ABSTRACT

The quest for an engine which having the same or more power with higher fuel
efficiency than the existing ones has started before many years. As a result of all these researches
a new engine concept is formed, which is a six stroke engine. Lot of research works are
conducting on this topic nowadays and already six types of six stroke engines were discovered
During every cycle in a typical four stroke engine, piston moves up and down twice in
the chamber, resulting in four total strokes and one of which is the power stroke that provides the
torque to move the vehicle. But in a six stroke engine there are six strokes and out of these there
are two power strokes. The name of the engine has nothing to do with the number of revolutions
or anything of that sort. This engine got its name due to its construction. A six stroke engine
derived its name from the fact that it is a mixture of two and four stroke engine.
In the present article a brief history and types of six stroke engine were dealt and the
advantages of the six stroke engine over other conventional engines were dealt using various
performance curves. The reference or standard engine used is Beare Head six stroke engine

CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. History of six stroke engines
3. Beare head six stroke engine
3.1 Construction and Working
3.2 Discussion on theory
3.3 Thermodynamic Advantages
3.4 Constructional differences
3.5 Constructional issues
3.6 Advantages
3.7 Conclusion

INTRODUCTION
The term six stroke engine describes two different approaches in the internal combustion
engine, developed since the early 1880s, to improve its efficiency and reduce emissions

In the first approach, the engine captures the waste heat from the four stroke Otto cycle or
Diesel cycle and uses it to get an additional power and exhaust stroke of the piston in the same
cylinder. Designs either use steam or air as the working fluid for the additional power stroke. As
well as extracting power, the additional stroke cools the engine and removes the need for a
cooling system making the engine lighter and giving 40% increased efficiency over the normal
Otto or Diesel Cycle. The pistons in this six stroke engine go up and down six times for each
injection of fuel. These six stroke engines have 2 power strokes: one by fuel, one by steam or air.
The currently notable six stroke engine designs in this class are the Crower's six stroke engine,
invented by Bruce Crower of the U.S.A; the Bajulaz engine by the Bajulaz S A company, of
Switzerland; and the Velozetas Six-stroke engine built by the students of an engineering college
Trivendrum.

The second approach to the six stroke engine uses a second opposed piston in each
cylinder which moves at half the cyclical rate of the main piston, thus giving six piston
movements per cycle. Functionally, the second piston replaces the valve mechanism of a
conventional engine and also it increases the compression ratio. The currently notable six stroke
engine designs in this class include two designs developed independently: the Beare Head

engine, invented by Australian farmer Malcolm Beare, and the German Charge pump, invented
by Helmut Kottmann.

HISTORY OF SIX STROKE ENGINES

As mentioned earlier there are two approaches to study about six stroke engines, i.e., first and
second. There are four types of engine comes under the first category of six stroke engines and
two types of engine come under the second category.

First Category:The engines coming under this category are

Griffin six stroke engine:Griffin engine was the first six stroke engine developed in the world. It is developed by the
engineer Samuel Griffin in 1883. In 1886 Scottish steam locomotive makers found a future in
Griffins engine and they licensed the Griffin patents also marketed the engine under the name
Kilmarnock. They used this engine mainly for electric power generation.
Bajulaz six stroke engine:-

The Bajulaz Six Stroke Engine was invented in 1989 by the Bajulaz S A company,
based in Geneva, Switzerland. The Bajulaz six stroke engine is similar to a regular combustion

engine in design. There was however modifications to the cylinder head, with two supplementary
fixed capacity chambers, a combustion chamber and an air preheating chamber above each
cylinder. The combustion chamber receives a charge of heated air from the cylinder; the injection
of fuel begins, at the same time it burns which increases the thermal efficiency compared to a
burn in the cylinder. The high pressure achieved is then released into the cylinder to work the
power or expansion stroke. Meanwhile a second chamber which blankets the combustion
chamber has its air content heated to a high degree by heat passing through the cylinder wall.
This heated and pressurized air is then used to power an additional stroke of the piston.
The advantages of the engine include reduction in fuel consumption by 40%, multi-fuel
usage capability, and a dramatic reduction in pollution

