The cylinder principle is derived from the cannon.
In 1680, the Dutch scientist Hoynes was inspired by the principle of cannons, thinking that it would be good to use the powerful power of cannonballs to drive other machines? He still used gunpowder as a burning explosive at the beginning, changed the shell into a "piston", used the barrel as a "cylinder", and opened a one-way valve. He injected gunpowder into the cylinder, and when the gunpowder was ignited, the gunpowder violently exploded and burned, pushing the piston upward and generating power. At the same time, the huge pressure of the explosive gas also pushes open the one-way valve to discharge the exhaust gas. Then, the residual exhaust gas in the cylinder gradually becomes colder, the air pressure becomes lower, and the atmospheric pressure outside the cylinder pushes the piston down again to prepare for the next explosion. Of course, due to the long journey and low efficiency, he did not succeed in the end. However, it was Hoynes who first proposed the concept of "internal combustion engine", and on this basis later generations invented the engine for automobiles.
Early cars used single cylinder engines
When Carl Benz and Daimler, the originators of automobiles, designed and manufactured automobiles, they coincidentally used only one cylinder engine. Just as we think it is impossible for a car to use two or more engines, it is estimated that people at that time would not have imagined an engine with two or more cylinders. However, it is different now. Let alone developed countries, if you look at domestic automobile advertisements, you will find that many manufacturers always talk about the number and arrangement of cylinders in the engine. Cylinders are not three-cylinders. Those who use a V6 engine must make the V word eye-catching. Advertising has indeed played a big role. Many car fans have agreed that "4 cylinders are better than 3 cylinders" and "6 cylinders are better than 3 cylinders". 4-cylinder is better", "V-type is better than in-line", "V-type engine is an advanced engine" and other concepts. Nearly 20 domestically produced cars are equipped with V6 or V8 engines.
The crankshaft of a single-cylinder engine can only produce one combustion work every two weeks, so its sound does not sound continuous and smooth, just listen to the sound of a small-displacement motorcycle. The most unacceptable thing is that its operation is extremely unstable, the speed fluctuates greatly, and the shape of the single-cylinder engine is not suitable for being installed on a car. For this reason, single-cylinder engines are no longer seen in cars, and two-cylinder engines are hard to find, at least 3-cylinder engines. Domestically produced Huali vans, old Xiali cars, Geely Haoqing, Alto, and Flair are all equipped with 3-cylinder engines.
A 3-cylinder engine is mostly used on a mini-car below 1 liter, and a 4-cylinder or 5-cylinder engine is generally used for an engine from 1 liter to 2 liters. Most of the engines above 2 liters are 6 cylinders, and the vast majority of engines above 4 liters use 8 cylinders.
In the case of the same displacement, increasing the number of cylinders can increase the speed of the engine, thereby increasing the output power of the engine. In addition, increasing the number of cylinders can make the engine run more smoothly, making its output torque and output power more stable. Increasing the number of cylinders makes the car easier to start and more responsive to acceleration. In order to improve the performance of the car, the number of cylinders must be increased. Therefore, the number of cylinders of luxury cars, sports cars, racing cars and other high-performance cars is more than 6 cylinders, and the most has reached 16 cylinders.
However, the increase in the number of cylinders cannot be unlimited. Because as the number of cylinders increases, the number of parts of the engine also increases proportionally, which makes the engine structure complex, reduces the reliability of the engine, increases the weight of the engine, increases the manufacturing cost and use cost, increases the fuel consumption, and makes the engine The volume becomes larger. Therefore, the number of cylinders of an automobile engine is an appropriate choice after weighing various pros and cons according to the purpose and performance requirements of the engine.
In-line engine (line engine), all its cylinders are arranged side by side in a plane, its cylinder block and crankshaft are simple in structure, and use a cylinder head, the manufacturing cost is low, the stability is high, the low-speed torque characteristic is good, and the fuel consumption is low. Small size, compact size, wide application. Its disadvantage is lower power. "In-line" can be represented by l, followed by the number of cylinders is the engine code, there are mainly l3, l4, l5, l6 engines on the car.