Date of Award

6-2013

Document Type

Union College Only

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

David Hodgson

Language

English

Keywords

valves, engine, combustion, friction

Abstract

This report documents the investigation into replacing the poppet valves in a tradition internal combustion engine with horizontally mounted sliding gate valves. The major issues regarding the use of such a valve for this application are examined and discussed herein. To test the feasibility of this gate valve, a seal apparatus is designed to bolt onto the sample engine in place of the existing head. With this apparatus, leakage rates for the seal were measured and determined to be reasonable given the preliminary nature of the design. Another potential deterrent to the use of a valve in this manner is excessive wear on the sliding surface. Calculations were performed based on the operating conditions and characteristics of available coating materials whereby the wear life was also determined to be reasonable. After the successful seal test, a working gate valve system was designed to replace the current test engine’s poppet valve system for further testing and operation. Initial testing on the system with a pressurized combustion chamber showed the valve coating to significantly reduce the additional force required to move the valves due to friction. The ancillary components of the engine were then reinstalled with a successful test run.

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