ME 438

Fall 2016
Problem Set #1
1.

(20 points) Select a single engine component, such as:

Cylinder head, cylinder block, piston, piston rings, connecting rod, crankshaft, valves,
intake and exhaust manifolds, injection system, etc
Describe its function, materials, and recent design trends for passenger car engine
applications. Please type and limit your answer to two paragraphs, and cite your
references.

2.

(30 points) Select your favorite engine (could be a classic from the 60s, a modern
production engine, a formula car engine, or the engine in your car) and describe the
features of the engine in light of the course material. Please provide and / or describe the
following:
a. Engine manufacturer and year
b. Basic engine design (# of cylinders, block design, cam location, number of valves per
cylinder)
c. Engine geometrical specifications (bore, stroke, displacement, compression ratio)
d. Type of fuel
e. Emissions characteristics (any measurement, for example, g/mi, g/bhp-hr)
f. Fuel economy (in miles per gallon)
g. Performance characteristics (rated specifications, speed and torque curves)
h. Specific power (kW/L or hp/L)
i. Method of breathing (naturally aspirated, turbocharged, etc.)
j. Type of working cycle (two stroke, four stroke, etc.)
k. Mixture preparation used (carbureated, port fuel injected, etc.)
l. Method of ignition (spark, compression, etc.)
m. Method of combustion and combustion chamber design (head design, piston design,
spark location, etc)
n. Method of load control (air, fuel, etc.)
You will likely need to look up much of this information on-line, in the Media Union or
in articles from automotive magazines. Do the best that you can to find and discuss the
above as information on some of the questions may be sparse. We do not expect you to
find information on all of the above, however, it will be beneficial to find as much as
possible. Please type your answer as a single page and cite your references.

3.

(10 Points) Youve just graduated and are working at a firm that manufacturers range
extending engines used in hybrid electric vehicles. Your boss has commissioned you to
suggest an improvement to their most popular engine, which uses a 2-valve design. The

engine is operated as a generating set to recharge the vehicles batteries; its speed is held
at a constant, elevated level during operation. Immediately you suggest moving toward a
4-valve design with the exhaust valves smaller than the intake valves. Your boss
disagrees that such a configuration is better for engine performance. State your
arguments, and using words and equations, explain why four-valves are preferred to twovalves. Then, explain why larger intake valves are preferred to smaller ones using the
principle of mass conservation for a steady system, where min mout . (Hint: Assume
that the in-cylinder gas density during the intake event is comparable to the density
during exhaust and consider using the speed of sound for an ideal gas in your arguments).
Please type the written portion; you may handwrite the equations.

4.

(20 Points) After impressing your boss with the move to a 4-valve design, you are then
asked to engineer a way to improve the engines peak horsepower at its rated speed. You
make a suggestion to retard the intake valve closing and advance the exhaust valve
opening. Again you meet resistance. Defend your suggestion by drawing out the engine
timing diagram, indicating the original valve events and the newly suggested valve
events. Then, using words and diagrams, defend your suggestion as to why a later IVC
and earlier EVO could help the engines peak power at high speed. For simplicity,
assume that the IVO and EVC timings are the same for both cases. Please type the
written portion; you may hand draw the timing diagram and other diagrams.

5.

(20 Points) Complete the below table which compares some of the design and operating
characteristics of baseline spark-ignition (SI) engines, spark-ignition direct injection
engines (SIDI), and compression ignition direct injection (CIDI) engines.

SI
Compression
Ratio (range)
Fuels Used
(List Several)

Mixture
Preparation
(i.e., type of fuel
injection)
Degree of
Mixing (e.g.,
homogeneous,
lightly or heavily
stratified charge)
Equivalence
Ratio, Global

Method of
Ignition

Load Control

Due: Monday, September 19, 2016

SIDI

CIDI