Crower six stroke engine:This engine is invented by Bruce crower of California in USA in the year 2004. Bruce
Crower is actually a race car mechanic with his own workshop. In his six-stroke engine, power is
obtained in the third and sixth strokes. First four strokes of this engine are similar to a normal
four stroke engine and power is delivered in the third stroke. Just prior to the fifth stroke, water is
injected directly into the heated cylinder via the converted diesel engine's fuel injector pump.
The injected water absorbs the heat produced in the cylinder and converts into superheated
steam, which causes the water to expand to 1600 times its volume and forces the piston down for
an additional stroke i.e. the second power stroke. The phase change from liquid to steam removes
the excess heat of the engine.
As a substantial portion of engine heat now leaves the cylinder in the form of steam, no
cooling system radiator is required. Energy that is dissipated in conventional arrangements by the
radiation cooling system has been converted into additional power strokes. In Crower's
prototype, the water for the steam cycle is consumed at a rate approximately equal to that of the
fuel, but in production models, the steam will be recaptured in a condenser for re-use.
Second category:-

The engines coming under this category are

Beare Head six stroke engine:Malcolm Beare 47 year old Australian wheat farmer is the inventor of this six stroke
engine. Actually the name six stroke engines was introduced by Malcolm Beare. Beare created
an innovative hybrid engine, combining two-strokes in the top end with a four-stroke above the
middle portion. So by adding this four plus two equals six, he derived the name six stroke
engines.
Below the cylinder head gasket, everything is conventional, in his design. So one main
advantage is that the Beare concept can be transplanted to existing engines without any
redesigning or retooling the bottom end and cylinder. But the cylinder head and its poppet valves
get thrown away in this design. To replace the camshaft and valves, Beare used a short-stroke
upper crankshaft complete with piston, which is driven at half engine speed through the chain
drive from the engine. This piston moves against the main piston in the cylinder and if the
bottom piston comes four times upwards, upper piston will come downwards twice. The
compression of charge takes place in between these two pistons. Much higher compression ratios
can be obtained in this engine. Malcolm used on his first six-stroke, based on a Honda XL125
farm bike.
Charge pump engine:In this engine, similar in design to the Beare head, a piston charger replaces the valve
system. The piston charger charges the main cylinder and simultaneously regulates the inlet and
the outlet aperture leading to no loss of air and fuel in the exhaust. In the main cylinder,
combustion takes place every turn as in a two-stroke engine and lubrication as in a four-stroke
engine. Fuel injection can take place in the piston charger, in the gas transfer channel or in the
combustion chamber. It is also possible to charge two working cylinders with one piston charger.
The combination of compact design for the combustion chamber together with no loss of air and
fuel is claimed to give the engine more torque, more power and better fuel consumption. The
benefit of less moving parts and design is claimed to lead to lower manufacturing costs. Good for
hybrid technology and stationary engines. The engine is claimed to be suited to alternative fuels

since there is no corrosion or deposits left on valves. The six strokes are: aspiration, precompression, gas transfer, compression, ignition and ejection.

BEARE HEADS SIX STROKE ENGINE

This engine is a radical hybridization of two and four stroke engines. This engine
combines the top portion of two stroke engine and the bottom rather the middle section of a
four stroke engine.
These types of engines have many advantages compared to OHC four stroke engines. They
are as follows
1) Increased torque and power output.
2) Better fuel economy.
3) Cleaner burning with reduced emission.
4) Longer service intervals.
5) Reduced tooling costs.
Six stoke engines were developed in the year 1998 by Malcolm Beare. This technology is
undergoing tremendous research works for improving the six stroke or Beare technology as it
is popularly known. This type of engine is not commonly available because of two main
reasons
1. This technology is patented by Ducati.
2. Research works are going on for improvement of this technology.

CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING

The six stroke engine basically works just like a four stroke engine. The major difference is in
the construction. The major drawbacks of conventional engines were poppet valves, its basic

problems being inertia, and inhibiting flow especially the exhaust valve hot-spot in the
combustion chamber. So a six stroke engine was simplified with the objective of improving
efficiency and increasing performance compared to a conventional engine by overcoming the
drawbacks of poppet valves, by means of a rotary valve application to four stroke engine. Of
course, a two stroke doesn't suffer such problems as it had no poppet valves. So these
drawbacks were resolved by taking the basic components of a rotary disc induction two stroke
engine, and grafting them on to a four stroke to produce the best of both worlds.

Below the cylinder head gasket, everything is conventional, so one advantage is that the
Beare concept can be transplanted onto existing engines without any need for redesigning or
retooling the bottom end. But the cylinder head and its poppet valves get thrown away. To
replace the camshaft and valves, Beare has retained the cam drive belt and fitted an ultra
short-stroke upper crankshaft complete with piston, which the belt drives at half engine speed
just as it previously drove the cam. This piston drives up and down in a sleeve, past inlet
exhaust ports set into the cylinder wall, very much like on a two-stroke: these are all exposed
during both inlet and exhaust strokes. This being it's only function, the rotary valve is lightly
loaded, reducing lubrication and sealing problems.

During the compression and expansion strokes, the upper piston seals off both ports, leaving
the pressure contained between the two pistons, with the lower one a conventional flat-top
three-ring design, while the conical upper one (so shaped to aid gas flow during both inlet and
exhaust cycles by guiding it towards the ports) has two rings - one compression, one oil. In
the combustion phase, twin spark plugs provide ignition via the stock Ducati CDI and a pair
of Harley coils - one per cylinder - and not only does the engine run on pure petrol (no need
to add oil because all required surfaces are positively lubricated inspite of using a two stroke
engine technology) it's also happy on low octane unleaded fuel. Obviously there are no valve
seats to suffer from lack of lead, and Malcolm says the compression ratio can be increased

significantly from the Ducati motor's 10.6:1 quite safely because of the lack of hotspots,
without problems with detonation.

So now the claimed advantages of all this start to come to light - allowing a
higher compression while still happy with low octane unleaded make this an efficient and
cleaner engine. There are no poppet valves to float or bend. This is a much more costeffective way of achieving this than expensively machining a set of closing rockers for all the
valves in a cylinder head, quite apart from the unwanted inertia such a system still entails. But
there are other, much more significant apparent spin-off benefits from the Beare design.

First of these is fuel economy: Malcolm Beare claims his engine is 35% more
economical at low revs/throttle openings than an equivalent conventional engine and 13% less
thirsty at high rpm/full throttle, in spite of the doubled-up carbs. That should mean fewer
hydrocarbon and CO2 emissions, because you're using less fuel to achieve the same
performance. Ducati-based prototypes Beare discovered the six-stroke version produced the
same torque as a four stroke 1,000 rpm lower down the scale, as well as producing

exponentially more torque as revs rose.

SECTIONAL VIEW OF BEARE

HEAD SIX STROKE ENGINE

BEARE HEAD SIX STROKE

ENGINE

But in a commercial application, perhaps the most attractive benefit is the

reduced number of moving parts, compared to a four stroke design, so the six should be
cheaper to make. Not as few as a two stroke, but what you appear to be getting here is
improved performance and torque, coupled with the inherent advantages of a four stroke, on
the cheap. Finally, as the upper two stroke piston is driven at half engine speed, it should have
twice the life of the lower four stroke one.

DISCUSSION ON THEORY

According to the theory more torque is derived if the upper piston drive is advanced in
relation to the main crank. This would be so if all other factors remain constant. Advancing
the upper piston drive has detrimental effects on valve timing, combustion chamber volume
and rate of change in volume during the combustion period and total engine volume.

1. Valve Timing. The effect is to open the exhaust port earlier, reduce the amount of
valve overlap and close the intake port earlier. Opening the exhaust port earlier means
that the expansion stroke is effectively shortened and less energy is extracted.

