Lecture notes on

Basic Components of Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine

Figure 1 Cross-section of a spark-ignition engine

(A) block, (B) camshaft, (C) combustion chamber, (D) connecting rod, (E) crankcase, (F)
crankshaft, (G) cylinder, (H) exhaust manifold, (I) head, (J) intake manifold, (K) oil pan, (L)
piston, (M) piston rings, (N) push rod, (0) spark plug, (P) valve, (Q) water jacket.

The cross-section of spark ignition internal combustion engine is shown in Figure 1. It is

consisting of different components some of which are describe below.
Cylinder: It is a cylindrical vessel or space in which the piston makes a reciprocating motion. The
combustion of fuel also takes place inside the cylinder. In small engines, the cylinder and frame is
made of one-piece casting. In large engines, a separate cylinder liner is used. The cylinder liner,
water jacket and frame are manufactured separately and then assembled. The construction of
cylinder liner is illustrated in Figure 2. The use of separate cylinder liner has the following
advantages:
(i) Cylinder liners are more economical because they can be easily replaced after being
worn out. It is not necessary to replace the complete assembly of cylinder, jacket and
frame.
(ii) Instead of using better-grade material for all parts of the cylinder assembly, only the
cylinder liner is made of better-grade wear resistant cast iron. The frame and jacket can
be made of ordinary cast iron.
There are two types of cylinder liners—dry liner and wet
liner as shown in Figure 2. A dry liner is a cylinder liner
which does not have any direct contact with cooling water
in the jacket. A wet liner is a cylinder liner which has outer
surface in direct contact with cooling water in the jacket.
Cylinders and cylinder liners are usually made of
grey cast iron with homogeneous and close grained
structure. They are centrifugally cast. For heavy duty
cylinders, nickel cast iron and nickel chromium cast iron are Figure 2 Cylinder Liner.

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used. In some cases, cast steel and aluminums alloys are used for cylinders. The cylinder is
supported in the cylinder block.
Piston: It is a cylindrical component fitted into the cylinder forming the moving boundary of the
combustion system. It fits perfectly (snugly) into the cylinder providing a gas-tight space with the
piston rings and the lubricant. It forms the first link in transmitting the gas forces to the output
shaft. The piston comprises of different parts which has been shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Different parts of the piston

Piston Head or Crown is the top portion of the piston which withstands the gas pressure inside
the cylinder. It has flat, concave or convex shape depending upon the construction of combustion
chamber. Piston Rings act as seal and prevent the leakage of gas past the piston. Piston rings are
also called compression rings. Oil Scraper Ring prevents the leakage of lubricating oil past the
piston into the combustion chamber. Piston Skirt is the lower part of the piston below the piston
rings which acts as bearing surface for the side thrust exerted by the connecting rod. Piston Pin
connects the piston to the connecting rod. It is also called gudgeon pin or wrist pin. The end
movement of the piston pin is restricted by means of circlips or snap ring.
Commonly used materials for pistons are cast iron, cast steel, forged steel, cast aluminium alloys
and forged aluminium alloy. Cast iron pistons are used for moderately rated engines with piston
speed below 6 m/s. Aluminium alloy pistons are used for highly rated engines with piston speeds
above 6 m/s. Piston rings are usually made of grey cast iron and in some cases, alloy cast iron.
Connecting rod: It interconnects the
piston and the crankshaft and transmits
the gas forces from the piston to the
crankshaft. The two ends of the
connecting rod are called as small end
and the big end (Figure 4). Small end is
connected to the piston by gudgeon pin
and the big end is connected to the Figure 4 Connecting rod
crankshaft by crankpin. The materials used for the connecting rod are either medium carbon steels
or alloy steels. The medium carbon steels contain 0.35 to 0.45 per cent carbon. The alloy steels
include nickel chromium or chromium molybdenum steels. Medium carbon steels are used for the
connecting rods of industrial engines. Alloy steels are used for connecting rods of automobile and
aero engines.
Crankshaft : It converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into useful rotary motion of the
output shaft. The reciprocating motion of the piston is made possible by the 'crank' of the

