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What is Flywheels-Function need and Operation

What is the purpose of a flywheel in an automobile engine?

Flywheel

A flywheel is an inertial energy-storage device. It absorbs mechanical energy and serves as a reservoir, storing energy during the period when the supply of energy is more than the requirement and releases it during the period when the requirement of energy is more than the supply.

Flywheels-Function need and Operation

The main function of a fly wheel is to smoothen out variations in the speed of a shaft caused by torque fluctuations. If the source of the driving torque or load torque is fluctuating in nature, then a flywheel is usually called for. Many machines have load patterns that cause the torque time function to vary over the cycle. Internal combustion engines with one or two cylinders are a typical example. Piston compressors, punch presses, rock crushers etc. are the other systems that have fly wheel.

Flywheel absorbs mechanical energy by increasing its angular velocity and delivers the stored energy by decreasing its velocity.

What is Flywheels-Function need and Operation

Design Approach

There are two stages to the design of a flywheel. First, the amount of energy required for the desired degree of smoothening must be found and the (mass) moment of inertia needed to absorb that energy determined.

Then flywheel geometry must be defined that caters the required moment of inertia in a reasonably sized package and is safe against failure at the designed speeds of operation.

Common uses of a flywheel include:

Providing continuous energy when the energy source is discontinuous. For example, flywheels are used in reciprocating engines because the energy source, torque from the engine, is intermittent.
Delivering energy at rates beyond the ability of a continuous energy source. This is achieved by collecting energy in the flywheel over time and then releasing the energy quickly, at rates that exceed the abilities of the energy source.
Controlling the orientation of a mechanical system. In such applications, the angular momentum of a flywheel is purposely transferred as a torque to the attaching mechanical system when energy is transferred to or from the flywheel, thereby causing the attaching system to rotate into some desired position.
Flywheels are often used to provide continuous energy in systems where the energy source is not continuous. In such cases, the flywheel stores energy when torque is applied by the energy source, and it releases stored energy when the energy source is not applying torque to it.
For example, a flywheel is used to maintain constant angular velocity of the crankshaft in a reciprocating engine. In this case, the flywheel—which is mounted on the crankshaft—stores energy when torque is exerted on it by a firing piston, and it releases energy to the crankshaft when a piston is in the process of compressing a fresh charge of air and fuel.
Other examples of this are friction motors, which use flywheel energy to power devices such as toy cars. In uses like this, the distribution of the mass of the flywheel toward the outside and away from the center is beneficial. Pushing the mass away from the axis of rotation gives it greater rotational inertia without increasing its total mass. This increases the efficiency of the flywheel, since it does not have as much difficulty driving its own weight forward as well as that of the payload
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