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What are the Components of an IC Engine?

WRITTEN BY SASWATA BAKSI

Topics of Today

Hello readers, In today’s article, I will discuss some important components of an IC engine with their
functions.

Internal Combustion Engine aka IC Engine is a heat engine which works on either the Otto cycle or diesel
cycle.

In this type of engine, the combustion of the fuel occurred inside the engine. And produced thrust which
applies to some components of the Engine. Also, this thrust or force produces a vertical or horizontal
movement on the components.
By this process, chemical energy is converted to mechanical energy.

So let's dive into the article.

Major Parts of an IC Engine with their Functions:

An Internal Combustion Engine consists of several important parts, and those are:

Cylinder

Cylinder Head

Piston

Piston Ring

Gudgeon pin or Piston Pin

Connecting Rod

Small End and Big End Bearing

Crank Shaft

Cam Shaft

Crank Case

Valves or Ports

Manifold

Push Rod

Rocker Arm
Spark Plug or Fuel Injector

Cooling Jackets or Fins

Flywheel

basic parts of IC Engine

These are the major parts which an Internal Combustion Engine has. So let's discuss these components
one by one!

Cylinder:

It is one of the important parts of an IC Engine. Within this, the piston reciprocates.

Generally, a cylinder block made of cast iron to withstand pressure above 50-100 bar.

Also, when designing a cylinder block we need to keep in mind that it should bear the heat also.
According to NCERT the temperature of Engine Cylinder can be raised to 2600 degree centigrade.

According to science direct nowadays cylinder blocks made of grey cast iron, compact graphite cast iron,
nodular cast iron and cast Al alloy.

The Functions of Cylinder Head:

In this chamber, the ignition of the charge [Air+Fuel] happens.

It guides the piston to reciprocates.

Cylinder Head:
The cylinder head is fitted over the Cylinder Block.

As of the cylinder block, the cylinder head is also made of same material [Cast Iron].

Generally, cylinder and cylinder head both are made by casting.

There are Valves [Inlet or Exhaust], Spark Plug [SI Engine] or Fuel Injector [CI Engine] are mounted on it.

A gasket is provided on the Cylinder Head to avoid the leakage of the compressed fuel and make the
cylinder block air-tight.

The Functions of Cylinder Head:

It is used for closing the Cylinder block.

The Valves and Spark Plug or Injector are mounted over it.

Piston:

The piston is generally made of Aluminium Alloy, which is good for heat transfer.

Piston converts the to-fro motion or the reciprocating motion to the rotary motion.

A piston is also used to transfer the energy [after Power Stroke] to the connecting rod.
The Functions of Piston:

Piston provides the to and fro movement.

It converts the reciprocating movement to rotary motion.

It helps to transfer the energy to the connecting rod.

Piston Ring:

Piston Rings are attached to the periphery of the Piston, generally made of steel alloys.

In an Internal Combustion Engine, three piston rings are used.

The top one is named the compression ring, and the bottom one is named the oil ring.

The Functions of Piston Rings:

The compression ring is used for preventing the leakage of burnt gases into the lower chamber.

And Oil Ring is used for preventing the leakage of oil inside the engine block. Also, it scrapes the oil from
the cylinder wall.

Lastly, the middle ring is for safety purposes if by chance the leakage of burnt gas or oil happened than it
can prevent that.

Gudgeon Pin or Piston Pin:

Gudgeon Pin [Piston Pin or Wrist Pin] is used to connect connecting rod with the piston.
It is made of Steel alloy to bear the high strength.

And, it is generally, made by forging process.

The Functions of a Gudgeon Pin:

To connect the piston with the connecting rod

Connecting Rod:

Connecting Rod is generally used to transfer the reciprocating motion to the rotary motion of the
crankshaft.

The one end [smaller] is connected with the Piston with the help of piston pin, and the other end
[bigger] is connected with the crankshaft with the help of a crank pin.

Connecting rod is made of Steel Alloy or Aluminium Alloy. However, in recent days connecting rod is also
made of T6-2024 and T651-7075 aluminium alloys. These alloys are so lighter and capable of bear the
high strength and high impact. [Source VLABS]

Else, Titanium is also used to make a connecting rod.

Connecting rod is made by Forging Process.

The Functions of Connecting Rod:

It is used to convert the to and fro [reciprocating motion] of the piston to circular motion.
Small End and Big End Bearing:

As we already know that connecting rod has two different ends [Small and Big End], so for smoother
movement of the connecting rod these two bearings are used.

Small end bearing attached in inside the joining of the piston and connecting rod, and big end bearing is
attached inside the joining of connecting rod and crank.

