Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Tele man
One has to wonder about the *life* of those very l-o-n-g, thin, connecting rods between the piston pairs. How many tension/compression cycles can they endure before fatigue and failure happen?
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A simple run through finite element analysis (FEA) would give you the major failure zones. The uploaded pictures are simply a spacial analysis model. Sytec has run an engine for 60K km. I was thinking bearing pressure zones on the cam pin would be problematical.
Performing engine design analysis for one of the AXP teams, we came to the conclusion that this engine gave little advantage other than the improved dwell time at top dead center (TDC). A long connecting rod, short throw engine could give you the same advantages albeit in a much larger package.
It is beautiful engineering though. And that I can appreciate.