Calculating Piston Speed?

vristang

15 Year Member
Mar 31, 2005
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I am looking for the equation to calculate piston speed at a given crank angle and rpm.

There are average speed equations out there, but I need to know the calculus equation.

I am doing this as part of the cam selection process.

I appreciate the help, as google has let me down on this one.
:Word:
jason
 
Hum... I'll need to dig up my Vehicle Dynamics books and see if it's in there. Only problem is that it's in a POD and I can't get to it until Monday night.

I guess I could work the formula out by hand.... It'll be a long night.
 
srothfuss said:
Hum... I'll need to dig up my Vehicle Dynamics books and see if it's in there. Only problem is that it's in a POD and I can't get to it until Monday night.

I guess I could work the formula out by hand.... It'll be a long night.

I would appreciate it.

I have been through all my textbooks with no luck.

maybe someone else can chime in and save you some effort?
 
try a simple dynamics or mechanics book. Your going to be using relative motion analysis...rotary of course. Try googling angular velocty/acceleration. your looking at a lot of variables man, i wouldnt expect super accurate answers without a specific formula.
 
tjm73 said:
Piston speed in feet per minute = (stroke in inches X rpm) / 6

I do appreciate this, but this is for either max velocity or avg velocity (I don't remember which). This is very useful for determining if your piston/crank/rod combo can handle a given rpm, as there are general guidelines published in some of the better books.

The formula I am looking for will tell me what the piston speed is at a given crank angle and rpm. Once you know the crank angle that max speed occurs at, you can decide where to open your valves. At max piston speed is where you want to have max flow, more or less. In this way you will be able to determine at what rpm you want the cam to provide the most efficient power. Of course intake and head flow numbers will play an important role, but it seems that piston velocity is where the cam selection process should begin.

My motivation is that I am getting tired of the lack of quantification that exists in cam selection. I do plan on posting what I find for the benefit of all.

Thanks again for the resoponses
:Word:
 
tjm73 said:
It gives you the average piston speed at any given RPM point. It's from the Automotive Math Handbook.

Perhaps this will help with momentary piston speed questions. http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/cam-tech-c.htm

You guys are bringing up some great sites. Tons of info there. But still not exactly what I am looking for.

I did find this guys site.

http://www.wfu.edu/~rollins/piston/

I used his formulas (slightly tweaked) with my engine specs, and came up with 6,300 f/m. That is a little different than the mean piston speed of 4,000 f/m that I get from the formula in The Automotive Math Handbook.


Anyway, I think I ended up with what I needed, but I would like to verify this formula is correct by finding a second source. If anyone finds one please let me know.
Thanks again for all the great info.
jason