The Functions of Small End and Big End Bearing:

To provide smoother functioning between the piston, connecting rod and crank.

To minimize power loss due to friction.

Crank Shaft:

This is the rotating member of an IC Engine which covert the reciprocating movement of the piston to
rotary motion.

All the pistons of the engine are connected with the crankshaft by the help of connecting rod and one
end of this crankshaft is connected with Flywheel. [I will discuss flywheel later on this article].

It is made of forged steel or Cast Iron. [Source Science Direct]

A crankshaft is consisted of the number of Crank and Crank Pin, according to the size of the engine it can
be defined. If the engine is 6-cylinder then the amount of crank and crankpin is 6, and when it goes
down to 3 or 4, then the number of crank and crankpin reduces accordingly.

A crankshaft consists of four major parts,

Main Journal

Crank Pins
Crank Webs

Counterweights

Main Journal:

Main Journal is a bearing which helps to determine the rotation of the motion.

Crank Pins:

Crank pins are used to connect one end of the connecting rod.

Crank Webs:

Crank webs are used to connects the crankpins with the main journal.

Counter Weights:

And lastly, counterweights are used to balance the crankshaft.

The Functions of Crank Shaft:

The crankshaft converts the reciprocation movement of piston o the rotary motion.

It drives the flywheel and camshaft.

Cam Shaft:

It is a vital part of an IC Engine, it is used for opening and closing of Valves at the right time [Follow the
Valve Timing Diagram].
The rotation of the camshaft is half of the crankshaft in a four-stroke engine, and a two-stroke engine
rotation of both crank and camshaft is same.

It is made of Cast Iron or Steel.

The Functions of the Cam Shaft:

It helps to open the poppet valves [Inlet and Exhaust] at the proper time.

Crank Case:

It is the place where the crankshaft is located. Also in some engines, lubricating oil is stored inside it,
especially on two-stroke engine.

It is located below the cylinders.

The crankcase is also made of Cast Iron.

If we deeply analysis the crankcase, we can see that it consists of intermediate walls, sidewalls, and end
walls, and an upper cover plate. [The detailed analysis of Crank Case can be found here]

The Functions of the Crank Case:

It protects the crankshaft and connecting rod from debris.

In some engines, the crankcase is used for sump of lubrication oil.

Valves or Ports:

Valves or Port is a basic and important part of an IC Engine. So let me first tell you whare valve and
where a port is used! So in a four-stroke engine, we use a valve and in case of the two-stroke engine, we
use ports.
In a four-stroke IC Engine, there are two valves. one is Inlet Valve, and the other one is Exhaust Valve.

Valves are fitted in the valve spring, which driven by a camshaft with the help of rocker arm and pushes
rod.

These valves are located on the cylinder head.

Valves are available in a wide range of material like Stainless Steels, Martensitic Valve Steel, Austenitic
Valve Steel, Nickel Alloy, Stellite Alloy, Nimonic / Inconel / Monal Superalloys. [Source Shailesh
Industries]

The Functions of Valves:

During suction stroke inlet v/v allow the charge [Air+Fuel or only Air] to go inside the engine cylinder.

And after the exhaust stroke, through exhaust v/v the burnt gas is going out of the cylinder.

They also seal the piston-cylinder when compression stroke happens.

Manifold:

This is also an essential part of an engine. There are two types of a manifold, one is inlet other is exhaust
manifold.

Through inlet manifold, the charge [Air+Fuel or Air] is entered to the engine cylinder.

And the burnt gases from all the cylinders exit through the exhaust manifold.

There is also a term Manifold Pressure, so it is the pressure which formed between the air or fuel
mixture in the throttle section to the inlet manifold. When we increase the RPM the manifold pressure is
also increased due to the increase in ambient air pressure.
Functions of Manifolds:

Through the manifold, the fresh charge comes into the engine cylinder and brunt gases come out from
the engine cylinder.

Push Rod:

It is a rod which is operated by the camshaft to open or close the valves.

Functions of Push Rod:

It is used for opening and closing of Poppet Valves

Rocker Arm:

It is an oscillating lever, which converts the radial movement of the cam to verticle or linear movement
of the poppet valve.

In general rocker arm is made of Aluminium alloy, but for heavy engines like bus, trucks we use cast iron
or carbon steel.

Functions of Rocker Arm:

Rocker arm converts the radial movement of the Cam to the linear movement of the Valve in IC Engine.

It is used for the opening of Valves.

Spark Plug or Fuel Injector:

Spark Plug and Fuel Injecter, these two things are different and also use in different engines.

