worn or damaged from use. In such cases the use of a sleeve or liner can restore proper clearances to an engine. Sleeves are made out of iron alloys and are very reliable. A sleeve is installed by a machinist at a machine shop. The engine block is mounted on a precision boring machine where the cylinder is then bored to a size much larger than normal and a new cast-iron sleeve can be inserted. The sleeves can be pressed into place, or they can be held in by an interference fit. The interference fit is done by boring the cylinder (between 3 to 6 thousandths of an inch) smaller than the sleeve being installed, then heating the engine block and while hot, the cold sleeve can be inserted easily. When the engine block cools down it shrink fits around the sleeve holding it into place. Once a sleeve has been installed the cylinder needs to be finish bored and honedHoning (metalworking)
Honing is an abrasive machining process that produces a precision surface on a metal workpiece by scrubbing an abrasive stone against it along a controlled path...
to match the piston.
External links
- The Long History of Reverse-Cylinder Engine Designs - motocrossactionmag.com