Kinematics of a slider-crank mechanism

Michael Kearney
40274982

Group Members:
D Potter
A Pirlo
M Bonaventura

Date of Experiment:
15th August 2005

1
 Abstract
This report presents the results of a theoretical and experimental inves-
tigation of a single-cylinder, four-stroke internal combustion engine. A
theoretical expression for the piston displacement as a function of crank
angle is developed. Results from this expression agree with experimental
measurements to within 3.3% of the stroke of the piston. The timing of
the opening of the inlet and exhaust valves relative to the piston motion
were also measured. Both valves are open at the same time over a 20◦
angular displacement of the crankshaft when the piston is near top dead
centre between the inlet and exhaust strokes.

2
Contents
1 Introduction 4

2 Theory 4
2.1 Four-stroke cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Kinematics of the slider-crank mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Apparatus 6

4 Procedure 7

5 Results and Discussion 9

6 Conclusions 13

Appendices 14

A Apparatus measurements 14

B Raw experimental data 15

C Derived experimental data 20

3
 1 Introduction
The purpose of the slider-crank mechanism is to convert the linear motion of
the piston to rotational motion of the crankshaft. One common application of
this mechanism is in internal combustion engines.

The first aim of this experiment is to investigate and compare the theoretical
kinematic relationship between the displacement of the piston and the angle of
the crankshaft with that measured for a single-cylinder engine. The other aim
is to investigate the four-stroke cycle by simultaneously observing the motion
of the piston and valves.

2 Theory
2.1 Four-stroke cycle
An internal combustion engine operates by burning a small amount of a high-
energy content fuel, such as petroleum, and using the energy released to drive
a shaft. The four-stroke combustion cycle, developed by Nikolaus Otto in
1867, is commonly used in petrol-driven internal combustion engines.

Figure 1: Four-stroke engine cycle. Reproduced from the engine’s manual [1]

The four strokes in the Otto cycle are shown in Figure 1. These are:
Intake: The inlet valve is open and the piston moves downwards, drawing in a
mixture of fuel and air into the cylinder.

4
Compression: Both valves are shut and the piston moves upwards to compress the fuel-
air mix. The spark plug fires just before the piston reaches its top dead
centre postion (the position where the piston reaches its maximum ver-
tical location). This initiates the combustion of the mixture.

Power: Again both valves are closed. The hot gases due to the combustion of the
fuel air mix drive the cylinder down. The connecting rod transfers this
linear motion of the piston to rotational motion of the crankshaft. The
torque thus applied to the crankshaft can be used to drive a mechanism,
such as the blades of a lawn mower.
Exhaust: The exhaust valve opens and the upward motion of the piston drives the
exhaust gasses out of the cylinder.
Note: The terminology used to describe of the ”four strokes” varies in different
sources [1] [3].

2.2 Kinematics of the slider-crank mechanism

The slider crank mechanism, shown in Figure 2, is a kinematic mechanism. The
piston displacement from top dead centre, x, can be determined from the geom-
etry of the mechanism, in terms of the lengths of the conrod, L, and crank, R,
and the crank angle, θ. From the geometry and noting that θ = ϕ = 0 when
x = 0, x can be expressed as

x = R − R cos(θ) + L − L cos(ϕ). (1)

Figure 2: Slider-crank mechanism.

Also from the geometry, it can be seen that

L sin(ϕ) = R sin(θ) (2)

and
2 2
[L cos(ϕ)] = L2 − [L sin(ϕ)] . (3)

5
Substituting for L sin(ϕ) from Equation 2 in Equation 3, leaves θ as the only
variable on the right hand side of the expression,
2 2
[L cos(ϕ)] = L2 − [R sin(θ)] . (4)

Equation 4 can be substituted into Equation 1 to obtain the kinematic equation

for the slider crank mechanism (Equation 5),
q
2
x = R − R cos(θ) + L − L2 − [R sin(θ)] . (5)

Equation 5 can then be rearranged by introducing another parameter, n, the

ratio of the length of the conrod, L, to the radius of crankshaft, R, as
  s 
 µ ¶2 
sin θ 
x = R 1 − cos θ + n 1 − 1 − , (6)
 n 

where
L
n= . (7)
R
Equation 6 is the kinematic equation for the slider-crank mechanism given in
the practical handout [2]. The values of parameters R and n are determined by
measurement of the Briggs & Stratton engine.

