Institute of Arts, Science and Technology

LEVEL: MODULE: ASSIGNMENT: ISSUE DATE:

M Academic English for Specific Purposes LAN419 Report 7th December 2011

SUBMISSION DATE: Wednesday 16th February 2012 LECTURERS:

To be completed by the student Name: Mykhailo Riabtsev Student ID: S11003495 Course: MSc Manufacturing Date submitted: 16th February 2012 Student Signature:

Dr. Tom Rosario

Certification: I certify that the whole of this work is the result of my individual effort and that all quotations from books, periodicals, etc. have been acknowledged. ____________________________________________________________________ To be completed by the lecturer: Comments:

____________ | Grade/Mark | | | Mykhailo Riabtsev

Abstract
Dynamometers are commonly used for measuring power transmitted to the vehicles wheels. Present paper proposes comparative analysis of two main types of dynamometers inertial dynamometers and load dynamometers. Main principles and features of the both methods were considered and proper conclusions about advantages and disadvantages of each approach were made. Also design of each plant was considered and analyzed. The paper proposes recommendations how to use each method of power measuring for getting necessary results. Also it explains why the results of the measurements, obtained from the different dynamometer types, cannot be compared.

Mykhailo Riabtsev

Table of Contents
Introduction 4 Comments and discussion.4 Conclusion remarks...5 References.6

Mykhailo Riabtsev

Introduction
During the troubleshooting and tuning of an engine, often it is necessary to measure power and torque, transmitted to vehicles wheels. There are two most widespread measuring plants inertial type and load type. In both cases the vehicle is properly fixed and its driving wheels are placed on a rolling reel. As a rule there are two or four reels per each vehicles axle in the plant (Medentsev, 2003). Also the system of data collecting processing is common element for both dynamometers. But the equipment attached to the reels is different. Load dynamometers have hydraulic, electric or mechanic brake attached to the reels. The power is calculated using the torque of a brake force, which is being created by a braking device. In inertial dynamometers additional flywheel can be attached to the reel if it is not massive enough. The power and the torque are calculated through the value of the angular acceleration of reels, as the value of reels moment of inertia is known.

Comments and discussion

As the design of the dynamometers is different, the measuring process is also different. When the inertial dynamometer is used, the driver throws into third gear and presses accelerator pedal to the limit. The vehicles wheels start to accelerate the reels and data begin to come to collection device. As the car engine reach its maximum revolution, the measurement stops. The measuring process, as a rule, is rapid, so the car engine cannot be overheated and the special cooling devices are not necessary (McC0lt 2012). The load dynamometers measuring process is totally different. The engine also reaches its maximum revolution, but after that the reels of the plant begin to be loaded by the brake device. It causes the decrease of revolutions per minute rate of vehicles wheels and engine. During that process the data about brake torque are collected. The process can be stepped or continuous. The measurement is longer than in inertial method, so the external engine cooling system is necessary. Also the brakes of the dynamometer need the special cooling system, as all amount of power, produced by the engine, becomes heat. It is also one of the drawbacks of the load dynamometer, because the cooling system's effectiveness is limiting factor to the largest engine power that can be measured. This circumstance makes the construction of the load dynamometer more complex. Both plants can operate with four-wheel drive vehicles. The plants can be considered as the modules to form the proper plant for a vehicle. It will increase the plant cost twice, so in this case inertial dynamometer is more efficient, because its design is simpler and the price is lower. Also the inertial dynamometer has no restricts on maximum vehicles engine power and can be easily improved to necessary requirements. Moreover the energy losses in transmission can be measured only by using inertial dynamometer (Medentsev, 2003). The measuring method is the same; the only difference is that the angular acceleration value is negative. The vehicles transmission brakes the running reels

Mykhailo Riabtsev

and sensors register reels deceleration. The engine is disconnected from the transmission during the measurement. Also the energy loss in the plant can be measured the same way. It is impossible to measure the loss in load dynamometer without some external drive (Medentsev, 2003). Also the calibration of inertial dynamometer is significantly simpler in comparison to load dynamometer and it does not require complex equipment. The mathematical models for both methods are simple. They are based on the equation of power. W = M Where: W is power output from the vehicles wheels, Wt; M is torque applied to the reels, Nm; and is angular velocity of the reels, sec-1. To obtain the torque value for inertial measuring approach the following equation is used: M (t ) = (t ) J Where: M (t ) is vector of angular momentum of reels, Nm; (t ) is vector of angular acceleration of the reels, sec-2; J is moment of inertia of the stands rolling elements, kgm2; and t is time. As a rule, transmission moment of inertia is considered as negligible, as it is insignificant. But sometimes it becomes important, for example if lighter flywheel will be mounted on the vehicles engine, the inertial dynamometer will register higher power value than with the heavier flywheel. That is one of the reasons why the results of two methods cannot be compared with each other. Also it cannot be said that one of the approaches is right and another is wrong. Both of them are widespread and universally recognized. But in some countries, which use SAE standards, load dynamometers found more wide spread occurrence. It is caused by the SAE standards recommend to use this dynamometer type for measuring power. In particular, SAE regulates the repetition of the results (Grochowicz, Agudelo, Reich, Wollenweber, 2011).

Conclusion remarks
Considered design features show that in cost-effectiveness characteristic the inertial dynamometer exceeds the load dynamometer. It is simpler and cheaper; also it does not require cooling system and special equipment for plant calibration. It has more capabilities than the load dynamometer. The modification of the plant for more powerful vehicles is simple and consists of adding more massive flywheels to the reels. The modification of the load stand is significantly more complex. But it should be remembered that inertial dynamometer measurement result depends on the moment of inertia of engine and transmission elements. So according to all these factors inertial dynamometers should be preferred if it is possible.

Mykhailo Riabtsev

References
Grochowicz, J., Agudelo, C., Reich, A., Wollenweber, K. (2011) "Brake Dynamometer Test Variability Part 2- Description of the Influencing Factors," SAE Int. J. of Passeng. Cars Mech. Syst. 4(3):1394-1421, 2011, doi:10.4271/2011-01-2374. McC0lt (2012) Skyline GT-ST on Dyno @ Pro Import Motorsports Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p76RhxUlm9w&feature=related [Electronically accessed 14th February, 2012.] Medentsev, S. (2003) Typical methods and equipment for measuring cars wheel power. Available from http://www.bmw3s.ru/text/raznoe/power.pdf [Electronically accessed 14th February, 2012.]

Mykhailo Riabtsev