Determining Engine Inertia
Determining Engine Inertia
(OP)
Hi All,
I need to determine the inertia of an engine I currently have on a dynamometer.
Unfortunately i am unable to get the required measurements to calculate, so I need some method of calculating from dynamometer data.
Is there a method of calculating it using data from acceleration and coast down rates? similar to those used for a vehicle.
Thanks in advance
I need to determine the inertia of an engine I currently have on a dynamometer.
Unfortunately i am unable to get the required measurements to calculate, so I need some method of calculating from dynamometer data.
Is there a method of calculating it using data from acceleration and coast down rates? similar to those used for a vehicle.
Thanks in advance





RE: Determining Engine Inertia
RE: Determining Engine Inertia
If I ramp the engine between 2500 and 3000 and back with 2s ramps, and repeat the activity at a higher speed (say 5500-6000) would this work? would a longer ramp be needed?
Is there a simple calculation?
Thanks!
RE: Determining Engine Inertia
Your first-year physics text shows the relationship between rotational torque, acceleration, and inertia. It's F = MA in rotational units. It's all greek symbols that I don't know how to type on this keyboard. If you know your starting and ending ramp RPM and the time to ramp, you can get rotational acceleration (with a positive sign for the increasing RPM and a negative sign for the decreasing RPM). If you know the average torque over this time period for the increasing RPM and the decreasing RPM you can fish out the difference between the two as the torque required to accelerate or decelerate over and above whatever the friction is doing to you. Then you can calculate the other term. Don't forget that you are dealing with the difference in acceleration between acceleration (positive sign) and deceleration (negative sign) ... X - (-X) = 2X ...
One other thing; take the spark plugs out to get rid of some of the non-acceleration-related forces involved.
RE: Determining Engine Inertia
RE: Determining Engine Inertia
When Lionel says 'run' I think "motored' is the usual term for driving the engine through the dyno current. This will let you find the torque required to overcome friction and pumping losses at say 1000 and 3000 rpm.
Spark plugs out per Brian. (Earplugs in)
With an average torque value, you can time the coast down from one rpm to the other. This time value and speed change allows the calculation of angular acceleration or de-acceleration in this case. (You'll probably need the value in radians per second squared eventually.) Plug into the equation above.
This gives you the value of the whole system, not just the engine. So you'll get the inertia of the engine plus the dynamometer equipment attached. With luck, you'll have the dynamometer inertia on a name plate or in a handbook. Subtract this value from the total to get the engine inertia.
RE: Determining Engine Inertia
If torque is measured on the driveshaft the inertia calculated is engine only. If reaction torque of the dyno stator is measured the inertia will be all rotating components.
je suis charlie
RE: Determining Engine Inertia
It seems to me that if the dynamometer is bolted to the engine, the rate of acceleration or de-acceleration depends upon the system inertia as a whole because the whole thing speeds up or slows down together. Any difference between driveshaft torque and dynamometer stator torque is the result of internal friction in the dynamometer.
RE: Determining Engine Inertia
The driveshaft torque required to hold the engine to the set rate will be instantaneous engine torque plus-or-minus (engine inertia x acceleration rate). (+- depending on accel' or decel'). The torque required from the absorption mechanism of the dyno (and measured by a typical lever arm on the stator) will be driveshaft torque plus-or-minus (dyno inertia x acceleration rate).
je suis charlie
RE: Determining Engine Inertia