Well, this weekend hasn't been very productive as far as shop work. I had plans to get some things done on one of numerous projects; but just didn't get there. Anyway, with the weather and all, and the shop being a little colder than I like, I thought I'd add another project to the pile.
I really took a liking to IronHorse's Caloric engine, and thought I would see what I could come up with. Between reading his comments and what I could dig up on the internet, I figured I would try to make a few "improvements" in it. Obviously his engine does what it's supposed to do and lacks nothing in appearance so what's there to improve upon?
One comment I noticed is the heat buildup. I don't really want to add water cooling to the engine. Cooling fins on the cold end of the displacer would seem to help, without having the engine look too cluttered. Another consideration with heat transfer is having a one piece displacer cylinder. I was going to try making it two-piece with possibly a stainless hot-end and a copper or brass cold-end. I haven't thought much about the displacer yet. I have seen them built up from different materials also (to slow heat transfer); but I wonder if it's worth the work?
I planned on adding "porkchop" weights to the crankshaft; but crankshaft design isn't familiar territory, so "poke and hope" engineering applies here. I think the ones I planned for may be overkill.
Anyway, I've gotten about a days worth of ass time into this project, and although I think I have a reasonable idea of where I'm going, I would appreciate any comments or criticisms on this as I go along. I'm going to try to attach a screenshot of what I have so far.
Have a look, and let fly with any comments.
Kevin
I really took a liking to IronHorse's Caloric engine, and thought I would see what I could come up with. Between reading his comments and what I could dig up on the internet, I figured I would try to make a few "improvements" in it. Obviously his engine does what it's supposed to do and lacks nothing in appearance so what's there to improve upon?
One comment I noticed is the heat buildup. I don't really want to add water cooling to the engine. Cooling fins on the cold end of the displacer would seem to help, without having the engine look too cluttered. Another consideration with heat transfer is having a one piece displacer cylinder. I was going to try making it two-piece with possibly a stainless hot-end and a copper or brass cold-end. I haven't thought much about the displacer yet. I have seen them built up from different materials also (to slow heat transfer); but I wonder if it's worth the work?
I planned on adding "porkchop" weights to the crankshaft; but crankshaft design isn't familiar territory, so "poke and hope" engineering applies here. I think the ones I planned for may be overkill.
Anyway, I've gotten about a days worth of ass time into this project, and although I think I have a reasonable idea of where I'm going, I would appreciate any comments or criticisms on this as I go along. I'm going to try to attach a screenshot of what I have so far.
Have a look, and let fly with any comments.
Kevin