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Pulling a train is......

C

compuwiz1

Admin Emeritus Elite Member
Done with diesel locomotives, but did ya know, those running diesel engines don't actually drive the wheels of the train? How many of you thought they did? 😉
 
Originally posted by: compuwiz1
Done with diesel locomotives, but did ya know, those running diesel engines don't actually drive the wheels of the train? How many of you thought they did? 😉
Click to expand...

It does drive the wheels...albeit indirectly.
 
two stroke engines for the win!

in theory you can make 2x the power of a similar 4 stroke since 4 strokes only take in air every other cycle, where as 2 strokes do it every cycle.

what i think is crazy though is this......

you can actually get a "free" super/turbo charger effect if you can make your engine suck in air at a really high rate. F1 engines have roughly 120% volumetric efficiency.....that means an extra 20% of air is being forced into the engine, and this happens simply because the engine is sucking in huge amounts of air, and at a high rate.....the momentum of the air (1m^3 air = 1.2Kg) literally forces more air into the cylinder before the valves shut.

my lecturer said if you really try, you can get 140% volumetric efficiency....basically gives you a nice power boost for nothing
 
:Q never thought that this would be the case. thanks OP

thought i know that trains use sand for traction on the rails 😀
 
Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
two stroke engines for the win!

in theory you can make 2x the power of a similar 4 stroke since 4 strokes only take in air every other cycle, where as 2 strokes do it every cycle.

what i think is crazy though is this......

you can actually get a "free" super/turbo charger effect if you can make your engine suck in air at a really high rate. F1 engines have roughly 120% volumetric efficiency.....that means an extra 20% of air is being forced into the engine, and this happens simply because the engine is sucking in huge amounts of air, and at a high rate.....the momentum of the air (1m^3 air = 1.2Kg) literally forces more air into the cylinder before the valves shut.

my lecturer said if you really try, you can get 140% volumetric efficiency....basically gives you a nice power boost for nothing
Click to expand...

I'm gonna make a half stroke engine and beat the crap out of that 2 stroke one!!
 
I love HowStuffWorks, but it's not nearly as good as it used to be. (They had awesome flash animations, and next to no ads)

Thanks for the article!
 
Do you remember seeling the old footage of steam engines pulling out from the station. The problem with them is that when they engage the wheels and start to pull out, the wheels spin out of control until they heat up the metal enough to get traction. This caused the track around stations to wear out and it often had to be replaced.

Diesel locomotives use electric motors because when you're pulling that many tons of weight, it would spin uncontrollably as well. With an electric motor, the voltage can be increased slowly enough and incrementally enough to get the wheels turning with minimal slippage.
 
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