International Journal of Engineering Science Invention Research & Development; Vol. II Issue XII, June 2016 www.ijesird.

com
e-ISSN: 2349-6185

DESIGN, ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION OF

SIX CYLINDERS COMPRESSED AIR RADIAL
ENGINE
Madhukumar K1, Nataraj M2, Sampathkumar L3, Kumaraswamy R4, Karthik M5
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Visvesvaraya Technical University,
Karnataka,India
madhukumark07@gmail.com1, natrajmn@gmail.com2, sampathkmr.ln@gmail.com3, kmrswamy10@gmail.com4,
karthikkarthikm@gmail.com5

Abstract - This paper explains the design and analysis of six
cylinders radial engine which runs only on high pressure
compressed air, which makes it a zero pollution engine. In this
engine, the pressure energy of compressed air is utilized for the
reciprocating movement of the piston inside the cylinder
arrangement thereby producing mechanical work. This design
consists of six cylinders to provide the required balance for the
engine and to increase the overall efficiency. Two cylinders form
one pair with pistons set in 180 degree opposite phases to each
other. When compressed air is fed to the cylinder, piston inside
the cylinder starts moving from TDC to BDC due to pressure
energy of the compressed air. As the piston reaches the BDC,
exhaust port gets opened and expanded air escapes through it.
This action is continuously repeated in all the six cylinders,
thereby producing power in continuous phase.
Six cylinders compressed air engine is designed keeping
crankcase as standard using CATIA V5. Stress analysis is
performed to obtain the variation of the stress magnitude at
critical locations of various parts like Piston, Crankcase and
Connecting rod by Finite Element Method using ANSYS
WORKBENCH 14.0. Based on the result obtained by analysis,
dimensions of the parts are optimized.
Keywords: Compressed air engine, modeling, Finite element
analysis.
1. INTRODUCTION
There is an urgent need for mobility
technologies and infrastructures that are based on a
technology other than oil and that have acceptable
costs [5]. Even though fossil fuels meet the most of
the worlds energy demand, they are getting depleted
rapidly. Also combustion products cause global
warming which pose a great danger to the
environment [4]. One of the possible alternatives is
compressed air engine.
A compressed air engine or
pneumatic motor is a type of motor which
does mechanical work by expanding compressed
air. Pneumatic motors generally convert the
compressed air energy to mechanical work through
Madhukumar K, Nataraj M, Sampathkumar L, Kumaraswamy R and Karthik M
either linear or rotary motion. According to a
proponent, compressed air has a great deal of
potential as a clean, inexpensive, and infinitely
renewable energy source. Its use is currently being
explored as an alternative to fossil fuels.
A widespread application of pneumatic
motors is in hand-held tools, impact wrenches,
pulse tools, screwdrivers, nut runners, drills,
grinders, sanders and so on. Most successful early
forms of self-propelled torpedoes used high
pressure compressed air, although this was
superseded by internal or external combustion
engines, steam engines, or electric motors.
Compressed air engines were used in trams and
shunters, and eventually found a successful niche in
mining locomotives, although in the end they were
replaced by electric trains. Transport category
airplanes, such as commercial airliners, use
compressed air starters to start the main engines.
The air is supplied by the load compressor of the
aircraft's auxiliary power unit, or by ground
equipment. Compressed-air propulsion may also be
incorporated in hybrid systems, like battery electric
propulsion. This kind of system is called hybrid-
pneumatic electric propulsion.
Additionally, regenerative braking can also be used
in conjunction with this system.
Compressed air engines offer greater power
density (a smaller pneumatic motor can provide the
same amount of power as a larger electric motor),
do not require an auxiliary speed controller (adding
to its compactness), generate less heat, and can be
used in more volatile atmospheres as they do not
require electric power and do not create sparks.
Also, they can be loaded to stop with full torque
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e-ISSN: 2349-6185
without damages. The engine runs on cold or warm
air, hence it can be made of lower strength light
weight materials such as aluminum, plastic, low
friction Teflon (structural steel is also an option,
based on requirement). Much like electrical
vehicles, air powered vehicles would ultimately be
powered through the electrical grid, Which makes it
easier to focus on reducing pollution from one
source, as opposed to the millions of vehicles on the
road. Transportation of the fuel would not be
required due to drawing power off the electrical
grid. This presents significant cost benefits.
