Mechanical Design Considerations

Lecture Overview
• Cylinder number and layout
• Design of components:
– Pistons and rings
– Connecting rods
– Crankshaft
– Engine block and bearings
– Cylinder head
– Valve train
 Cylinder Number and Layout
• Primary Considerations:
– Engine balance
– Compactness
– Torque variation
– Displacement/cylinder
– Bore/stroke ratio

• Engine Balance:
Balance consists of primary and
secondary forces and moments.
Different designs inherently have
different levels of balance:
 Cylinder Number and Layout
• Compactness:
– V, W and Radial configurations are all more compact than in-line
configurations, but complexity and cost often overshadow this and only V
and inline engines are in common usage (exceptions: military and aircraft)
• Torque Variation:
– Due to the limited number of firing cycles, more cylinders results in
smoother running.

Source: Stone, “Introduction to Internal

Combustion Engines”, page 446
 Cylinder Number and Layout
• Displacement per Cylinder:
– The thermal efficiency tends to increase with greater cylinder displacement. The
energy in is proportional to the volume of the cylinder while the heat loss is
proportional surface area:

• Bore/stroke ratio:
– For engines where thermal efficiency is the primary concern, a low bore/stroke ratio
provides both a better combustion chamber shape and lower engine speed (for lower
frictional losses). In addition, the mechanical stresses and tendency to knock both
increase with increasing bore, dictating a stroke that is larger than the bore
(bore/stroke = ½ in some cases)
 Piston Design
• Pistons and rings for Spark Ignited engines
– Almost always made from aluminium
– Typical peak temperature allowed is 200-250
Celsius
– Three rings provide combustion seal and oil
control
– Rings provide shortest heat transfer path

• Pistons and rings for Diesel engines

– Higher temp. requires steel caps for high Source: http://jepistons.com/
BMEP engines
– Piston is cooled by oil jet or oil gallery
 Connecting Rods
• Due to space limitations and the
desire for low mass, connecting
rods are typically the most highly
stressed engine part. In most
applications they are made from
forged steel with only small, low
cost engines using aluminium or
cast iron.
• In typical automotive engines,
connect rod mass is more
important than strength, while in
heavy duty applications, greater
mass is allowed.

Source: Taylor, “The Internal Combustion Engine in Theory and Practice”, page 488,489
 Crankshaft
• Crankshaft design varies significantly with engine size. In the smallest applications, cast
iron is often used and the crankshaft may be made in several pieces to allow the use of
roller connecting rod bearings.

• Automotive engines typically use either cast iron (for low manufacturing costs) or forged
steel (for high strength). The detail design of these crankshafts is well established based on
loadings calculated from indicator diagrams and inertial forces.
 Engine Block and Bearings
• The engine crankcase is typically one of the following:
– Cast iron: low cost but high mass/engine output.
– Cast aluminium alloy: higher cost but lower weight and ease of machining.
– Welded steel: large engines due to casting difficulties and weight savings.
• Cylinder barrels can either be cast into the block or can be removable.
– Removable cylinders: ease of service, longer engine life, block and
barrel different materials
– Fixed cylinders: lower cost, limited engine life.

• The cylinder bore is typically cast iron with some variety of coating to
reduce friction.

• The primary design considerations for block, bearings, and cylinders are:
– Cooling of the cylinder wall
– Alignment of the bearing centrelines
– Vibration and noise
– Carrying cylinder gas load and rod side forces
 Cylinder Heads
• Cylinder head design is one of the most complex engine design tasks because the
head must:
– Withstand the mechanical stress from cylinder gases and valve train
components
– Withstand the high thermal stresses from cylinder gases and exhaust flow
– Provide large, well designed ports for mixture inlet and outlet
– Provide space for axillaries such as spark plugs (SI) and fuel injectors (Diesel)
– Provide cooling to key components (exhaust valves, spark plug etc.)
– Do all of the following in a very limited space.
• Cylinder heads, like blocks are typically either cast iron or aluminium, with
aluminium become more prevalent in automotive applications.

• Large engines typically have a separate head for each cylinder for ease of
construction and service.

• In air-cooled engines the primary concern is heat dissipation and the total fin area
is typically 50-100 times the piston area.

Source: Taylor, “The Internal Combustion Engine in

Theory and Practice”, page 475
 Valve Train
• The poppet valve design is almost universal in engines because
a) Large valve flow area
b) High flow coefficients
c) Low cost manufacture
d) Minimal friction and lubrication

• The primary concerns in the design of valve

trains are:
a) Discharge coefficient
b) Valve cooling
c) Mechanical strength
d) System inertia

Most valves are made of austenitic steels, with the highest performance
valves including ‘sodium cooling’ to increase the rate of heat transfer out
of the valve.
 Engine Designs
You should be able to classify the engines on each of the following slides, and understand how the
intake and exhaust valving systems work on each of them:
Engine Designs
Engine Designs