So the next generation of British Touring Cars (BTCC) as far as we know at the moment will be 2.0 litre and turbocharged. Starting in 2011, the engines according to the initial press release, will need to be based on 4-cylinder production units and give something like 300 bhp with a 7000 rpm limit and 0.8 bar boost. Running through an inlet restrictor however, for the first time since 1999, camshafts will we were told, be totally unregulated. Way back then there were no restrictions on the...
As far as threaded fasteners are concerned, there are a large number of coatings which can be applied, and in doing so we are generally seeking to address one of a small number of issues, the main ones being: Corrosion- Material incompatibility- Friction- Lack of suitable lubrication In terms of addressing the problem of corrosion, the main candidates come from a list of metallic platings, although polymeric alternatives exist. The common types of plating aimed at limiting or delaying...
This month, we continue to examine material choices. In last month’s article, we looked at some of the reasons why people choose titanium as a con rod material. This month we shall carry on discussing titanium and some more closely allied materials. One point that was covered last month was the effect that the use of titanium has on the proportion of the externally applied loads that the con rod bolts experience. This is affected not only by the magnitude of the external loads (in...
In the design of crankshafts we have to incorporate counterweighting for various reasons, either for reduction of bearing loads, or to reduce or eliminate primary couples. Often this is achieved through careful design of the crankshaft and the counterweights are incorporated into the crankshaft. What we aim to do in providing a counterweight is to achieve a certain moment relative to the crankshaft axis. Depending on the configuration of the crankshaft these may or may not be directly...
Don’t you just love modern day IT terminology? I mean it’s so graphic, so descriptive and often without even knowing the purpose of the feature or component, simply hearing the name gives you a pretty good idea. Thus for instance, we have floppy discs which were, at least initially – floppy, and hard discs that are well, – hard! Thus when we hear the term CAN Bus, without fully understanding what might be going on and ignoring the pre-fix, our imagination conjures up...