Three-cylinder engine

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In-line three-cylinder on a Triumph Rocket III

The three-cylinder engine is a type of reciprocating engine , especially internal combustion engines . Compared to four -cylinder engines, three-cylinder in-line engines are more compact, cheaper to manufacture and have less internal friction . This reduces fuel consumption.

description

Types

Most three-cylinder engines are in- line engines , more rarely V-engines and much less often radial engines . A three-cylinder engine can be designed as both a gasoline and a diesel engine . Both variants can work according to the two-stroke or the four-stroke principle. In car construction they are almost always water-cooled , in motorcycle and radial engines they are both water- cooled and air-cooled .

Applications

They are used to drive motorcycles and cars , the latter in particular small cars and, more recently, also in the compact class . The three-cylinder engine has also gained significantly in importance in tractors in recent years.

In the course of efforts to further save fuel, numerous manufacturers have replaced four-cylinder with three-cylinder engines in the displacement classes up to 1.5 liters in recent years. A downsizing is taking place, so that vehicles with a displacement of 0.9–1.1 liters are becoming increasingly popular again. Examples from the German automotive industry:

  • Opel in 1997 in the Corsa model .
  • VW brought the Lupo 3L TDI onto the market in 1999 (a so-called three-liter car with 1.2 liter displacement, 44 kW, supercharged diesel direct injection).
  • VW / Audi built a three-cylinder diesel (TDI) with around 75 hp from 11/2001 to 05/2005 (e.g. in the VW Polo IV and Audi A2 ). In the VW Polo V (since 2009), there are some three-cylinder engines, as well as in the micro-car up VW! .
  • In spring 2012, Ford brought out a three-cylinder EcoBoost engine with a displacement of 998 cm³, which has a choice of 74, 88 or 92 kW (100, 120 or 125 hp) and is used in various Ford models. A 200 hp 1.5-liter engine has also been built since 2018, which is used in the Fiesta ST, for example.
  • BMW introduced some supercharged three-cylinder engines in 2013/2014. They are used in BMW models and also in MINI models. The three-cylinder diesel engine has the designation BMW B37 ; the three-cylinder petrol engine B38 .

In the past, three-cylinder engines were already common in two-stroke engine construction . Due to the high fuel consumption inherent in the two-stroke engine, larger four-cylinder engines were uneconomical and, with the exception of the Aero 50 and the DKW suspension class, were not used in series in automotive history . Instead, based on two-cylinder engines , three-cylinder engines were used to increase power and torque, the fuel consumption of which was still within acceptable limits. This is how Yamaha (boat engines), Saab , DKW and IFA proceeded .

In-line three-cylinders were already used in motorcycles in the 1970s by Laverda and Triumph (Trident 750 from 1969) and later again in numerous models such as the Rocket III and the Speed ​​Triple . Also from BMW between 1985 and 1996 in the BMW K 75 , and from Yamaha earlier in the XS 750/850 and more recently in the MT-09 and from Benelli and MV Agusta since 2012 (F3, Brutale).

In addition, this type of construction is often used in smaller ships (also as an auxiliary engine ), as a generator drive and in other applications such as construction machinery.

In trucks from the manufacturer Fried. Krupp engines and cars factories and Commer were also three-cylinder two-stroke diesel - opposed piston engines used.

Special designs

Three-cylinder V-engine of the DKW 350 RM from 1953
Rear view: 1 cylinder left
Front view: 2 cylinders on the right

Another type of three-cylinder engine is the three-cylinder V-engine, in which two outer cylinders are arranged parallel and the middle one is inclined forward, as in the DKW RM 350 from 1953, which was nicknamed the " Singing Saw " because of its sound . and several Honda brand motorcycles , e.g. B. the RS 500 R was used in the 1980s. However, these models were only built briefly. The Austrian company Maschinenfabrik Warchalowski built such engines in tractors .

There have been attempts to use three-cylinder radial engines as a drive for cars or motorcycles (for example with the predecessor of the Megola as well as with some small series manufacturers). However, none of these attempts got beyond the prototype stage . Only in aircraft construction there were some series engines, such as the US- built Szekely SR-3 .

Another, very rare type of three -cylinder engine is the W engine , also known as a fan engine . The French manufacturer Alcyon built such engines, which the Italian racing driver and engineer Alessandro Anzani used in 1904 . They were also used to propel aircraft (for example the Bleriot XI monoplane). In 2000, the US custom bike manufacturer Feuling R&D brought out a motorcycle with a three-cylinder W engine.

Smoothness

Three-cylinder in-line engines with a crank pin offset of 120 ° naturally run somewhat less smoothly than four-cylinder in-line engines (albeit better than two-cylinder in-line engines) because the ignition interval is greater and free mass moments occur. Only free mass moments of the first order occur here. These can be completely compensated for by a counter-rotating counterbalance shaft with a single crankshaft speed . In terms of inertia forces and moments, the three-cylinder engine then runs as smoothly as a six-cylinder engine , in which the first-order moment of inertia of the two three-cylinder engines, which are thought to be separate, cancel each other out.

Other uses

Apart from internal combustion engines, there are also three-cylinder, u. a. as piston pumps or compressors .

Web links and source

Commons : three cylinder engine  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: three-cylinder engine  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl-Heinz Hesse: All trucks from Krupp. 1st edition. Verlag Klaus Rabe, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-926071-01-1 .
  2. ↑ http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/features/122_0009_feuling_w_3_prototype
  3. ↑ a b www.e31.net. Retrieved August 3, 2017 .