Car & Marine Engine Parts

The core of the engine is the cylinder, with the piston moving up and down inside the cylinder. The engine described above has one cylinder. That is typical of most lawnmowers, but most cars have more than one cylinder (four, six and eight cylinders are common). In a multi-cylinder engine, the cylinders usually are arranged in one of three ways: inline, V or flat (also known as horizontally opposed or boxer), as shown in the following VIDEO.

Different configurations have different advantages and disadvantages in terms of smoothness, manufacturing cost and shape characteristics. These advantages and disadvantages make them more suitable for certain vehicles.

Let's look at some key engine parts in more detail.

Spark plug

The spark plug supplies the spark that ignites the air/fuel mixture so that combustion can occur. The spark must happen at just the right moment for things to work properly.

Valves

The intake and exhaust valves open at the proper time to let in air and fuel and to let out exhaust. Note that both valves are closed during compression and combustion so that the combustion chamber is sealed.

Piston

A piston is a cylindrical piece of metal that moves up and down inside the cylinder.

Piston rings

Piston rings provide a sliding seal between the outer edge of the piston and the inner edge of the cylinder. The rings serve two purposes:

• They prevent the fuel/air mixture and exhaust in the combustion chamber from leaking into the sump during compression and combustion.
• They keep oil in the sump from leaking into the combustion area, where it would be burned and lost.

Most cars that "burn oil" and have to have a quart added every 1,000 miles are burning it because the engine is old and the rings no longer seal things properly.

Connecting rod

The connecting rod connects the piston to the crankshaft. It can rotate at both ends so that its angle can change as the piston moves and the crankshaft rotates.

Crankshaft

The crankshaft turns the piston's up and down motion into circular motion just like a crank on a jack-in-the-box does.

Sump

The sump surrounds the crankshaft. It contains some amount of oil, which collects in the bottom of the sump (the oil pan).

Next, we'll learn what can go wrong with engines.

A Japanese researcher has created the world's first 'car in a bag':

A Japanese engineer has developed a portable transporter small enough to be carried in a backpack that he says is the world's first 'car in a bag'.

Twenty-six-year-old Kuniako Saito and his team at Cocoa Motors recently unveiled the lithium battery-powered "WalkCar" transporter, which is the size of a laptop and resembles a skateboard more than a car.

The slender WalkCar is made from aluminum and weighs between two and three kilograms (4.4 to 6.6 pounds), depending on whether it is an indoor or outdoor version.

Saito expects to see many other uses for his transporter, as he says it has enough power to help people push wheelchairs with ease. The lightweight aluminum board is stronger than it looks, and can take loads of up to 120kg (265 pounds).

It reaches top speeds of 10 kilometers per hour (6.2 miles per hour), for distances of up to 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) after three hours of charging.

Its developer says it's also extremely simple to ride. Once the rider stands on it the WalkCar starts automatically, while simply stepping off stops the vehicle. To change direction, the user just shifts their weight.

Eight Gorgeous Vintage Cars

Solar powered based designed vehicles

solar powered vehicles
the past few years have seen a dramatic rise in the popularity of alternate energy sources, 
particularly solar power. the technology which directly converts the sun's rays into electricity is proving 
to be one of the more commonly used 'green' energies in the transportation markets. as research into 
solar power continues to accelerate and designers are busy trying to challenge peoples ideas of how 
vehicles that use it can look. over the next three pages is an eclectic selection of vehicles that use 

'reliable' solar technologies. 

Car manufacturing plants.

Cost-efficiency of plug-in hybrids calculated a thousand times faster

Plug-in hybrids are more fuel efficient thanks to the combination of electric motor and battery. However, the higher number of components the higher the manufacturing costs. The fuel savings must be calculated based on very long driving cycles, as variations in the way the car is driven and charged on different days plays a major role in fuel consumption. Analysing the fuel efficiency of different plug-in hybrids over long cycles is extremely time-consuming. A whole month of driving has to be analysed second by second, and millions of variables calculated.

Now a research team at Chalmers University of Technology has developed a quick and simple method for engineers to calculate the lowest cost, factoring in both manufacture and driving behaviour. Researcher Mitra Pourabdollah describes the method in her doctoral thesis:

"The operating cost of a plug-in hybrid depends on many different variables, such as the way you drive, how you charge the battery and how far you drive between charges," she says. "Driving habits also affect what size battery you need. Component prices, different battery types and different driving habits combined result in a huge number of parameters that impact the overall cost."

The new solution that Mitra Pourabdollah presents involves using a so-called convex optimisation algorithm. The algorithm acts as a tool in which researchers enter the various parameters that can affect the cost of a plug-in hybrid, and see the results very quickly. The new method speeds up this part of the design process twentyfold. In extreme cases, calculations that would normally take a thousand hours can be completed in half an hour -- almost two thousand times faster than previously.

"Dramatic time savings at this stage will allow more opportunities to consider other aspects of the design of the drivetrain and gain a broader perspective," Mitra Pourabdollah claims.

"Rapid feedback is essential for creative work," says Anders Grauers, one of the supervisors of the project. "Even discounting such extreme cases, the new method means that you can get the results of your calculations the same working day, a very significant benefit for the creative process." Mitra Pourabdollah's research colleagues Nikolce Murgovski and Lars Johannesson Mårdh originally came up with the idea of applying convex optimisation to a complex vehicle model. They began by developing a method for plug-in hybrid buses. Following on from their work, Mitra Pourabdollah studied how the method could be applied to passenger cars. The basic algorithm is very flexible -- and fun to work with.

"Finding a way to describe the various components that fit convex optimisation is a bit like a game," explains Mitra Pourabdollah. "The method has many other application areas as well, for example in active safety."

Source: Science Daily.