Helpfull blueprints for automation creators

[Ridicol]

Lubrication system and spark plugs

I'll be posting some blueprints every once in a while, these blueprints can be useful for the game and anyone else that might like to know something about engineering. I will try my best to explain every blueprint I upload so that anyone can understand better.

First blueprint I posted is of the lubrication system and a spark plug. Most don't know this, but the engine oil also cools down the engine besides lubricating it.
From the picture we can observe the basic components of the lubricating system, this is a basic one for your understanding, the system can have much more components depending on the auxiliary systems and pieces bolted to the engine, like turbos, intercooler, and any other parts that needs lubrication.
Blueprint waypoints:
1- Oil filter, cleans the oil of debris and any other contaminants.
2- Oil temperature "sensor", reads the temperature of the oil, the quotes are there because sensor is not a correct term for any measuring apparatus, the correct term is transmitter
3- Hydraulic cam follower, using oil pressure from the system it keeps the valve lift the same through the varying engine temperatures, because metal expands and contracts with temperatures, and to keep up with this phenomenon you have to vary the distance between the cam follower and the camshaft
4- Oil nozzle, it sprays the bottom of the piston to keep the overall temperature of it as low as possible, it also sprays the bottom part of the cylinder with oil for lubrication
5- Oil sump, it's sort of an oil reservoir, but also sediments the heavier oil debris on the bottom of it
6- Oil collector, as it's name says, it collects the oil from the sump, but also has a sift to stop bigger particles from getting in the engine, it's not set at the bottom of the sump, it has 1-2 centimeters of lift so that it doesn't aspirate the muck that gathered itself on the bottom of it
7- Oil pump, it's connected to the engine by the timing belt.

The blueprint of the spark plug is very simple, 1 and 2 are the 2 electrodes between which the sparks are formed.


If I have made some grammar errors, keep in mind English is not my first language.

Here is a picture to drool on


A lubrication system from a Ferrari engine.


Also the spark plug can come in different forms, with more electrodes:
2

3

4


As far as I know 4 is the maximum number. These could give you a substantial power increase, but only if the engine is power oriented, economical engines would have a too small power increase to be felt, but it would still improve the quality of the ignition.

Engine layouts and camshaft positions

Types of engine layouts, camshaft position variations and timing belts, chains and sprockets.


The two A engine layouts are OHV ( over head valve) and it refers to an older type of engine in which the camshaft is positioned lower in the engine, this was most in use with carburetor, because with the camshaft in this type of engine also powered the fuel pump, as seen in the picture below:

In the first picture 1 and 2 is the push rod that pushes the rocker arm which will press on the valve stem. In the second picture the same system but with a hydraulic push rod.

The c engine is OHC (over head camshaft), also an old engine type used mostly for the first generations of injection, the single point injection (SPI) and multiple port injection (MPI). It's main characteristic is that the camshaft is positioned over the valves.
SPI injection:

MPI injection:

it has an injector for every cylinder, but the injection is made in front of the admission valve

The b engine is the widely used DOHC (double over head camshaft), it's used in most of the modern engines because it can have upward of 3 valves per cylinder, making the admission and exhaust to happen in a much shorter period of time and with better efficiency.



The first picture in the bottom half of the image is the timing sprocket variant of the distribution, it was used a lot 30-40 years ago, but it was discontinued due to making too much noise, it's the best type of distribution because it never needed replacement. It was mostly in use with the OHV engine type and carburetor, OHC and DOHC have a bigger distance between camshaft and crankshaft for this type of distribution.

The second one is the distribution chain or timing chain, it's still in use in high end cars and some Corean and Japanese manufacturers, it generally doesn't need replacing although there are some manufacturers that recommend it being changed every 200.000 km. It's considered too be too costly by most European based car companies, but in reality they rather you change you distribution belt every couple of thousand miles just to get more money from you.

The third one is the timing belt, it's made from rubber with a cloth inlay to strengthen it up, it's the widely used solution, it's cheap and in the long run it makes more money for the car companies, the only differences between it and the timing chain is the short replacement time and the fact that you can't push the car when having engine problems because it will skip a tooth and mess up the distribution timing. If the distribution timing is off you valves will hit the piston and both of them will be needing replacement.

[vexican]

this is great idea (I only skimmed it so sorry if I don't understand fully) what my impression is that you want to make custom parts but it would be very difficult to do

[Daffyflyer]

Nah, he just said he had access to some cool things that might be useful so I asked him to post them, good stuff!