Reducing the amount of overlap does not allow enough time for intake to clear the
combustion chamber and the exhaust extraction effect is reduced. The earlier intake
port closing reduces charge filling and volumetric efficiency.

2. Combustion chamber volume. It is effectively increased thus lowering compression

ratio. The rate of acceleration of expansion is faster in the earlier periods, contrary to
the ideal of a constant volume during combustion.

3. Total Engine Volume. The effect is to reduce change in volume during intake and
compression and increase expansion and exhaust, thus reducing volumetric efficiency
of intake.

If we do advance the timing we would have to compensate in the design of the

engine by
1)

Reducing combustion chamber volume.

2)

Raising exhaust port lower lip to provide later exhaust opening.

3)

Lowering intake port lower lip to provide later intake closing.

4)

Altering disc timing to allow exhaust port closing.

THERMODYNAMIC ADVANTAGES

Referring to the graph, the intake begins at 0 degrees on the X-axis. The effect of the additional
volume changes that the upper piston has on the volume of the engine is all positive from a
thermodynamic point of view. If the engine were a normal 4 stroke the cylinder capacity would
be 340cc. Of note - maximum volume at the end of the intake stroke occurs at 173 degrees
instead of 180 degrees- the change in volume is 308cc which is less than a 4 stroke (340cc), yet
the total volume at the end of the intake stroke is 415cc as opposed to 375cc for a conventional
stroke.

This means that the extra volume is best swept by gas velocities and not
mechanical movement, and therefore mechanical input energy is less. Also, maximum volume
is before bottom dead centre 173 deg. Consequently valve timing, if the same as a four stroke,
is more radical and is of longer duration in relation to engine volume and hence volumetric
efficiency is considerably improved.

The change in volume during the compression stroke is slightly greater than a
four stroke after the ports are closed. The expansion stroke is much greater than a four stroke;
both from TDC to BDC and from TDC till the exhaust port is open. It is possible to leave the
opening of the exhaust port later than in a four stroke because maximum volume is not
reached until after BDC (-548 deg), instead of 540 deg. Hence the six stroke system is better
from a thermodynamic point of view because more energy is extracted from the expansion
process.

During the critical combustion period the rate of change in volume in the six
stroke is less than a four stroke. Minimum volume is not reached until after TDC, at 361 deg.
This is because of the phasing of the upper piston. It is retarded in reaching its TDC until 20
deg. after TDC (380). This is much better from a thermodynamic view in that combustion
occurs at a more constant volume; hence ignition timing is not as critical as in a four stroke.
There is room in the combustion chamber for up to four spark plugs and two direct injectors if
needed
The change in volume during the exhaust stroke is less than a 4 stroke. This
means that the negative pumping work is less than a 4 stroke. Extractive gas velocity is very
important. Easily accomplished at T.D.C. with a fully open exhaust port. The design can cope
with various runner diameters and lengths because the reed valves allow any positive pressure
pulses to pass through and cancel any negative ones, as well as providing good secondary

atomisation. Hence at low revs the long thin runners are in tune and at higher revs the shorter
fatter ones take over with no need to shut down the long thin ones or vise versa as would be
necessary with a normal 4 stroke. Swirl is in one direction at low revs and moves to tumble
when the flows are in balance reverting to swirl in the other direction as the short fat ones
predominate. A good spread of torque is achieved.

CONSTRUCTIONAL DIFFERENCES

As discussed above the cylinder head and its poppet valves get thrown away in this design. To
replace the camshaft and valves, Beare used a short-stroke upper crankshaft complete with
piston, which is driven at half engine speed through the chain drive from the engine. This
piston moves against the main piston in the cylinder and if the bottom piston comes four
times upwards, upper piston will come downwards twice. The compression of charge takes
place in between these two pistons. Below the cylinder head gasket, everything is
conventional, in his design. So one main advantage is that the Beare concept can be
transplanted to existing engines without any redesigning or retooling the bottom end and
cylinder.