3 Apparatus
A single-cylinder, four-stroke Briggs and Stratton Engine was studied in this
experiment. A side view of the engine is shown in Figure 3. A top view of the
engine, which shows a close up of the cylinder, piston and valves, is shown in
Figure 4. The head has been removed and a dial gauges have been attached
to allow measurement displacement of the inlet and exhaust valves. The piston
and cylinder are also accessible for measurement. A protractor is attached to
the crankshaft to facilitate measurement of the crank angle.

The engine specifications are:

• 3 HP maximum power
• 127 cc capacity
• Model No: 81232
• Type: 0209-01
• Code: 79042603
• Mechanical Engineering Catalog No.: M2820
• Modifications:
– The head has been removed allowing access to the piston and valves.
– A dial gauge has been installed to measure the displacement of the
valves.

6
Figure 3: Briggs & Stratton engine that was used for the practical. Modifica-
tions are shown.

– A 360◦ protractor has been installed on the crank shaft to allow

measurement of the crank angle
The measurements were made using these apparatus

• Dial Gauge:
Manufactured by Mercer, England
Resolution: 0.01 mm
• Vernier Calipers:
Manufactured by Tricle
Model Number: P02270108
ID Number: 4051904
Resolution: 0.02 mm
• 360◦ Protractor:
Generic School Protractor
Resolution: 0.5◦

4 Procedure
The experiment was completed in the following sequence:
1. The cylinder diameter was measured using the vernier calipers.

7
Figure 4: Top view of the engine, clearly showing the piston, cylinder and valves.

2. The inner diameter of the large and small ends of the conrod (Dlarge
and Dsmall in Figure 5 respectively), and dimension F (also shown in
Figure 5) were measured using vernier calipers. These numerical values
were substituted into Equation 8 to determine the kinematic length of the
conrod.
1
L = F − (Dlarge + Dsmall ) (8)
2

3. The crank was positioned such that the piston is at top dead centre,
between the exhaust and intake strokes. Then the displacement of the
piston from the top of the cylinder was measured using vernier calipers.
4. The crank was rotated 15◦ anti-clockwise, and the new piston displacement
was measured using the vernier calipers and recorded in the logbook. This
step was repeated for 15◦ increments until one complete cycle (360◦ of
rotation) was completed.
5. Steps 3 and 4 were repeated twice and averages of these measurements
were calculated. The kinematic length of the crank, R, was then deter-
mined from the average measurements using Equation 9.
1
R= 2 ( x|BDC − x|T DC ) (9)

Here
xT DC is the piston extension at top dead centre,
xBDC is the piston extension at bottom dead centre, and

8
 Figure 5: Dimensioned sketch of conrod.

R is the kinematic length of crank.

6. The crank was returned to the top dead centre position between exhaust
and intake stokes. The dial gauge was positioned over the inlet valve and
the reading on the dial gauge was recorded into the logbook.

7. The crank was turned 10◦ anti-clockwise and the the measurement on the
dial gauge was recorded. (Note: It is necessary to correct the readings
from the dial gauge for the initial offset. This was done by subtracting
the reading on the dial when the valve was fully closed from the other
readings (See Tables 4 and 5). This step was repeated for 10◦ increments
until one complete cycle (720◦ of rotation) was completed.
8. Steps 6 and 7 were then repeated for the exhaust valve.

5 Results and Discussion

Figure 6 shows the displacements of the piston and the valves as a function of
the angular displacement of the crankshaft from top dead centre (the raw data
used to generate this graph is given in Appendix B). The piston displacement is
measured from the top dead centre position and valve displacement is measured
from the fully-closed position. It shows that the inlet valve is open primarily
for every second downward stroke of the piston (increasing piston displacement)
and that the exhaust valve is open primarily for every second upwards stroke
of the piston. The upwards stroke when the exhaust valve is open precedes the
downwards stroke when the inlet valve is open. It is noted that the valves open

9
just before and close just after the piston changes direction. The intake valve
opens 20◦ before the intake stroke and closes 40◦ into the subsequent upwards
stroke. The exhaust valve opens 40◦ before the exhaust stroke, and closes just
after top dead centre between the exhaust and intake strokes (exhaust valve
displacement is 0.07 mm at top dead centre). Both the inlet and exhaust valves
are open for approximately 20◦ , near and including top dead centre.

Four−stroke engine cycle − valve and piston displacements

50

40

30

20

10

−10
−100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Crank angle from TDC (°)
Theoretical piston displacement Measured piston displacement Inlet valve displacement Exhaust valve displacement

Figure 6: Piston and valve displacements over an entire four stroke cycle.