Pollution created during fuel transportation would
be eliminated. The engine can be massively reduced
in size also low manufacture and maintenance costs
as well as easy maintenance. Compressed-air
technology reduces the cost of vehicle production
by about 20%, because there is no need to build
a cooling system, fuel tank, Ignition Systems or
silencers. The price of filling air powered vehicles
is significantly cheaper than petrol, diesel or
biofuel. If electricity is cheap, then compressing air
will also be relatively cheap.
The laws of physics dictate that uncontained
gases will fill any given space. The easiest way to
see this in action is to inflate a balloon. The elastic
skin of the balloon holds the air tightly inside, but
the moment you use a pin to create a hole in the
balloon's surface, the air expands outward and due
to high energy balloon explodes. Compressing a gas
into a small space is a way to store energy. When
the gas expands again, that energy is released to do
work. This is the main principle behind the working
of compressed air engine.
Laws of physics explain that pressure,
volume and temperature are proportional; change
one variable and one or two of the others will also
change, according to this equation: (P1 V1) / T1 =
(P2 V2)/T2, compressed air is normally used in
pressure ranges from 1 bar to 300 bar (14 to 6004
PSI) at various flow rates from as little as 0.1 m
(3.5 CFM - cubic feet per minute) and up.
Compressor tanks may be refilled at a
service station equipped with heat exchangers, or in
a few hours at home or in parking lots, plugging the
car into the electrical grid via an on-board
compressor. Since the compressed air is filtered to
Madhukumar K, Nataraj M, Sampathkumar L, Kumaraswamy R and Karthik M
protect the compressor machinery, the air
discharged has less suspended dust in it, though
there may be carry-over of lubricants used in the
engine.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review includes various aspects of
compressed air engine, Finite element analysis,
design of engines, etc.
The pneumatic motor was first applied to
the field of transportation in the mid-19th century.
Though little is known about the first recorded
compressed-air vehicle, it is said that the
Frenchmen Andraud and Tessie of Motay ran a car
powered by a pneumatic motor on a test track in
Chaillot, France, on July 9, 1840. Although the car
test was reported to have been successful, but the
idea was not pursued further.
The first successful application of the
pneumatic motor in transportation was the Mekarski
system air engine used in locomotives. Mekarski’s
innovative engine overcame cooling that
accompanies air expansion by heating air in a small
boiler prior to use. The Tramway de Nantes, located
in Nantes, France, was noted for being the first to
use Mekarski engines to power their fleet of
locomotives. The tramcar was also shown at the
exhibition of 1878 as it seemed to be an ideal
transport method, quiet, smooth, without smoke,
fire or the possibility of boiler explosion. The
tramway began operation on December 13, 1879,
and continues to operate today, although the
pneumatic trams were replaced in 1917 by more
efficient and modern electrical trams.
American Charles Hodges also found success with
pneumatic motors in the locomotive industry. In
1911 he designed a pneumatic locomotive and sold
the patent to the H. K. Porter Company in
Pittsburgh for use in coal mines. Because pneumatic
motors do not use combustion they were a much
safer option in the coal industry.
Compressed air locomotives were used for
haulage in 1874 while the Simplon tunnel was
being dug. An advantage was that the cold exhaust
air aided the ventilation of the tunnel.
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International Journal of Engineering Science Invention Research & Development; Vol. II Issue XII, June 2016 www.ijesird.com
e-ISSN: 2349-6185
Use of compressed air in industry and in
service sectors is common as its production and
handling are safe and easy. In most industrial
facilities, compressed air is necessary to
manufacturing. Compressed-air generation is
energy intensive, and for most industrial operations,
energy cost fraction of compressed air is significant
compared with overall energy costs. Yet, there is a
vacuum of reliable information on the energy
efficiency of a typical compressed-air system[1].
Mohammad Masood, [2] has worked on A
New IC engine that can work on compressed air.
This evolutionary engine is the first of its kind in
India and second of this kind in the world. However
some of the modifications are very unique, which
makes it a very unique engine. Extensive research is
in progress to eliminate all the problems of design.
Since this engine runs only on high pressure
compressed air, the exhaust of which is
undoubtedly only air, making it a zero pollution
engine. Experimental analysis were carried out on
this modified engine to find out its performance
characteristics like brake power, mechanical
efficiency, overall efficiency, air to air ratio, cost
analysis etc.
Anirudh Addala and Srinivasu Gangada, [3]
have done research on Fabrication and Testing of
Compressed Air Car.
This research aims to examine the
performance of a car which takes air as the working
medium. Air car is a car currently being developed
which is still in the R&D stage all over the world.
The basic principle involved in this concept is that
compressed air is capable enough to provide
sufficient thrust which in turn can propel the car.
