Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Crankshaft (red), pistons (gray), cylinders (blue) and flywheel (black) A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating shaft containing one or more crankpins, [1] that are driven by the pistons via the connecting rods. [2]
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines. It is located in a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. Its purpose is to transfer force from expanding gas in the cylinder to the crankshaft via a piston rod and/or connecting rod. In two-stroke engines the piston also acts as a valve by covering and uncovering ports in the cylinder ...
The crankshaft configuration varies amongst opposed-engine designs. One layout has a flat/boxer engine at its center and adds an additional opposed-piston to each end so there are two pistons per cylinder on each side. An X engine is essentially two V engines joined by a common crankshaft. A majority of these were existing V-12 engines ...
Boxer crankshaft configuration. Most flat-twin engines use a boxer configuration for the crankshaft and are therefore called "boxer-twin" engines. In a boxer-twin engine, the 180° crankshaft moves the pistons in phase with each other, therefore the forces generated by one piston are cancelled out by the other, resulting in excellent primary balance.
Note that for the automotive/hotrod use-case the most convenient (used by enthusiasts) unit of length for the piston-rod-crank geometry is the inch, with typical dimensions being 6" (inch) rod length and 2" (inch) crank radius. This article uses units of inch (") for position, velocity and acceleration, as shown in the graphs above.
The two crankshafts are connected with a special transmission that rotates the four-stroke crankshaft at twice the speed of the two stroke crankshaft. In the M4+2, the advantages of both engines being connected are obvious; the pistons of the engine working in one combustion cylinder are set opposite to each other but in different modes.
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
Ray-traced image of a piston engine. There may be one or more pistons. Each piston is inside a cylinder, into which a gas is introduced, either already under pressure (e.g. steam engine), or heated inside the cylinder either by ignition of a fuel air mixture (internal combustion engine) or by contact with a hot heat exchanger in the cylinder (Stirling engine).