The theoretical curve for piston displacement is also shown in Figure 6. The
parameters R and n, in Equation 6, were determined from measurements (see
Appendices A and C for more details) to be 22.45 mm and 3.54, respectively.
When these values are substituted into Equation 6 the theoretical piston dis-
placement can be expressed as
  s 
 µ ¶2 
sin θ
x = 22.45 1 − cos θ + 3.54 1 − 1 −  . (10)
 3.54 

Figure 6 shows that the measured piston displacement follows the theoretical
curve very well. The maximum difference between theory and measurement is
1.5 mm. This equates to 3.3% of the piston’s stroke. There is an apparent bias
in the data, as most of the measurements fall to the right of the theoretical
piston displacement curve. Closer inspection of Fig. 6 allows this bias to be
estimated to be approximately 4◦ − 5◦ . The most likely cause of the bias is an
offset in the zero angle of the protractor that is used to measure the angular
displacement of the crank from top dead centre.

The engine capacity (displacement) is defined as the swept volume of the cylin-
der [3]. The length of the sweep is the stoke of piston. This is the difference

10
between the piston extension from top dead centre (0◦ and 360◦ crank angle)
to bottom dead centre (180◦ crank angle). From this and the diameter of the
cylinder, the engine capacity was calculated to be 0.126 l. This is close to the
displacement quoted for this engine by the manufacturer (0.127 l). Figure 7
shows the cylinder head, which sits on top of the cylinder. Note that the extra
volume under the head is not included in the engine’s capacity [3].

Figure 7: Head of engine showing the internal volume. This volume is not
included in the engine’s capacity.

The motion of the piston (for a constant crank angular velocity) is close to
simple harmonic. This allows one to estimate the crank angle at which the
maximum speed of the piston is obtained (for a constant crank angular veloc-
ity). The maximum downward speed would occur at a crank angle of 90◦ and
the maximum upward speed would occur at a crank angle of 270◦ and the mea-
surements indicate that the piston displacements at these crank angles are 24.39
mm and 26.69 mm, respectively.

The camshaft (used to open and close the valves at the appropriate times) turns
at half the speed of the crankshaft. This can be seen from Fig. 6 where it is
apparent that the piston completes two cycles over the same angular displace-
ment of the crank for which the cams complete a single cycle.

If it is assumed that the motion of the inlet valve can be approximated as

simple harmonic motion, then the velocity and acceleration of the valves can

11
be estimated for a given engine speed. Such calculations indicate that for a
crankshaft rotational speed of 3000 rpm, the maximum acceleration experienced
by the valve is 112.4 ms−2 . This corresponds to approcimately 11.5 g.

12
6 Conclusions
The kinematic motion of the slider in the slider-crank mechanism can be ex-
pressed in terms of the lengths of the crank and the conrod, and the angular
displacement of the crankshaft. The experimental measurements of piston dis-
placement agree with the predictions of a theoretical model of the piston motion
to within 3.3% of the stroke of the piston. In the present experiment, an offset
between the theoretical and experimental values for piston displacement was
also observed. This was attributed to the incorrect setting of the zero angle of
the protractor that measures crank angle. This offset is estimated as 4◦ − 5◦ .

The inlet valve was open during the intake stroke and the exhaust valve was
open during the exhaust stroke. The opening range of both valves extended past
the top-dead-centre postions for their respective strokes. Near top dead centre
between the exhaust and intake strokes, both valves were open for approximately
20◦ and angular rotation of the crankshaft. The increased range of valve opening
allows more air to move in during the intake stroke and out during the exhaust
stroke.

13
Appendices
A Apparatus measurements
The cylinder diameter is required to determine the volume of the cylinder and
the capacity of the engine. It has been measured by taking the average of a
number of readings of the diameter at different angles around the cylinder. Re-
sults are shown in Table 1. The average value of the diameter is 59.8 mm.

Table 1: Measurements and estimated values of the cylinder’s diameter.

Diameter of Cylinder Diameter (mm)
Measurement 1 60
Measurement 2 59.65
Measurement 3 60.02
Measurement 4 59.6
Average Measurement 59.8
Variation 0.42

The determination of the kinematic length of the connecting rod, L, requires

measurement of the dimensions SmallD, LargeD and F of the conrod (see
Fig. 5). These measurements are given in Table 2.