[Raticon]

Some of the pictures are gone now :/

[Ridicol]

Pictures back up, moved them around my album

Oil pump

There are different models, this is a basic model, it's pretty self-explanatory.


Different models:




Engine cooling system

The engine produces a lot of heat, to work properly it has to be cooled down, this is mainly due to the fact that all materials expand at high temperatures, until something breaks or jams. Since air cooling isn't used on cars anymore, I'll be talking about water cooling.



1- Interior heating element, it uses hot water that was used to cool the engine to heat up the car interior.
2- Thermostat, it's an element that opens/closes a circuit that lets the water circulate around the radiator to cool down.

This is how it works:

Inside it has a wax that when the engine temperature hits ~100 degrees Celsius melts, contracting the spring and letting the liquid pass towards the radiator.
3- Radiator housing, it contains the radiator fan, the fan can be electrical activated by the thermostat, or mechanical, permanently being spun by an auxiliary belt from the engine.
4- Radiator, it uses a honeycomb structure to maximize the surface area that is in contact with the air.
5- Water pump, it pumps the water continuously through the engine.

6- Expansion tank or water tank, stores the liquid used for cooling.

Generally the optimum engine temperature is around 200 degrees Fahrenheit or 90 degrees Celsius. The cooling liquid is not actually water, it has water but depending on the manufacturer recommendation it can range from only water (in the summer) to 50% Antifreeze 50% distilled water (in the winter and in the summer). The antifreeze generally protect against corrosion, this is why it's also recommended in the summer.

Older types of fuel delivery systems

I'll be talking mostly about the carburetor, since the SPI and MPI injection where covered earlier.

Lets get the injections out of the way.

SPI (single point injection)
Top right. It's the first generation of injection.
1- Fuel pipe, takes the fuel from a low pressure pump, generally located in the fuel tank. The pressure of the fuel at this point is around 2-3 bar (29-43 PSI) depending on the model.
2- Air intake, the pipe through which the engine sucks in fresh air.
3- Throttle body, it has a plate that is controlled by the accelerator pedal, it's angle lets more or less air in depending on the accelerator pedal position
4- Intake manifold, it delivers air to all the cylinders
5- Fuel injector, this injection type has only one injector, that delivers fuel to all the cylinders
6- Engine

Advantages:
-only one injector (not very complex, cheaper)
-throttle potentiometer(does not require an air-volume meter)
-bigger distance between the injector and the hot engine (less vapourising, less pressure needed to inject)
-less complex exhaust cleaning system (less components)

Disadvantages:
-less control (more fuel consumption, more harmful gas exhausts)

MPI (multi port injection)
Bottom right. Second generation, pretty much the same as SPI but with an injector for every cylinder.
1- Fuel rail, delivers fuel to all the injectors at the same pressure as SPI.
2- Air intake
3- Throttle body
4- Intake manifold
5- Injectors
6- Engine

Advantages:
-throttle potentiometer(does not require an air-volume meter)
-bigger distance between the injector and the hot engine (less vapourising, less pressure needed to inject)
-less complex exhaust cleaning system (less components)

Disadvantages:
-less control (more fuel consumption, more harmful gas exhausts)
-more complex than SPI ("expensive-er")

Carburetor
Left. It's not used anymore on mass-produced vehicles, low volume vehicles like racing vehicles are still using this (although only in USA and some underdeveloped countries).
1- Needle valve, it closes the orifice through which fuel gets into the carburetor fuel reservoir (also known as constant level room)
2- Air bleed, mixes the fuel with air to decrease fuel density and promote vapourisation
3- Floater, it's linked to the needle valve to keep the fuel levels constant in the fuel reservoir
4- Mixture needle, controls the amount of fuel that gets to the discharge nozzle, can be modified by a control rod on the carburetor housing
5- Fuel discharge nozzle, fuel is forced out by the difference in air pressure between the air intake and the fuel reservoir, this difference is created by the smaller diameter of the air intake in the proximity of the discharge valve , this is called a venturi tube, the air is forced to travel at higher speed through the smaller diameter decreasing it's pressure
6- Fuel air mixture
7- Throttle body
8- Intake manifold

Advantages:
-very cheap, no electronic control needed, purely mechanical
-very low expertise needed to fix, pretty much a home project

Disadvantages:
-no control, the carburetor is controlling everything
-lots of emissions, not very friendly to the environment
-fuel consumption, it's a gas guzzler
-no exhaust gas cleaning system has ever been produced for a carburetor

[Daffyflyer]

Awesome, thanks for that