The spark plug is used in Spark Ignition Engine [SI Engine] where Fuel Injector is used in Compression
Ignition Engine [CI Engine].
The Function of Spark Plug:

Spark Plug is used to generate the spark in SI Engine [Petrol].

Functions of Fuel Injector:

The fuel injector is used for injecting the fuel inside the engine cylinder, in atomised form.

Cooling Jackets or Fins:

As we already know, inside the engine cylinder the temperature can be raised to 3000-degree
centigrade, so to avoid wear and tear we need to use the cooling system.

In four strokes engines, there are two types of a cooling system can be noticeable.

One is liquid colling and other is Air cooling. Air cooling is used for small engines like a motorcycle, and
for a larger engine like 4 to 6 cylinder engines, we need to use liquid cooling, as heat transfer rate is
more.

Functions of Cooling Jackets or Fins:

To reduce the temperature of the engine.

To protect the engine from wear and tear.

Flywheel:

It is a big circular shaped wheel mounted on one end of the Crank Shaft. It is designed so well that it can
store the rotational energy quite easily.

During the power stroke, the excessive amount of energy is being stored by the flywheel, and deliver
that store energy to the rest of the threes strokes.
The Functions of Flywheel:

The main function of the flywheel is to store excess energy during the power stroke and supply that
energy to the rest of the threes strokes to complete the cycle.

Some FAQs on IC Engine:

What are the main parts of internal combustion engine?

An Internal Combustion Engine consists of several important parts, and those are:

Cylinder, Cylinder Head, Piston, Piston Ring, Gudgeon pin or Piston Pin, Connecting Rod, Small End and
Big End Bearing, Crank Shaft, Cam Shaft, Crank Case,Valves or Ports, Manifold, Push Rod, Rocker Arm,
Spark Plug or Fuel Injector, Cooling Jackets or,Fins, and Flywheel

What are examples of internal combustion engines?

In our daily life, all the vehicle [Bus, Truck, Motorcycle, etc.] we see is an example of Internal
Combustion Engine.

Is IC Engine is a Heat Engine?

Yes. Internal Combustion Engine is a Example of Heat Engine

So this is our whole topic on Parts of Internal Combustion Engine with their Function. I hope I am able to
describe this well for your understanding. So now I want to hear from you.

So My question for you, What is the top half of the engine called? Let me know your answer in the
comment section.

And finally, don't forget to share this stuff with your friend, groups and social handles. Happy Learning.
BYE!
References [External Links]:

Contributor: Charles Lafayette Proctor

Article Title: Internal-combustion engine

Website Name: Encyclopædia Britannica

Publisher: Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.

Date Published: June 01, 2020

URL: https://www.britannica.com/technology/internal-combustion-engine

Access Date: June 21, 2020

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Home » Automobile engg » Engine Valves: Types of Engine Valves, It’s Working and Valve Mechanism

ENGINE VALVES: TYPES OF ENGINE VALVES, IT’S WORKING AND VALVE MECHANISM

Last Updated on: May 12, 2020 by Saif M

In this article, you’ll learn about what is engine valves and how they work in an engine. Valve mechanism
and cooling of a valve.

Engine Valves and Types of Engine Valves

Contents show
Vale is a device to close and open a passage. In motor vehicle engines, two engine valves are used for
each cylinder-an inlet (or intake) valve and an exhaust valve.

Inlet Valve

Fuel is allowed to the cylinder by the inlet valve. When closed, the valve seals the combustion space
tightly. The valves are usually made of austenitic stainless steel which is a corrosion and heat-resisting
material. Inlet valve is subjected to less heat is usually made of nickel-chromium alloy steel.

Exhaust Valve

The burned gases escape by the exhaust valve. The exhaust valve is usually made of silchrome steel
which is an alloy of silicon and chromium with unusual resistance to heat.

The valves used in car engines are termed as poppet or mushroom valves. The head of the valve has an
accurately ground face with enough margin left to avoid a thin edge. The angular face is ground on the
valve head to make an angle of 45° or 30° to match the angle of the valve seat in the cylinder head.
Spring retainer lock grooves are provided at the end of the valve stem.

Read also: List of Car Engine Parts: Its Function (With Pictures)

Types of Engine Valves

There are 3 different types of engine valves as follows:

Poppet valve

Sleeve valve

Rotary valve

1. Poppet Valve
It is also known as mushroom valve because of its shape. It is used to control the timing and quantity of
gas flow into an engine. This is the most widely used valve in an automobile engine. The poppet valve is
given the name because of its motion of popping up and down.

