Four-Stroke SI Engine Cycle
1. First Stroke: Intake Stroke or Induction
The piston travels from TDC to BDC with the
intake valve open and exhaust valve closed.
This creates an increasing volume in the
combustion chamber, which in turn creates a
vacuum. The resulting pressure differential
through the intake system from atmospheric
pressure on the outside to the vacuum on the
inside causes air to be pushed into the
cylinder. As the air passes through the intake
system, fuel is added to it in the desired
amount by means of fuel injectors or a
carburetor.
2. Second Stroke: Compression Stroke
When the piston reaches BDC, the intake
valve closes and the piston travels back to
TDC with all valves closed. This compresses
the air-fuel mixture, raising both the pressure
and temperature in the cylinder. The finite
time required to close the intake valve means
that actual compression doesn't start until
sometime aBDC. Near the end of the
compression stroke, the spark plug is fired
and combustion is initiated.
3. Combustion Combustion of the air-fuel mixture
occurs in a very short but finite length of time with the
piston near TDC (i.e., nearly constant-volume
combustion). It starts near the end of the compression
stroke slightly bTDC and lasts into the power stroke
slightly aTDC. Combustion changes the composition of
the gas mixture to that of exhaust products and
increases the temperature in the cylinder to a very high
peak value. This, in turn, raises the pressure in the
cylinder to a very high peak value.
4. Expansion Stroke or Power Stroke With all valves
closed, the high pressure created by the combustion
process pushes the piston away from TDC. This is the
stroke which produces the work output of the engine
cycle. As the piston travels from TDC to BDC, cylinder
volume is increased, causing pressure and temperature
to drop.
Exhaust Blowdown Late in the power stroke, the exhaust valve is opened
and exhaust blow down occurs. Pressure and temperature in the cylinder
are still high relative to the surroundings at this point, and a pressure
differential is created through the exhaust system which is open to
atmospheric pressure. This pressure differential causes much of the hot
exhaust gas to be pushed out of the cylinder and through the exhaust
system when the piston is near BDC. This exhaust gas carries away a high
amount of enthalpy, which lowers the cycle thermal efficiency. Opening
the exhaust valve before BDC reduces the work obtained during the
power stroke but is required because of the finite time needed for
exhaust blowdown.
Exhaust Stroke By the time the piston reaches BDC, exhaust blowdown is
complete, but the cylinder is still full of exhaust gases at approximately
atmospheric pressure. With the exhaust valve remaining open, the piston
now travels from BDC to TDC in the exhaust stroke. This pushes most of
the remaining exhaust gases out of the cylinder into the exhaust system
at about atmospheric pressure, leaving only that trapped in the clearance
volume when the piston reaches TDC. Near the end of the exhaust stroke
bTDC, the intake valve starts to open, so that it is fully open by TDC when
the new intake stroke starts the next cycle. Near TDC the exhaust valve
starts to close and finally is fully closed sometime aTDC. This period when
both the intake valve and exhaust valve are open is called valve overlap.
