Stirling Engine (MEAM 201)
The Project We were give partial plans for a Gamma Type Stirling Engine. We had to design about half the parts including the connecting rods, main stand, cranks, and flywheel. I made full engineering drawings of the engine so that I could easily make the parts to the appropriate tolerances. Over the course of the semester, I machined all of the parts using both manual and Numerically Controlled milling machines and lathes.
The engine features a single piston and a displacer that shuttles the air back and forth between the heat sink and the heat source applied at end of the stainless steel end cap. My engine ran at just over 1000 rpm with a small creme brulee torch applied to one end. |
The Flywheel The Flywheel was required to keep the single piston action moving. Most engines have simple solid flywheels, but I decided to make mine a little more mechanically interesting. The design features a planetary type gear system where the inner 'I' shaped piece rotates with the output shaft from the crank and the outside ring counter-rotates to create a really cool effect. I designed around some gears that I was able to laser cut out of Acetal to get the design compact enough to fit inside the 3 inch outside diameter.
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