Beyond The Sprues
Modelling => Ideas & Inspiration => Engineering Dept. => Topic started by: dy031101 on July 05, 2014, 05:50:48 AM
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First question of the thread:
I've been looking for size comparison between Ford GAA and Cummins VT8-460.
I've been unsuccessful so far, but I do find the engine displacements being 18.025L and 15.5L, respectively.
I know engine displacements do not concern themselves with anything other than the cylinders, but are they still any adquate indicator of relative size (i.e. bigger or smaller, for example) for engine comparison purposes?
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Number of cylinders drives physical engine size, too. For example, you can get both inline-4 and V-6 engines with 2.4L displacement and the V-6 is going to be wider, but not as long, relative to the inline-4.
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You need the volume of the engine, in total with all ancillaries, such as exhausts, radiators, etc. This is usually expressed in metres or feet cubed. The engine cylinder volume won't tell you very much about how big the volume of the engine itself plus everything else that is needs to make it work. Power density is a good measure (how many HP per cubic metre) but that really doesn't start becoming a concern for most engine designers until about the 1980s. The Germans are perhaps the masters of packing the maximum horsepower into the smallest volume, with 1500+HP being packed into 3-4m^3.
As a handy guesstimate, most early tank engines would consume about 2-3m^3. Most medium sized tank engines would consume about 4-5m^3. Most large tank engines would consume anything from about 5m^3 upwards. Gas turbines in particular consume an awful lot of space inside a tank hull, not necessarily because of the engine itself but it's inlet, exhaust and heat exchanger requirements.
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Ford GAA
Length - 59.02 inches
Width -- 33.25 inches
Height - 47.78 inches
Weight - 1,470 lb. (incl. accessories)
Bore --- 5.4 inches
Stroke - 6.0 inches
http://www.easy39th.com/files/TM_9-1731B_Ford_Tank_Engines_%28Models_GAA,_GAF,_and_GAN%29_1945.pdf (http://www.easy39th.com/files/TM_9-1731B_Ford_Tank_Engines_%28Models_GAA,_GAF,_and_GAN%29_1945.pdf)
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More on the Ford GAA at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_GAA_engine)
Displacement: 1100cu in (18.025 L)
Power output: 450 hp (336 kW) @ 2600 rpm