Internal combustion engine               06/12/16

“What powers most automotive technology?”

One of the most important inventions ever derived by humanity is that of the Internal Combustion engine. In abstract, the ICE is a method of using diesel fuel to create useable power by having an atomized version of the fuel come into contact with high temperature and high pressure air.

To start off, let us look at the basic parts of an ICE and how they make the machine. First, a piston is connected to a connecting rod,, while a crank will go through the bottom hole of the connecting rod. The top half of the fastening rod, and the piston will be encapsulated in a cylinder. The sub-machine made from these parts is called a slider-crank mechanism. The linear motion of the piston is transformed into a rotary motion at the crank. This mechanism will be housed in an engine block. A cylinder head, valves, and fuel injectors are fitted above the engine black. The cylinder is curved so that all of the gases will move around on it during the operation

Now that we have described the base parts of the machine, it would only be logical to describe how these parts work together. The first part of the process is called the intake stroke. When the Piston moves downwards, inlet valves will open and fresh air from outside will be sucked in (one can think of the engine as “breathing” at this point). During the exhaust stroke, the inlet and exhaust valves are closed, and the air inside the cylinder will be compressed by the upwards motion of the piston. During this phase, the piston will perform work on the air, so the temperature and pressure will consequently rise to a level higher than the self-ignition value of the diesel. An atomized form of diesel will be injected into this compressed air. The fuel will get evaporated, and an uncontrolled explosion will happen as a result. This starts the process of the power stroke. The temperature of the gas will rise to high level values as a consequence of this explosion. The high energy fluid will push the piston downwards, and the hot air will do work on the piston, and the energy in the fluid will be converted into the mechanical energy in the piston. The final part of the process is known as the exhaust stage. The exhaust valves will open and the exhaust from the explosion will be ejected, causing the piston to move back up. This cycle (which consists of 4 strokes) causes power production

Finally, let us discuss the design of diesel engines. Diesel engines require a sturdy structure due to the volatility of it’s operations. Since power is only generated during one of the strokes (the power stroke), ICEs are often linked in series of four machines, each one at a different stage so that at any time power is being generated. These are called four cylinder engines, due to the fact that there are four cylinders present. The four cylinder has a power order of 1-3-4-2 (corresponding to the different stages, in order of the four individual cylinders). Furthermore, a flywheel is usually attached to the shaft of the cylinders in order to regulate power creation. There are also counterweights to balance out any unnecessary weights. The valves are controlled by camshafts that rotate at half the speed of crankshafts.

How do Fans work?         06/10/16

“How do the fans in our everyday lives work?”

Have you ever wondered how does a fan work? You might be surprised to find out that the operation is surprisingly very simple. A fan is primarily powered by an electrical motor. Attached to this motor are rotors. When the motor spins, the rotors will create a pressure difference in the air which in turn creates wind. Fans often have casing around them to simultaneously protect the rotors from exterior damage and to direct the wind flow. You can think of a fan almost like the reverse wind turbine, with a motor using energy creating wind in the air instead of wind creating energy in a generator.