Table 2: Measurements made to determine the length of the conrod.

Total Length (mm) Smaller Diameter(mm) Larger Diameter (mm)
Measurement 1 98.04 25.1 11.88
Measurement 2 97.98 25.14 11.88
Measurement 3 97.96 25.16 11.62
Measurement 4 98.02 25.26 12.3
Average Measurement 98 25.16 11.92
Variation 0.04 0.1 0.38

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B Raw experimental data
The raw and corrected measurements of the piston displacement are shown in
Table 3 and the raw and corrected measurements of the displacement of the
inlet and exhaust valves are shown in Tables 4 and 5, respectively.

Table 3: Piston Displacement

Crank Angle Piston Extension (mm)
(◦ ) M1 M2 M3 Average Max Variation
0 0 0 0 0 0
15 0.86 0.80 0.90 0.85 0.05
30 3.12 3.24 3.28 3.21 0.09
45 7.58 7.32 7.36 7.42 0.16
60 12.72 12.46 12.46 12.55 0.17
75 18.28 18.08 18.20 18.19 0.11
90 24.7 24.26 24.22 24.39 0.31
105 30.00 29.94 30.40 30.11 0.29
120 35.20 34.96 35.24 35.13 0.17
135 39.28 39.12 39.32 39.24 0.12
150 41.90 42.08 42.16 42.05 0.15
165 44.14 43.94 43.78 43.95 0.19
180 44.98 45.00 44.72 44.90 0.18
195 44.34 44.30 44.36 44.33 0.03
210 42.86 42.66 42.72 42.75 0.11
225 40.30 40.10 40.40 40.27 0.17
240 36.46 36.56 36.56 36.52 0.06
255 32.32 32.08 32.10 32.16 0.16
270 26.68 26.72 26.68 26.69 0.03
285 20.06 20.84 20.84 20.58 0.52
300 14.80 14.82 15.20 14.94 0.26
315 9.78 9.60 9.70 9.69 0.09
330 4.80 5.04 4.82 4.89 0.15
345 1.68 1.88 1.58 1.71 0.17
360 0 0 0 0 0

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 Table 4: Inlet valve extension over a full four stroke cycle

Crank angle raw measurement(mm) corrected measurement(mm)

0 1.46 0.81
10 2.06 1.41
20 2.68 2.03
30 3.21 2.56
40 3.66 3.01
50 4.04 3.39
60 4.3 3.65
70 4.51 3.86
80 4.64 3.99
90 4.69 4.04
100 4.7 4.05
110 4.69 4.04
120 4.67 4.02
130 4.59 3.94
140 4.4 3.75
150 4.15 3.5
160 3.79 3.14
170 3.38 2.73
180 2.87 2.22
190 2.29 1.64
200 1.66 1.01
210 1.21 0.56
220 0.96 0.31
230 0.9 0.25
240 0.9 0.25
250 0.9 0.25
260 0.92 0.27
270 0.82 0.17
280 0.65 0
290 0.65 0
300 0.65 0
310 0.65 0
320 0.65 0
330 0.65 0
340 0.65 0
350 0.65 0
360 0.65 0
370 0.65 0
380 0.65 0
390 0.65 0
400 0.65 0
410 0.65 0
420 0.65 0
Continued on next page

16
Crank angle raw measurement(mm) corrected measurement(mm)
430 0.65 0
440 0.65 0
450 0.65 0
460 0.65 0
470 0.65 0
480 0.65 0
490 0.65 0
500 0.65 0
510 0.65 0
520 0.65 0
530 0.65 0
540 0.65 0
550 0.65 0
560 0.65 0
570 0.65 0
580 0.65 0
590 0.65 0
600 0.65 0
610 0.65 0
620 0.65 0
630 0.65 0
640 0.65 0
650 0.65 0
660 0.65 0
670 0.65 0
680 0.65 0
690 0.69 0.04
700 0.75 0.1
710 1.01 0.36
720 1.44 0.79

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 Table 5: Exhaust valve extension over a full four stroke cycle

crank angle raw measurement(mm) corrected measurement(mm)

