Piston Assembly
The Idea
I was inspired to create this simple but effective piston assembly after realizing the mechanical potential 3D printing can have for systems, especially after designing the remote-controlled car. This project allowed me to fine-tune my tolerancing skills while discovering new ways to make the system more reliable and robust after rigorous tests.
Design
I wanted the assembly to look and operate as close as possible to the real thing, it even has an intake and exhaust valve. Ensuring that each piston stroke was as seamless was the main priority. The reciprocating motion followed the theoretical path where one crank of the shaft would correlate to two piston strokes. This rotary motion was simulated and perfected through Solidworks Assembly and gave me the confidence to put the assembly under exhaustive tests after a few iterations of the design.
Assembly and Testing
The piston head, connecting rod, and flywheel were all printed in orange PLA plastic to help add contrast to the black housing while the piston was rotating. The assembly was built to accommodate a manual crank for users to control the speed and visualize the linear reciprocations. Since I could only twist the crank so fast we questioned if the model could hold up to the same RPM as a true combustion engine at 1500 RPM. I locked the crankshaft to a drill and ran it at max power and according to the specs of the drill, the rotation was occurring at 1600 RPM.