D.Ravi, [4] has done research on Fabrication
of Compressed Air Engine. For the fabrication of
compressed air engine, emphasis is given to the
usages of rapidly available parts as maximum as
possible to avoid complexity of the works as well as
to reduce cost. The engine consists of two cylinders
with opposed pistons. The selection of opposed
piston arrangement was done for the balancing
purpose. The valve timing mechanism was provided
by two solenoid valves which were assisted by
contact point beaker mechanism.
Madhukumar K, Nataraj M, Sampathkumar L, Kumaraswamy R and Karthik M
Based on the literature review it is understood
that there is a significant improvement in design
and fabrication of compressed air engines. Many
researchers have done research on two, three and
four cylinder engines. Here in this work an attempt
is made to design and analyze the six cylinder
compressed air radial engine.
III. OBJECTIVES
Following are the objectives of the work
1. Modeling of compressed air engine based on
literature review.
2. Identifying major load taking components in
engine for the analysis.
3. Finite element analysis of the major parts of
the engine.
4. Study of result to decide the safety of
engine.
5. Optimization of dimensions of the engine
parts based on analysis.
IV. MODELING OF ENGINE
This phase involves the modeling of various
parts of the engine and assembling them to form
the proposed compressed air engine. For this
purpose CATIA V5 is selected, which is
modeling software being used for designing
various mechanical models. Initially the
crankcase of the engine is modeled then remaining
parts are modeled with respect to the crankcase,
keeping it as a standard reference with the help of
modeling software.
Components made individually are assembled
into one part. Care has been taken to keep the
computer model dimensionally in accordance with
the real world model. The assembled engine
with all the parts in the model is shown below
in figure 1. The design is validated by performing
stress analysis on the models using ANSYS
Workbench 14.
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International Journal of Engineering Science Invention Research & Development; Vol. II Issue XII, June 2016 www.ijesird.com
e-ISSN: 2349-6185
Figure 1: Assembled 3-D Model of Compressed Air Radial Engine
V. STRESS ANALYSIS
Finite element analysis is done on the designed
components of the compressed air engine. The
components modeled in CATIA V5 (Computer
Aided Three Dimensional Interactive Application)
software are imported to ANSYS workbench 14.0
to perform stress analysis.
Meshing Details, Boundary condition and
modeling of engine assembly are mainly focused.
Steps of Finite Element analysis of compressed air
engine are;
1. DEFINING ELEMENT TYPES
The element library of analysis software
contains more than 100 different element types.
Each element type has a unique number that defines
the element category. Element type SOLID 186 is
preferred to analyze 3D model of engine parts
because it is most suitable for the 3D parts to obtain
accurate results. Total numbers of elements
obtained are 867610.
2. DEFINING THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES
Structural Steel and Aluminum are selected
as materials for 3D solid model of engine assembly
parts. The values of properties corresponding to
Structural steel and Aluminum materials like
Young’s Modulus, Density and Yield Strength, etc.
These properties are shown in table 1 and 2.
Table 1 – Structural steel material properties
Material Properties
Density -7850 kg m-3
Modulus of elasticity, E = 210,000 N/mm²
Shear modulus, 81,000 N/mm²
Structural Steel Coefficient of thermal expansion, α = 12 x 10-
6
/°C (in the ambient temperature range)
Tensile Ultimate Strength – 460 Mpa
Tensile Yield Strength – 250 Mpa
Madhukumar K, Nataraj M, Sampathkumar L, Kumaraswamy R and Karthik M
Table 2 – Aluminum material properties
Material Properties
Density -2700 kg m-3
Shear modulus, 79.3 Gpa
Aluminum Modulus of elasticity, E = 68.9 Gpa
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion- 24 x 10-6/°C
Tensile Ultimate Strength – 310 Mpa
Tensile Yield Strength – 241 Mpa
3. GEOMETRY (BUILD THE MODEL)
CATIA V5 is used to build 3-D model of engine.
4. MESHING OF MODEL
The whole solid model is discretized into
small elements depending upon the requirement of
the accuracy of results the fineness of meshing
varies. Finer is the meshing, much closer to the
accurate results.
5. BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
Following boundary conditions are applied
on various parts.
a) Force
b) Fixed Support
c) Cylindrical Support
6. LOADING
The load is applied at appropriate surfaces
of various parts depending on real time conditions.
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Analysis of piston, crankcase and
connecting rod for stress and deformation by using
Ansys has been done and results obtained are
discussed below. Analysis is done for only the parts
mentioned above as they are the most important
components of the engine and most of the engine’s
load is taken up by these components. The red and
yellow portion shows the maximum deformation.
