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Talk about engine building here. New products, tricky questions or showcase your work - If it's engine building related it's welcome here.
= Resolved threads
Hi all,
Does anyone know how engineers decide on camshaft duration specifically? How do they decide for example "we need x degrees between IVO and IVC for max VE (near peak torque) at X rpm". I assume there is a way to account for airflow at different valve opening points to form the lift curve, but there must be more to it. Any insights appreciated.
There are many factors, mostly the mechanical limitations, but I would expect they'd start with the camshafts used in similar engines, machine some variations to match the valvetrain, bearing, sprocket/pulley, etc, and tweak those designs to suit the engine and purpose of the vehicle.
For the last 30 years this has been done with engine simulation software. You can have the simulation iterate through various values to hit your desired goals. Take a look at these options:
I've been using Engine Analyzer Pro along with Cam Analyzer software by Performance trends to get an idea on what would be the best option for a particular setup. Once you get it you basically have two options - order custom camshafts to be made (usually it's a bit more expensive) or choose the ones with closest parameters off the shelve accepting that you'll loose some performance, but not much.
