Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
of procedure
by ET Westbury, 1951
Reference:
The Model Engineer, Percival Marshall & Co. Ltd.
Volume 106, Numbers 2651, 2653, 2655.
Introduction
EVERY new development in engineering brings with it new
problems, or causes old problems to become accentuated, and
it is often found that the methods of dealing with them have to
be revised to cope with advanced design and more exacting
performance. While engineers of today are very fortunate in
having available a vast amount of accumulated data, obtained
laboriously by the research workers of the past, it is often
found that this is inadequate to cover the conditions which
arise when producing something entirely new, such as, for
instance, a racing engine. In some respects, one may be
hampered rather than assisted by faith in ready-made data,
and it is often better to tackle the problems from first
principles, or even by the much-despised "rule of thumb",
which although crude, is often effective.
A Misleading Term
Locomotive Balancing
Three-cylinder Engines
So far, I have dealt only with the means of dealing with the
most important unbalanced forces in orthodox types of engines
or machines; and quite frankly, I believe that if these principles
are fully grasped, they will cover most practical problems
encountered by "M.E." readers. There are, however, other
forces of the second, third and further orders, ad infinitum, but
it would be impossible to do so without taking up a
considerable amount of space, and going very deeply in theory
and mathematics, which I feel sure would be out of place in a
practical journal.
It may, however, be
observed that secondary
unbalanced forces occur
in mechanisms where the
motion is not truly
harmonic, and this
applies where a connecting-rod of limited length is used to link
reciprocating and revolving parts. As short rods, involving
considerable maximum angularity, are common in high-speed
engines, no simple system of balancing can eliminate these
secondary forces completely, even in engines where the
reciprocating masses can be directly opposed in identical
planes. But as we have already seen, theoretical balancing
systems do not always give the best results in practice, and
again the importance of compromise must be stressed.
I have tried to assist
readers to solve their
own balancing problems
in a strictly practical way,
well knowing that nearly
all model engineers are
men of action, who
would much rather spend
their time at the lathe or
bench than in working
out theoretical problems on paper. I know from experience that
these problems can be capable of purely practical solution, and
I am not prepared to admit that this takes longer, or involves
more labour, than the theoretical approach, always provided,
of course, that basic principles are correctly grasped, and that
one does not attempt to fly in the face of all physical laws.
There is much more that could be said about practical
balancing problems, but I trust that readers will be able to
apply this elementary, and admittedly limited, information to
advantage, and be encouraged to work things out for
themselves by practical experiment. The mechanisms dealt
with here are those most likely to be encountered in model
engineering, but unusual types of machines generally embody
combinations of simple motions which can be isolated and
analysed. Perfection in the balancing of any machine is rarely
attained, but the higher the speed and the more exacting the
duty, the closer must be the approach to perfection if the
machine is to be a practical success.