In this and future issues we will look at one of the most critical seals in a race engine, the seal between the top of the cylinder bore and the cylinder head. There are of course many ways of achieving this seal, but perhaps the first question we should ask ourselves is whether or not we need to have a joint which needs sealing in the first place. Race Engine Technology magazine is soon to feature an in depth review of a historic racing engine which did away with this joint by casting the...
In previous articles on exhausts, we have talked about how these systems are composed of smaller parts, then welded together to form the whole. We further assumed that these smaller component parts would either be small cast pieces, simple bends or perhaps pressed sections. Pressed sections offer the possibility for different shapes and tight bends where required. In this article we shall look at a technology which is relatively new to motor-racing, although it has been used successfully...
Last month, we looked at some basic calculations regarding cyclic loading of fasteners. We must apologise for the recurring errors in printing symbols. The questions marks last month should have been ‘delta’ symbols. For example strain was given as: e = ?L/L This month we shall look at the calculation of joint stiffness, and the good news is that the methods and the basic calculations are the same. The combination of stiffness of different members is dealt with in exactly the...
The subject of fuel additives is always a thorny subject in motorsport. As a competitor, there are always concerns associated with the ‘unfair’ advantage but if the vehicle is a historic one and designed to run on fuels that are no longer available, then the issues can run even deeper. All gasoline fuels contain additives. Whether this is to reduce oxidation in the form of inhibitors or metal deactivators to minimise corrosion, these are added in small amounts to ensure that the...
Last month we looked very briefly at gear pumps, in particular, external gear pumps when two gears sit side-by-side. A particular derivation of the gear pump however, sometimes referred to as an internal gear pump or internal-external gear pump is when one external gear fits inside a rotor consisting of an internal gear. With the centres of each gear offset from one another and a differing number of teeth on each of the gears, rather like its external counterpart, the resulting cavities...