TABLE OF CONTENTS The purpose of this chapter is to apply fundamentals kinematic and dynamic analysis in a complete investigation of a particular group of machines. The reciprocating engine has been selected for this purpose because it has reached a high state of development and is of more general interest than other machines. For our purposes, however, any machine or group of machines involving interesting dynamic situations would serve just as well. The primary objective is to demonstrate methods of applying fundamentals to the analysis of machines.
The description and characteristics of all the engines that have been conceived and constructed would fill many books. Here our purpose is to outline very briefly a few of the engine types that are currently in general use. The exposition is not intended to be complete. Furthermore, because you are expected to be mechanically inclined and generally familiar with internal combustion engines, the primary purpose of this section is merely to record things that you know and to furnish a nomenclature for the balance of the chapter.
In this chapter we classify engines according to their intended use, the combustion cycle used, and the number and arrangement of the cylinders. Thus, we refer to aircraft engines, automotive engines, marine engines, and stationary engines, for example, all so named because of the purpose for which they were designed. Similarly, one might have in mind an engine designed on the basis of the Otto cycle, in which the fuel and air are mixed before compression and...