CONSTRUCTIONAL ISSUES

The mass of the reciprocating parts in the head is about the same as a 4 stroke but the
accelerations are much slower so energy absorption is less. The piston speed of the upper

piston is about a quarter of the main piston; therefore its service life should be at least twice
that of the main piston. There are no service adjustments necessary. There are no valves to
drop or get hit if a timing belt snaps and the effective rev limit is only what the main piston
will stand. The design has similarities to the Atkins and Miller designs in that the expansion
stroke is larger than the intake stroke.

Per single cylinder the number of parts in the Beare design head is fifteen
compared to a single overhead cam 4 stroke of approx. 40 to 50 parts. The design also allows
the production of a single piece engine (i.e. head cast with the block) further reducing
machining and therefore costs. The tips of the reed valves are positioned close to the intake
port windows, thus achieving a similar result to variable cam timing. At low throttle & revs
the petals only partly open and keep gas velocity high .At full throttle & high revs they fully
open to allow maximum flow.
The exhaust disk does not touch anything and is only subject to sub-atmospheric pressure, not
gas flow; and therefore its service life is practically infinite. The exhaust valve is a piston
port.

The simplest layout for car engines is the flat 4 or V4, with internal central chain
drive to the heads. This layout allows access to 3 sides of each cylinder, with exhaust discs
each end of the motor and reed valve blocks both sides of each cylinder. For in-line layouts
the drive chain or belt is at the end with a row of exhaust disks down one side and a row of
intake disks or reed blocks down the other side. A right angle drive is taken off the drive chain
with a very light internal drive chain to the disks, or a direct drive is taken off the drive chain
with light right angle drive at each disk.
The design with 4 intake ports fed by 2 reed blocks per cylinder allows the use of several
different intake manifold types:

1. 4 separate manifolds fed by 4 carburettors or injector bodies, of various length and

diameters or all equal length and diameter.
2. 2 separate manifolds bifurcated to each cylinder so that each has its own carburettor or
injector body, with various lengths and diameters.
3. 2 separate manifolds bifurcated to each cylinder in turn, so that each cylinder is fed by 2
carburettors in turn even though the system has a total of 2 carburettors or injectors,
with various length and diameter runners.
4. 3 intake manifolds, with 3 carburettors or injector bodies, 1 bifurcated to each cylinder
with long small diameter runners, the other 2 with short large diameter runners.
ADVANTAGES
1. The six stroke engine is fundamentally superior to the four stroke because the head is no
longer parasitic but is a net contributor to, and an integral part of the power generation
within the engine.
2. The six stroke is thermodynamically more efficient because the change in volume of
the power stroke is greater than the intake, compression, & exhaust strokes.
3. The compression ratio can be increased because of the absence of hot spots.
4. The rate of change in volume during the critical combustion period is less than in a four
stroke.
5. The absence of valves within the combustion chamber allows design freedom.
6. A one-piece engine from crankshaft to upper shaft becomes feasible. No head gasket.
7. The valving is desmodromic.
8. There are no valves to drop or bounce.
9. The rev limit is only what the bottom end can stand.
10. Gas flow on intake increase of 20%.
11. No possibility of engine damage if the timing belt slips or snaps.
12. Increased torque and power output.
13. Better fuel economy.
14. Cleaner burning and reduced emissions.
15. Longer service intervals.
16. Reduced tooling cost.

17. Low cost of manufacturing and machining cost due to absence of valves.
18. Higher compression ratio.
19. Small size.
20. Less number of parts.
21. High torque at low rpm.

CONCLUSION
From the above given data it can be easily understood the Beare technology or six stroke
engines are the technology for the future. The project is well patented and is undergoing
heavy research works. Any product takes time to establish itself in the market. Six stroke
engines with all the desired qualities of a two stroke and four stroke engines will be hitting the
market soon. From the above given data it is clear that six stroke engines are better compared
to two stroke and four stroke engines. It is sure that six stroke engines will surely be the main
stay of automobiles in the near future.

Reference

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