Types of engine valves: poppet valve

It consists of a head and a stem. The valve face usually with an angle of 30° to 45° is ground perfectly,
since it has to match with the valve seat for perfect sealing. The stem has a spring retainer lock groove
and its end is in contact with cam for up & down movements of a valve. In exhaust, a pressure
differential helps to seal the valve. In intake valves, the pressure differential helps open it.

2. Sleeve Valve

The sleeve valve as the name implies, that it is a tube or sleeve fits between the piston and the cylinder
wall in the cylinder of an internal combustion engine, where it rotates/slides.

sleeve valve

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeve_valve

Ports on the side of the sleeves come into alignment with the cylinder’s inlet and exhaust ports at the
appropriate stages in the engine’s cycle.

The inner surface of the sleeve forms the inner cylinder barrel in which the piston slides. The sleeve is in
continuous motion allows and drives out the gases by virtue of the periodic coincidence of port cut in
the sleeve with ports formed through the main cylinder casting.

Advantages: These valves are simple in construction and are silent in operation. There is noise because
there are no noise-making parts like valve cams, rocker arm, tappets valves etc., Sleeve valve has less
tendency of detonation. Cooling is very effective as the valve is in contact with water jackets.

3. Rotary Valve

There are many types of rotary valves. The figure shows the disc type rotary valve. It consists of a
rotating disc which has a port. While rotating, it communicates alternately with the inlet and exhaust
manifolds.
Advantages: Rotary valves are simple in construction and are manufactured at cheaper costs. They are
suitable for high-speed engines. These valves have fewer stresses and vibrations. Rotary calves perform
smooth, in uniform and noise-free operation.

Types of Engine Valve Mechanisms

The valves are operated by cams mounted on a camshaft. The camshaft gets motion from the
crankshaft. As the camshaft turns, the cam operates the valve.

Engine Valve Mechanisms

According to the location of the valves, the valve mechanism is of two types:

Valve mechanism for operating the valve in engine block (straight poppet valve).

Valve mechanism for operating the valve in the cylinder head (overhead poppet valve).

Valve-Tappet Clearance

A slight clearance is kept between the valve tappet and the valve stem in the case of the straight poppet
valve, and between the rocker arm and valve stem in the case of the overhead poppet valve. This is
known as valve tappet clearance, and sometimes as valve lash. This clearance allows for expansion of
the valve stem as the engine becomes heated.

If sufficient clearance is not given, the valve will not seat properly when the engine becomes heat, which
will cause power loss and lifting of the valve. It is better to have more clearance than necessary rather
than to have too little, in spite of the slight increase in noise of the valve mechanism.

The valve-tappet clearance depends upon the following factors:

Length of the valve stem

The temperature at which the engine operates.

Hydraulic Valve Lifter

It is very quiet in operation because it ensures zero valve tappet clearance. It automatically adjusts its
length to compensate for differences in the valve. tappet clearance. Also, it usually requires no
adjustment in normal service. Variations due to temperature changes and wear are taken care of
hydraulically.

It’s the body consists of a cylinder and oil reservoir. An opening in the body is connected with an oil
pressure line from the engine lubricating system to supply the reservoir with oil. A plunger fits inside the
cylinder so that its upper end contacts the bottom of the pushrod, and its lower end is supported by oil
between it and the bottom of the cylinder.

Hydraulic Valve Lifter

When the valve is closed as at (a) (cam on the lower side), oil from the reservoir opens the ball-check
valve and raises the plunger by passing between it and the cylinder bottom. This produces zero
clearance between the lifter unit and push rod, and between the rocker arm and valve stem.

When the cam turns to lift the lifter as at (b) (cam on the upside). The ball-check valve closes to prevent
the return of oil to the reservoir and causes the entire lifter unit to lift the pushrod to open the valve.
Because the lift starts with zero clearance, the noise is reduced to a minimum.

As shown at (b) during the lifting operation, a certain amount of oil is allowed to leak between the
plunger and the cylinder, which causes lowering of a plunger to produce clearance if the spring did not
raise it again when the pressure on the plunger is relieved by the closing of the engine valve. This
reopens the ball check valve, oil again comes beneath the plunger and the lifter is again set for zero
clearance.

Eccentric Rocker Arm

Eccentric rocker arm automatically compensates for the difference in valve-tappet clearance. It consists
of a conventional rocker arm modified to hold an eccentric by means of a slot and pin.
Eccentric Rocker Arm

The plunger and spring control the piston of an eccentric. The plunger is activated by the spring and by
oil pressure from an orifice in the rocker arm.

