Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
It is called a straight engine (or 'inline engine') when the cylinders are arranged in a single line. Where the cylinders are arranged in two or more lines (such as in V engines or flat engines), each line of cylinders is referred to as a 'cylinder bank'. The angle between cylinder banks is called the 'bank angle'.
A straight engine is easier to build than an equivalent flat engine or V engine, as it uses one cylinder head rather than two. Inline engines are also narrower than flat engines or V engines; however, they are longer and can be taller. The engine balance characteristics of a straight engine depend on the number of cylinders and the firing interval.
A simple three-into-one exhaust for each cylinder bank provides uniform scavenging, since the engine is effectively behaving like two separate straight-three engines in this regard. Primary reciprocating plane and rotating plane imbalances are present due to the distance along the crankshaft between opposing cylinders.
A straight-three engine (also called an inline-triple or inline-three) [1] [2] [3] is a three-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. Less common than straight-four engines , straight-three engines have nonetheless been used in various motorcycles, cars and agricultural machinery.
The inline-three engine that forms each cylinder bank, however, produces unbalanced rotating and reciprocal forces. These forces remain unbalanced in all V6 engines, often leading to the use of a balance shaft to reduce the vibration. The 1950 Lancia V6 engine was pioneering in its use of a six-throw crankshaft in order to reduce vibration.
The most common crossplane crankshaft for a 90° V8 engine has four crankpins, each serving two cylinders on opposing banks, offset at 90° from the adjacent crankpins.The first and last of the four crank pins are at 180° with respect to each other as are the second and third, with each pair at 90° to the other, so that viewed from the end the crankshaft forms a cross.
The VR6 is a highly compact engine, thanks to the narrower angle of 10.5 to 15 degrees between cylinder banks, as opposed to the traditional V6 angles ranging from 45 to 90 degrees. The compact design is cheaper to manufacture, since only one cylinder head is required for all six cylinders, much like a traditional inline-6 engine.
Each bank of a V12 engine essentially functions as a straight-six engine, which by itself has perfect primary and secondary engine balance.A four-stroke V12 engine has even firing order at V-angles of 60, 120, or 180 degrees [1] Many V12 engines use a V-angle of 60 degrees between the two banks of cylinders. [2]