Engines. An Introduction

The internal combustion engine that powers the modern automobile has changed very little from its initial design of some eighty years ago. Unlike many high-tech advances, engine design still depends on an understanding of basic fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. This text offers a fresh approach to the study of engines, with an emphasis on design and on fluid dynamics, a current research area in engine design. Professor Lumley, a renowned fluid dynamicist, provides a lucid explanation of how air and fuel are mixed, how they get into the engine, what happens to them there, and how they get out again. Particular attention is given to the complex issue of pollution. Every chapter includes numerous illustrations and examples and concludes with homework problems. Lending a historical note, design sections begin with the earliest example of the design being described. The latest designs are also treated, including stratified charge gasoline direct injection engines. It is intended that the text be used in conjunction with the Stanford Engine Simulation Program (ESP). ESP is a user-friendly, interactive program modeling flow into and out of one cylinder of a mufti-cylinder engine. The thermodynamic analysis assumes a homogeneous charge, a simple geometric approach to flame structure, and a one-equation dynamical turbulence model that allows the effect of turbulence on heat transfer and combustion to be examined. This software tool answers a significant need that is unaddressed by other texts on engines. Aimed at undergraduate and first-year graduate students, the book will also appeal to hobbyists and car buffs who will appreciate the wealth of illustrations of classic, racing, and modern engines.