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Originally Posted by ScrapyardBrewer
For years I’ve been contemplating how I might measure the torque of the engine in my truck. This information would enable me to calculate horsepower and fuel efficiency real-time. I’ve considered load cells and other deflection measuring schemes and they all have major drawbacks. Now I think I’ve come up with a simple scheme that’ seems like it should work. The idea is to use the rotational inertia of the flywheel as an indication of torque by measuring the acceleration of the flywheel during the power stroke and the deceleration of the flywheel between power strokes. A hall effect gear tooth sensor on the flywheel teeth would give me an RPM update at every tooth -- plenty of resolution to pick out the accel/decel of the flywheel. One concern I have is how the vehicle mass will affect the measurement as it is reflected back through the manual transmission. Any thoughts? Better ideas?
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The power could vary infinitely with no change at the flywheel.The information you'll be most interested in will occur at a constant velocity,rpm.
Most inertia and momentum is in the vehicle itself.Loads will vary with aero,rolling resistance,distance,grade,curves,wind,atmospheric conditions,road surface,etc..
In times past,a 'Tapley Meter' (torsional strain gauge) was inserted in the driveline,which would measure torque as a function of load.From this,knowing rpms,the horsepower could be derived.
Fuel mass consumed indicated mpg.