INDICATED WORK PER CYCLE

Pressure data for the gas in the cylinder over the operating
cycle of the engine can be used to calculate the work transfer
from the gas to the piston. The cylinder pressure and
corresponding cylinder volume throughout the engine cycle
can be plotted on p V diagram.

The indicated work per cycle Wc,i is obtained by integrating

the curve to obtain the area enclosed on diagram:

Wc,i pdV
With two-stroke cycle, the application is straightforward.
With the addition of inlet and exhaust strokes the fourstroke cycle , some ambiguity for is introduced as two
definitions of indicated output are used:
Gross indicated work per cycle Wc,ig. Work delivered to the
piston over the compression and expansion strokes only.
Net indicated work per cycle Wc,in. Work delivered to the
piston over the entire four strokes cycle.
The work transfer between the piston and the cylinder gases
during the inlet and exhaust strokes and is called the
pumping work Wp.
The pumping work transfer will be from piston to the
cylinder gases if the pressure during the intake stroke is less
than the pressure during the exhaust stroke, this is the
situation with naturally aspirated engines.
The pumping work transfer will be from the cylinder gases
to the piston if the exhaust stroke pressure is lower than the
intake pressure, which is normally the case with highly
loaded turbocharged engines.
The power per cylinder is related to the indicated work per
cycle by:

Pi

Wc,i N
nR

Where:
N engine speed
nR is the number of crank revolutions for each stroke per
cylinder. For four-stroke cycle nR = 2, for two stroke cycle
nR =1.
This power is the indicated power, it differ from the brake
power (measured) by the power absorbed in overcoming
engine friction, driving engine accessories and ( in the case of
gross indicated power) the pumping power.

Indicated parameters are used primarily to identify the

impact of the compression, combustion, and expansion
processes on engines performances.
The gross indicated output is, the most appropriate
definition. It represents the sum of useful work available at
shaft and the work required to overcome all the engine
losses.
The term brake and indicated are used to describe other
parameters such as mean effective pressure, specific fuel
consumption, and specific emissions in a manner similar to
that used for work per cycle and power.
MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY
A part of gross indicated work per cycle or power is used to
expel exhaust gases and induct fresh charge. An additional
portion is used to overcome the friction of bearings, pistons,
and other mechanical components of the engine, and to drive
the engine accessories.
All of these power requirements are grouped together and
called friction power Pf.
Pig =Pb + Pf
The ratio of brake power Pb (or useful) delivered by engine
to the indicated power is called the mechanical efficiency m.
m = Pb / Pig = 1 (Pf / Pig)

MEAN EFFECTIVE PRESSURE

An useful relative engine performance measure is obtained
by dividing the work per cycle by the cylinder volume
displaced per cycle.
The parameter so obtained has units of force per unit area
and is called the mean effective pressure.
Work per cycle = P.nR / N
Where: P power; nR (2 for four stroke cycle, 1 for two
stroke cycle); N crankshaft rotational speed.
Then:

mep = P.nR / Vd.N

mep(kPa) = P(kW)nR103 / Vd(dm3)N(rev/s)
Mean effective pressure can also be expressed in terms of
torque by using the relationship:
mep(kPa) = 6.28 nR T(N.m) /Vd(dm3)
The maximum brake effective pressure of good engine
designs is well established, and is essentially constant over a
wide range of engine sizes. Thus, the actual bmep that a
particular engine develops can be compared with this norm,
and the effectiveness with which the engine designer has
used the engines displaced volume can be assessed.
Also, for design calculations, the engine displacement
required to provide a given torque or power, at a specified
speed can be estimated by assuming appropriate values for
bmep for particular application.
For naturally aspirated SI engine: maximum values for
bmep are in the range 850 to 1050 kPa at the engine speed
where maximum torque is obtined( about 3000 rpm).
At maximum rated power , bmep value are 10 to 15% lower.
For turbocharged automotive SI engines the maximum
bmep is the 1250 to 1700 kPa At the maximum rated power,
bmep is in the 900 to 1400 kPa range.
For naturally aspirated four-stroke diesels, the maximum
bmep is in the 700 to 900 kPa range , with the bmep at the
maximum rated power about 700 kPa.
Turbocharged four-stroke diesel maximum bmep values are
in the range 1000 to 1200 kPa; for turbocharged aftercooled
engines this can rise to 1400 kPa. At maximum rated power,
bmep is 850 to 950 kPa.
Two stroke cycle diesels have comparable performance to
four stroke cycle engine.