0 0.55 0.07
10 0.48 0
20 0.48 0
30 0.48 0
40 0.48 0
50 0.48 0
60 0.48 0
70 0.48 0
80 0.48 0
90 0.48 0
100 0.48 0
110 0.48 0
120 0.48 0
130 0.48 0
140 0.48 0
150 0.48 0
160 0.48 0
170 0.48 0
180 0.48 0
190 0.48 0
200 0.48 0
210 0.48 0
220 0.48 0
230 0.48 0
240 0.48 0
250 0.48 0
260 0.48 0
270 0.48 0
280 0.48 0
290 0.48 0
300 0.48 0
310 0.48 0
320 0.48 0
330 0.48 0
340 0.48 0
350 0.48 0
360 0.48 0
370 0.48 0
380 0.48 0
390 0.48 0
400 0.48 0
410 0.48 0
420 0.48 0
Continued on next page

18
crank angle raw measurement(mm) corrected measurement(mm)
430 0.48 0
440 0.48 0
450 0.48 0
460 0.48 0
470 0.48 0
480 0.48 0
490 0.48 0
500 0.61 0.13
510 1.09 0.61
520 1.71 1.23
530 2.32 1.84
540 2.85 2.37
550 3.28 2.8
560 3.64 3.16
570 3.88 3.4
580 4.07 3.59
590 4.17 3.69
600 4.2 3.72
610 4.2 3.72
620 4.2 3.72
630 4.14 3.66
640 4.03 3.55
650 3.82 3.34
660 3.53 3.05
670 3.13 2.65
680 2.72 2.24
690 2.16 1.68
700 1.57 1.09
710 0.97 0.49
720 0.55 0.07

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C Derived experimental data
The length of the conrod, L, is determined using Equation 8 and the average
measurements in Table 2. The conrod length is calculated as 79.46 mm.

The kinematic radius of the crank, R, is determined by halving the displacement

of the piston from its top dead centre to its bottom dead centre positions.
Table 3 shows that this distance is 44.90 mm. Therefore the kinematic radius
of the crank is 22.45 mm.

The ratio of conrod length to crank radius, n(= L/R = 79.46/22.45), is calcu-
lated to be 3.54.

The capacity of the cylinder is calculated using the formula for the volume of a
cylinder,

πD2 h
V = . (11)
4
The height of the cylinder, h, is determined by the difference in piston dis-
placement between top dead centre and bottom dead centre postions. As above,
this was measured to be 44.90 mm. The measurement of the piston diameter
is recorded in Appendix A as 59.8 mm. Using Equation 11, the capacity of the
cylinder is then calculated to be 126 cm3 or 0.126 l.

Table 6 shows the crank angles at which the inlet and exhaust valves open and
close.

Table 6: Crank angle where valves open and close

Valve Opens Closes
INLET −20◦ (700◦ ) 220◦
◦
EXHAUST 500 720◦ (0◦ )”

To a first approximation, the motion of the opening and closing of the inlet
valve can be written as
· µ ¶¸
1 πt
y = ymax 1 − cos , (12)
2 T

where
y is the displacement of valve from the closed postion,
ymax is the maximum displacement of the valve,
t is time, and
T is the period of time for which the inlet valve is open.
Equation 12 can be differentiated with respect to time to obtain an expres-
sion for the velocity of the inlet valve and then differentiated with respect to
time again to obtain an expression for the acceleration of the valve. The velocity

20
and acceleration of the valve are thus given respectively by Equations 13 and 14.
· µ ¶¸ ³ ´
1 πt π
ẏ = ymax sin (13)
2 T T
· µ ¶¸ ³ ´
1 πt π 2
ÿ = ymax cos (14)
2 T T

Table 6 shows that the inlet valve is open for an angular displacement of
the crankshaft of 240◦ . The period of time that this corresponds to can then be
calculated from Equation 15.
60 240◦
T = (15)
N 360◦
where N is the rotational speed of the crankshaft in rpm.

If rotational speed of the crankshaft is 3000 rpm, then N = 3000 and, from
Eq. 15, the inlet valve will be open for T = 13.3 ms. The maximum displacement
of the inlet valve can be found from Table 4 to be ymax = 4.05 mm. The
maximum acceleration can be calculated from Eq. 14 to be

ymax π 2
ÿmax = . (16)
2T 2
Substituting these values for T and ymax into Eq. 16 gives the estimated maxi-
mum valve of inlet valve acceleration of 112.4 m/s (11.5g).

21
References
[1] Briggs & Stratton Service and Repair Instructions. 1976
[2] Mee, D, Laboratory Sheet: Kinematic of Mechanisms. Mechanical Engineer-
ing Division University of Queensland. 1997.
[3] Pulkrabek, W. W, Engineering fundamentals of the internal combustion
engine, Prentice Hall, New Jersey 1997.

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