1. ANALYSIS OF PISTON
The piston is constrained in X and Y
direction but free in Z direction. A pressure of
2Mpa is applied on the piston head.
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e-ISSN: 2349-6185
Figure 2 (a): Stress Distribution in the Piston
From the Fig 2(a), the maximum stress
occurs at the hole provided for gudgeon pin in the
piston and it is 17.04 Mpa and minimum stress
occurs at outer surface of the piston and it is
0.26527Mpa.
Figure 2(b): Strain Distribution in the Piston
From the Fig 2(b), the maximum strain occurs
at the hole provided for gudgeon pin in the piston
and it is 0.00017949mm and minimum strain occurs
at outer surface of the piston and it is 4.9654-6 mm.
Madhukumar K, Nataraj M, Sampathkumar L, Kumaraswamy R and Karthik M
Figure 2(c): Total Deformation of the Piston
From the Fig 2(c), the maximum
deformation occurs at the top and bottom part of the
piston and it is 0.0021877mm and minimum
deformation occurs at the hole provided for
gudgeon pin.
2. ANALYSIS OF CRANKCASE
The crankcase is fixed in all the directions and a
force of 2 Mpa is applied on all the six sides of the
case.
Figure 3 (a): Stress Distribution in the Crankcase
From the Fig 3(a), the maximum stress occurs
at the hole provided for screws to support the
crankcase and it is 14.2576686 Mpa and minimum
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e-ISSN: 2349-6185
stress occurs at the fixed side of the crankcase, it is
0.038238324 Mpa.
Figure 3 (b): Strain distribution in the Crankcase
From the Fig 3(b), the maximum strain occurs
at the hole provided for screws to support the
crankcase is 0.00025473 mm in and minimum
strain occurs at the fixed side of the crankcase, it
0.0118424351 Mpa.
Figure 3 (c): Total Deformation of the Crankcase
From the Fig 3 (c), the maximum
deformation occurs at the areas connecting the
holes which support the cylinder is 0.003938 mm
Madhukumar K, Nataraj M, Sampathkumar L, Kumaraswamy R and Karthik M
and minimum stress occurs at fixed side of the
crankcase is 0.0004375 mm.
3. ANALYSIS OF CONNECTING ROD
One end of the connecting rod is fixed and a
force of 2Mpa is applied on the other end.
Figure 4 (a): Stress Distribution in the Connecting Rod
From the Fig 4 (a), the maximum stress occurs
at the piston end of the connecting rod is 66.683
Mpa and minimum stress occurs at the crank end of
the connecting rod is 1.162Mpa
Figure 4 (b): Strain distribution in the Connecting rod
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e-ISSN: 2349-6185
From the Fig 4 (b) the maximum Von-mises
strain occurs at the piston end of the connecting rod
is 0.00033567mm and minimum Von-mises strain
occurs at the crank end of the connecting rod is
1.2112 X 10-5 mm.
From the Fig 4 (c), the maximum
displacement occurs in the connecting rod is
0.016108 mm. It is clear that the load imparts a
compressive stress to Connecting Rod and causes
bending.
Figure 4 (c): Total Deformation of the Connection rod
VI. CONCLUSION
In this paper it is focused on the design and
analysis of six cylinder compressed air engine.
Design and analysis of the engine is done based on
the literature work with the help of Catia V5 and
Ansys Workbench 14.0. Analysis is done for piston,
connecting rod and crank shaft because these are
the most important components of the engine and
most of the engine’s load is taken up by these
components. During the study of result the
material properties are considered into account
along with the factor of safety to decide whether the
designed engine is safe or not. Based on analysis it
is abserved that the analysed components are found
safe.
It is proposed to calculate engine performance
parameters for the final design of the engine that is
obationed based on the trial and error error done by
Madhukumar K, Nataraj M, Sampathkumar L, Kumaraswamy R and Karthik M
analysis (design obtained after optimizing the
dimensions for the compactness). Also engine can
be fabricated for the further testing to check engine
capabilities.
With the present situation of alarming
pollution and depletion of fossil fuel, the concept of
compressed air engine has taken a vital position in
the Research and Development field. Various
improvements in this regard are proving that in near
future, the world will witness a much cleaner
environment by the practical implementation of
such air engine. Thus the potential of air can be
utilized as an alternating fuel for the automobiles.
However excessive research is needed to
completely prove the technology for both its
commercial and technical viability.
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e-ISSN: 2349-6185

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