SPECIFIC FUEL CONSUMPTION AND EFFICIENCY

The fuel consumption is measured as a flow rate mass flow
per unit time
f
m

An useful parameter is the specific fuel consumption sfcthe fuel flow rate per unit power output. It measure how
efficiently an engine is using the fuel supplied to produce
work:

sfc

f
m
P

With units,

sfc(g / kW.h)

f (g / h)
m
P(kW)

Low values of sfc are obviously desirable.

The fuel energy supplied which can be released by
combustion is given by the mass of fuel supplied per cycle
times the heating value of fuel. The heating value of fuel,
QHV, defines its energy contents. It is determined in a
standardized test procedure in which a known mass of fuel is
fully burned with air , and thermal energy released by the
combustion process is absorbed by a calorimeter as the
combustion products cool down to their original
temperature.
This measure of energy of an engines efficiency, which will
be called the fuel conversion efficiency f is given by:

Wc
mf Q HV

(P.n R / N)
f n R / N)Q HV
(m

P
f Q HV
m

Where mf is the mass of fuel inducted per cycle.

Substitution for power to mass flow per unit time into
relationship of fuel conversion efficiency, gives
QHV fuel heating value
1
f
sfc.QHV

3600
sfc(g / kW.h)QHV(MJ / kg)

Typical heating values for commercial hydrocarbon fuels

used in engines are in the range 42 to 44 MJ / kg.
Thus, specific fuel consumption is inversely proportional to
fuel convertion efficiency for normal hydrocarbon fuels.

AIR / FUEL AND FUEL / AIR RATIOS

The ratio of the air mass flow rate to the fuel mass flow rate
and
The ratio of the fuel mass flow rate to the air mass flow rate
define the engine operating conditions:

Air / fuel.ratio(A / F)

a
m
f
m

and

Fuel / air .ratio(F / A)

f
m
a
m

For the conventional SI engine using gasoline fuel:

12 A / F 18 ( 0.056 F / A 0.083 )
For the CI engines with diesel fuel:
18 A / F 70 (0.014 F /A 0.056)

VOLUMETRIC EFFICIENCY
The intake system: the air filter, carburetor, throttle plate
(in SI engine), intake manifold, intake port, intake valve
restricts the amount of fresh charge (air or air-fuel mixture)
which an engine of given displacement can induct.
The parameter used to measure the effectiveness of an
engines induction process is the volumetric efficiency v.
Volumetric efficiency is used only with four-stroke cycle
engine which have a distinct induction process.

Volumetric efficiency is defined as the volume flow rate of air

into the intake system divided by the rate at which volume is
displaced by piston:

a
2m
a,iVd N

where: a,i - the inlet air density.

An alternative equivalent definition for volumetric efficiency
is:

ma
a,iVd

Where: ma the mass of air inducted into cylinder per cycle.

Maximum values of v for naturally aspirated engines are in
the range 80 90 %.
The volumetric efficiency for diesels is somewhat higher
than for SI engines.

ENGINE SPECIFIC WEIGHT AND SPECIFIC VOLUME

These parameters indicate the effectiveness with which the
engine designer has used the engine materials and packaged
the engine components.

