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We are building a combustion engine dynamometer to test and tune a 600cc Honda engine. It will be capable of handling approximately 150 HP.
Introduction: Our Story
Years before Luke or Nick had even started high school, there were engines a plenty being tinkered and toyed with in the depths of Prince Lab. For years these engines had no way of being tested or tuned on their own. These poor engines and their tinkerers needed help. Zoom forward to the fall of 2010. Luke and Nick have decided to solve a decade long problem by designing and building an engine dynamometer.
An engine dynamometer is a device that provides and measures a load on the output shaft of an engine. This allows the engine to be tuned and tested without putting it in a car. The benefits seen from the last sentence are numerous. The engine would be testable without regard to its use in any sort of chassis. The engine could be tuned for power, fuel economy, and/or torque before a chassis has been built or bought. Another benefit is the huge size difference between an engine dynamometer and a chassis dynamometer. An engine dynamometer can be picked up by a single person, a chassis dynamometer must be the same size as the vehicle that its testing.
Why did we want to solve this problem?
Well both of us have spent many a nights working on engines in the depths of Prince Lab, namely the car shop. With three years of FSAE powertrain lead engineer experience between us, we know how valuable and challenging an engine dynamometer would be to create for ourselves and for the school of engineering.
Hopefully a successful project will save a few engineers some sleep for years to come. So they might be able to enjoy the finer things in life.
Background: Types of Engine Dynamometers
There are several different types of engine dynamometers. All of them act upon the requirement of absorbing the energy produced by the engine.
Our design does not infringe upon the above patent or its spirit. Our design differs from the above patent in a few key ways. The rotational paths differ in that our magnets are parallel to the rotating shaft, this difference requires an entirely different approach to solving the problem. Secondarily our cooling system relies on a misting system.
Capable of measuring total power output of a 600cc Honda Engine, specifically a CBR600F4i/RR powerplants. (Approximately 100HP)
Operation over a wide range of engine speeds, specifically 1500-15000rpm (before gearing).
Data acquisition
Engine Speed (RPM)
Torque
Power
Lambda (Air/Fuel Ratio)
Intake Manifold Pressure
Coolant Temperature
Oil Pressure
First Prototype: Proof of concept and measurement of approximate power absorption/amp-turn
We used a 12-volt battery to power a Honda CBR600F4i starter motor and the electromagnets. The starter motor spun a shaft, which spun a 7.5" aluminum rotor. Four electromagnets, two on each side, were powered in series. Data was collected as much as the apparatus would allow. Then we powered the magnets in parallel, and recorded again.
The system worked brilliantly as a proof of concept! We were able to measure the torque of the motor at a given voltage. However we forgot to measure the RPM so we need to re-run the experiment and recollect data before we can move forward.
There were some restrictions with this setup. The engine starter motor was being run off battery power and a battery charger, which led to a variable rpm as the power levels fluctuated. The measurements with this setup had too many variables to allow for comfortable readings. So upon further review, we decided to move to a second prototype to improve upon the accuracy of the measurements and the functionality of the prototype.
Second Prototype:
For the second prototype we decided to use a Southbend lathe as our power source, which was a large upgrade over the battery power starter motor. The lathe used has 3 speed settings, which with the hall effect sensor we were able to easily obtain the RPM.
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