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 crankshaft. The crank being offset from the centreline of the shaft, it swings round in a circle as
the shaft rotates.
The crankshaft consists of three portions—crank pin, crank web and shaft. The big end of the
connecting rod is attached to the crank pin. The crank web connects the crank pin to the shaft
portion. The shaft portion rotates in the main bearings and transmits power to the outside source
through the belt drive, gear drive or chain drive.
The distance between the center of the main
journal and the center of the crankshaft pin is
called the crank radius, also called the crank
throw. The balance weights are provided for
static and dynamic balancing of the rotating
system.
Crankshafts are made by the drop forging
process. The popular materials used for
crankshafts are plain carbon steels and alloy
steels.
Crankcase: Part of the engine block surrounding the rotating crankshaft. In many engines, the oil
pan makes up part of the crankcase housing.
Cylinder Block : The cylinder block is the main supporting structure for the various components.
The cylinder of a multicylinder engine are cast as a single unit, called cylinder block. The cylinder
head is mounted on the cylinder block. The cylinder head and cylinder block are provided with
water jackets in the case of water cooling or with cooling fins in the case of air cooling. Cylinder
head gasket is incorporated between the cylinder block and cylinder head. The cylinder head is
held tight to the cylinder block by number of bolts or studs.
Cylinder head: It accommodates the following parts:
(i) Inlet and exhaust valves
(ii) Air and gas ports
(iii) Spark plug in case of petrol engine and atomizer in case of diesel engine
Inlet manifold : The pipe which connects the intake system to the inlet valve of the engine and
through which air or air-fuel mixture is drawn into the cylinder.
Exhaust manifold : The pipe which connects the exhaust system to the exhaust valve of the engine
and through which the products of combustion escape into the atmosphere.
Inlet and Exhaust Valves : Valves are commonly mushroom shaped poppet type. They are
provided either on the cylinder head or on the side of the cylinder for regulating the charge coming
into the cylinder (inlet valve) and for discharging the products of combustion (exhaust valve) from
the cylinder.
Combustion Chamber : The space enclosed in the upper part of the cylinder, by the cylinder head
and the piston top during the combustion process, is called the combustion chamber. The
combustion of fuel and the consequent release of thermal energy results in the building up of
pressure in this part of the cylinder.
Valve open and close mechanism: It is a subassembly of the IC engine and its function is to open
and close the inlet and exhaust valves at a proper time with respect to the position of the piston
and crankshaft. The air or air-fuel mixture is admitted into the cylinder when the inlet valve is
open. Also, the burnt gases escape when the exhaust valve is open.
The main parts of a valve mechanism are valve, spring, tappet, rocker arm, push rod, cam and
camshaft. The camshaft is rotated by means of a belt or gear drive from the crankshaft and it rotates
at half the speed of the crankshaft.

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 As the camshaft rotates, the cam pushes the follower and the push
rod upwards. The rocker arm is pivoted at its centre by means of
a fulcrum pin. When the right end of the rocker arm is pushed up
by the push rod, the left end moves downward. This compresses
the spring and pushes the valve rod down in the cylinder, thereby
causing the valve to open. When the follower moves over the
circular portion of the cam, the spring expands and closes the
valve. The spring pushes the left end of the rocker arm upward.
This causes the right end to move downward and keeps the
follower in contact with the cam.

Nomenclature in IC Engine
Top-Dead-Center (TDC) Position of piston when it stops at the furthest point away from the
crankshaft
Bottom-Dead-Center (BDC) Position of the piston when it stops at the point closest to the
crankshaft
Bore Diameter of the cylinder
Stroke Movement distance of the piston from one extreme position to the other: TDC to BDC
Clearance volume It is cylinder volume when the piston is at TDC
Displacement or Swept Volume Nominal volume swept by piston when travelling from one dead
centre to other
Cubic Capacity or Engine Capacity It is the displacement volume of a cylinder
Compression Ratio It is the ratio of the total cylinder volume when the piston is at BDC to the
clearance volume

Book References
1. Ganesan, V., Internal Combustion Engines, McGraw Hill Education.
2. Pulkrabek, W.W., Engineering Fundamentals of the Internal Combustion Engine, Pearson.
3. Bhandari, V.B., Design of Machine Elements, Tata McGraw Hill.

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