Design Project
1. Summary
2. General Assumptions
When working on this project, some assumptions have to been made to manage to calculate on the
engine. The whole project will be done with SI-units. I will attach the calculations made by hand as an
appendix and will refer to these when necessary. As given in the design project statement I will use
the following general assumptions;
I will do my calculations on a two-cylinder engine
The cylinders have a 3.30 inches diameter which is equal to 0.0838 meter and a length of
3.92 inch = 0.0996 meter. I assume the engine cylinders are perfect geometric cylinders.
The engines are producing a maximum of 80 horsepower which equal 59,680 watt.
The thermal efficiency of the engine is 15 %. This means that 85 % of the power created is let
out as heat. A major part going out as exhaust, some out through the oil and some trough
the cooling system, either it is liquid cooling or air cooling. The percent that goes the cooling
system need to take away varies from engine to engine. [Link] state that only around
12 % of the heat goes out the air cooling fins in an air cooling system. 1 I’ve chosen to assume
that 18 % of the heat will be transported out of my cooling system, which is equal to 10,750
watt.
The ambient air is at 40 °C. The temperature of the cylinder is 200 °C and I assume it is a
uniform surface temperature.
3. Air-cooled Engine
Below I will do calculations on different air-cooling systems, and try to find a design that will remove
enough heat to keep the engine at a tolerable temperature. Since the engine contains two cylinders,
each of the cylinders will have to remove 5,375 watt.
Basically, it is two problems to work with on this type of system;
1. It is immediate clear that we need some kind of fins to add additional surface area where the
cold air can meet the hotter cylinder and cool it down. How should we design these fins?
2. We also need to choice a suitable material to make the fins and cylinder. Factors like price,
weight, and thermal conductivity need to be considered.
To start with the design the fins should have, I sketch some different possibilities under in fig 1.
1
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Fig 1
After searching on the web after pictures of different bikes, I found out that most of the cylinders are
in a vertical position. Therefore I would go for design 1 or 2 at Fig 1 to reduce the air resistance to the
fins added on the cylinders. After further evaluation I decided to start calculating at design number 2.
Further argumentation???????
But before doing this, I need to look at the different materials that can be used. I’ve chosen to
evaluate copper, aluminum and carbon steel which are common materials used. I will use all of the
materials in my calculations for the forced convection part, and then make a choice afterwards.
3.1 Assumption Air Cooling
In addition to the given data in section 2 – General Assumption I’ve used the following assumption
when calculating;
The speed of the motorcycle, and thereby the velocity of the air, will vary. This is a problem
when calculating, so to make it easier for myself I will just use one velocity in the first
calculations when deciding shape and number of the fins, and material. I’ve chosen U ∞ 35 =
mph = 15.65 m/s as the velocity of the air.
3.2 Properties for Air Cooling
Properties of the different materials, from appendix 2 table 10 and 12, I’ve used the temperature 20
°C because this one is the only temperature I have data for.
Materials:
Copper Aluminum Carbon Steel (1%)
Thermal conductivity (k) [W/mK] 399 238 43
Density (p) [kg/m 3] 8,933 2,702 7,801
Price [USD/kg] $8.272 $2.203 $0.834
2
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Air at 40 °C:
Thermal conductivity (k) = 0.0265 [W/mK]
Kinematic viscosity (v) = 17.6 x 10^-6 [m2/s]
Prandtl number (Pr) = 0,71
3.3 Calculations
I will try different designs finding the one that give the best result and will be most appropriate given
the project.
First I will start to calculate the heat transfer coefficient. To do this I need the Reynolds number. This
again lead me to the velocity of the air. But one factor need to be taken into account; even though
the motorcycle is driving at 15.65 m/s, the air will blow faster over the fins because the area the wind
can penetrate at the two cylinders will be smaller. To calculate Re and U max I use the formula (7.39)
from the textbook. (See Design 1 #1)
The cylinder has the base temperature of 200 °C, but the fins will not have the same base
temperature. To calculate how much fins needed to take away the heat I need to know the efficiency
of one fin. But to know the efficiency of the fins, I need to know the design. If I know this I can use fig
2.22 from the textbook and read out the efficiency.
Design 1:
For the calculations and sketch see “Design 1 – Air Cooling” on the next pages with the following
assumptions:
The two cylinders are standing next to each other, with a distance of S T = 0.20 meter from
the one cylinder center to the other
Outer diameter of the fins to be; DO = 0.16 m
The thickness of each fin; t = 0.002 m
3
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4
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I have the following result from design 1:
12 copper fins, 13 aluminum fins or 23 carbon steel fins. I think it will be interesting to do some
calculations on these answers.
2 −5 3
Volume one fin: V fin = A fin × thickness fin =0.0302m ×0.002 m=6.0376 ×10 m
Total volume on the fins: V fi ns=V fin × N fins
Weight fins: Weight=V fin × ρmaterial
Cost fins: Cost =Weight × Price
Copper Aluminum Carbon Steel
Volume Fins 7.245 ×10−4 m3 7.849 ×10−4 m3 7.849 ×10−4 m3
Weight Fins 6.47 kg 2.12 kg 11.30 kg
Cost material Fins $53.52 $4.67 $9.50
After seeing these results I’m sure on the fact that I will use aluminum. The material is by far the
lightest and also the cheapest. So then one of my two problems on air cooling solved. The next
problem to solve will be the design of the fins. Let us try with some different inputs this time.
Design 2
I will use the same types of fin, but this time I will make them smaller. I will also bring them closer to
each other trying to free space. I will use same formulas and equations as in design 1. At this design I
will make the following assumptions:
The two cylinders are standing next to each other, with a distance of S T = 0.14 meter from
the one cylinder center to the other
Outer diameter of the fins to be; DO = 0.12 m
The thickness of each fin; t = 0.0015 m
Conclusion