Specific weight

engine weight
rated power

and

Specific volume

engine volume
rated power

CORRECTION FACTORS FOR POWER AND

VOLUMETRIC EFFICIENCY
The pressure, humidity, and temperature of the ambient air
induced into an engine , at a given engine speed, affect the
air mass flow rate and the power output.
The basis for the correction factor is the equation for onedimensional steady compressible flow through an orifice or
flow restriction of effective area AE.

AEp0 2 p 2 / p ( 1) / 1 / 2
{
[( ) ( )
]}
RT0 1 p0
p0

In deriving this equation, it has been assumed that the fluid

is an ideal gas with constant R (constant gas) and that the
ratio of specific heats (cp / cv = ) is constant.
p0 and T0 are the total pressure and temperature upstream
of restriction and p is the pressure at the throat of the
restriction
If, in the engine, p / p0 is assumed constant at wide-open
throttle, then for a given intake system and engine , the mass
flow rate of dry air varies as:

a
m

p0
T0

For mixtures containing the proper amount of fuel to use all

the air available, the indicated power at full throttle Pi will
be proportional to the dry air flow rate.
Thus if
Pi,s = CF.Pi,m
The subscripts s and m denote values at standard and
measured conditions.
The correction factor CF is given by:

CF

ps,d

Tm

pm pv,m Ts
where:

1/ 2

ps,d - standard dry air absolute pressure

pm measured ambient air absolute pressure
pv,m measured ambient water vapor partial pressure
Tm measured ambient temperature, K
Ts standard ambient temperature, K
The rated power is corrected (Pb,s) by using the correction
factor to correct the indicated power and making the
assumption that the friction power is unchanged:
Pb,s = CF Pi,m Pf,m
Volumetric efficiency is proportional to

a / a
m

Since a is proportional to p/T, the correction factor for

volumetric efficiency, CF is

CF
'

v,s
v,m

Ts
Tm

1/ 2

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEN PERFORMANCES

PARAMETERS
For power P:

f ma NQHV(F / A)
nR

For four stroke engines, volumetric efficiency can be

introduced:

f v NVdQHVa,i (F / A)
2
For torque T:

f vVdQHVa,i (F / A)
4

For mean effective pressure:

mep = fvQHVa,i(F/A)
The power per unit of piston area is called the specific
power:

P f v NLQ HVa,i (F / A)

Ap
2
Or, if the mean piston speed is introduced, the specific
power is

P f v SpQHVa,i (F / A)

Ap
4
Specific power is proportional to the product of mean
effective pressure and mean piston speed.
These relationships illustrate the direct importance to engine
performance of:
1) high fuel conversion efficiency
2) high volumetric efficiency
3) increasing the output of given displacement engine by
increasing the inlet air density
4) maximum fuel/air ratio that can be usefully burned in the
engine
5) high mean piston speed
ENGINE DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE DATA
Engine rating usually indicate the highest power to give
satisfactory economy, emissions, reliability, and durability.
Maximum torque, and the speed at which it is achieved, is
usually given also.
1) At maximum or normal rated point:
-Mean piston speed. Measures comparative success in
handling loads due inertia of the parts and/or engine
friction.

-Brake mean effective pressure. In naturally aspirated

engines bmep is not stress limited. It then reflects the
product of volumetric efficiency(ability to induct air),
fuel/air ratio (effectiveness of air utilization in combustion),
and fuel conversion efficiency.
In supercharged engines bmep indicates the degree of
success in handling higher gas pressure and thermal load.
-Power per unit piston area. Measures the effectiveness with
which the piston area is used, regardless of cylinder size.
-Specific weight. Indicates relative economy with which
materials are used.
-Specific volume. Indicates relative effectiveness with which
engine space has been used.
2) At all speed at which the engine will be used with full
throttle or with maximum fuel pump setting:
-Brake mean effective pressure. Measures ability to
obtain/provide high air flow and use it effectively over the
full range.
3) At all useful regimes of operations and particularly in
those regimes where the engine is run for long period of
time:
-Brake specific fuel consumption or fuel conversion
efficiency.

-Brake specific emissions.