When the engine valve is closed (cam on the low side), the eccentric under the action of spring and
plunger moves to take up any clearance, in the valve operating the train. As the cam rotates to open the
valve, the plunger and spring absorb any shock produced by this movement. When the cam is on the
upside, the valve is completely open.

Valve Cooling

It is obvious that the exhaust valve runs hotter than the inlet valve because the exhaust valve is always
in contact with the hot gases while the inlet valve is somewhat cooled by the incoming fresh charge. The
exhaust valve may actually become red hot during a short period of operation. The valve face is hottest
and the valve stem is the coolest part in a valve.

Valve Cooling

The valve stem passes heat to the valve guide and the valve face passes heat to the valve seat, and this
helps to keep the valve cool. To provide adequate cooling, the cylinder head must be designed so as to
permit good water circulation around the critical areas of the valve.

If the valve face fits properly on the valve seat and completely closes the combustion chamber, there
will be no loss of compression and power. In spite of this, the proper valve seating also provides full face
contact with the valve seat through which more heat transfer can take place. Uneven contact may cause
a valve to run several hundred degrees hotter than normal, which will shorten the valve life

Sodium Cooled Valve

In many heavy-duty engines, sodium-cooled valves are used. A sodium-cooled valve has a hollow stem,
which is partly filled with metallic sodium. Sodium melts at 97’5°C. Thus, at operating temperatures the
sodium is liquid. When the engine is running, the valve moves up and down, the sodium is thrown
upward into the hotter part of the valve.
Sodium Cooled Valve

It absorbs heat, which is then given up to the cooler stem as it falls down in the stem again. This action
keeps the valve head cool. Sodium cooled valve runs as much as 100°C cooler than a solid stem valve of
similar design under the same operating conditions. This means a sodium-cooled valve has a longer life.
But its use requires more care.

If the hollow stem of the sodium-cooled valve is cracked or broken, it is potentially dangerous. Sodium
bursts into flame on contact with water. It causes a deep and serious burn on the skin, As long as sodium
is safely in the valve stem, there is no danger.

That’s it, thanks for reading. If you have any question or doubts about “Engine Valves” tell us in the
comments. Share this article if it’s worth sharing.

Read next:

Piston Rings: Types of Piston Rings [Compression Ring and Oil Control Rings]

What is Suspension System: How it Works? and Types of Suspension System

Categories Automobile engg

Tags automobile engg, engine, engine parts

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Types of Gaskets: Uses of Gasket in Car Engine

What are Different Types of Engine? with (Images and PDF)

About Saif M

Saif M. is a Mechanical Engineer by profession. He completed his engineering studies in 2014 and is
currently working in a large firm as Mechanical Engineer. He is also an author and editor at
www.theengineerspost.com
...

4 thoughts on “Engine Valves: Types of Engine Valves, It’s Working and Valve Mechanism”

Muhammad Arslan

October 21, 2020 at

Great Blog

Reply

Saif M

October 22, 2020 at

Thank you so much 🙂

Reply

Dyke

October 8, 2020 at

It helpful thank you.

Reply

Saif M

October 8, 2020 at

You’re welcome 🙂
Reply

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Damper (flow)

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This article is about the architectural element. For other uses, see Damper (disambiguation).

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This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2014)

A damper is a valve or plate that stops or regulates the flow of air inside a duct, chimney, VAV box, air
handler, or other air-handling equipment. A damper may be used to cut off central air conditioning
(heating or cooling) to an unused room, or to regulate it for room-by-room temperature and climate
control. Its operation can be manual or automatic. Manual dampers are turned by a handle on the
outside of a duct. Automatic dampers are used to regulate airflow constantly and are operated by
electric or pneumatic motors, in turn controlled by a thermostat or building automation system.
Automatic or motorized dampers may also be controlled by a solenoid, and the degree of air-flow
calibrated, perhaps according to signals from the thermostat going to the actuator of the damper in
order to modulate the flow of air-conditioned air in order to effect climate control.[1]

Opposed blade dampers in a mixing duct.

In a chimney flue, a damper closes off the flue to keep the weather (and birds and other animals) out
and warm or cool air in. This is usually done in the summer, but also sometimes in the winter between
uses. In some cases, the damper may also be partly closed to help control the rate of combustion. The
damper may be accessible only by reaching up into the fireplace by hand or with a woodpoker, or
sometimes by a lever or knob that sticks down or out. On a wood-burning stove or similar device, it is
usually a handle on the vent duct as in an air conditioning system. Forgetting to open a damper before
beginning a fire can cause serious smoke damage to the interior of a home, if not a house fire.

Automated zone dampers

Fire dampers

See also

References

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